Posts by Smudgethis

GloriousVids said

Possible solution

Maybe the Devs can add this: When people are purchasing an item that is an After Effects Project File, a notification should pop-up telling them that they need Adobe After Effects in order to edit this file. Than the buyers actually need to check a box stating that they agree and know about Adobe After Effects being required to edit the file.

+1

felt_tips said
To those gasping in outrage at $500 to customize a logo file… Wake up!

$500 to customize a file, render, compress and upload it is a perfectly normal sum in the world of professional motion graphics. Oh…. and it’s never, ever, ever “just press render”. When you take on something like that, you take on a contract and a responsibility.

I know that Videohive skews your world-view somewhat. But c’mon… if you want to be the big motion graphic design professional, then stop thinking like an amateur.

My day rate is £350 which I think equates to around $500-550, and I have no problem with charging that to clients. What I do have an issue with is this idea that someone who has mistakenly purchased a template for $15 not realising it needs after effects (be that due to a language barrier or whatever reason) and then finding it will cost professional day rate to customise.

From the messages here it does sound like this happens a fair bit, not often, but sometimes. I just wondered if maybe the software requirements should be made a little more prominent to the buyer before they click purchase.

Is this the responsibility of the author or videohive?

P.s. this is more the sort of discussion I was hoping for, not a debate on whether we charge to much for a professional service.

J

maupa said
I’ve got over 10 of this emails in the last 12 months on my black 3d logo. The fiirst time I was shocked. Now I offer them an custom rendering for 500 dollar and never get an answer. This is the best way for me. maupa

This sounds like a horrible way of forcing poor naive individuals into paying a fortune for somethig that they thought they could get for a very low price.

I have to say I’m not too in favour of this mercantile approach and was looking more for creative ways in which we can help the customer, not fleece them out of hundreds of dollars.

I just got this comment on my profile…

“Hello,

I wanted to have a promo for my website and I brought this. I thought I will get some executable file which I can run by update text to produce a nice video. But I don’t see anything. I have a windows operating system. Please can you let me know how I can proceed ? What are the requirements for running your application. Sorry I am complete newbie in this ? I just just brought this and unzipped and unable to proceed further. Even a video shows some kind of editor which I don’t have. Please provide some info. If this is not possible, Is it possible for refund. Please reply”

This led me to thinking, how obvious is it to buyers that what people are buying is in fact not a stand alone application but a template that requires a specific piece of software (i.e. After Effects) to customise.

To us as authors it must seem so obvious that the above message might even raise a smile but if you have no prior knowledge of motion graphics and want to create a video without the experience or education on the subject, is it clear that you need Adobe After Effects to edit and render the templates available on this site?

Thoughts?

These two templates have been used by a number of (predominantly) American Church groups and I have been asked to customise them on a number of occasions for other religious groups.

Give me a shout if you need help with customisation james@smudgethis.com

and p.s.

Hipsters don’t listen to dubstep anymore. I’d tell you what they do like but it’s so obscure you’d never have heard of it.

Flay said
to compose “real” music takes huge amount of effort, learning, talent and understanding of harmony, disharmony, resonance, dissonance, etc. You don’t need to know all this to compose dubstep.

I am not sure if there is sarcasm in here, but if not then it is a huge insult to those talented artists who do create very good ‘real’ music within the genre of dubstep.

This… she said yes.

I have a few business presentation templates in my portfolio or email james@smudgethis.com if you need something bespoke creating.

Kind regards James

I once got this brief from a client who wanted a logo animation…

“I think the tone should be: Credible but not over-earnest. Grown up but not boring. Light of touch but not glib or cheesy. Perhaps witty, but definitely not overly comedic. Friendly but not over familiar. Confident but not arrogant. Contemporary but not contrived. Light but not lightweight.”

I’m still waiting for a reply to my email in which I asked for the brief to be supplied in English.