FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
We give a discount for agreeing to release your videos for free public access.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
We want to create a lasting partnership with you. By meeting your needs and assisting you to put on the best possible event, we hope to become a trusted partner in offering your future events, too. Below are the basic steps to help make that happen. Overview You contact us. We discuss your event and provide an estimate. Together we review and tweak your estimate and set expectations for deliverables. We review our business agreement and document the expected deposit, deliverables, and release process. You give us the go-ahead and we invoice you for the deposit and lock in your calendar dates. You pay the deposit as agreed. We work with you before your event to put together intro and exit clips. We discuss with your A/V people what we expect them to provide. We confirm all travel and communicate setup time with you, your A/V team, and your venue. We arrive and set up, remaining unobtrusive to your attendees and responsive to your needs as we capture your event. We deliver your video within hours, days, or weeks, as previously documented in our business agreement. We follow the release process for delivery of your videos per our agreement. We submit our final invoice and set expectations for future contact. That's a wrap! Roa2014 friday hug Friday Hug Ruby on Ales 2014, Bend, OR Technical Details Equipment The following equipment and processes are used for each track/room being recorded: 1 - Manned HD camera (used for primary speaker(s) coverage) 1 - Backup slide camera 1 - Hi-res slide recorder that goes in between the presenter's laptop and the projector (records hi-resolution output of exactly what is seen during the presentation, including slides, videos, live coding, etc.) 1 - Audio recorder that takes an auxiliary out from the house sound system to provide a crisp, clean audio track Post Production In post production we add a conference title slide or motion graphic, depending on what you prefer and what graphic resources are available. We can include one or more sponsor recognition slides, depending on how you've sold sponsorships. We then add in a presentation slide and a presenter slide. For the keynote presentations, depending on content, we'll spend more time in post production determining the best transitions between speaker dominance and slide dominance. For an example, see: Simplicity Matters - the density of the information on the slides will determine whether we bring them into a larger perspective. For the rest of the talks, we typically decide on a set position for presenter and slides, usually with slides dominating the screen, and then we don't transition dominance during the presentation. Licensing We will provide a discount on video services if you agree to release the videos under a Creative Commons license (presenters maintain their copyright on materials). Travel and Expenses We include estimates for travel, freight, and accommodations. No other expenses are involved. Deposit We typically require a 50% deposit at the time you commit to our services. The final 50% balance is due after all of the presentation videos have been produced and delivered to you or posted on the internet, depending on your choice. In the rare case of technical difficulties, we provide a reduction in charges pro-rated for any videos that are not delivered. Deliverables Depending on the option you choose, turn around time for videos can be same day or, more typically, 14-21 days. Redundancy For redundancy, the slides are recorded with the hi-res recorded as well as the third camera. Audio is captured on all cameras, as well as the audio recording device. The speaker is on the primary camera and the second camera. All aspects of the presentation are recorded in two or more places. What we ask for from your venue Access to the venue at least 90-120 minutes before the event's scheduled start - for multi-track/room events, this time could increase An auxiliary output at mic levels from the venue house sound system - we would prefer XLR or 1/4" jack, but we have adapters for most outputs Note: this is a key aspect of creating the best recordings possible - having crisp audio directly from mic'd speakers dramatically improves the quality of the finished video. We will put a HDMI or VGA distribution amplifier between the laptop and the projection system and capture our signal from there. Access to electricity for the various devices If we are doing livestream, a wired internet connection that can support a 2Mbps upload What we need from you We need you to provide the following, prior to us arriving on-site: A 1920x1080 image with your conference logo - this should be a jpg or png file A 1920x1080 image for each sponsor/set of sponsors to be included A hi-res version of your event logo or any brand/style guide you may have The name of the font that we should use for your title slides
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
Confreaks was founded in 2007 by two software engineers who wanted to be able to go back and watch the presentations they had seen in person, after the event was over. Without recording, we were limited to notes and perhaps a copy of the presenters' slides. This just wasn't enough. Confreaks, LLC was founded in February of 2007. We started off recording software development conferences in the Ruby open source community. Over the years, we have grown and evolved into a full video recording and production company. Our first conference was Mountain West RubyConf in Salt Lake City, Utah, shot with borrowed cameras and recorded to tape. Soon after that, we invested in our own equipment to record Ruby Hoedown, and then chronicled our first international conference in Norway in late 2007. We switched to high-definition(HD) cameras in 2009 and began offering live-streaming services in 2011. We have picked up a handful of repeat clients and earned a reputation for high quality services over the years. In 2014 we recorded 31 different software development events around the globe. In 2015 we started the year off with our second visit to Bangalore, India, where we recorded Garden City Ruby Conference. We are proud to be an active and contributing member of the various open source communities that make software development an exciting and energetic field.