Not my Words

July 21, 2010  /  Cameron Magee

Not my words, but this is one of the wiser things I've seen on line in weeks.

In referring to sound companies and production companies in general, these statements are true.

It is easy to get excited, run out and get a big fat loan, and buy the nicest sounding gear out there. You WILL sound good. You WILL look good. And you will never have to hold your own against anyone, because you can just show them the logo on your speakers and smile.

However, my respect is owed to the one who can take a little risk by making the decisions that are not self-supported by the huge price tag. No one can argue the quality of a BMW. I respect the man in the Toyota that works for his respect, and didn't spend 3x the money.

Anyways here's that quote I promised:

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"There will always be clients who will demand, and are willing to pay for, superior quality. However these people are in the vast minority.

As a general rule clients simply want for their needs to be met with a solution that provides a result that will be excellent to the casual observer, and competent to the astute observer.

The faster, smoother, more cost effective, or simpler that this solution can be provided, the happier the average client will be.

Once you have a faster, smoother, more cost effective, and simpler rig than your competitors, you will find that not only do have less hassles at gigs, but you will also auto-magically be cheaper. Additionally, with reduced complexity and a mindset geared to more complete-system logistical planning you will also find yourself to have a more reliable system.

There will always be (some) room for the providers willing to provide the best quality at any cost (monetarily or logistically), just as there will always be (some) room for the providers who will cut any corner to give you a cheap gig. However in this day and age of relatively excellent end results being made on ever simpler and more compact systems I really think that the overall mindset of the industry needs to change.

I fear that there are numerous providers out there made up of excellent and otherwise well-meaning people that are in real risk of being steamrolled by a few "super-sound-co's". Companies that aggressively standardize their systems to the majority of needs, hone their logistics to a science and engineer the infrastructure for cost effectiveness, speed, and reliability front to back. These companies may not always sound the absolute best, but they would certainly prove to be highly viable businesses."

Nice Camera

July 21, 2010  /  Cameron Magee

An old and respected Author met an equally old and respected Photographer at a party. The author said to the photographer, "I've seen some of your work and I quite like it. You must have a very good camera". To which the photographer replied, "I've read some of your work also. You must have a very good typewriter".

Photo Editing

July 15, 2010  /  Cameron Magee

Photo editing is definitely a crazy thing.

This evening I was taking some photos for eBay downstairs. I turned the lens around and fired off a photo of my face to try something in editing.

It is absolutely amazing what you can do to an image.

In the images below, you'll see three steps.
1. the original image.
2. the corrected image.
3. the touched image.

THE ORIGINAL

Cameron 1 Original

In this case the exposure and overall photo are in pretty good shape from the beginning, so from here to the next step isn't too dramatic.

THE CORRECTED

Cameron 2 Corrected

From the original a few corrections are made to bring the image to life a bit. Skin tones pop a bit and the sharpness of the image draws in a small amount. From here typically the image is done.

I like to shoot images that out of the camera are in fairly good shape. A lot of guys today are very, very good at editing, and don't have to work as hard in the field because they can fix just about anything in Photoshop. Not my case. :) I need the images to be solid, because I'm very limited in my editing skills. You can find any image of mine, anywhere on the web, and I can promise you it has never seen Photoshop. Which is dumb really, in an age where everyone is using it. But, I choose to work extra hard in the planning and shooting stages, so that I don't have to be in front of my computer screen for hours.

THE TOUCHED

Cameron 3 Touched

Just for fun this time I decided to touch up the image. Everything you see here is still without Photoshop, and again my skills are limited, but the image cleaned up quite a bit.

I'm not much of a touch-up photographer. It's fine I suppose with it being my face that I'm erasing stuff, but I feel like it can be insulting to say, "you want me to erase that, right?". ouch. or, "oh you didn't want that erased, sorry I thought it needed to be" wow.

Anyway there's a look at the photo editing side of things. :)

I love shooting, but it's 2010, and editing is very much a reality of the industry.

thanks for reading!

Power Cables

July 13, 2010  /  Cameron Magee

Power Cables. Walmart carries them, yes. But they're bright orange, very thin low-guage wire, and they rarely roll correctly. Usually they're a big scrambled mess.

I try to order any power cables I can through the internet sites I've come to trust. They arrive black, in whatever guage you specify, and typically roll correctly after just a few "training" rolls. Love it. I always go the extra mile to get them this way, it's worth it to me.

1. MilSpec


I like these guys because they do 25ft, 50ft & 100ft. Also, more importantly, they willingly print your name on the cables. Right on the wire. I guess I should say, they write right on the wire. :) Very cool.
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2. DimmerRack


I trust these guys more than any of the other companies because they are true electricians making power distro's for the professional production industry.

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3. Cyberguys


Cyberguys has provided almost every cable in my house. However, their options on the large side are limited. I typically go to them for the shorter, smaller cables. Great stuff though.

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4. MonoPrice


I have ordered a bit from these guys and have been very very pleased, so, with them having the best price, I see them winning a majority of future work. :)