[FCP-L] Rant: Presumptive Clients

First, backstory: I am primarily a commercial editor & motion designer. But sometimes I do off-projects such as color grading & design for local docs. I freelance at facilities or occasionally work from home, where I have minimal gear.

One project coming up is just such an off-project: color grading a doc destined for the local PBS station, which is happening in a couple weeks. It is a small outfit with a couple of MacPros, an HDTV, small SD broadcast monitor (no video cards, though), and a couple HVX-200s.

<rant>

Today, I received this in an email:

"I'm hoping I can get you to help us output HD files to HDCam tape for Public TV. Can I ask when you might be able to do that anytime after 12/19?"

I'm hired on to color grade, and now I'm being asked to arrange HD output to a deck which they don't have through a video card the also do not have. Knowing the discount I am giving them, I know they don't have the budget to rent a deck, nor do I know of facilities in the immediate area who both have an HDCam deck and would be willing to donate the time necessary to arrange output. But somehow it's presumed I can just take care of it.

At least this is coming up now and not on my second-to-last booked day with them.

I understand that one can't be expected to fully knowledgeable in every aspect of (post) production, especially in a small documentary outfit, and maybe I'm making too much out of it, but it drives me nuts when things like HD deliverables aren't thought out before production starts, when the choice to shoot and post in HD (720p, actually) has already been made.

</end rant>

<<If my client finds this and is reading it, I'm sorry. But we've probably already talked this through.>>

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