Anyone collaborated over huge distances before?

[dubaifox]

There is a possibility that we may need to farm out some sound effects and sound design work for a project or two we are working on.

As we are in Dubai, how viable would it be for us to work with someone in LA or New York?

We might get a contract for a 13 part animation series which involves both original music and sound design and effects. The schedule is pretty tight and we might want to just do the music, and send the movie to a different company to do the sound effects and sound design elements.

What is the fastest way to transfer movies that are around 300 Megs?

Does anyone know what a good company would charge for a 22 minute episode for sound effects?

Any other sagely advice anyone can offer?

[C]

A fast way (and secure) to transfer the files would be Digidelivery.

As you are in Dubai (GMT +4 ?) that would give you a round the clock working if you could get a studio in LA, not sure what they would charge but if you were to upload your new versions at the end of your day (let's assume 7pm) then they would be ready for the US to work on by 9am their time. Digidelivery is very fast at this kind of transfer particularly if you have a server and they have a server in which case it's a local upload and download for both parties.

Don't know what a good studio would charge to be honest but I'm sure someone will chime in.

Sagely advice? Test test and test again before you start on the project. Make sure that you will be able to transfer a days worth of session to the other studio within an hour or so.

Good luck

[soundworx]

Considered working with an Amsterdam based Studio? You can use our FTP-server to upload the movie and download the demo's and finished movie. Standard rate here is about 4500 AED per day. Contact me if you want more information.

Kind regards,
Peter

[1150Post]

A fast way (and secure) to transfer the files would be Digidelivery.

Sagely advice? Test test and test again before you start on the project. Make sure that you will be able to transfer a days worth of session to the other studio within an hour or so.

Excellent sagely advice Transfer time being a little slower shouldn't hamper your process as long as the reciprocating studio adjusts its hours to accomodate the transfer time and doesn't negatively charge you for a slower transfer.

FTP works well also, though a little slower and not as secure.

We do this everyday. Communication and Organization are KEY. If you are going to be working in this way, I would set up an email group where every discussion involving the project (style notes, technical problems, schedule changes, overall concerns, etc...) was copied to everyone involved. And I would do this early on in the process, not right before you start sending episodes off for Design and Mix. Sometimes, over great distances, things can bog down over a very small issue. Having everybody aware of everything going on with the series is a good way to make certain that all processes are maximized for efficientcy, without having anybody waste time "sleuthing" a problem.

Also, since you've already probably recorded all of the narration for the animators, sending duplicate copies of those sessions, along with copies of the session notes can also help to eliminate and hiccups along the way should the audio house find a problem with a read. This can be done via FedEx prior to starting work on the series.

Cheers!

[The golfer]

Hello Dubaifox,

Yes it is possible to collaborate over huge distance. As long as you have a reliable fast access connection, the world is yours. But Brad is right:"Communication and Organization are KEY".
We like to keep notes attached to every file uploaded to our secure server so anybody working on the project can access the infos. Also try to use a secure server connection when transfering your client's movies and your music files. The best file format for movies transfert is H.264. I use it all the time for approbation. It is half the bandwith of mpeg-2 with twice the quality. But your client need quicktime 7 and most of them have it. We convert this format to DV before working in PT. It works better and faster.

We do a lot of animation in montreal , Canada and the going price for a half hour show is between $8000.00 and $11,000.00 CDN for broadcast quality TV depending if it's a dialog or action oriented animation series. This include dialog editorial, sfx, ambiances, foley, full mix and M&E. (This exclude music).

Good luck with your project!

[minister]

I am in the US Midwest and I regularly work with a Director in Amsterdam; I occasionally hire Sound Editors from LA; and i am working with a Director in Texas.

it is no problem.

get a good ISP plan and a big fast DSL (the best ones now are faster than Cable. mine is 768 UP/ 70000 (yup 7k) DOWN (MAX not always obtainable). [this is from QWEST]

e-mail. ftp. skype. phone.

[EarHole]

I'm in SF and just did a project with a Director /Editor / Music Crew & Voice Over Talent were all in Sweeden.
Besides the time change and the Pal format on temp picture it was pretty smooth.
Just did a layback today and it's done... unless there's more client changes

As stated before, communication is key. In our case, English was the second language for the Sweedes, and you just need to remember to make the instructions clear cut and make sure everyone understands what's next.

[cq sound]

We’ve done major feature movies where post including sound editorial was done in London or New York and I was working here in L.A. no problems at all. Digidelivery, e-mail, phone are the key factors. We try not to use ftp sites anymore (can be slow and unreliable) and try not to set up remote server access, mainly for security reasons. The studios have tightened the security requirements tremendously.

Good Luck

peter

IMDB

[Serge Perron]

I've often pondered collaborating a huge distance away from LA. From these posts, it sounds technically feasible. Golfer, how are things in Montréal?

Serge

[cmaynes]

Digidelivery and FedX/DHL-

I have collaborated on projects all over the world, including Russia and this was very effective-

The banking issues might be more sticky though- Wire Transfers work well for that-



charles maynes