Mailing List AE-List@media-motion.tv — Message #64761
From: David Torno <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
Subject: Re: [AE] Clients requesting RAW files
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2019 13:33:49 -0800
To: After Effects Mail List <AE-List@media-motion.tv>
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Sorry to hear this has been your experience Adam. And everyone else that feels they have no choice but to concede due to clients threats. I get it, we all have to eat and pay the bills.

Sadly this is becoming a trend because it has been allowed for too long to become one. Too many artists have "given up" and therefore the unwritten policy of those in powerful positions with a greedy appetite has simply been accepted as absolute rule by a lot of workers.

It does boil down to each persons experience. Some have allowed themselves to be abused for the sake of survival, and others have fought in the name of that very same survival.

For myself, I have stood my ground the best I can. Some wins some losses. I've declined work before while actively working at a studio due to the nature of it's content. I respectfully terminated a contract three days early because of it. Offering the lost days cost back to the client so they could find a replacement for that particular project. It was the only respectable thing to do since I terminated the work and not them. I've been booked by them multiple times since. I've lost clients and have gained more. There will always be somebody in need of something. I've chosen to stick with the respectable ones.

My feelings are that if you (to any client) believe abuse and disrespect of the skill and talents required, are trivial and that anyone can do it nowadays because of computers. Then by all means find someone else that is willing to take the abuse, stress, health implications, and risks of non payment.

Those client mindsets will always exist, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't stand your ground and respect yourself and the hard work you do that ultimately makes the client a hell of a lot more money than you'll get out of it.

The advances of technology certainly have made access to post-production tools easier, but not the education of the user nor proficiency in using said tools better. If the human is just clicking buttons and not thinking of the big picture, it fails. Every time.

I know it will not change things simply by saying all this, but I'd hope that more artists flooding into this industry (at a ridiculous rate) will at least think about doing better for themselves by doing better for the industry as a whole.

My two cents.

David Torno
818.391.6060
--------------------
www.sydefxink.com (work history)
https://vimeo.com/davidtorno (work samples & breakdowns)

"The most useless day is that in which we do not laugh"
-Charles Field

On Jan 10, 2019, at 12:03 PM, Adam Mercado <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:

This has become a trend in my experience, over the years clients have come to expect/demand everything. 

The question is not whether you need to hand over everything to them, the question is whether you want to work with them again. Stand your ground and they will do find someone else. It’s not like this stuff is difficult anymore. The software and hardware has removed so many pain points over the years that what we do is basically a commodity. I learned that the hard way, after asking the very same question several times. Every time I stood my ground I never worked with that client again. Whether there was a contract or not. 

And even with the contract, if I ever stood my ground in contract negotiations, the point of contention was always raw files. They want them, don’t want to pay more for them, if I stood my ground it was bye bye. 

So I’ve learned long ago to stop fighting that battle. If they’re going to take my files to someone else, they’re going to do so one way or another. I may as well make a few bucks off them before they go. And they may even stay. It’s a losing battle either way as far as I can tell. Others may have more positive experience but to me that’s the way the game is played out these days






On Jan 10, 2019, at 11:23 AM, David Torno <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:

Raw files are NOT part of deliverables unless that was explicitly agreed upon in the contract up front by all parties involved.

This applies regardless of it being a company or an individual freelancer contracted for the work.

These are details that must be made clear at the beginning unfortunately though. Discussing these details after the fact presents very awkward situations like this that can and usually leave a bad taste in both parties mouths. Jeopardizing any future collaboration.

Many clients have a misconception that any and all files related to the process are theirs for the taking. That is incorrect. They must understand that they are contracting a company or individual to produce a single FINAL product. If they want versions, they pay for that work. They want to archive? Then they can pay you to do so. Yes handing over those files will guarantee that they will reuse them later and by a cheaper individual too. I see it happen a lot.

If you are willing to give away your proprietary work, tools, or unique techniques for free or even for compensation... that is something only you can choose to do.

Good luck.


David Torno
818.391.6060
--------------------
www.sydefxink.com (work history)
https://vimeo.com/davidtorno (work samples & breakdowns)

"The most useless day is that in which we do not laugh"
-Charles Field

On Jan 10, 2019, at 8:41 AM, Michael Powers <AE-List@media-motion.tv> wrote:

I know this has been discussed many times before, but increasingly clients expect/request all files from projects - including Illustrator, photoshop, stock footage and music, AfterFX, and 3ds MAX files.

 

Is this a trend? It has been happening also with clients that we are the agency of record with. I am uncomfortable giving away intellectual property for free and having some freelancer undercutting us using our files!

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

Mike Powers
https://vimeo.com/mpowers

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