How has the economy effected your work?
 

Just curious guys. I'm now in the market for a job because work is so slow. Speaking of which, if anyone knows of anything open for video production/editing available around southern california, shoot it over!

Try stock?
 

Have you thought of shooting stock in your spare time?

That's what I do, and it works pretty well for me. I mean, I'm not getting rich off of it, but its a nice, little, second income that generates a couple hundred bucks a month for me.

I know others who devote more time can earn more, since their portfolios are larger; it's all what you want to get out of it.

Besides, I rather enjoy coming up with new ideas to shoot, and it keeps my skills active.

Here's a link to a stock site I contribute to:

RevoStock: Affordable Stock Video Footage, After Effects Projects, Music and Sound Effects

If you want to see my stuff (shot on my XH-A1), just search for "Pittsburgh" and you can get to my portfolio from the results (I have a monopoly on the Pittsburgh-themed shots on Revostock...).

No idea why this was originally posted to Canon XH. Moved to TCB where it belongs.

You're right. Sorry Chris- I usually just go into the XH forums (since that's what I use) and just thought of the question on a whim. Didn't think about where to put it beforehand. My bad!

James,

The stock shooting is really interesting. But do you really generates some income with it? Your download counts seems to be at 0 on the site... does it sell a bit?

True, most of my clips have '0' downloads, but that's the case with a lot of people.

But on Revostock, I do get the most downloads. View my portfolio by number of downloads; the clips with the most purchases will be up top. If you're only looking at my Pittsburgh shots, none of those sold (yet) on RevoStock.

So far on RevoStock alone, I've made about $318 since November. And I grow my library monthly, so I hope that will only increase. With quantity will come more exposure, and with more exposure will come more sales.

On the other sites I contribute to, I don't make as much as on RevoStock, but it's all cumulative in my mind. On Pond5, for example, I have $171 since mid-January.

Again, I'm not getting rich, but I enjoy creating this stuff, and the way I see it is I do the work once, and I can get residuals off it forever.

Most people won't divuldge their earnings, but I'm not ashamed--this isn't my fulltime job. It's generating additional income for me. I'll take whatever it'll make.

So if you haven't yet, I suggest you sign-up. It's free, and aside from a little time investment, it won't cost you a penny.

On RevoStock, if you're an exclusive contributor, you get 60% of the sale price. If you contribute the same clip(s) elsewhere, you get 45%. The prices are set by RevoStock.

Sign-up here: RevoStock: Affordable Stock Video Footage, After Effects Projects, Music and Sound Effects

On Pond5, you set the price of the clip, and you get 50% of the sale price.

Here's my portfolio there:

http://www.pond5.com/artist/ODesigns?ref=ODesigns

Good luck!

James, I was looking at your portfolio, nice stuff, although the amount of time put in versus the earnings would be hard for me to justify. True it keeps earning money...

I wouldn't know what to film, seems like your most downloaded footage is special effects. How does it work when you create things from other ppl? For example, the Hero planet clip, you obviously didn't hop in a space ship to film the earth it must have come from some where and the sound effect in it. Without giving away your secrets, were they created in Apple's Motion? Whats to stop one from modifying a pre-built effect and selling the footage?

I'd also assume the kid on the phone must be yours otherwise how would you handle the permissions and their cut of the royalties? I'm not trying to pin you down, just thinking of what the guidelines for selling footage since I have no experience in such matters.

One other thing I assume HD 720 is prosumer for format interlace and progressive or is just progressive?

Thanks for the feedback.

True, I do put some time into this, but I kinda like the work. I guess I'll get tired of this eventually, but I don't mind for now. I tend to do most of my work while watching Lost or Biggest Loser (the computer is right next to my TV).

I have no idea how my stuff is used by the buyers. Sure, I'd like to know, but I guess it's just not possible. I hear people who've been doing this longer has seen their stuff on the Discovery Channel or History Channel occasionally. In fact, I now see stock clips in cable programming more and more. Perhaps someday I'll catch my stuff.

True, most of the clips sold from my portfolio are effects, but as the weather improves here, I'll get more outside stuff shot. We'll see how it goes then.

All my effects are generated in After Effects.

The kid on the phone is the son of a friend of mine. I told them I'd like to get some shots of them for resale, and they were OK with it. In fact, they rather enjoyed it. I paid the kid $50 for the session, and their parent had to sign a waiver so it's all legal.

As far as reselling stock, that's not permitted. All stock purchased must be for end-use only. I, of course, can't regulate that, however.

My camera shoots 1440x1080 progressive or interlaced. I shoot everything at 30p, and sometimes I downsize the clips to 1280x720, just to make it "crisper."

That was a lot of questions. I hope I answered them all. When a sale comes in, it's exciting. In fact, as I write this, a clip of mine sold on RevoStock: Affordable Stock Video Footage, After Effects Projects, Music and Sound Effects

I just completed a short stock demo reel, too. If you're interested in seeing it, click below:
OrlowskiDesigns.com - Royalty-Free High-Definition HD Stock Footage - Pittsburgh, PA

To answer the original question:

I'm still working about the same amount as usual, but royalties from previous projects are down about 50% from last year... which means I have to start working more. Bah.

I've thus far funded my own endeavors... I'm currently laid off, luckily I purchased equipment, so I can get tapes as I'm able and shoot stuff anyway.

Oddly enough for me, I've been hired to work on a documentary that explores the effects of the current economy. So in a weird twist of fate, the bad economy, got me a job.

Love it!!

I've dropped off quite a bit since the 1st of the year. I now find myself in the uncomfortable position of having to ..."gulp"...market. Fortunately I have very low overhead and can survive for a while on my cash reserves. The slow down is giving me the opportunity to work on a few "passion" projects as well as having time to do more training to up my skill level. I also have somewhat steady work from my old employer teching live events. I'll be running lights and IMAG for Doug E Fresh this weekend. Oh the thrill. It pays cash on the barrel at the end of the night so I'll take it.

Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media

as far as affecting my finished products, I have noticed the tendency to push it out the door a little faster and be a little less demanding of gettign exactly the right colors, the right sequences, etc. The hurry is so that I can concentrate on figuring out how to get more clients!

We've been just as busy as ever, but in different areas. Our video work has dropped off considerably but our web, graphic design and software development has picked up enough to fill the void.

thx James for the response.

to answer the org question. I got laid off from my full time job as a media aid and now trying to see if I can expand my freelance video/photo/design to pay the bills while I look for another full time job.