Hello everyone!
2 of the last 3 video shops I have done have been complete disasters. One had the camera aimed too high. I did not expect the person I was shopping to be so much shorter than me and I suppose that was the problem. The other shop was a failure because of recording/equipment issues. Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how often? I am just getting into this, thought everything was going spectacular, and now am all but ready to throw my camera in the TRASH. I thought I had it all figured out and felt comfortable with my equipment. Apparently, I need to think again!

Can anyone offer suggestions, tips, or advice on what I should do to ensure successful shops going forward?

When the target is short, you need to bend a bit, as if you have a bit of a back ache from "too much being in the car for a few days." What kind of equipment probem, with which sort of rig. We cannot help if we don;t know what equipment you are using.

I have the PV-500 lite. It came with no instructions so I have been winging it. For someone who is not super-techy, when I opened the box and saw no instructions of any kind, I nearly panicked! My equipment problem was that I viewed the shop on the camera recording screen, verified all was well, uploaded it to the MS site, and for reasons I cannot explain, the previous shop file doubled over the shop I intended to upload. Now, I can't get the shop back on my camera, SD card, or computer. I am so technologically inept that I royally messed up the files and have no idea how I did so. I have googled PV-500 lite user manual/operations manual/instructions and have found nothing. I have found information on PV-500, but it is just enough different that a lot of the instructions do not translate.

I have reconstructed my shopping jacket (basic denim jacket) with the camera positioned in the next button down with hopes that that will work better for capturing targets. Knowing my luck, my next target will be 6'8"!

How much do those video cameras cost anyway?
I've been doing photography for years now. seems like it might be an interesting shop, imho.

amie,
When you finish a shop or a day's series of shops, remove the SD card from the unit and insert it into your computer. Highlight each file and move one at a time to yourdesktop. Then, rename the desktop versions per the MSC requirements for file names, being sure NOT TO LOSE the .AVI suffix. (If there is a .AVI suffix shown and you delete any part of it, you will corrupt the video.) Now you have 2 safe copies of your shop. Place the used SD card into a plastic holder and insert a small slip of paper identifying the shops that are on that card.
Review the versions that are on your computer by quickly checking the sound quality of the first minute of each and then quickly scrolling thru the video to see if there are any major gaps in video quality, like a lot of ceiling. THEN, upload the shops to the MSC site. Email and/or call the MSC IMMEDIATELY if there are big enough problems so that they might need to send in a back-up shopper. They will LOVE you if you let them know such things right away, so that they have time to complete their assignment with another shopper. Trust me, I have screwed up video every way possible in 7 years and am still in very high demand because I worK to this standard: Never wait to tell bad news. Next, keep the desktop copies of your videos in a folder until you have been paid for them.

Finally, every video shopper has made, or will make, every mistake in the book along the way and also just have some bad luck. So put on your big girl panties and do another video shop to get your courage back.

Thank you so much for the tips. I spoke with the a rep with the company today and she recommended the same suggestion of managing distance from the target and putting the SD card directly into the computer instead of transferring from the camera. I have my confidence back so I am ready to do another video shop tomorrow!
As always, thanks for the help!

amie068 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello everyone!
> 2 of the last 3 video shops I have done have been
> complete disasters. One had the camera aimed too
> high. I did not expect the person I was shopping
> to be so much shorter than me and I suppose that
> was the problem. The other shop was a failure
> because of recording/equipment issues. Has this
> happened to anyone else? If so, how often? I am
> just getting into this, thought everything was
> going spectacular, and now am all but ready to
> throw my camera in the TRASH. I thought I had it
> all figured out and felt comfortable with my
> equipment. Apparently, I need to think again!
>
> Can anyone offer suggestions, tips, or advice on
> what I should do to ensure successful shops going
> forward?


I always give a little space between me and the target...That way I get a good shot even if the button cam is off....