Zoom-In
I was at the magazine rack the other day and happened across a magazine that instead of traditional print was instead being sold on DVD. I didn’t buy the DVD-mag because I wasn’t sure if my money would be well spent. Just so happens I received an e-mail from Magnet Media Inc. who is producing their own line of magazines on DVD and asked if I wanted to check out Zoom-In.
As of this writing, Zoom-In is only in its second issue (distributed bi-monthly) and is packed with tutorials and interviews covering a variety of subjects and topics. For example, the first DVD has tutorials that cover After Effects, Cinema4D, Avid Xpress DV, Flash MX, and Final Cut Pro.[an error occurred while processing this directive]
The tutorials on the DVD are taught by some well known names in the industry – Steve Hullfish, Jim Baker, Zeth Willie to name a few, and do pack some punch. Because of time limitations of the DVD format, there are only five video-based tutorials per issue. It may not seem like a lot, but these five tutorials are spread out over two hours.
So how are they? The tutorials are very much like any training video series – you see screenshots while the instructor teaches you in the mystical arts of said application. And that is where part of the problem comes in, you only see screenshots for the entire time. You hear the instructor, but never see them, not when the instructor is explaining a concept and there is “nothing” going on on the screen, and not during the opening or closing. I know it keeps costs down when you don’t have to shoot extra footage, but it would add to the production value of the DVD series.Overall, I was impressed with the tutorials section of the disc.
The Interview section is a different matter. Again, not knowing really what to expect from a magazine on DVD, I was hoping that the interviews would be video interviews intercut with clips from the interviewees works. This is not the case. Instead, you have the option to read the print (yes print) article on your computer screen through your DVD player, or via a Acrobat file. The good thing is this put to rest my concern that DVD-mags would cause literacy to decline, but it also disappointed in the way the content is presented.
That is not to say that the content is bad. In fact it is quite good and worth the time to read all of the interviews with editors and industry professionals. I can see why Magnet Media, Inc. put the interviews as print articles (mainly because of DVD space). I was a little disappointed to find out the interviews are available free on the website and are not exclusive to the DVD. So that means as of right now, you are only paying for the video tutorials. Which by itself isn’t a bad thing especially with the things you will learn.
I think there is a lot of potential behind this DVD-mag. The quality of the content and the way it is delivered improved dramatically from the first issue to the second, and I believe that future issues will be just as good. For example, to go along with the tutorials, project media is included, and to tie in with the Jim Baker Cleaner XL Guided Tour in issue two, a trial version of the software is included. As future issues are released, I see the production value of the content increasing as well as the content included on the disc. There is a tremendous amount of potential in this series and I think it will show in the near future.
There are several different pricing options you can go with if you want to subscribe to Zoom-In. The first is an Annual Subscription that gets you six DVDs (remember the issues are released bi-monthly) for $289.99. Not knowing how well DVD-mags are going to be received, you might want to go with the safer bet of the pay as you go Month-by-Month subscription for $49.99. This way if for some reason the video magazine folds, you aren’t out a great deal of money. I’m not saying that Zoom-In will fold, in fact it will probably do quite well, but you should consider that this is a new venture and doesn’t have a proven track record yet. Better to be safe than sorry. I know many people who were scammed out of a far greater amount of money some years ago with a guy who claimed who would release the best animation magazine on the planet. But that story is for another time.
If you are a person who routinely uses a lot of different applications to do your work, if you are a production house that wants to provide a great resource for your many departments, or if you are a school or university that has a media department, then this new series will be of benefit to you.
If I had to give Zoom-In a letter grade, I would have to give it a solid B. It is better than average (a C grade), but not super outstanding (an A grade).
For more information you can visit Zoom In at www.zoom-in.com
When not working deep in the labs of the DMN Central Division testing the latest and greatest software/hardware products Stephen Schleicher can be found at the local university teaching a few courses on video and web production. He can be reached at schleicher@mindspring.com. You can also visit him on the web at www.mindspring.com/~schleicher
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