Production Costs for Instructional video

[bubbaboom]

So, I presume that most folks wanting to pursue Tim's recommendation to develop an informational product muse have run into the question of not how much is this going to manufacture (because Tim covers that), but how much is this going to cost to produce (which Tim does not cover)!

Has anyone already gotten costing down on doing a decent video production for an average three-hour course?

No, I'm not interested in "just finding a mac", or "posting up white posterboard" to get good lighting, as in the end that will just be too much a headache and will look silly and get my product bad reviews.

There must be someone out there who has bitten the bullet and gotten into the costs of developing a decent (but by no means lavish) video, and I'd so much appreciate your sharing what you've learned.

[final_id]

Here's a suggestion. Look for some products that you think have good videos, and contact them to ask who put together their video. I noticed recently that a certain online furniture group had excellent (very simple) vids of people folding and unfolding their things, putting them away, etc. The only sound was a background rumble, kind of like a "techno" drone. And the people looked like the ycould easily have been average employees of the compay that makes the furniture. I'm sure if I had emailed them they would have let me know who made the videos.

[bubbaboom]

Thanks Cliff. I'm certainly willing to do that, and in fact already have a couple local production companies upon which I'm waiting for some quotes. However, my question here is not directed at them, but to muse creators and their experience doing this. I'm interested in hearing the experiences of how people have accounted for production costs in the testing of their information product muses that Tim recommends.

For example, PXMethod advertises the ability to learn the method in 3 hours, which I interpret to mean there is 3 hours of video. From some production companies' estimates I've seen out there on the web, they recommend budgeting $1,000 per minute of finished video work, which doesn't include fulfillment services. I don't believe for a minute that Tim spent $180,000 on creating the master copy of his course, nor that those who have created similar information product muses go to all that expense, and instead have some recommendations about what the real numbers should look like and why.

-K

[lyds]

Hey, check out mandy.com or post on craigslist. I teach video production and there are many talented people out there with equipment, experience and creativity that will work for reasonable day rates because they're just getting started. Ask to see a reel. Look for crystal clear sound and pretty lighting.

The more organized and clear you are about what you want and what you can spend, the better quality videomakers you'll convince to work with you -- everyone who is just starting out is looking to do good work.
Hope this helps!


hey... could this be the start of an e-book?...;-)