This week, it finally happened. I ran out of work.
Actually, that’s not really true. In fact I’ve got loads, but enough of it was on hold or out of my court by Friday that I actually had a chance to do some work on my new documentary idea….I’m doing a scene breakdown which should allow me to decide soon whether it’s a viable project for me or not. This is a big step. I haven’t had a full day to work on this since the beginning of the year, and it’s beginning to feel like I might actually get to start on it.

It actually felt a bit of a cheat - like I wasn’t really working – because, of course, this is a zero-budget project with no commission and no idea how it’s going to make me any money… anyway, more of that later – I might even reveal what it’s about soon, but until I know what I’m doing, it’s a bit sensitive.

So what’s all this about having no work? – well, it’s a lie. A complete lie.

The music video is now with the client – fast work, and there may be adjustments to be made, but it’s to all intents and purposes, done.

The zoom from deep space I’ve just got to complete a couple of renders and cut it together, so I can’t do anything more to that for now.

The first cut of the trilobite documentary is rendering as I write – very slowly, and because Premiere doesn’t seem to be able to handle it, I’ve had to break it into chunks (can’t work that out – a quad core 8gb machine should be able to handle it – HD or not!) – anyway, by the end of the weekend I should have a DVD I can send to the client.

Finally, the two reviews I’ve just had to do on Poser 8 and Director 11.5 have been done (a bit of a panic there because of tight deadlines, but done nonetheless, and I’m really glad to have been able to take a look at the new version of Poser).

Book
There’s more work on the horizon though. I may have a banner animation to do, but it also looks like I’m going to be writing another book in the “really really really easy guide” series - with a deadline of November. I’ve already done one on video editing using windows movie maker – so I know what’s expected – and at 20,000 words, it’s a relatively small book…

It’s also a relatively small fee. Books – or at least factual books – are much less well paid than you’d think. Typically you’ll get an advance followed by royalties depending on the sales. My advice to anyone thinking of writing one is to treat your advance as if that’s all you’re going to get – because it usually is. I’ve never had any royalties from any of the 5 books I’ve written.

Anyway, if this one happens, I’ll let you know more as I go along…