Olle Sjostrom Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 I agree with George about USPS. At least for me in Sweden, they've delivered greatly delayed and often banged up. Luckily the contents have never been broken, but that's probably because the sender's been very careful with packing. Ironically, USPS from Canada works perfectly and without issues... My guess is it depends. I'd rather pay more for shipping that is quality than saving some money on maybe quality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 Gotcha, I used to run a record label and would send packages of records to distributers in Europe. This was a few years ago before postage / shipping prices drastically changed, so the prices i paid don't really matter today. I never had a USPS issue with stuff being destroyed, and that would have been a big problem with records. Sad to hear that. Anyway, I did learn to compare rates for some countries, but the margins on records are so small it really mattered to everyone involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Sjostrom Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 Senator PMed me pointing out that USPS can't be from Canada. I agree with him but the package came from Canada with USPS labels. Don't ask me how Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldmixer Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 That is odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Tsai Posted February 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 It's great when the shipping has no issues,which is majority of the time. Sometimes unexpected things happen, and I had much easier time dealing with UPS and Fedex on claims and issues than with USPS:-P Well, we've got 8 Days left with $22,000 to go :-) To meet the goal we need to push hard to the end! Majority of the funding will be used towards tooling for manufacturing. The rest of it allows us to perpetually produce more units as well as provide service and support for our products. Making the goal also means we will be able to continue to develop and make more affordable timecode devices available to suit various types of productions. We will not be making a third attempt after this Kickstarter campaign so this is our last and final stretch:-) It was asked, and silly I didn't think to show it before even tho it was already included in the design, that the clapper can easily be flipped:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldmixer Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 anyone interested in sharing a two pack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 I'm tempted... anyone interested in sharing a two pack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldmixer Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 We should talk. Ok, anyone else from Canada want to get in on group buy? more and more shoots with small format camera, and since the cams are so cheap, several at a time! I've Been putting off buying a slate for almost a decade. Not enough demand, and, the value for money, at a 1200$+ price point isn't there. The scale is weighted towards, not too good an investment shall we say. Got by fine with; claps, bloops, Erx, nomad slate screen. Seems now, with more "need" for one, and at 575$... I'm in at that price point. PM me if interested. We could ship to one city then distribute? 40ish more slates to go to make it happen. Hmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Tsai Posted February 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 PM me if interested. We could ship to one city then distribute? 40ish more slates to go to make it happen. Hmmm I can certainly combine shipping:-) The last Kickstarter I coordinated with someone in the UK who was willing to deal with distributing the combined shipping. Well, we are in the final week! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/466895479/fuze-ti-fdc-timecode-slate We need to raise $21,000 in less than 7 days! We have 25 backers so far and another 35 complete slates will take us there! Remember, there is a cheap $450 Generator Display only option as well! We've got to have a major final push to the end:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Tsai Posted February 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2015 It's a steep climb to the end with $19,300 left to raise with less than 70 hours left! Our Kickstarter campaign ends this Wednesday at 3:00 PM PST! Thank you to those that has been along the ride with us and let's see if a last ditch effort can bring us to our goal! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJEl7ZX9CMw Testing the new timecode generator display in a bucket of water. Behind the unit you will see a metal plate screwed in to keep it from floating up to the top. Sorry about the shaky video:-P The display will come weather proof (IP 55) as standard, and with more testing we should be able to offer a waterproof option as an upgrade. Thanks and have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldmixer Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 Any chance a usual suspect might be interested in picking up the balance? shame if George's slate remains but a hopeful dream. We could use an affordable timecode slate option. Does anyone know a usual suspect personally that might put the idea in their ear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Tsai Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 $18,600 to go to make a hopeful dream into reality:-P That's 31 complete slates more to go:-P Will we be able to make a giant leap to the end? Only with your help:-)Tomorrow, 3:00 PM PST, it's now or never! Kickstarter at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/466895479/fuze-ti-fdc-timecode-slate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axrJhMfXrNs Printing the front part of the enclosure prototype. This was done back in November of 2014, back then the only way to get a reliable print of a large part was on a raft. Since then 3D system has updated their software with sidewalk feature instead, making for a better finish print:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constantin Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Does anyone know a usual suspect personally that might put the idea in their ear? Several of them are frequent visitors here. Maybe someone could pm them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze Frias Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Any chance a usual suspect might be interested in picking up the balance? shame if George's slate remains but a hopeful dream. We could use an affordable timecode slate option. Does anyone know a usual suspect personally that might put the idea in their ear? Only thing though is that the usual suspects need to make a profit; they would have to sell the slates at a higher margin to make it worthwhile, and customers may not be too happy about that one especially when they can get the slates directly through the Kickstarter campaign for cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldmixer Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Only thing though is that the usual suspects need to make a profit; they would have to sell the slates at a higher margin to make it worthwhile, and customers may not be too happy about that one especially when they can get the slates directly through the Kickstarter campaign for cheaper.There is so much wrong with this post. What "Customers" are you talking about? The ones in the usual suspect storefront, looking at Georges new slate 4 months from now? You are saying that fictitious "customer " won't be happy because he can get it on the kickstarter campaign Cheaper?. The campaign that is over and done with now these past 4 months?... Those "customers" missed the boat on that. So, they are upset about what now these customers? I'd think they'd be happy they are looking at a wall of affordable new slates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Tsai Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 And that's wraps it up:-P First I'd like to thank all the backers of our Kickstarter campaign:-) Unfortunately since we were unable to meet the goal, we do not have the funds to go into production. No redesign this time around, and we will not be making a third Kickstarter campaign. A decision has not yet been made as to what will happen next, a few options being considered is closing up shop and dissolving the company or search for an established company to pick up the torch. I love the design as it is and hope it will eventually make it's way onto the market one way or another. It's ok sad panda, perhaps another day:-P Finally I'd like to thank once again to all those that help me build this campaign, Adrian Zaw, Bao Quang Pham, Daniel McCoy, Kenneth Ho, Kyle Portman, Helen Kim, Nate Votran, Lily Pham, Nam Luong, and Sourita Siri for being part of building this Kickstarter campaign. Thanks again for coming along for the ride and have fun! Only thing though is that the usual suspects need to make a profit; they would have to sell the slates at a higher margin to make it worthwhile, and customers may not be too happy about that one especially when they can get the slates directly through the Kickstarter campaign for cheaper. Very bad extrapolation from faulty assumptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze Frias Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Very bad extrapolation from faulty assumptions. So you are saying that if a dealer were to buy a slate from your campaign, they wouldn't need to mark up the price to make a profit? I am friends with the managers two of the usual suspects, and do know how their businesses are ran. That said, my statement wasn't to knock your product down, but rather to explain the unlikelyhood of a dealer coming in to finish the funding campaign. Fwiw, I was cheering you on and hoping your crowd funding campaign would be successful. I just chose not to invest because I'm already too invested on another brand. But, competition is always great, and I thought your slates did bring something new to the table. Best of luck to you in all your future endeavors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonhobbit Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Why throw in the towel just because the kickstart didn't work. Think how people got things done before kickstart. They saved up their money and made it happen themselves, it just might not have happen over night. You have made a water resistant time code slate, you showed it would work. You know where to go to get the parts made, you made a working model. If you believe in your product, find out how you might able to make a few at a time instead of 100 or 500. Sell those slates and take your profits and invest in more parts to make more. If the first buyers rave about how they don't have to worry about the slates in wet shooting locations, more folk will come to your door looking for a new slate. If you can really make one for half the price of other slates and are able to turn a profit, you might have something there. If you are just trying to make a low price slate that you lose money on each one made, you'll put yourself out of business quickly. Almost the same story about trying to undercut other mixers on the price you want to work for. Don't be a sad panda. Scott..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldmixer Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 So you are saying that if a dealer were to buy a slate from your campaign, thet wouldn't need to mark up the price to make a profit?. Seriously? You think George is saying that? He is no fool. Jose, re-read your post and think about it. It's a wet blanket statement, kind of a slap in the face, it minimized a darn good possible last minute idea that may have had an impact. AND; it still makes no sense. No slates for anyone now. *facepalm* How do the fictitious customers feel about it now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Tsai Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Why throw in the towel just because the kickstart didn't work. Think how people got things done before kickstart. They saved up their money and made it happen themselves, it just might not have happen over night. You have made a water resistant time code slate, you showed it would work. You know where to go to get the parts made, you made a working model. If you believe in your product, find out how you might able to make a few at a time instead of 100 or 500. Sell those slates and take your profits and invest in more parts to make more. If the first buyers rave about how they don't have to worry about the slates in wet shooting locations, more folk will come to your door looking for a new slate. If you can really make one for half the price of other slates and are able to turn a profit, you might have something there. If you are just trying to make a low price slate that you lose money on each one made, you'll put yourself out of business quickly. Almost the same story about trying to undercut other mixers on the price you want to work for. Don't be a sad panda. Scott..... Hehe thanks:-) The production volume for the Kickstarter is pretty much as low as it gets (under 100), making it at a lower volume would raise the price of each unit quite dramatically and unsustainable. I worked out the price and volume so that it was just enough to keep the business running, design and manufacture new products, as well as perpetually produce more units as they sell. The Kickstarter I think is a decent indicator of the current state of the market space, which is not big enough:-P I spent a lot of money on the development and prototyping for the first and second attempt which left me with nothing to fund the manufacturing myself:-P Since cameras depreciate in value so fast, even selling off my Epic wouldn't be enough, it's also paying my bills so that I could work on making stuff like this hehe. We'll see where it goes from here, still several people to talk to before making a final decision:-) Hopefully one of them will be able to take it to production:-) I love that panda:-) Courtesy of Zaw Studios:-) Jose, re-read your post and think about it. It's a wet blanket statement, kind of a slap in the face, and it minimized a darn good possible last minute idea that may have had an impact. *facepalm* Hehe well put:-) So you are saying that if a dealer were to buy a slate from your campaign, thet wouldn't need to mark up the price to make a profit? You're assuming retail price is kickstarter price, assuming that such a backer or investor would only get total equivalent of each unit at the same value of the kickstarter rewards, assuming no room was left for dealers and distributors. I could go on, but I'll assume the point can be gathered somewhere in there:-P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundtrane Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Maker's Mark is very good imho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Radlauer Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Seeing this not come to market really sucks! I feel bad that I could not back this round of the kickstarter...I did last time but I had go another route for work purposes. Our market gets better when there are guys like George out there making cool stuff like this! I hope someone will see this as an opportunity to maybe add a new product to their current offering and help George bring this to market. All it takes is one solid investor! Good luck George! Keep us all posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Tsai Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Maker's Mark is very good imho... Seeing this not come to market really sucks! I feel bad that I could not back this round of the kickstarter...I did last time but I had go another route for work purposes. Our market gets better when there are guys like George out there making cool stuff like this! I hope someone will see this as an opportunity to maybe add a new product to their current offering and help George bring this to market. All it takes is one solid investor! Good luck George! Keep us all posted! Sall good, hehe thanks Matt:-) Will certainly be updating with any developments:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze Frias Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I apologize if any of my posts sounded/were insulting or if they offended anyone. Truly not my intention. I still think that I'm being misunderstood, but it doesn't matter. However it may be coming out, I do wish to see this product available in the market, regardless of my opinion. I do think that there is space for this slate in the market, and do hope that it does get realized. There are other ways outside of crowd funding. Remember that our market is a niche, and so crowd funding may not be as successful as with other products or projects, but that doesn't mean that your product is not desired. Get on it man! Don't give up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Kickstarter price is often closer to a wholesale price anyway. I don't know what the typical markup is with our usual suspects, and probably depends on a few factors. Offhand the Tentacle Sync kickstarter lists what they expect the eventual retail price to be compared to the kickstarter reward prices and it is/was a good bit cheaper to buy in advance. I don't k ow if that was their eventual buy direct price, or through a dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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