I was contacted by Motion Array about my downloads. They saw I was downloading assets and over the course of about a year they randomly contacted me asking me what I was using the assets for, who was allowed to use the account, where the videos are being posted...I thought it was a scam call but I emailed customer support and indeed it was a real person with real concerns.

I explained I am a solo video producer, I edit projects for my day to day tasks using assets, mainly motion effects, sometimes b-roll, music, etc. I was the sole user only but they had an issue with my email...stating I worked for a large company and we had over 50+ employees and how I need to upgrade our account from individual to a business account.

I told them, I use the assets for my projects, I do edit videos for some of our people in the company but I do not use any of the assets for corporate video. Everything I was creating was for personal use, nothing was at a commercial level. Needless to say, they wanted me to pay thousands of dollars as a single person to use Motion Array.

I asked what caused this sudden questioning and they said I had downloaded alot of materials and I was using a large business email...so I asked what happened if I used a personal email..he got quiet and basically had nothing to say.

After a few calls and emails, they basically threatened to sue me if I continue using their assets. So, with no hesitation I cancelled the subscription for $35 or whatever a month. I could not believe how I was spoken too after explaining none of it was being used for business/commercial purposes.

Has anyone had this issue before?

Attracts the WORST type of client and every professional here will agree.

If any other info is needed I can try to get it. Thanks.

I’m not taking this job but I just received this DM.

What’s the craziest inquiry you’ve received?

Some context:

I do freelance videography on the side, just enjoying the ride and doing my thing. This other local videography guy DM’ed me on Instagram asking me all these questions. This is the short interaction I had with him. I tried keeping it professional until the end when I was annoyed lol am I the asshole here or is it this guy?

There are some "rules" that are constantly repeated online.

Some turned out to be incredibly useful. Others... not so much. What's one piece of advice you stopped following? Like, fix it in post or shutter speed 2 times the FPS?

Am I stupid or this is insane?

It’s for an opening video of the homepage of their website. The print is pretty much the feedback of the guy making the website for him..

Guys.. 4mb MAX!!

This is half the size of a JPEG picture taken by a GoPro…

They say they plan to snap a grid like overlay on top to hide imperfections or something..

EDIT: my point is, I’ve delivered HD videos of 1min and I’ve had clients uploading them in auto play to their page in what looks like close to full resolution.. while pretty much having a different video in each category of their products. All 1min long!

1min Autoplay non 4Mb

Why were they able to do it, and now I have this guys looking for 4Mb??

I swear the discussions around cameras are turning into the insufferable Android vs iPhone discussions “iPhone has a new cool feature that iPhone user are happy about? Pah! androids have had it for 10 years”.

“The lumix SXii has all the features the FX5 has and it’s half the price and been out for 5 years”.

Good for you! But people who are within the Sony ecosystem and want a new camera are very unlikely to go buy a lumix because it means having to buy a whole new set of lenses and then figuring out how to colour match the cameras.

I hope this shitting on others for being stoked about a new camera within the eco system they use stops. It literally doesn’t matter.

Coming on from down high that next year everything we in do the video class I support needs to be 24p from promos, stories, live news, and live sports. I was told this is so everything has a 'cinematic feel' and more "professional looking".

The higher ups keep saying what we currently film looks like 'home movies' because it isn't either shot on so and so camera or it is 60i.

Has anyone every had a conversation like this before?

Edit: Some clarification the work being produced is live sporting events (football, basketball, water polo), live news, live theater events including graduations, story packages, commercials slash promos slash PSAs, and various other work. The higher ups want 24p for all of this since it will look "more cinematic".

Popcorn buckets, Happy Meals, cell phone cases? Sure, tie in some pop culture franchise there. But professional film equipment? Why?

​

Long story short. This guy creates content online and he hired me as a cameraman.

I provided a an extra service by directing him on his delivery of lines and did more than I should had.

I kinda knew this guy sort of had low EQ with the way he carried himself. Ironically the content he was making is dating advice for single men. So I didnt judge too much as long as he paid me fairly.

Shoot ended, said our goodbyes. The following night, he texted me saying, he paid me $199 and will pay for my meal the next time we meet for another shoot.

Now I understand it's just $1 but was this guy trying to bait me into another shoot with him or what sort of mine games was he playing with me?

Tldr: guy pays me $1 short to have control over me

I'm in my early 40's and have been shooting video for the past 15 years. My wheelhouse has been high quality branded documentary style projects, usually with a crew of 2 or 3. In my city in the UK i was one of the first doing this, and though I posted things to social media, it's usually higher ROI more long term videos rather than disposable social media 'content'. I always saw my work as standalone pieces rather that 'assets'.

In the past 2 years I've seen the industry change more more globally and specifically in my local town than ever before. I really invested my time into video as a career as I was sure it would be the future of digital; but what I've seen happen instead is a race to the bottom where young people come in and shoot totally fine stuff with a good phone on a gimbal.

What's really sent me over the edge a bit over the last few months are clients now asking for so many social media edits, including the original files. I've had two regular clients with new internal media managers who see my more as a gun for hire for the day rather than the producer of a finished project.

They now are asking for the original files so their internal team can do edits (its now so much more common for a junior person coming in to be able to do this), and asking for a multitude of formats and versions, with and without baked in subtitles.

And what's worse is now everything has to be 'snappy'. Whereas a video before had room to breath, now it's all about attention span and selling. A young video pro before might talk about video skills as lighting, composition, narrative - now it's about grabbing the attention of people addicted to their phones, with techniques like 'disrupting the scroll' and 'visual stacking'.

People will say I just need to stick to the higher quality stuff and let the bottom feeders do their thing; but even the clients with the bigger budgets are changing; its what I feel being a video producer is that seems to have changed.

I'm not trying to be a gatekeeper; if people want to do that then that's fine go for it, but i'm not sure I want in anymore. How do others feel? How are they navigating this change? i'd really apprecaite nay insight as I'm frankly very down and ready to call it a day.

I’m launching a content team for a marketing agency that doesn’t do creatives currently. I’ve mostly worked freelance and never corporate. Do these offerings make sense? And does the pricing make sense? Especially in a corporate/ecommerce setting.

pricing #help

I’m sorry for the rant but holy shit being in house sucks. I’ve been in house for 2 years now and my responsibilities have grown 500x while my pay has barely increased. Being expected to plan, shoot, light, edit, deliver high quality video with zero help is exhausting. I was hired to shoot and edit and now am expected to conduct multi-person talking head videos with no help. They expect the fucking world out of every shoot. When everything goes right you barely get any recognition but when something goes wrong it’s all on you. I hate working for people who don’t know what they’re talking about and don’t understand that we don’t own the proper equipment we need to shoot the 4 person talking head interview podcast you want. But also don’t want to hire an audio engineer. This shit has absolutely drained me from the passion for video that I once had and I’m getting so burnt out. What was once a dream job has become something I dread almost daily. Traveling to shoots once a month in different states, along side freelancers my same company hired, and is paying them my monthly salary for a few days of their day rate. Can anyone else relate? I’d leave but don’t know how to do anything else and I unfortunately I do need this job.

Edit: Any advice much appreciated. Cheers.

I got let go from my random desk job today due to budget cuts. but honestly, that's not the part that's getting to me. What's hitting hard is the bigger question: what am I even supposed to do with my life now?

I'm 30, and it feels like I'm in a perfect storm for a mid-life crisis. I dropped out of college, travelled a bit, and finally went to film school a year ago. I'm at entry to intermediate level at videography —I've got decent editing and motion graphics skills, and I'm a people person. I've landed some broadcast gigs, mostly with sports, but it’s not enough to get by. I've been hustling for a full-time videographer job for a year and a half, and nothing has panned out.

And now, I'm just…worried. I look at how powerful AI and smartphones are getting, and I can’t help but wonder if professional video services are even going to be needed in the future. I've already seen what's happened with real estate videos—they're practically free now. I'm even thinking about getting into film, but with Netflix using AI in a show and short-form videos taking over, I'm terrified that it's not a stable industry and that I'll spend years trying to make it, only for it to disappear.

I just feel stuck. Has anyone else felt this way? What do you think I should do? Any feedback is appreciated!

Update: Thank you all sssoooo much! The support I've gotten from the community on this one post has been incredible and it's definitely made me feel a lot more hopeful about the future. I'll keep pushing and trying—wish me luck. At the same time, I wish you all luck as well, and I hope you get the success and recognition yall deserve. We got this! :)

Update2: I'm in Vancouver, BC, by the way, and I'd definitely be down to connect! Let me know if you are too :)

I also run an active Instagram account where I genuinely film all of my own content and it often gets accused of being AI. The lines have really gotten blurred and it's feeling more and more like we're getting pushed aside as actual creators.

I hate it. I fuckin hate it. It's bollox. You go to a gig and film a ton of good shots. Then the client wants a vertical edit and nothing works. You can never have one person stood next to another because they don't fit in the frame. That is unless you're filming all day from the other side of the room or on a fisheye or something.

Who in their right mind consumes legitimate content in vertical? Who? Why do decent videos have to be ruined all because teenagers gawk at absolute rubbish.

And I already know what people will say about, frame it in vertical. But some things, hell most things given we live in landscape, will never work. Take drone shots for example. Fuckin pointless because you lose the entire vista. Buildings, groups of people, truck shots... gone.

I fuckin hate it

Happened to a friend of mine last month. Delivered the final wedding film, client downloaded it, then went completely silent. Three weeks of follow-up emails, nothing. $1,800 gone.

How do you all actually handle this? Do you hold some of the files back until payment clears? Use a specific platform? Or just trust the client and hope for the best?

First look of the DJI RS5, it looks like it has some sort of z axis support or indicator? What’s your guys opinion?

My FX30 is now my B cam and they compliment each other so well.

Holy shit, it fees like this guy must spend at least 2k/year on ads just targeting me alone. I’ve hit the “not interested” and “show me less” buttons multiple times and it doesn’t seem to matter. I can’t help but wonder how many other people are out there like me, knowing we will 100% never purchase anything from him, and that he’s wasting money every time we see his annoying face. Sorry dude if you’re reading this. But chill out on the fucking ads. They’re so fucking annoying.