Goodbye Videomaker. « Videomaker Community Forums

Chapman Photography
Member

I want to start off by saying I learned alot from videomaker., but I will not be resubsribing. I feel that if you get a year subsription you get all that VM has to offer. The articles seem to be repinted with little changes. The reviews are all the same ec.. It feels like they cater to the ads not the subscribers. For now I will be subscribing to "Student Filmmakers" The magizine has a professional feel to it, unlike VM. I wish VM well in the future as well as all the members of this forum. I will check in on the forum from time to time,

Student FilmMakers Website & Forum
http://www.studentfilmmakers.com/bb/index.php?sid=04ade94e3c8c3beb4d7c5ec312ded4af

Posted 4 years ago #
Ken
Member

With video technology changing so rapidly, especially now that hi-def is really catching on, I don't see how one year is going to be the same as the next. :?

BTW, I'm not really a subscriber. I make regular trips to the bookstore, buy a coffee (isn't it great that they have coffee bars in bookstores now !!! :D ), and see if the latest Videomaker mag has something that applies to me. Probably buy about 6 issues a year. Of course, I'd save money with a subscription, but then I wouldn't have an excuse to hit the coffee bar. X-D

My 3 cents worth, :)
Ken Hull

Posted 4 years ago #
Chapman Photography
Member

for an example, three point lighting, same thing over and over, diffrent photos change some words here and there but over all same article. Storyboarding same thing. i'm not saying its a bad mag just redundent.

Posted 4 years ago #
hidef1080
Member

I have seen that in a number of camera and computer print magazines. Reprints.
And some reviews read more like ads or they find one subjective point to ride into the ground.
I hate that.
But I guess it's hard to find good writers/reviewers and fresh content 12 times a year.

I fnd that the internet overall offers more information so I may buy a magazine twice a year... Maybe.

Posted 4 years ago #
Chapman Photography
Member

Well, If they cant find/offer enough information to fill 12 monthly issues then maby it should be 6 issues a year. Its a good mag for beginners or for thoses with short term memory loss...lol

Posted 4 years ago #
jburkhart

Sorry to see you go, however I'm glad you felt you learned a lot from us in the process.

People enter and leave the field of videography all the time, and have different skill levels and learning rates, so we try to reflect that in our magazine.

While we do carry articles on the some of the same topics from year to year (like 3 point lighting, and rule of thirds), we don't ever recycle articles outright. These kinds of articles form the basics, and are important for people just getting into the field. We've been publishing for 20 years. If we were to go back to our first 3-point lighting article in December of 1986, and said that's it, we've done 3-point lighting, we don't have to do it anymore, where would that leave all the readers since then? So part of the magazine each year is devoted to these Basics of Videography for people just starting out.

Remember when you were one of them?

However, in addition to the basic level, we also have two different levels of article in the magazine, intermediate and advanced. These change constantly along with our feature articles each month. Here's where the value is once you move past the basics. We get into Compression, Vidcasting, HD topics, Underwater Video, Online Content Distribution, etc, etc. I think the variety is there to keep things interesting and current for our readers, and at a subscription price of only $12/ year, or a $1/ issue, I still think that's a pretty good deal.

Good Luck, and no matter what magazine you read, keep making video!

JB
John Burkhart
Editor-in-Chief
Videomaker

Posted 4 years ago #
Chapman Photography
Member

Thank you John for your reply, I understand why vm dose what it dose and I do not find fault in that. Personaly I lean towards the professional end rather then the mom and pop home movie, you tube end. Student film maker is new and only been around a year or so and leans toward more "blockbuster" movie articals with cinamatographers like David Mullin ec.. i'll still pick up a copy of vm from time to time and who knows I could be back. If I might be able to suggest picking up a copy of SFM magazine ( back issues are $3) just to get some ideas for VM articals. Again I wish Vm all the best you really do a wonderfull service for the video community at large.
Best regards
Wil

edit: I just read an article on lighting by T Atkins ASC, where he talks about 3 point lighting for diffrent film stocks, HD, he give examples from the diffrent movies and challanges he came across shooting movies like Scary Movie 4, Balls of Fury ec. I think articles like this are needed to show how to compansate. If they do another article on 3 point lighting I'm sure it will be another cinamatographer or DP that had diffrent challenges and how they overcame them.

Posted 4 years ago #
schwastika
Member

I won't be subscribing to VM too. I have paid for the subscription during feb but till now, i've only receive 1 issue. I have emailed to the customer service support over and over again, and they told me they have sent it to me. This shouldn't be so painful.

But hey, I do enjoy and learn a lot from the vid cast and will keep watching. The vid cast rocks! :)

Posted 4 years ago #