File Transfer Help - New Business
Discussion
Hi All,
Whilst my credentials may point to the fact I'm new here I have been amazed by the breadth of knowledge that can be found on this site as my Dad (H6 CJF) has been posting here for ages! So I thought I'd join in with this great community.
I am looking to start up a new venture in Editing Wedding Videos.
On the webpage I am developing I would like couples to be able to upload their own raw wedding footage in such a way that I can retrieve it with no loss of quality.
This points to some kind of FTP system thing. I have been researching this and have discovered Yousendit.com and for £25 a month I can embed their FTP system on my site. However as a new venture I dont really want to be spending that a month in case the whole thing is a flop. So I suppose I'm asking if anyone out there knows of a cheaper way of achieving this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Ben
Whilst my credentials may point to the fact I'm new here I have been amazed by the breadth of knowledge that can be found on this site as my Dad (H6 CJF) has been posting here for ages! So I thought I'd join in with this great community.
I am looking to start up a new venture in Editing Wedding Videos.
On the webpage I am developing I would like couples to be able to upload their own raw wedding footage in such a way that I can retrieve it with no loss of quality.
This points to some kind of FTP system thing. I have been researching this and have discovered Yousendit.com and for £25 a month I can embed their FTP system on my site. However as a new venture I dont really want to be spending that a month in case the whole thing is a flop. So I suppose I'm asking if anyone out there knows of a cheaper way of achieving this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Ben
H18 ENF said:
...... upload their own raw wedding footage ........
Just looking at this from the IT angle, that could take a very long time. Assuming a broadband upload speed of 448kbps, which many home connections struggle to reach, that equates to roughly 3MB a minute or over 5 1/2 hours to upload 1GB of video assuming it all goes well. Many home users still only have 256kbps upload so it will take even longer. Will people really do that? Just a thought.Hi there,
I'd also have thought that as most wedding videographers edit and finish their video for the family in one complete package, leads me to think you won't really have much demand for editing services? added to the fact as just mentioned, uploading substantial amounts of Gigabytes of video footage to the server's you have from the customers point of view will be a pain, it'll also be a real storage pain for you if you perhaps get say a rotating average of say 10-15 customers at any one time uploading. That potentially could be hundreds of gigabytes of storage you'd need to pay for in a proper hosting plan from one of the bigger providers. That's going to cost alot of money. Having it uploaded to your own server that you perhaps run in your property brings issues with power supply backup and failover multiple internet connections - the last thing you want your customers experiencing is a 30 GB upload falling over at 29GB becuase your power or internet went down/off !
I'd suggest you market things differently perhaps - advertise that you'll re-edit other videographers mistakes - you'd probably have to insist that the original unedited footage be provided by the customer, who will then face an uphill battle to obtain it from the videographer. If your service can only edit the 'end product' given to the customer by their videographer, you'll probably have to drop your pricing in order to make it viable enough for them.
That's the things I immediately thought of from reading your post!
Cheers, Dennis! West London & Slough UK!
I'd also have thought that as most wedding videographers edit and finish their video for the family in one complete package, leads me to think you won't really have much demand for editing services? added to the fact as just mentioned, uploading substantial amounts of Gigabytes of video footage to the server's you have from the customers point of view will be a pain, it'll also be a real storage pain for you if you perhaps get say a rotating average of say 10-15 customers at any one time uploading. That potentially could be hundreds of gigabytes of storage you'd need to pay for in a proper hosting plan from one of the bigger providers. That's going to cost alot of money. Having it uploaded to your own server that you perhaps run in your property brings issues with power supply backup and failover multiple internet connections - the last thing you want your customers experiencing is a 30 GB upload falling over at 29GB becuase your power or internet went down/off !
I'd suggest you market things differently perhaps - advertise that you'll re-edit other videographers mistakes - you'd probably have to insist that the original unedited footage be provided by the customer, who will then face an uphill battle to obtain it from the videographer. If your service can only edit the 'end product' given to the customer by their videographer, you'll probably have to drop your pricing in order to make it viable enough for them.
That's the things I immediately thought of from reading your post!
Cheers, Dennis! West London & Slough UK!
I've been using the free Accellion Green EX Virtual Appliance for about a year now and really like it. Runs on a bog standard PC. Just install free VMWare Player (http://www.vmware.com/products/player/) and mount the virtual machine which you can get here: http://www.accellion.com/virtual-greenex.html
You need to be a little bit techy but nothing too demanding. Gives you your own yousendit or mailbigfile type system free of charge.
You need to be a little bit techy but nothing too demanding. Gives you your own yousendit or mailbigfile type system free of charge.
H18 ENF said:
I am looking to start up a new venture in Editing Wedding Videos.
On the webpage I am developing I would like couples to be able to upload their own raw wedding footage in such a way that I can retrieve it with no loss of quality.
This points to some kind of FTP system thing. I have been researching this and have discovered Yousendit.com and for £25 a month I can embed their FTP system on my site. However as a new venture I dont really want to be spending that a month in case the whole thing is a flop. So I suppose I'm asking if anyone out there knows of a cheaper way of achieving this?
With 15 years producing corporate video and about 75 weddings (stills photography) under my belt, I'm sorry to say that in my considered opinon your idea, whilst laced with splendid optimism, is a non-starter, particularly if you want any kind of living from it.On the webpage I am developing I would like couples to be able to upload their own raw wedding footage in such a way that I can retrieve it with no loss of quality.
This points to some kind of FTP system thing. I have been researching this and have discovered Yousendit.com and for £25 a month I can embed their FTP system on my site. However as a new venture I dont really want to be spending that a month in case the whole thing is a flop. So I suppose I'm asking if anyone out there knows of a cheaper way of achieving this?
Wedding couples will either hire a professional videographer to record their day, or more commonly, just rely on guests to bring a camcorder and squeeze off some footage. The guests, being keen amateur video people (like yourself), will then enjoy spending many evenings at home editing the footage on their PCs or Macs, and giving the finished programme to the couple as a bonus wedding present. The idea that they will upload christ-knows-how-many hours of raw footage (do the math) to somebody who wasn't there and hasn't seen it, so that they will stick it together for them is simply bonkers.
On the technical side, the easiest way to get high quality video from one place to another is to post it. All you need is 1 x Jiffy bag and 1 x stamp.
If you like video, you'd do far better to set yourself up as a proper wedding videographer and do the thing properly from start to finish, not just try to polish other people's crap wobbly footage. (Do you know how long it takes just to view rushes you've never seen?!) You may also, if you're good enough, earn a living!
Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 12th March 21:33
Hi,
BliarOut, joewilliams & tuglet thanks very much I shall have a look at the possibilities surrounding your suggestions.
Arcturus, yes - you're quite right it may well take some people bloomin' ages but I wan't to offer the option along with the, less time consuming, snail mail
Dennis - Im aiming at people who don't hire a 'Professional' videographer, as again, you would be quite right, those who hire a Videographer get the footage edited for them and presented in a lovely box. The option of fixing mistakes is an excellent one and one that I shall add to the idea!
Simpo Two - challenges to the idea are always welcome as they encourage thought and not to carry on in blissful ignorance of pitfalls. Because of work that I have done for TV companies and corporates in the past I am occasionally (2/3 times a year) asked to edit the footage that Uncle David's, Great Aunts, Sister in Law's Son has filmed. This made me wonder if there was a market for it. Whilst I don't intend to make it a sole career, I thought it would be interesting to see what came of it, which is why I don't wish to pay for a service which may never be used. I wouldn't have called the idea bonkers - Jumping out of Aeroplanes and using Fire Extinguishers as parachutes is bonkers - it's just something I fancy setting up off the back of now doing about 9 of them for friends for free. And I'm a crap Cameraman, so couldn't possibly do the videoing bit myself!
Thanks for Suggestions All, if you have anymore comments or suggestions please keep 'em coming, I really appreciate all of your time!
Ben
BliarOut, joewilliams & tuglet thanks very much I shall have a look at the possibilities surrounding your suggestions.
Arcturus, yes - you're quite right it may well take some people bloomin' ages but I wan't to offer the option along with the, less time consuming, snail mail
Dennis - Im aiming at people who don't hire a 'Professional' videographer, as again, you would be quite right, those who hire a Videographer get the footage edited for them and presented in a lovely box. The option of fixing mistakes is an excellent one and one that I shall add to the idea!
Simpo Two - challenges to the idea are always welcome as they encourage thought and not to carry on in blissful ignorance of pitfalls. Because of work that I have done for TV companies and corporates in the past I am occasionally (2/3 times a year) asked to edit the footage that Uncle David's, Great Aunts, Sister in Law's Son has filmed. This made me wonder if there was a market for it. Whilst I don't intend to make it a sole career, I thought it would be interesting to see what came of it, which is why I don't wish to pay for a service which may never be used. I wouldn't have called the idea bonkers - Jumping out of Aeroplanes and using Fire Extinguishers as parachutes is bonkers - it's just something I fancy setting up off the back of now doing about 9 of them for friends for free. And I'm a crap Cameraman, so couldn't possibly do the videoing bit myself!
Thanks for Suggestions All, if you have anymore comments or suggestions please keep 'em coming, I really appreciate all of your time!
Ben
H18 ENF said:
Simpo Two - challenges to the idea are always welcome as they encourage thought and not to carry on in blissful ignorance of pitfalls. Because of work that I have done for TV companies and corporates in the past I am occasionally (2/3 times a year) asked to edit the footage that Uncle David's, Great Aunts, Sister in Law's Son has filmed. This made me wonder if there was a market for it. Whilst I don't intend to make it a sole career, I thought it would be interesting to see what came of it, which is why I don't wish to pay for a service which may never be used. I wouldn't have called the idea bonkers - Jumping out of Aeroplanes and using Fire Extinguishers as parachutes is bonkers - it's just something I fancy setting up off the back of now doing about 9 of them for friends for free. And I'm a crap Cameraman, so couldn't possibly do the videoing bit myself!
Well those are fair points, yes, and well done for taking it on the chin 
However, I think the reason you've been asked to edit Uncle David's home video footage is because you're a 'mate' or 'in the trade' and so will do it for little or nothing, and for you it's a novelty, flattering to be asked etc. But getting strangers to send you money on the open market is a very different matter. As a career I maintain that it's bonkers; as a hobby for beer money it's another matter of course. Only invest what you can afford to lose - but £25pcm hardly seems high stakes. It's a gamble, the same way I spent £90 last week on framed photos for my local GP surgery. I may get a wedding from it, but I may not.
If I have to spend £25 a month, as you say, it's got to be - it isn't that expensive but why spend that if you can do it for free? That's what I was interested in.
Beer money he says!? Beer Money!? Surely it's better put toward the saving pot for picking up another 'Cooper S' The rest can be spent on Beer of course ha ha!
Thanks for the input - 'tis appreciated, I'll let you know how it fares, if it comes to nothing, that's what it does. But you don't get anywhere by saying "if only..."
Beer money he says!? Beer Money!? Surely it's better put toward the saving pot for picking up another 'Cooper S'
The rest can be spent on Beer of course ha ha!Thanks for the input - 'tis appreciated, I'll let you know how it fares, if it comes to nothing, that's what it does. But you don't get anywhere by saying "if only..."
There is probably more of a market in updating and editing hi8, VHSC and all those old camcorder format videos into watchable DVDs my parents must have hours of video on hi8 from safaris that never got edited down. They have also paid to have old slides digitised onto DVD, the market may well be more in format change and editing than straight editing, if you can "remaster" old tape recorded stuff then people may well get stuff done for 21sts, wedding anniversaries etc.
Engineer1 said:
There is probably more of a market in updating and editing hi8, VHSC and all those old camcorder format videos into watchable DVDs
There certainly is - a good friend of mine does it. However it's not a great money-spinner; it has to be done in real time so when a punter turns up with 6 hours of old footage on Super 8 or whatever, it takes 6 hours (plus a couple setting up, changing reels, splicing breakages etc). So if you try to go for a decent hourly rate, even £20ph, Mr Punter is looking at £160. And they then fall of their chair because they thought it would only cost a tenner...Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff