advice re promo dvd

Astrix · #1 (**permalink**) 08-12-2005, 09:10 AM

i have been asked to make a 3-5 min promo dvd for a company, this will involve stills of the business (to be taken by a photographer friend), text tiles / scrolling text etc, original music and voice over being used. No video.

i am an amateur film maker (made 2 short films to date) and i am just starting to develop my limited knowledge of film making.

i am looking forward to doing this film and feel creatively it is not a problem (music is fine as i am a musician with my own recording set up), however i am concerned about technical requirements for the film.

i am p.c. based, i have used premier in the past, however i was thinking about something simple like movie maker for a task like this.

what technical requirements (editing software / pc requirements /mastering software / editing tips etc)

would more experienced film makers be looking to use for a task like this.
any hints / tips would be grateful as i really want to make my first professional (as in getting paid for it) film.

thanks

purejammy · #2 (**permalink**) 08-12-2005, 10:42 AM

Funny that, I will be doing my first Promo (for a Wedding Car business) in the next month or so.

Oddly enough what is important to me, isn't the choice of software (I will use Premiere Elements or ULead MediaStudio), but what message and what styles the client wants to cnvey to his potential customers.

I will spend quite a bit of time with the client, and I will look at his existing promotion & marketing material. I will alos ask him about his competitors and find out what he thinks makes his company that little bit better (Service, Quality of Cars, Professionalism etc).

From all of this I will preapare a number of prototype scripts then discuss. I will then finalise the script and prepare a shooting plan. Filem, edit and present to client. make appropriate adjustments following that and then go to final burn.

So the software is entirely secondary in this instance. Although without prejusging the client's wishes, I would expect to use software that is capable (and indeed good at) fairly standard editing functions (Multiple Layers, perhaps a little colour pass here and there, and from which I can prepare the final DVD. Now I would be the first to admit that Movie Maker has moved on from its first incarnation, but it is still a beginner's tool and lacks any DVD Menu Creation functionality. If you don't want to spend a lot of money on your project, then you could do much worse (IMHO) than Adobe Premiere Elements.

Good luck with your venture!

Astrix · #3 (**permalink**) 08-12-2005, 01:24 PM

thanks for that, helps a lot

re ulead media studio how does this fair as a "pro" editing tool and what for you are its strenghts / weaknesses

cheers

purejammy · #4 (**permalink**) 08-12-2005, 02:43 PM

re ulead media studio how does this fair as a "pro" editing tool and what for you are its strenghts / weaknesses

Its fundamental strengths lie in the fact that you get a full suite of editing tools thrown in, including video composition. Mediastudio is marketed by ULead as a professional editing tool, and to be fair to them they have been relatively successful with that in the Far East and to a lesser extent in the US. It was the first NLE with HD Support.

In my view its biggest weakness lies in the fact that it has fallen behind other NLEs in terms of its usability and in particular its user interface. But it is still a powerful product. Ulead have been saying for months that an upgrade (Mediatudio8 ) is imminent. Apparently the entier user interface has been re-written. I have seen soem screen shots and it most certainly has been re-written. In fact its almost more like Premier (Elements) and Vegas in that regard.

Very powerful packkage though, try the 30 Day trial download from www.ulead.com and see if its for you!

Astrix · #5 (**permalink**) 08-12-2005, 03:35 PM

thanks for that

good luck with your film as well