I had a couple calls this weekened from friends who are going through some rough spots.  Naturally we talked about things to bring in a little extra money.  Now one thing that always happens when people go through rough times is there is this tendency to not think about what resources they do have.

For example – a few months back I did a blog about how to do set-extensions.  A video set extension is a relatively simple illusion used on almost every TV show.  If the look isn’t right – the buildings wrong – the sky’s too this … you need a castle next door – you do a set extension.  It’s basically like doing a photo-shop for video.  Here’s an example…

I took a few seconds of video of my backyard – actually the back arena area.  A few seconds on Flickr – and boom – we’ve got Skyscrapers. 

Which – if you’re looking to add a few dollars to your pocket and have the skills – is a pretty simple trick. 

Go out – find some “Future Home” of signs, do some video of those locations.  If possible get some good images of the proposed site with buildings on it… offer your services to help sell their sites.  Show off your presentation skills. 

Believe it or not – this is the sort of work which can bring in a good $50 – $150 a month for very little work.  Include PhotoShop files as well as video in case they don’t have it.  The idea is to allow them to sell better.  Realators, Construction Companies, Architectural firms – all have a need for this kind of service.

Naturally, no promises but yeah, I do know that this sort of thing does help pay the bills.  So there’s my tip for this month – - and for everyone hoping I’d do a update on the cXML work I’m doing … I promise – that is coming.  But I’ve had a lot on my plate so – have had to work at … well, work.