VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Moosevoice · Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 5:15 am Post subject: Client now wants new compression

So I did this project for a client that took a couple weeks. It chewed up a lot of my time (studio and otherwise) and has been essentially finished for a week now.
He's kind of flighty but knows what he wants. I'll put it like this: He knows what he wants it to sound like (tone of read, pace, etc.) but he hasn't thought through the technical details (compressed/uncompressed, file format) so he's kind of fumbling his way through that part.
He's been very kind and understanding of my time and having to redo stuff but the fact remains that this project almost ruined any Mother's Day celebration my family and I had planned. So any additions or major changes he's added $ to the budget and paid incrementally as well.
He is now 'thinking about using AAC compression' (files have been delivered in mp3 and then raw wav files too).
This audio is for a proposed a Hobo Tounge

he's creating (he's hired a company to build out the a Hobo Tounge

I guess) that's being pitched to presenting sponsors.
My question is: Do I need to charge him for this AAC conversion? It's kind of a pain for me because I don't want to do a batch conversion from MP3 because that'd be essentially compressing a compressed file so I'd have to open each project file (there's about 30 of them) and render them to AAC.
Do I charge him for this? I've been very gracious with my time and communicative with him over everything involving this project.
He, of course, has promised more work (especially if the a Hobo Tounge

works and is applied to other markets) so there's that consideration.
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 7:06 am Post subject:

That's completely up to you.
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Lee Gordon

DougVox · Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 9:56 am Post subject:

Moose, I've got a (sort of) unrelated question...

I've never understood why someone would post a link to their P2P profile here, in their email auto-signatures or even on their own web site. It seems that all it does is send people to a place where they can find (and hire) thousands of other people who do what we do.

Is there a great reason that I'm missing out on?
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Quicksilver · Been Here Awhile Joined: 29 Oct 2012 Posts: 217

"Thinking about AAC"?

Sounds like he has no clue what he's doing and doesn't want to be bothered to use Google.

There's an equation you can use to figure this out though..

How your month is going.
- How much you've been spending at the bar recently.
+ How much potential work you think he might bring.
- How big of a PITA it will be.
/ The quality of the weather or surf.

= Price for doing silly work

So if it's beautiful out and you're having a good month I'd charge him a lot. If it's windy and you currently feel poor I'd charge him a little.

Above all, charge something for using your time instead of Google's.

That's how everyone does it right? Laugh

Bish

todd ellis · Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 2:22 pm Post subject:

i agree with both lee & peter --- were it ME - i would explain that there IS a charge for this kind of thing (insert minimum studio fee here) but tell him i understand his plight in this situation and will take care of it gratis. THEN - and this is important --- send him a bill for said minimum fee with a zero balance. that way he associates the fee with the work & associates me with a great guy.
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heyguido · Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 6:41 pm Post subject:

Todd nailed it. Inoccent

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Don Brookshire
"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"

Lee Gordon · Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 12:43 am Post subject:

I actually agree with Todd (who has already partially agreed with me). The reason I suggested charging him was the bit about nearly ruining your family's Mother's Day celebration. That sent a signal to me that perhaps this client does not value your time. And one way to combat that attitude is to assign a value in the form of a line on an invoice.

It didn't occur to me that your reason for being sidetracked from family obligations might have been your own self-motivated effort to please your client, rather than him putting unreasonable demands on you. So I will modify my advice, based upon the circumstances. If the pressure came from him, bill him. If the pressure came from yourself, do what Todd said.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

georgethetech · Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 1:07 pm Post subject:

Yeah, always tell them what the service is valued at before gifting to the client... Batch convert the MP3's to AAC and be done with it. They are very unlikely to notice any issues, if done correctly.
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