HD For Indies

Well people sure buy (and ebay) Gnomon training dvds.

Maybe you could hook up with Gnomon and do a technical training DVD.

Another publisher to check out would be www.3dny.com

or maybe the hardware side of all this at www.vtc.com

I don't know that business at all, so I have no guess at all if it would be a good market.

Problem with the demographic you serve is that, being indie, we penny pinch - and the only expenses are discounted hardware.

If you could make a hardware solution which solves a valid problem you'd be able to market something to your demographic most easily. Otherwise, we are unlikely to pay for anything non-essential.

If you're looking for a way to pay bills with all this - look at what the common problem among all these people is and offer a solution.

Just my uninformed two cents.
 

To me the idea has good and bad points. It really depends on what the dvd's would entail.

The easiest would be some sort of video on shooting and editing but unfortunately there are a few things out already and a lot of SD stuff transfers to HD.

The DVD's should contain stuff that an average joe can't find on the internet. You likely have a lot of experience with working with different workflows. And with all the new direct to disk for minidv and hdv and p2, workflow is a huge problem. Normally we just keep the footage we shoot on tape but thats harder to do with Direct to Disk, and P2 and stuff. Panasonic released a document on smart backup or something but it leaves a lot to be desired on choosing just what to backup. How should we chose which clips to backup?

Personally I see the workflow as a big problem. If I don't have an LTO3 or some sort of HD tape format what should I backup onto, what format, and how can I keep track of it. If I use DVD-r's, they only hold about 30 seconds uncompressed HD, so what compressed format should I be backing up, and pros and cons of each.

These are all just suggestions on questions to answer in a video, I don't expect people to post comments of their solutions.
 

It seems that DVD may suffer some of the same problems (although less costly) as a book that strives to have a long shelf life.
Perhaps you can cut out the turn around time, cost, and quick aging of even DVDs by having a sort of subscription based online video archive (basically pull the info off the DVDs and put it on servers instead)...

If a modular approach was taken, the videos (or other interactive training material) could be rearranged, sorted, pieced together to create UP TO DATE comprehensive coverage of the latest info. You solve the issue of constantly changing techniques, gear, formats as well as the lag time of producing a book or a DVD etc...

This only makes sense as an internet delivered product. As indies we are not only penny pinchers, but want to learn NOW. So if i could punch in my credit card number and gain instant access to minutes or hours of instructional multimedia (or documents etc), i think i would. To go order a book or dvd online (or at a store) and wait (while technology changes) would not be motivating to spend those pennies.

Another thought that occurs (which i suppose is completely true for the book/dvd solution as well) is that Mike doesn't regurgitate things over the phone anymore except when someone really wants face to face time to talk workflow etc. The videos (or other interactive material) are perhaps a huge step up from a book and seemingly more accessible than a dvd (which could get scratched break lost etc). The subscription service would always be available, you could always re-access the material and it would provide a searching/sorting system that allowed readily accessible and convenient ways to dig up info. It's like taking a highlighter to a book, only Mike does it and it's always up to date with the most current data and sorting.

The internet also seems to be the most appropriate place to provide the variety of data that would be useful for end users. Charts, videos, pictures, pdfs and even conversations, which could be another cool feature that provides forums that are well structured and provide the ability to link - mid conversation - to appropriate articles/videos/charts that other members can "share" with each other. So, basically, the forums act as another route to information. Say you decide to go the forums to find out about formats, you read some posts and inside those conversations either the author of the post provides a link to that section of educational content or perhaps KEYWORDS are triggered automatically by the content of the discussion text and provide linked access to material within the site. (sort of a "spotlight" type feature for the material but it's search strings are derived from the text of the conversations in the forums)

Also, the approach may really keep production costs at a level that maximizes profitability while providing the material at a slightly more reasonable price than if dvd or book production costs were in the picture. We already know the educational material needs created, but if the delivery were digital, It would probably be cheaper, faster, more organized and certainly more up to date.
 

Mike G-

thanks for the detailed feedback, very much appreciated! In theory I agree with what you're saying, EXCEPT that if I went online subscription based, I feel pretty confident passwords would be handed around like free candy. I like the DVD idea because, just like I'd be tempted to do, physical media (even digital media) is more of a pain to copy and hand to friends than online stuff. If I made an online archive of downloadables, I know the nature of the indie crowd is to share with friends, either via password sharing or downloading and handing off. It's possible to try to secure online media, but it's pretty easy to circumvent.

As far as "up to date" goes, it depends on the volume - if it's low volume, I can just DVD-R it out of the house and keep content fairly updated. All of the interactive benefits that you espouse, which are quite nice, are overweighed by hosting/bandwidth costs and bootlegability.

I try to just accept, and not get angry, that content of this nature is going to get shared around. I'm trying to come up with something that indies will want, will be willing to pay for, and be structurally inconvenient to share with all their friends.

I've been thinking about modular approaches, lego-like assembly units for short run semi-customized stuff, and high def DVDs. Since it looks like 2/3 of my traffic is Mac OS based (presumptively OS X), it's occurred to be that a high def DVD on DVD-5 (even a DVD-R) media playing on computer might be an interesting choice, or at least an interesting alternative.

Printing can be expensive - $5-$20/copy, depending on size, color printing, paper used, number printed, etc. DVDs are cheap - in bulk replication, $0.50 to $1 apiece. Updating content? Not a big deal. Re-author, re-burn, possibly re-press another run.
 

Since I started the ball rolling on this, I'm going to weigh in with my opinion, too. I like the DVD idea for three reasons:
•I prefer learning in a lecture/discussion format (As a college instructor, I personally read and study a lot but I like it when someone who is steeped in the subject (as Mike is steeped in HD) compresses 10 years of learning for me; one learns so much more).
•I'd rather listen to a three-hour lecture than read 300 pages of the most brilliantly written book (it's just so much faster)
•From a production point of view, I prefer DVDs because they're economical and easy to update. With books, one needs to publish a huge quantity and wait for them to move. One ends up with so much money tied up in inventory.

As for bootlegging, other distribution channels and all that, I have three main thoughts:
•Of course people will copy and bootleg. That's a given. The internet offers a global market and the goal is to sell as many as possible worldwide. If there is enough interest, the economy of scale makes it worth it to produce it.
•Internet delivery is less appealing to me because of download times and limitations for repeated viewing. Internet content is often lower quality imagery. I prefer higher quality and the option to own the information and have the ability for multiple viewings.
•If the content is good, I'll buy more.

Finally, I think that as an independent filmmaker, the information I want is on things like what (l) equipment to buy/rent to produce the best original possible, (2) capture and equipment considerations for green screen versus low light versus action, etc., (3) optimal editing system and (4) DVD mastering and duplication considerations. My main goal is coming up with the best rendition of my story so I can get into festivals and/or secure a blow-up and distribution deal or direct to DVD distribution deal.

Cyndi Greening (CyndiGreening.Com)