Is Computer Video value for money?

[Nezza]

I bought the last two issues of CV, and being fairly new to this NLE buisness found it to be a good read, although a bit light on content.

This month I picked up Computer Arts, who were running a one off DV "special". Inside I found it packed with usefull and PRACTICAL information. It was £5, came with a CD with lots of good stuff, tutorial files, software etc.

It was £1.45 more than CV but had much more content and the CD.

I know CV is a niche market mag, but I think you should offer more content for the £. Reprinting the contents of the bulletin board is a waste of space, I'd rather see that space taken up with more tutorials and stuff that will help me get more out of NLE.

[Alan Roberts at work]

It's in the nature of a magazine that specialises in telling you what's available, that it becomes of less use when you've bought what you need ("When you've found what you want, stop looking"). I found the mag extremely helpful for about 4 months, until I got set up and editing, but I'm less sure now.

[bcrabtree]

If I had had my way, CV would have been launched at close to £5, complete with CD, back in early 97.

However, our management, perhaps understandably given our undoubted position as the UK's number one publisher of consumer electronic titles (all, at that time, priced at £2.75-ish), were concerned that we would price ourselves out of the market.

It is a matter of record that when we had a price increase in early summer, I said (her and in the mag itself) that if I had had my way, we would have gone for more, on the basis that our move to £3.55 wouldn't raise enough revenue for me to do the things I believed the readers wanted.

The economics of niche publishing are very fraught.

We are NOT ram-jam packed with ads, relative to the BIG, door-stop, computer titles.

We pay our contributors poorly (and our staffers aren't paid any more generously).

The last increase has made us economically viable (which we were not beforehand) and has enabled me to take on an extra staff member who is making a significant impact on the mag (and on my utterly ridiculous workload).

A jump to £5 would let me do a lot more but, in truth, I don't think I can justify it to readers until they are able to see more results from the last increase.

What I think the mag really needs is extra subscription revenue - we have pretty lousy news-stand distribution (something we seem able to do little about) - and I hope to generate that in a number of ways, not least by producing an electronic version which will be downloadable from the internet for about £2 per issue.

This would appeal, I know to a lot of potential readers in the USA who can't get their heads around our niche-publishing Catch-22, which results in them paying what they see as very high prices; and having to wait too long to receive the mag.

I'd also like to start generating ad revenue from the Internet, and wish to do that by making our website a lot more useful to video editors (and would-be video editors).

I think it can be argued that there are a too many make-weight pages in Computer Video - though, I do honestly think that the Buyer's Guide is the prime area where pages could be saved, assuming, that is, my budget stretches to paying contributors to fill whatever pages we free up.

We've had the argument here before about the validity or otherwise of reprinting messages from this messageboard, and it remains my view that the benefits outweigh the downsides.

I simply don't know how well or how badly Computer Arts sells, nor whether it is making or losing money or whether it would be regarded as a viable proposition by its current management or CV's management - which expects to run at a profit (even if it's a small one) almost from day one.

Bob C

[Mystic1]

I would be interested to know what sought of things you could place on a cover CD. I mean, after the first one, in which all the software downloads section of the CV site would be accounted for, maybe a FAQ section, a readers videos section and possibly a competition, eerrrrrr.... what then?
The next months CD wouldn't be very useful as I am sure it would contain virtually all the previous stuff and then it would be claimed that it was the same as publishing the bulletin board stuff. i.e bulking up because it has to be filled.
Maybe a bi-annual CD version maybe worth considering?
I personally like the magazine but would find it more useful in the buyers section if the for example Boris FX had more of a description than Premiere plug in/3dfx or under a section Software- Music/sound it didn't describe things like Macromedia Soundedit 16 as and audio editing package! I guessed that from the title it was under. Maybe it would be more useful if it had a better description.
Hey, that's another thing for the cover disc. Examples of what the software packages can do plus useable demo's.
But seriously a Bi-annual cover disc may be worth a look. eh, Bob.
Bye, Neil

[RichardB]

Dear Nezza

I also get the Computer Arts magazine, obviously I think there's something in it or I wouldn't buy it, but I would disagree that it is either value for money or full of good advice.

I think it's very editorial/advertiser led. For example:

A Buyer's Guide which makes no mention of the RAPTOR card, surely one of the leading cards on the market.

No mention in the magazine about the Premiere/Mac problem.

GLOWING reviews of the Canon XL-1, reviews not shared by many (not ALL,just many) users: compare with the 'warts-and-all' review in CV last month.

As for the CD, if a CD is packed with time limited demos and nothing else, I just throw it in the bin. I guess I'm old fashioned enough to want SOMETHING free, even if it's only a filter or a shareware program.

I'm not against Computer Arts, I think it misleads in the impression it gives that within two days of buying a system you'll be making the next Star Wars movie, but you get something out of every magazine you read, and hey, yes, I buy it. But when I go to spend my money, it's CV I check, not CA. (When was the last time CA gave a bad review to anything?)

Just my opinion,
Richard B.

[Dmac]

Nezza:

Having received Computer Arts myself, I have to say that many of the articles are incredibly simplified. They don't pull any punches about how long rendering takes (forever), but they do make things seem a bit simpler than is realistic.

In a way, this is to be applauded, in that it probably encourages beginners to see that things aren't quite as scary as they might think.

Conversely, when those same beginners are crying long into the night because their DC30+ driver version 1.41 causes a general protection fault in Premiere, who is there to help? Not Computer Arts, you can bet, and neither should they be. They make no pretence at being anything other than a journal which highlights ART on COMPUTERS.

In fact, they don't even seem to know what PAL is, or that it exists. Everything is 24fps ( film ) 30 fps or 60 fields ( NTSC ). This is a BRITISH magazine, for God's sake.

So yes, have a good whinge at CV, by all means. Otherwise even Bob might become complacent - but don't for a minute think that any other mag. out there can help fix your problems.

[Nezza]

I think some of us are missing the point here, I'm a relative newbie to NLE, and I found the Computer Arts mag pitched it at the right level for me. Others may find it simplistic, but then why did you buy it?

I want to know how I actually go about creating these results, in fact I thought CA did a good job of demistifying the techniques used to create good looking stuff. I would say that when it comes down to it, assuming you have a good basic knowledge of PC's etc, it's not the rocket science some would have you believe.

No mag is perfect and missing out the Raptor is a considerable oversight, deliberate or otherwise.

It was also usefull to read a tutorial, understand the "how" and then actually be able to see the results on the CD.

I also think that these tutorials don't need to be aimed purely at beginners, e.g. the After Effects article in CV. This series is very comprehensive and detailed, but you could also take people step by step through creating some of these effects to reinforce the "theory".

I don't look to any mag to solve my system specific problems, I use the internet or call a help desk.


PC's, Digital Camcorders and capture cards are all coming down in price, this means the market is opened up to a whole new group of customers. Customers who like to led gently into the detail, look at the success of the "Dummies" books.

I think CV is a good mag, but I think it could be pitched at a broader level to attract more readers.

[Dmac]

I don't dispute that CV did a certain amount of demistifying; and I'm certainly not saying: "Hey, Bob, CV is perfect and large gins all round," but I also think YOU have missed the point to some degree. FYI, I get CA every month as well as CV, and this month it wasn't such great value for me. Why? Because much of the content of CA wasn't new to me - but having only read CV for 2 months, you're not aware that many of the subjects covered in this CA special have already been covered in CV.

Neither do I dispute the fact that there were some fantastic ideas in CA - not least of which being their put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is approach of actually creating the effects they were describing, and putting them on the CD for all and sundry to view. FANTASTIC! and more power to them. But what are they going to do next month? Unfortunately, they're not going to keep giving video editing this amount of coverage. Their remit is too wide. As I think I said in my last post, I'm not criticizing CA. It does what it does well and, at the risk of repeating myself within this post, some things were so good, CV can learn from them.

So; you have a good basic knowledge of PC's, and you can make things work. Great - I'm very happy for you. I'm pleased to say I'm in the same boat. But there are a lot of folks out there - many of whom, admittedly, are older - who freak out at the mere mention of the word computer. How many of these people have taken the plunge ( or are about to ), crossing over from the linear gear they know so well, to methods and concepts which are totally alien? Just as you are a newbie to NLE, they are newbies to computers.

You say: "I don't look to any mag to solve my system specific problems, I use the internet or call a help desk." Well, thats you. Congratulations. Many people don't use the internet, have no idea how to solve IRQ clashes, and the manuals might as well be in Yiddish. Because they have no understanding of their problem, they can't communicate it effectively to a helpdesk. Have a little heart.

Checking the current registration, I see the CV site has something over 1100 users. That means an awful lot of people aren't getting to see the messageboards. You and I have the luxury of seeing - and participating in - these forums. It niggles me, too, that I'm re-reading and paying for things I've already seen; but I understand why it's done. It's like tax - I don't like it, but it's unfair not to have it. CV is catering to the masses, not the select few of us who can do without the repetition.

Yes, you're right, a broader base would be great. But to provide this, the magazine needs contributions. Maybe if you suggest something specific, Bob will commission it.

[ddmurphy]

Dmac

Did I see an 'ageist' remark in your reply. ;o) Many of us over sixty 'know about computers' I was doing it in the 1960s, have tought ourselves about computer editing...use the web and answer questions. I put it down to learning science and maths the 'proper' way.... http://www.safety-online-internet.com/host/computervideo/ubb/redface.gif)

Keep on editing


David Murphy

[Dmac]

David, I apologise if my remark seemed ageist. I was trying to put a case FOR people who are struggling, no matter what age they are. But the fact is, older people DO find it harder to get a solid foundation in computers, and the fact that young people, like myself and no doubt Nezza, have been brought up with computers makes handling and understanding them second nature. I'm not saying that older people are incapable of learning their systems, just that they are more wary.

"Can't teach an old dog new tricks?" You can - it just takes a little longer.

[Unicorn]

I think there's another issue to consider: at its current price I have wondered whether the magazine is providing value for money, *however* the magazine combined with this bulletin board certainly does, and obviously the board wouldn't exist without the magazine to subsidise it.

And, as others have said, the magazine was invaluable before I bought my system and set it up; the reviews are obviously less useful now that I have a working system, and I think that's the one area where I could find fault. I'd like to see more of a balance between reviews and articles on the kind of videos people are producing on their computers.

In purely monetary terms, in the last year I reckon I've saved over 400 pounds both buying used on the bulletin board and getting good deals on new equipment from ads in the magazine (not to mention considerable hassle avoided in making pretty much the right choices of hardware to buy). So in that 'value for money' sense it's definitely been worth the cost.

[Nezza]

Summarising the views so far, it seems a concensus is emerging that people find CV very useful when buying a new system, but less so when they are up and running.

So, Bob, can we have more pratical information around the "technique", balanced with the reviews of new kit. That way you keep your readers coming back for more.

We don't ask for much do we! ;)

[Alex]

I think that Computer Video magazine is currently good value for money. I do not know of a more comprehensive source of useful information and support for individual desktop video users.

Something that I have noticed is that as well as the recent price increase, the number of pages has also been reduced.

The first few issues of Computer Video contained 122 pages. The first reduction was to 114 pages. Then to 106 pages. The May issue was the last one published at the old price and the first to feature the current page count of 98.

Given the choice between a price increase and a further reduction in the page count I would rather pay the extra, within certain limits. Although I do resent the fact that 20% of the magazine is devoted to the buyers guide and other content that is repeated every month.