I am finishing mine up as I write this and would like to see others videos they use to get jobs with. Let me see those demos fly!!! ; )
Thanx for the input.
DR
Okay.... Since I use Vegas EXCLUSIVELY for preparing demos to get work, I'll start.
Of course, I'm not in competition with most of you here... I'm a voice-over guy and I use Vegas to compile samples of recent work - "Demo Reels, (actually, today, demo files)", etc. Vegas works extremely well for this, since it reads most anything you throw at it, (.avi .wvm Quicktime, etc.) and easily creates DVDs, Internet Streaming, etc.
Since I wanted to show greater range than I've used on documentary projects, I decided to produce a few documentary "snippets" to demonstrate styles that I didn't have footage of. Vegas allowed me, an "amatuer" video editor to produce pieces which look almost as good as the pieces edited by the pros, on their high-end systems, which are also in the demo.
would it be out of line to ask your process of completion to the medium quality delivery?
and do you have a "special" web service? the streaming is great and the quality is superb.
also, is that all DV generated footage? if so you should post your site on a thread that someone was running recently, putting down the quality of DV vs Film - your stuff is proof that DV can look great (if that's what it is).
Our reel is at http://mango.he.net/~bigpic1/ (we're currently transferring to this server and don't have our domain pointed yet).
I'm working on the DVD version in VV & DVDA right now, basically taking the reel that's online now and putting it as the introductory media on the dvd, then offering a nice menu where clients can see longer clips and more clips of our work.
Yes, Vicmilt, that is DV, shot with the Canon XL1s. Thank you so much for your kind words. We try very hard to deliver quality images.
Nothing you've asked is out of line at all. For web delivery, we use Sorenson Media's Squeeze Compression Suite. To me, it defeats the purpose of working hard to get a beautiful image only to ruin it with bad web compression. It may sound snobby (and I really don't mean to), but if you can't view the video with a broadband connection, then you don't need to see it--not from a sales point of view. Too, I work just as hard on getting an acceptable compressed image as I do on the original image (understanding there is always some loss due to compression).
No, I don't use any "special" web service or streaming paraphernalia. It's just .mov and .wmv files. I use the "progressive" setting, rather than the true "streaming" settings for several reasons. The primary one being it simply isn't "streaming" in the true sense of the word.
Regarding the film vs. DV debates... I avoid them like the plague. They are, in my opinion, a pointless waste of time. Sounds hard-nosed, but that's they way I feel. To each his own.
Thanks again for you kind remarks. It makes all the hard work worth while!