New Site to Display work and impartial opinions

[Justin Chin]

Thanks the response Chris.

I would also add that one shouldn't take the word of one person, but listen to the collective group on their opinions. This is what anyone should do in almost any situation. That's why I come here - because there are many people on this board that I trust.

I also can't trust someone who doesn't use their real name, give any information about themselves especially when they haven't spent any significant time on this board.

A group like this takes time to build. Chris Hurd has done the hard work to make it happen. I applaud and support Chris all the way. I am amazed that he's gone this far on so little.

I can't wait to buy him a beer when we finally meet.

Additionally, I probably owe, several people on this board a drink or two.

[Chris Hurd]

You better let me buy the first round, Justin, there are so many here to whom *I* owe a cold beer. This place wouldn't be what it is today without you and so many others like you. Many thanks,

[Aaron Koolen]

I sort of sit in the middle on this one, and to be honest I don't lose any sleep on the topic of this conversation but I felt like replying. I too think this board is wonderful. I haven't found any board on the net anywhere near as good as this one. I'm a newbie and still haven't got my gear after several months of research but I still get answers to all the questions I ask here, no matter how trivial.

I understand that web sites costs money, that's just the way things are but I think I know what genocide was talking about. There have been threads that have been locked because people have talked about places to buy equipment where the people got good deals from, sometimes slightly better than the sponsors. (Not saying any of the sponsors might not have been able to match those prices). I must admit that I had a few paranoid thoughts of censorship when they were locked but I do on the otherhand understand where Chris is coming from even if I don't agree. My personal opinion is that sponsors should get the promos on this board (Chris and others do that regularly) but if people say a good place they got a good deal from I don't think a thread should be locked.

That said, this is Chris' board, and he runs it the way he wants to. If we don't like it, we shouldn't visit it - simple. I for one will NOT be going away, this board is far to valuable to me and the community and keeping vendor conversations down to the sponsors only does not, as I said earlier, make me lose any sleep.

Cheers
Aaron

[Paul Sedillo]

I liken dvinfo.net to photo.net. Philip Greenspun created a community for photographers that was sans overzealous advertisers. He was diligent in trying to protect unsuspecting photographers from unscrupulous vendors. The photography world is plagued by the same thieves as the video world.

It is my opinion that Chris has done an excellent job in achieving the same thing. In fact if it was not for this board, I don't think I would have purchased my XL1s yet. My concern was dropping $4000.00+ dollars into an internet abyss, never to receive my camera. Also, thanks to this board I have found amazing deals on used equipment, saving large chunks of money buying from quality sellers. This is an added bonus.


Geocide1 - Another site would be great if it offered something new and different. There are ways for you to achieve this, but like any site and or forum they take time to develop.

Take a look at Keith Loh's new forum:

http://forums.delphiforums.com/DVDA/

You will find a collection of people talking about making movies DV style. He has taken a different path related to offering a DV site. As I mentioned, sites take on a personality based on the users.

I hope all of the suggestions/opinions offered here have helped.

Paul

[Martin Munthe]

Okeydokey. I see we are currently eight members at Film Exposure (I signed on to view the content). Heres my comment:

There are heaps of sites like this around the web. A very unspecified site. "Film", "Digital Video", "DVD" and "Everything else". That's a VERY broad view.

I've visited most DV forums in the past (been at it since '93). What makes Chris site so great is the total commitment to it and it's subject matter. The community here is a real goldmine. A lot of folks really work with DV/film on a daily basis and can make sound judgements based on production needs and facts. Going over to sites like Dv.com you're really shocked at the difference in knowledge between the two communitys. This is the pro site. Sites like Dv.com is for that guy who just bought himself a Digital8 and a home PC and want's to know the best way to edit last christmas footage. And often in the middle of discussing with someone nicknamed "KrackZkaterDude" or something like that you realize he is actually the senior sales rep for Canopus or Sonic Foundry. There is NONE of that in here.

Nothing wrong with amateurism but most forums are clogged with a type of question Chris (and all the moderators) manages to keep out thanks to a great commitment to the community.

I can't hold it against Chris that all this gold has to be financed in some way. I mean; hey! This site is still free!

Proud to be a member.

See, that's what I’m talking about... I like that I’m getting feedback on the format of the site, that's what I’m asking for. By the way, I’ll be turning off the forced Membership option asap. Thanks for the feedback. (I’m at work now)

Again, I'm NOT attacking this site in any personal way, I've been viewing threads for several months, from before i got my XL1s and i too find this site wonderful. I just have a bit of paranoia.

<Sites like Dv.com is for that guy who just bought himself a Digital8 and a home PC and want's to know the best way to edit last Christmas footage.>

Not True, I find the DV.com forum very very helpful because it's accessible to a wide range of people and problems can be answered in number fields. I can ask complicated questions like: the construction of transducer to what's “DV” and get a professional response. if you really want to know the people behind the forum visit http://www.dv.com/forums/showReplies.jhtml?sid=1&fid=2&tid=3100229&start=51 (You may have to set up a Membership) or Visit http://www.dv.com/columns/ to see columns written by mostly forum moderators (hardly beginners these are the writers for DV mag which is a "pro" magaizine) Give'em your best shot and i bet they'll still have a solid answer for you.
I'm on that site several times a day and have found it very useful and full of professional opinions. True, it's not elitist, but more importantly should it be?

The site is in a alpha test. I'm still designing the actual page and as far as the forums section, the topics are very broad because at this beginning stage it doesn’t make since to have 20 topics that each have 1 post in them. That's too big too fast. I'll adjust the Topics as necessary.

Let me clarify that my site is not a threat to this site in any way, This site is predominantly about the XL1s while mine is about DV and Film. There's no need to feel threatened. I say this because it seems I’ve insulted some users by offering something new.

<There have been threads that have been locked because people have talked about places to buy equipment where the people got good deals from, sometimes slightly better than the sponsors. (Not saying any of the sponsors might not have been able to match those prices). I must admit that I had a few paranoid thoughts of censorship when they were locked but I do on the otherhand understand where Chris is coming from even if I don't agree. >

Thank you AaronKoolen for conferming that i'm not some nut that is making up things.

Please don't sling mud. I'm offering somthing new and i had no intention in offending anyone why i though somthing new should exist, but you know what they say "There's no such thing as bad publicity."

<A group like this takes time to build. Chris Hurd has done the hard work to make it happen. I applaud and support Chris all the way. I am amazed that he's gone this far on so little. >

True, it will take time and everything starts somewhere. Actually, its not doing too bad for only being in existance for 2 days, after all there's already a buzz around it. Anyway, I agree about Chris, I just hope to be as fortunate.

I too am proud to be a member, a member with new ideas willing to make them happen.

Thanks to the power of PCAnychere, You can now view the forums in guest mode (no membership required).

Sorry Justin Chin and Dylan Couper for the inconvience.

There's not much on there currently so throw me a bone and please post a message, question, opinion, somethin’.

Wow, that was really pathetic.

[Dylan Couper]

Adam, no problem. I just like to know what I'm getting into before I sign up.

I still think that to be successful, you should focus more. Either that or try to biggest forum going, and cover everything. You'd have to do some advertising, take sponsors, etc... I'd try to focus more instead.

Ok, i'll see what i can do... Do you have any suggestions for area's in the dv/film world that don't have a good forum currently?

[Ken Tanaka]

Lighting

[Chris Hurd]

Lighting... hmm, good idea Ken, we may do that as well.

Regarding closed threads on these boards -- there are a grand total of five or six of them. Half of these involve the sensitive "where to buy" question, and as I've explained elsewhere, those threads were closed (nothing deleted) simply because I want the last word and final say on those subjects. That kind of hammer doesn't come down very often, and usually it's only in reference to "where to buy."

Out of more than 3,000 topics currently here on the DV Info Net Community, more than 99.98% of them are open for discussion. I wish my ISP had that kind of percentage as their uptime.

Adam, once your board approaches those kinds of numbers, on rare occasions you'll find yourself having to make decisions similar to my own about certain threads for one reason or another. Best of luck to you on that,

After a change of format (thanks to feedback from here and other forums) and tightening of focus, www.filmexposure.net is now running and waiting for you to post your work...Sort of a 24hour internet film festival site. It's very new so be kind, and show somthing you did off. It is a bandwidth intensive site so be prepared.

We're also looking for writers/moderators... E-mail if intrested.

That was cool how it appended message to this thread. Good one Chris! :)