KitPlus | Articles

Selling your business Part 1 of 3

In this first of three articles on selling a business, Peter Savage explains why it is not easy to determine the true value of a businessThe industry buzzed this month with news that Simon Meikle at Mitcorp was selling out to fellow reseller CVP. Amounts, money valuations, multiples were all bandied around so I thought it a good time to run over so...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 July 2008

Protect your boys toys

In a recent survey it was estimated that there were 70 million mobile phones, in the Uk. More than one phone for every member of the population. This figure is staggering in its self, but then consider the replacement value, which is in excess of £500 billion pounds. Makes your eyes water. We have dipped into our pockets, or swiped our cards, to fi...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 July 2008

Royalty Free Music Can Save You A Fortune

How important is music to your production? Think of the two notes John Williams used in Jaws to signal danger and to sometimes mislead the audience into believing that a great white shark was lurking in the hidden depths. Music plays such a crucial and powerful role in the visual world to be overlooked at your peril. Notice how suddenly your edit c...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 June 2008

The Benefits of Lens Add-ons

Zoom lenses on broadcast and professional video camcorders are wonderful tools for the videographer, allowing quick and easy focal length change. But ultimately, a zoom lens is limited on both the wide and telephoto end of its zoom range. On higher-end camcorders there is generally a choice of lenses, and thus zoom range, when the camera is purchas...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 June 2008

Lender of the last resort or good use of your assets

Recently several people have asked me why companies use factoring or invoice discounting as a way of dealing with debtors. “Are they in trouble?” and “Is it the last straw before throwing in the towel?” were the most common questions. So I thought I would talk you through these types of sales finance, dispelling a few myths by explaining when they...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 June 2008

One man and his boat

It all started when I decided to build a boat in the garage. A fifteen-foot gaff rigged pocket cruiser to be precise. I bought the plans from a naval architect in Wiltshire and had the hull planks computer cut by a specialist boat builder in Kirkcaldy. Then I searched the Internet for a DVD about boat building for beginners but found nothing. So I...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 May 2008

The Reflecmedia Chromaflex portable chromakey system

The use of keying a foreground image over a background image to form a composite is an established and widely used technique in film and TV production. For most cameramen this will usually involve them in shooting a subject against a coloured background, typically green or blue. Sounds simple but reality can be far from it, anecdotes abound of nigh...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 May 2008

Setting up in business: Le Christmas Crunch

Well, I just fancied having a break as we have been slogging away for almost six months – planning, starting, measuring and then employing. So, phew, it’s the Christmas break. Well haven’t we done well to get here? You certainly have. And now for a little topical help: the credit crunch that is currently the focus of so many media reports. What doe...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 May 2008

Drive Carefully. Youre Tough, but youre not Invincible. T...

The Army has always suffered from a high number of off-duty Road Traffic Accidents. This is hardly surprising. We deliberately seek to attract young men and women who are seeking fun and adventure. It has always been a worry to the chain of command that high numbers of young soldiers have ended up being killed tragically on the roads in their own t...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 April 2008

Chromakey questions

What does a specialist paint give me that a DIY superstore (matt blue or green emulsion) doesn’t?VFX Bluescreen Solutions paints are pigment based, as opposed to DIY chains ‘stain’ based. Pigment based paints ensure consistency and intensity of colour, against the stain based paints because they are ‘pure’, instead of being made up of various other...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 April 2008

Chromakey tips and tricks.

Chromakey is one of those slightly magical effects that can still bring out the child in all of us. Also childlike are the frustrated tantrums you throw when you have been trying for hours to get a decent key, and realise you will have to pay some compositing wizard to rescue the shot. There are now 2 distinctly different ways to shoot chromakey fo...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 April 2008

Making Common Sense of Production Health and Safety

Programme preventionAs many of you may know the presenter of a well known motoring program has a bugbear with the subject of health and safety in programme making. In the past he has often attacked health and safety professionals for becoming far too wrapped up in an ‘absolute’ approach to risk management – focussing on minute detail at the expense...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 April 2008

The Sony PMW-EX1 what can we expect?

We cannot ignore the fact that tapeless acquisition and workflow has become a ‘hot topic’ in recent months with programme makers recognising that like it or not, tapeless acquisition in HD is where television production is headed. Mitcorp have always been at the forefront of technology educating and supporting our customers with full workflow solut...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 March 2008

Setting up in business: Taking on staff

Peter Savage continues his series, based on 19 years’ experience, guiding you through the stages and decisions that come with establishing your own business. So far we have looked at getting going, those anxious first days and being pro-active about building your business. Hopefully, in your fledgling company, and through your hard work and plannin...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 March 2008

Cheap insurance deal or no deal?

The media sector views third party liability as the third biggest threat to their business after reputational damage and failure to innovate, according to Aon’s Global Risk Survey. But in today’s claim driven world, are you taking enough notice of what insurance you’re buying to help protect your business?Rebecca Dalgetty, team leader of Aon InFocu...

Submitted by Dennis Lennie

Published 01 March 2008