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!

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.

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.

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.

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.