PPVA November 2011 Meeting

There will be no meeting in December.  Our annual Christmas Party will again be at Dave & Buster’s on December 12th.

This month we finalized the new program for our members on PPVA Certification that begins in January 2012.  Gary Carmichael did a presentation on the www.squareup.com which is today’s more convenient and cheaper alternative way of taking credit cards rather than having a merchant account or even using some of Paypal’s services.  Inexpensive cell phone services such as www.republicwireless.com was also mentioned.

James Sanders did a presentation on how the use of sound fx can help create a deeper impact for viewers.  The presentation had sound fx from Digital Juice used on a High School sports video.

See you next year!  Happy editing!

PPVA October 2011 Meeting

With The CES- Continuing Education Series, Anne Marie Herm presented  Tape to Tapeless work flow, based on experiences with their HD system.

Bob Pennington talked about digital asset management concepts, metadata, storage, class cards, raid arrays, linear tape backup, file management systems and best practices we need to be aware of.

John Tonti shared unique footage from a wedding reception and James Sanders shared a high school sports edit.

There was also discussion from Alex Litz and Joe Nolfi on how to best communicate to brides the editing process and delivery times of their wedding videos.

PPVA September 2011 Meeting

PPVA President Eric Pensenstadler opened the meeting by playing a DVD of Gary and Becky Carmichael’s wedding re-enactment from 25 years ago, edited together with a slide show retrospective.  Guest, Ralph Keller,  introduced himself and discuss his video service business, commenting on the difficulties involved in live wedding and event production work.  Dave Malinaric showed and talked about his latest camera, the FujiFilm 3D still and video camera, noting it has a sweet viewing spot to really see the its 3D effects. Glasses and viewing options were described and compared by Dave and Eric.  Bob Pennington added his expertise in describing memory card options we must keep in mind to take advantage of new camera systems, noting the differences between class 6 and class 10 memory card speeds.  Eric read from a tech story about the proliferation of 3D TV viewing and production trends.

Gary led a discussion on Return on Investment, which we must keep in mind when making equipment purchasing decisions. ROI is your Gain from investment, minus cost of investment, divided by the cost of investment. He looked into this more closely when trying to make a decision about whether to purchase a mass BluRay duplicator, and had to consider other factors such as requests to stream and upload vs. produce physical discs.

Eric threw out a trivia question about why BluRay is called blue ray. John Tonti noted that it is because the blue colored lasers carry more information that is required for high definition imaging systems by packing more transmission and storage capacity in a smaller space, using shorter wavelength lasers than with older red colored laser reading and writing equipment.

There was a discussion on trends towards customers requesting shooting, streaming and uploading rather than DVD disc production, which makes it difficult to know how many watch a program, and more challenging to determine fair yet profitable charges. There may not be a call for DVDs or BluRay discs in a few years due to this trend.

Ralph Keller talked about the audience size and composition when streaming, and pointed out the dilemmas this will cause video producers. The rights to access our materials was mentioned and compared to current and prior distribution methods involving discs and tapes and postage. He mentioned he read that this is causing declines in revenue and participants in our industry.

There was a discussion and review of the Certification process PPVA will adopt for members who wish to mention their certifications and achievements to prospects via websites, marketing materials and in sales situations. Tom Herm, Gary Carmichael and others have created a list of criteria that will be reviewed by members, revised according to the input received from member, and adopted soon by PPVA, possibly at the next meeting in October.

PPVA August 2011 Meeting

Equipment presented at this month’s meeting were the Canon XF305 and XF105 cameras presented by Bob Pennington of www.Texolve.com. Also, DPSlider sent the Prime 720 camera dolly system. This dolly system provides excellent and unique camera smooth gliding movements. Check them out a www.dpslider.com.

With the Continuing Education Series, the topic was “HD Quality Standards and the Lack Thereof.” With Standard Definition, options were few and easy to learn. HD provides many variables making the whole process often confusing and frustrating. This was an ongoing enlightening on what we as videographers have to deal with.

Eric Pensenstadler discussed multiple topics from striking out clauses in contracts per client wishes, to reception venues requiring the hiding of equipment, to the future of 3D video.

Eric also discussed a personal story of dealing with customs when contracted for a destination wedding in Bermuda. Bottom line, know what work permits are required when contracting your out-of-town shoot.

John Tonti discussed streaming video – Skype and Logitech are great tools for video conferencing or collaborating with clients or other production professionals on projects.

The 2011 PPVA Annual Summertime Picnic

PPVA May 2011 Meeting

Old Business

PPVA President, Eric Pensenstadler reviewed last month’s topics of discussion

- Topics of interest were listed by members themselves and were assigned for 10 to 15 minute presentations by those who have knowledge or interest in those topics.

- Production contracts will be compared and discussed at a future meeting so that a PPVA approved agreement can be created and used by members

- Summer picnic dates were discussed; options were reviewed.

- Benefits of membership in Better Business Bureau were discussed.

- Eric reviewed the use of text and graphics in video productions so that they meet standards and provide pleasing results on screen.

 New Business

- James Sanders demonstrated a low cost teleprompter system he recently used on a project

- Eric Pensenstadler led a discussion on key elements of a production contract, and encouraged members to bring a copy of their contract so that important features can be made available to other members. Anne Marie mentioned that some publications encourage brides to bring their own contract to their videographer so they can be protected from problems that can arise when provisions and details are not addressed in the videograher’s contract.

- Eric Pensenstadler reviewed a tripod dolly he recently acquired, noting advantages and drawbacks it provides.

- James Sanders presented a review of the Digital Juice graphics and titling elements available to enhance productions and create DVD cover art. He reviewed features and benefits of the Juice plug-ins he has been using in his work, answering questions from members and providing examples of how to incorporate graphics, titles and animations from the Digital Juice offerings.

- Eric reviewed some news reports of shortages and temporary unavailablilty of video and media products and parts produced in factories in Japan that were shut down by the tsunami and affected by the nuclear power plant problems there.

PPVA April 2011 Meeting

With the April meeting, we had the third and final month of the PPVA used equipment swap and sell.  Thank you to all who participated.

In the ongoing push for continuing education, association members created topics that they wanted to have discussed at future meetings.  Look for exciting new topics to be presented this year!

Creative video presentations are often the result of the strategic use of elements.  Specifically, we discussed the proper use of lower third supers and other graphics elements giving your presentation the right look.

One of the benefits of the PPVA is it’s extensive library of member’s videos on DVD.  Members can sign out a DVD  from the library and study another member’s work.  This month we went over the contents of the library and reiterated to members the learning potential they have.

Final discussion was concerning our always fun and exciting Annual Summer Picnic!  The event will be July 24, 2011.  Stay tuned for further details.

The 4th Annual PPVA Awards Competition.

The PPVA had a fantastic time holding the Annual Awards Competition Event at the PTI School of Pittsburgh.  There was great competition, fantastic 3D presentation by PPVA member Dave Malinaric, food, fun and capped off with a tour of PTI’s studios.  Thanks to Eric and Marger Pensenstadler for organizing the event and Mark from the PTI school for use of the school’s facilities.  Below are the competition categories along with the winners.

Photo Montage: James & Tracy Sanders, Sanders Video Services

Wedding Preceremony:  Alex Litz, Gippos Studio

Wedding Postceremony:  James & Tracy Sanders, Sanders Video Services

Wedding Reception Coverage:  James & Tracy Sanders, Sanders Video Services

Wedding Highlights:  Eric & Marger Pensenstadler, Video Horizons, LLC

Demo/Promo Video:  Eric & Marger Pensenstadler, Video Horizons, LLC

Commercial/Advertisement:  Eric & Marger Pensenstadler, Video Horizons, LLC

Labels:  James & Tracy Sanders, Sanders Video Services

Documentary:  Gary & Becky Carmichael, AB&G Digital Productions

PPVA March Meeting

This past month we congratulate John Tonti. He will be taking over secretarial duties for the PPVA!   We also confirmed that the Annual PPVA Awards Competition will be held on April 3 , 2011 at the PTI school in Pittsburgh.   Members, don’t forget , the yearly PPVA fees will be due in April.   Happy Spring and happy editing!

February 2011 Meeting

PPVA videographers (and photographers!):

We had a great turnout for our February meeting.  Thanks to all who arranged their schedules to accommodate moving our meeting to Thursday night.

Please review the following recap of the meeting.  Pay particular attention to the information regarding ths year’s 4th Annual PPVA Video Awards Competition.    Thank you.

FEBRUARY MEETING REVIEW:

1.  We were pleased to welcome visitor Ralph Keller from NexGen Production.  Thank you to John Tonti and Dave Malinaric for inviting him.

2.  Reminder of the Rick Brewer (Marketing to Brides) seminar in Pittsburgh this coming Tuesday at 10am.  Registration required.  Look for separate email shortly.

3.  The Equipment Sale / Swap went over well.  There was lots of used (and some new!) gear.  We will be posting a list of equipment for sale on the PPVA website and/or Facebook page.  Please look for that soon!  If there is something in particular that you’re looking for make it known and maybe a fellow member will be willing to sell or trade it.  You can email Eric at info@videohorizonsllc.com

4.  PPVA Officers for 2011 – 2012.  If you would like to be considered for one the officer positions for PPVA then you must contact Eric Pensenstadler before the March meeting.  Attached to this email is a complete list and description of all leadership roles.

5.  4th Annual PPVA Video Awards Competition:  Please note that we are doing all we can to encourage participation from ALL PPVA members!!  Here is a basic recap of what we discussed.  Please look for a separate email shortly with more details and a sign up sheet:

- Minimum of 3 entries per category

- NEW 3 minute time limit per entry **except Wedding Highlight Montage category which will remain a 5 minute time limit.

- We are talking to PTI about using their venue for the awards competition.  We will keep you posted.

- DATE:  Sunday April 3 or Sunday April 10.  PLEASE REPLY TO info@videohorizonsllc.com IF YOU HAVE A PREFERRED DATE.  Otherwise, the final choice of date will be announced via email or at the March meeting.

- Very important:  SUBMISSION DEADLINE:  the deadline for signing up for the awards is MONDAY MARCH 7, 2011.  This will be explained in more detail in a separate email.  The main reason for this is to have time to make the final tally of how many entries we receive, then give each company ample time to create the DVD of their entry to bring to the March meeting.  No DVDs will be accepted after the March meeting!!

6.  Further discussion on HD.  HD cameras no longer have an IR (infrared) filter.  This is done by the manufacturers in an attempt to make the image more film-like.  However, in some cameras this causes some colors to not be recorded accurately.  So be careful!  Also, it is strongly advised to film in HD even if you know the final product will be down converted to SD and a regular DVD disc.

7.  Movie Time!  We wrapped up the meeting with Alex Litz sharing information and video clips on a recent family history project.  James Sanders showed highlights of one his sports videos.  And Eric Pensenstadler showed what videographers do in their spare time… a short video he created for his Christmas train display.

Thank you all!

Eric Pensenstadler

President, PPVA