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PC BIZ of the MONTH

Excerpts from the book, "101 Computer Related Businesses",
Copyright 1994 by Michael A. Tims.

BIZ-038  DESKTOP VIDEO SERVICE

Just as with Desktop Publication, Desktop Video Services are based
on brand new technologies that is changing daily.  This burgeoning
field is so new, the guide lines are still being written and
Desktop Video Services will surely impact the world of video just
as Desktop Publishing has done to printing.

Basically, Desktop Video refers to using a computer and newly
developed software to create full-motion video at the desk.  It is
a blend of computer-generated text or graphics with video images
from a videotape or video camera.  The resultant images are then
able to be edited with the computer and software.

Just as output from Desktop Publication takes many forms, output
of the new Desktop Video service includes such forms as Desktop
Presentations, Computer Graphics, Video Production Services,
Television Commercials, Special Interest Video Tapes, Corporate
Videos and Visual Aids.

The Markets for Desktop Video Services are just as vast as for
Desktop Publication Services.  Instead of using stills and
overheads, corporations and professionals are turning to Desktop
Video to provide animated videos for use as sales and training
tools.  Full motion videos are fast becoming the new standard for
presentations.

Full-motion presentation software for both the IBM and the
Macintosh is developing rapidly, getting more powerful and more
feature packed with each release.  Desktop Video software programs
such as "Storyboard", "Macromind", "Authorware", "Persuasion" by
Aldus, "Action" by Macromedia and others are currently available.

Even individuals can use the services of the free-lance Desktop
Videographer.  By taking raw video shot with a camcorder and
editing it with the computer and software, you can produce a
product that looks as good as any professionally produced
broadcast television production.  With the aid of Desktop Video,
homemade party or wedding videos can be made to look as good as
"One Life to Live" and little league baseball videos made to look
like major league broadcasts.

Although most free-lance Desktop Video Services charge by the job,
the hourly equivalent would average anywhere from $40 to $150.

Advertise your Desktop Video Service as you would A Desktop
Publishing Service or any other business, with ads in the Yellow
Pages and local newspapers being just one way to promote it.
Become known to computer organizations and computer consultants so
they will keep you in mind when your skills are required for a
particular job.  If you specialize in any one particular area of
Desktop Videos or specialize in working with any particular
industry, use direct mail sent to the specific market in larger
cities.  Check newspapers for want ads from businesses seeking
graphic-arts or presentation personnel, offering to do their
back-up or overflow work. In addition, join any organizations
devoted to the subject of video, such as:

          Professional Videographers Association of America,
          2030 M Street N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC., 20036.

Books and magazines on the subject of Desktop Video are just
starting to emerge in larger numbers and include the following:

     AV Video Magazine, Montage Publishing, 25550 Hawthorne
     Blvd., Torrence, CA., 90505.

     Camcorder Magazine, Miller Magazines, 2660 East Main St.,
     Ventura, CA., 93003.

     Computer Graphics World Magazine, Pennwell Publishing Co.,
     Box 987, 1 Technology Park Dr., Westford, MA., 01886.

     Computer Pictures Magazine, Electronic Pictures Corporation,
     2 Village Square, West  Clifton, NJ., 07011.

     Desktop Video Handbook, by David Land, Multimedia Computing
     Corporation, 3501 Ryder St., Santa Clara, CA., 95051.

     Everything You Wanted to Know About Home Video Editing (But
     Nobody Had the Answers), by John Johnson, Video One
     Productions, 3474 Dromedary Way, Suite 1304, Las Vegas,
     NV., 89116.

     Presentation Products Magazine, 513 Wilshire Blvd., Suite
     344, Santa Monica, CA., 90401.

For those who may be interested in purchasing a Videography
franchise, contact Video Data Service, 24 Grove St., Pittsford,
New York, NY., 14534.  The franchisees mainly are involved in
taping weddings and parties, making film-to-tape transfers, taping
legal depositions, as well as duplicating and editing videotapes.

You might want to investigate the following books on desktop video,
including:

     "Making Movies on your PC" by David Mason & Alexander
     Enzmann, Waite Group Press, 200 Tamel Plaza, Corte Madera,
     CA., 94925.

     NewMedia Magazine, Hypermedia Communications, Inc., 901
     Mariners Island Blvd., Ste. 365, San Mateo, CA., 94404.

     Flash Magazine, Blacklightning Publishing, Inc., Riddle
     Pond Rd., West Topsham, VT., 05086.

Because desktop video is so memory and computer speed intensive, we
would recommend the fastest computer possible, a 386 based CPU with
an added math co-processor (or a 486 with a built-in math
co-processor) would be recommended.  You might also investigate the
graphics accelerator boards which fit into an expansion slot of your
PC.  They have their own video RAM which speeds-up screen re-draw,
etc.

Prices for the 486 CPU and the even faster "Pentium" (aka 586) have
been falling rapidly.  At the time of this writing, a fully outfitted
486 multimedia-ready computer hovered around the $2000 mark, with the
Pentium in the $2500 to $3000 range.  A graphics accelerator board
runs about $150.

When running Windows programs, graphics intensive applications, or in
this case digital video manipulation programs, a lot of
dynamic memory (usually called RAM-Random Access Memory) is used.
If you were just using the computer for wordprocessing or other light
duty tasks, 2 MB (Megabytes) of 70-ns (nanosecond) or faster RAM would
be minimal.  Most PC's, nowadays, come equipped with motherboards
capable of holding 32 MB or even 128 MB of RAM.  Start out with at
least 8 MB of RAM and expand your system as the need arises.

Graphics and video intensive programs produce large files and most
will, therefore, require a large hard disk with a lot of storage
capacity.  Whatever amount of hard disk storage you were thinking of,
double it.  Think of 350 MB of hard disk storage as a starting point,
with larger drives of over 1 Gigabyte not being out of the question.

Besides the computer itself, additional office equipment might
consist of a dot matrix printer which will probably suffice for most
printed output you would have for in house use, memos, etc., although
for more professional looking letters or if you will be doing your
own advertising circulars, that you may be sending to prospective
clients, a laser printer would be preferable.  The newest models for
personal use have up to 600 dpi (Dot Per Inch) resolution and carry
street prices less than $1000.

One of the new FAX/modems might be a good addition to your
computer set-up over a stand-alone FAX machine.  A FAX/modem is an
electronic device that connects a computer to the phone line (much
like a plain modem) and enables the computer to act as a FAX machine.
A FAX/modem can be an internal type called a FAX board that plugs
into an expansion slot inside your computer.  External FAX/modems are
more costly but are easier to connect to your PC.  In either case,
the FAX/modem allows you to send a file as a FAX document to any
stand-alone FAX machine or to receive a FAX document which can be
viewed, stored as a file, or printed out on your printer.

A telephone answering machine which can sense the difference
between FAX transmissions and voice  may also come in quite handy
in the home office, although you will probably want to have a
second phone line installed to promote a more professional image.
A second line would also cut down on personal call interruptions
during your "working" hours.  If you have the phone company install a
second line under their "teenager line" program, you might not have
to pay extra for a commercial hook-up or service.

You may also wish to investigat the newest digital color still
cameras which can take color photographs, store them on an internal
floppy disk, and then import them into the PC for editing,
manipulation, printing, etc.  Models have been developed by Kodak,
Canon, Logitech and others.  Following is a partial list: Kodak DCS
200, Canon RC-570, Logitech Fotoman, Leaf Digital Camera Back.

Commercial software developed for the PC which can change or modify
digital video and audio and can work with a sound board, is
exemplified by the following programs:

     "Super Show and Tell", by Ask Me Media, 7100 Northland
     Circle, Ste. 401, Minneapolis, MN., 55428.

     "Bravo", by Alpha Software Corp., P. O. Box 8987,
     Waltham, MA., 02254-9770.

     Deos Video, Inc., 800 Turnpike St., North Andover,
     MA., 01845.

     Video Data Services, 30 Grove St., Dept. E, Pittsford,
     NY., 14534.

In addition to the special video software you will be using, the
basic business software requirements for a business of this type would
consist of the usual word processing, database, accounting and
personal and business income tax preparation software.  As with most
of the business ideas presented in this book, I feel that properly
selected SHAREWARE (try-before-you-buy type software) will prove
to be more than adequate for all your basic business software
needs.  Using shareware when you are first starting a business can
save you hundreds of dollars in start up costs.  I have found most
shareware to be as good, if not better, than high priced commercial
software packages.

For word processing software, I would recommend either of two fine
shareware programs.  The first is "Super WP", an excellent WordPerfect
clone that has many features superior to the commercial program.
The second is "PC-Write", said to be one of the finest
wordprocessor programs available at any price.

A database program is usually needed to keep track of customers,
client data, mailing lists and many other forms of data, etc.  The
shareware program, "PC-File", is an excellent shareware database
program that has features such as custom report writing, letter
writing with mail merge, data analysis, plus charts and graph
support.  "PC-File" also features dBase III and Clipper
compatibility, should you ever wish to write a custom application
for your business.

Every small business needs bookkeeping software to keep track of
income and expenses.  What they don't need is a full blown
accounting package that takes more time than the business itself.
The shareware program, "Medlin Accounting", is an easy to use,
time saving IRS approved single entry bookkeeping system which is
more than adequate for the small-to-medium sized business.  It
features a general ledger module, an accounts receivable module,
an accounts payable module as well as an inventory module.

Another financial program I would recommend to any small
businessman, or individual for that matter, is the shareware
program, "Checkmate Plus".  "Checkmate Plus" is an easy to use,
yet powerful, checkbook style, double entry accounting system
which will also print checks on either laser or dot matrix
printers.

Spreadsheet programs are sometimes required by the small business
and I would concede that the industry leader is the commercial
program, Lotus 1-2-3.  However, an excellent clone to Lotus 1-2-3
is the shareware program, "As Easy As".  Menu-driven for easy use
yet a very powerful spreadsheet program.  Features 8192 rows by
256 columns, dBase III import/export, macro playback, dot matrix
and laser printer support, worksheet linking, charting and much,
much more.

Communications software for use with telephone line and computer
modem is often needed by the small business.  By using
communications software, the home based entrepreneur is able to
access remote computers, informational databases, bulletin board
services (BBS's) client's computers, etc., right from his/her home
office over the phone lines.  This makes many high tech businesses
able to be run successfully from any place a phone can be
accessed.

The full featured shareware communications program I would
recommend is "Procomm Plus Test Drive".  This time-proven shareware
offering of a commercial program will prove perfect for most of your
communications needs, and has such features as a 100 number dialing
directory, script file capability and support for most major file
transfer protocols including XMODEM, TELINK, and COMPUSERVE B.
However, If you should purchase a fax/modem for your office, many of
them come already bundled with communications software.

For more information on these and other shareware, as well as
commercial software programs mentioned throughout this book, see
appendix A.

***********************************************************************

If you have been looking for ideas to make money with your own PC,
"101 Computer Related Businesses" is available on floppy disk, as a
virtual book, directly from the publisher for only $29.95 Postpaid.
State disk size preferred when ordering from, Matco Electronic
Publications, POB 509 Suite 310D, Roseville, MI., 48066-0509. Many
other PC business ideas and opportunities are also available.

Excerpts are carried on AOL in the SMALL BUSINESS FORUM-STRATEGIES FOR
BUSINESS FILE LIBRARYand EPUB FORUM-NEW FILES LIBRARY. They are also
carried on Delphi in the BUSINESS DATABASE. Just look for
"PC Biz of the Month".

Thanks, Michael A. Tims - [e-mail]
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