After some delay, the E3 PGC video is rapidly approaching completion. Here’s the shipping date (kinda) & lots of details on what’s been happening & the footage we have!
OK peoples. I’ve got bad news and good news for you all.
A video update has been long overdue, though for the longest time, there has been very little new information to report. Billy & I were hoping to have more to report to you at this time but circumstances haven’t been so great. But still, I would rather level with all of you than leave any one in the dark.
I only wish I had better news to report to you all. (“The video is finished! Please send the monies to…”). But the truth of the matter is that a project like this takes time. It takes even more time when PGC’s resources are spread over the U.S. and we all have very little experience in this sort of project.
The bad news is that we have suffered all kinds of hold ups and hassles. However, work on the project is progressing and that is all kinds of good news.
Here’s what’s up… As reported last time, there was an incompatibility with over 50% of our footage, including a couple of our interviews and much of the game footage. After trying and failing to come up with a solution, I sent the footage back to Rick Powers, and continued to oversee my pal Rob Avery edit our footage of the pre-show.
I mentioned Rob Avery in the last video update. Although putting mad hours into a hellish job in a convenience store to earn cash for filmmaking gear, Rob is working on editing the PGC E3 video every available moment he has. We’ve been in contact throughout the process & I’ve been supplying him with whatever resources I can to help speed the production (as much as I can afford to anywho). Re-dubbing the audio on the pre-show conference has taken longer than either of us would have liked… (Note to staff: when filming a professional video, do not talk in vicinity of the camera). However, editing on the Nintendo Pre-Show is now complete and he is moving on…
I saw an early version of the pre-show and lemme tell you, it is awesome & combines all the best angles and shots from Rick’s & my own footage. It’s very professional looking yet still capturing the amateur filmmaking aspect to it all. Rob is doing a fantastic job editing. You should all give his website, World Parody some hits to encourage him for his efforts.
Other good news is that I now have Rick Powers’ SUPER DUPER camera which he sent to me to speed things up. Boy howdy, it WILL speed things up—a lot. He was unable to re-dub his “incompatible” footage due the need to go job hunting. So, he sent off the camera & the tapes. I’d be well on my way, but Rick forgot a couple tapes and an important cable (so I can dub the 8 mm tapes to VHS; Rick’s camera is so fancy-schmancy )… Eek. But hey, it is all good. I have 90% of the footage in my possession now and the other 10% should be waiting for me at the post office as I write this. I have the music we’re dubbing into parts of the video, which is provided by mysterious PGC ally, Morphic Resonance. It rocks and will make for some great moments of frenzied cinema!
More good news is that I will start dubbing things to VHS and sending them off to Mike Hrusecky so he can complete work on the CDs and get those into replication. I may end up sending a bit of the footage at a time, we’ll see what happens. Either way, work on his end will be accelerating soon.
Even more good news concerns some of the video quality. As some of you may know, filming television screens often creates very visible scan lines on the film. These scan lines are apparent in the footage Rick shot of PGC playing Wave Race & Smash melee. The lucky thing is that we have a large chunk of footage of all of Nintendo’s games that are miraculously devoid of scan lines! Add this into some of the direct feed you’ve got and you end up with lots and lots of GameCube footage! You won’t believe your eyes – and you probably won’t believe me when I say that you barely notice graphics while you’re playing. GameCube is just that immersive. Rob was surprised the first time he saw Smash Melee in action.
“Is that what it looks like while you play it?!?” He asked, astonished.
“Yes,” I replied enthusiastically.
“HOLY CRAP I AM GETTING A GAMECUBE! I CAN’T WAIT TO PLAY IT!”
We’re talking about some pretty powerful footage here folks. The PGC video will have lots of it and then some.
Billy has been putting increasing pressure on me to come up with a date when it will be all done—understandably too, as the spoils of the video will help keep PGC afloat. I’ve been reluctant to commit, especially as one thing after another has held us up. First the footage incompatibility, then the need to re-dub audio completely… Working on less than a shoe-string budget and professional equipment, these difficulties have slowed things down considerably. That said we are finally on the fast track and there are no longer any obstacles in our way from wrapping things up.
So what will be the shipping date? I expect it might be July 15th. It will take at least another week for editing. Then there’s shipping out to respective parties for duplication, which will also take a week or more, before we send the final copy to Gaming Edge so they can begin shipping out to customers. When you take all that into account, it adds up to a bit of time.
We have a spot picked out for duplication. Actually, two spots. Billy is handling the CD duplicating, I am handing the video tape duplicating. We both have places picked out and are already making arrangements. As for the ship date, it could be sooner, it could be a bit later. But Billy wanted a guesstimate & I think the 15th is a fair one. At least at the rate things have been going. I just don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up and not deliver. Should things change either way, I will be sure to let you all know immediately.
I expect that we will start taking full orders & opening it up to other forms of payment (i.e. checks, money orders, pay pal) just before they go into replication, so stay tuned for information on that. Yes, thru GamingEdge, International shipping is available. GE can answer your questions about your region, though Justin Wood tells me they ship anywhere in the world.
Since you’re all wondering if this will be worth waiting for, here’s a sample of what you can look forward to in the video/CD package:
I humbly implore all of you to be patient just a bit longer. We are genuinely doing everything in our power to make sure this video gets completed. Our reputation and the very survival of our website depends on this project being a success. It will be and I promise it will be waiting worth waiting for.
One of the most positive spins I can put on this is that I am trying, like Nintendo, to produce as quality a product as possible. I do not want to rush the release just to have something to sell. This is not to say I am holding things up deliberately; I am just trying to still do a good job and not cut any corners, despite the difficulties we’ve experienced along the way. I don’t think that anything else would be fair to all of you.
Still, I’m positive you’ll all be thrilled with the end results. You’ll be able to pop this into your VCR &/or PC and watch it time and again toIt will give you plenty to drool over until SpaceWorld. It will make you want a GameCube more than ever.
Oh and speaking of SpaceWorld… If everything goes well, we may do a SpaceWorld video. Trust us, we’d be getting it out a lot quicker. Everyone involved has learned a few lessons this time around.
Also, after we do complete the release of the video, we will look into doing a PAL version. We understand Planet GameCube has an international audience (that name of ours is getting more appropriate all the time!) and we don’t want to leave any one out of the action. No promises here and this is definitely something down the line – but we will look into it.
That’s about all I can say for now. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond to everyone’s email and I also apologize for leaving you all hanging. You have every right to be eager, though we are all working to get it produced as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your support!
