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Does anybody recomend an on screen ad company. Is it more profitable to do it yourself? If so how can you make your own ads?

Thanks

I do mine myself on Powerpoint. It works slick and it looks great on the screen. I haven't done a video yet on it but that's the next logical step.

I've worked a deal with our local newspaper. They sell ads for our monthly newsletter (which they print) and we both sell on-screen ads. We create a DVD every week on a Dell with a DVD-RW drive.

We also have a couple of stop-motion animations (using popcorn and scrabble boards) that a local animator has created for us to advertise concessions.

Powerpoint? I am unfamiliar with that, is tha a program? Can you explain the process! I am just looking for away to take pictures of companies and add leteering to plug the business! Just like the on screen ads during breaks between films do as a slideshow!

Thanks

Slides are the simplest and least expensive way to make up screen ads, and you can do it all yourself, and not give away most of the profit to an ad company... All it takes is a good eye, a good 35mm camera, and a good automatic slide projector... Been around for years, and still works!...

It's Microsoft Powerpoint which is a part of the Office suite. It is really easy to use and you can easily add special effects to your pictures or text to punch it up a bit. I just put the slides together on it and then run the slide show and project it using the LCD projector on the screen and voila.

Just got Microsoft Office and have been experimenting with Powerpoint. I can see how easy this is to do your own slides and export it through a projector. My questions-what do you charge local advertisers? What length of time do their ads run? I would much rather keep a bigger slice of the pie than have outside company do this. I have some very talented sons who do this sort of stuff at school.

Please consider the services and equipment offered by Kodak:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products/digital/news.jhtml?id=0.1.4.22.4&lc=en
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products/screencheck/worldwide.jhtml?id=0.1.4.22.10&lc=en

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: +1 585-477-5325 Cell: +1 585-781-4036 Fax: +1 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Well, I have been doing it for only a short while now and it has done pretty well for me. We are charging $25/month for each slide and they play for 30 seconds. You need to set a maximum number of advertisiers so that each ad will get some decent "airtime". I put in a bunch of other stuff like no talking during the movie and upcoming movie titles and such and mix it up. The custom animation of the text and pictures along with the sounds and video you can add make it better then any manual slide presentation IMO. What's better, you can make changes on the fly. I have a little computer setup in the concession stand and when the movie is playing I can update slides and so forth. That makes it much more time efficient then other options, too. Nothing against the produced ones but my margins are thin and I can do it myself on the cheap. I hope to get up to twenty advertisers up there. That'll bring in another $500/month.

[This message has been edited by leeler (edited April 13, 2004).]

Please consider ScreenAds www.screenads.net Our company provides full equipment, full production, supplies and up to 57% of gross revenues generated.

We charge $175 per quarter and guarantee an average of 2 viewings of 15 seconds each per show. We charge $25 for graphical design work (creating their slide.) We have our slide carousel filled with customers and a waiting list of 5 or 6 waiting to get on our screen. The slide program is an incredible money maker. We regularly clear over $20,000 a year from slide revenue.

Make sure your slides look professional. Good contrasting colors, and the photographs must be clear and sharp.

Rance

I am still contemplating replacing my slide program with a digital pre-show. I checked out the Kodak links that John Pytlak listed but they don't say how to get more information or who to contact.

I wrote to Dell today and asked about their projectors and will wait for their response. I'm sure I could do my own show or have a high school wiz kid do it for me. But I would like to know what the ad companies actually do for you--especially in a small town.

Specifically, what kind of projector do I need? I have an 80' throw onto a 33' screen.

The problem with most computer and home theater projectors is that they don't come with a lens that has a long enough focal length, and most of them don't take interchangeable lenses. You can find projectors with reasonably high light output and with high contrast ratio, but the lens is the problem.

Agreed. I had to position my projector on the ceiling about 35 feet back from the screen. This made wiring (and bulb changing) quite interesting to say the least. However, it is bright and I get good performance out of it to. I have it hooked up to a computer as well as a DVD player and a VCR for television as well as a video game system so it is very versatile. I wish I could have had a lens so that I could have it in the booth with me but that just isn't possible. If they make a good one with a lens you can change out for different focal length then that would be ideal.

For more information about Kodak Digital Cinema, here are some contacts:

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 323 468-2141

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 323 468-4460

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 323-468-4440

They all are in Kodak's office in Hollywood.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: +1 585-477-5325 Cell: +1 585-781-4036 Fax: +1 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion