Video Reviews? Yes, No?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,8187' target='_blank'>http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com...ion=expand,8187</a><br /><br /></div>A few days ago, I published a video review of an <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,8187">hp LightScribe DVD burner</a> on Digital Media Thoughts. The product review wasn't anything special, but the delivery mechanism was a little different: I used Photo Story to create a review where I combined photos, music, and a voice over track. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and feedback on Digital Media Thoughts has been positive. I'd like to explore the possibility of starting to do similar reviews here on Pocket PC Thoughts for things that can be reviews through pictures: hardware accessories, cases, etc. That review style doesn't work very well for complex products (such as Pocket PCs), but I think for a lot of other items (perhaps even software) this would be a viable way to review a product.<br /><br />I'm currently the only one that will be doing reviews in this manner, so there's no fear of us suddenly having no text-based reviews. In fact, this will mean we'll just end up with more review content overall, which I think is a good thing.<br /><br />One of the issues I'd probably address for this site would be to create video formats compatible with a greater variety of mobile devices - Photo Story 3 uses the WMV9 Image Codec v2, which makes the output compatible <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,36074">only with devices that have WMP 10 Mobile</a>. And given how poorly the OEMs have done at getting this software out to you, this means that the bulk of Pocket PC owners won't be able to watch the videos on their Pocket PCs. So I'd create WMV versions that are compatible with both VGA Pocket PCs with WMP 10 Mobile and QVGA Pocket PCs running WMP 9 Mobile.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,8187">Check out the LightScribe review</a> and let me know if you'd like to see this sort of review here on Pocket PC Thoughts.

[Kash76]

I like it!

[jgrnt1]

I think the review format is interesting and it was generally enjoyable to listen to and watch. However, I would have difficulty listening to reviews like this on a regular basis. I usually have music playing in the background on my PC, which I would have to turn off to listen to the review, while I could read a text based review with the music still playing. The same photos could be included in the text based review. I also usually have the sound off on my PPC, for the same reason I have my phone on vibrate -- I don't want to annoy those around me.

I'm concerned about the size of the file as well. 12-15 MB is a lot of video to download to a PPC. If it downloads to the Temporary Internet folder, it could quickly eat up the RAM in the PPC, unless the folder has been moved to a storage card.

Echoing Jonathon's comments at DMT, I often skim a written review, reading the parts which interest me. It is difficult to skim through a video and you would never know if you skipped over anything important. With written reviews, I can skip over sections which don't interest me or which don't apply to my situation. Since I skim the articles to come to that conclusion, though, I know what I am missing.

[Shaun Stuart]

I thought it was really good - I am more likley to listen / watch a review like this than read through pages of text.

Can we see more ?

[silver99]

Just finished watching this on my Dell X50v from a CF card - here's a couple of thoughts:

1) Audio is top notch - very clear, background music tastefully selected and overall very professional.

2) Photos were clear and detailed - although I would have preferred more of them.

3) On the X50v, as soon as I click on full screen mode the screen goes black and if I go back to the windowed mode it still stays black although the audio is present throughout. I have to restart the video in windowed mode only. This could be a firmware issue as I haven't upgraded to the latest firmware for this unit which DOES address some issues in WMP10.

I've made a few Photostory 3 videos for my axim and I'm able to switch between full screen and windowed all the time without any loss of the video. Photostory is an excellent (and easy) tool to make photos come alive without the HUGE overhead of video.

Overall Jason an excellent way of doing reviews - I (like others) am a visual/audio type learner so I'd rather take in reviews like this than reading through pages of text - well done!!!

[sub_tex]

The review is great! Watched it on my desktop.

Question: it sounds like you still wrote out the review and narrated the photos, yes? If so, why can't you publish both the video AND the text reviews together?

I think that's the best route to take.

[sheik]

I can't really download and watch videos at work, and I suspect this isn't unusual.

Has there been a poll done on how many visitors primarily browse this site from their place of work?

If a transcript could be provided along with each video, that would be perfect. Also, isn't Google planning on indexing video files with full text searching capabilities? If that is the case then it might be worth investigating how they recommend publishers provide the transcript data.

/\dam

[R K]

Hmm... I think enough people disagree to where we might need a poll on this. It seems like opinions are evenly split so far.

I think these Photo Story reviews are great, but I'd actually like to see fully filmed video reviews like the ones www.justppc.com used to do.
Fully filmed video reviews are very good for complex items such as Pocket PCs, and they add a little more depth by making you feel like you're actually there interacting with thie item.

[hotweiss]

Your video review for the LightScribe DVD burner was great... I'm looking forward towards more PDA/gadget video reviews!

[R K]

Yeah, I just saw it too.

:) Good stuff! :lol:

[MikeUnwired]

I've always thought that video reviews and such would be a good idea, but I figured the bandwidth it would take to serve them would be prohibitive for many webmasters. They make it so much easier to build relationships with the site readers -- it adds such a human element to what can otherwise be a sterile review universe.

I wouldn't limit the video presentations to just reviews. Opinion pieces and such would be great in that format too.

Speaking of prohibitive -- what about those of us who have VGA PPCs and are stuck with WMP 9 (HP iPAQ hx4700s)? Can we have access too?

[dochall]

Excellent and well produced. The audio quality made it for me. Previously the video reviews we've seen have been sub standard as they've used on camera microphones.

Must admit that it's weird hearing your voice after so much time on the site.

[Damion Chaplin]

I can't really download and watch videos at work, and I suspect this isn't unusual.

I agree. I primarily browse this site from work. My work PC doesn't even have speakers - no need for them on a number-crunching graphics terminal. I would prefer to stick with text reviews (although the idea of having both is nice).

[Phillip Dyson]

I just finished watching the review on my desktop. Its an excellent piece. The sound and images were top notch.

Perhaps provide subtitle so that those hearing impaired, or musically inclined, can still enjoy the visuals. I also agree that publishing transcripts would also be useful.

I think this would be an excellent medium for PDAs and other gadgets. Perhaps even adding interviews to the docket.

Great job. One thing I like about ThoughtsMedia, and this site specifically is that is always growing. I like that fact that you guys haven't pigeon holed yourselves into one type of article.

[Jason Dunn]

1) Audio is top notch - very clear, background music tastefully selected and overall very professional.

You have no idea how long I fought to get it up to that level - taking decent photos is easy. Getting crisp, clear audio was quite a challenge. :-)

On the X50v, as soon as I click on full screen mode the screen goes black and if I go back to the windowed mode it still stays black although the audio is present throughout.

Which video were you watching? The 640 x 480 desktop version? The bit rate for that video seems a BIT too high for the X50v...I think I need to tweak it a bit. It's going to be painful having 6+ different video formats for download though. :?

[Jason Dunn]

Question: it sounds like you still wrote out the review and narrated the photos, yes? If so, why can't you publish both the video AND the text reviews together?

There's no written text - all the audio is just me talking. I thought this went without saying, but I guess not: if I had all the text written, I probably would just publish a written review. ;-) The idea of doing video reviews is to make me more productive with reviews: the past few months I've had a very hard time getting written reviews done, hence the change in approach.

[Jason Dunn]

I think these Photo Story reviews are great, but I'd actually like to see fully filmed video reviews like the ones www.justppc.com used to do.

I thought about doing that, but the truth is that I just couldn't create videos that would be high enough quality. Most video reviews are, well, cheesy. To do a proper video review you need three people: one cameraman who really knows what he's doing, one person with a boom microphone, and the reviewer talking on the camera. I suppose you could get by with a cameraman and the talking head by using a clip on condenser microphone or something, but that's not quite ideal. Then there's the video production...it would be SO much work. So, right now, I'm not prepared to do full video reviews - I just don't have the resources to make them as professional as I'd want them to be.

[Jason Dunn]

I've always thought that video reviews and such would be a good idea, but I figured the bandwidth it would take to serve them would be prohibitive for many webmasters.

It's funny, bandwith has become largely free - with our dedicated server we have 1500 GB....or is it 2000 GB....each month. Right now we use maybe 500 GB a month, so we have a LOT of bandwidth to burn.

Speaking of prohibitive -- what about those of us who have VGA PPCs and are stuck with WMP 9 (HP iPAQ hx4700s)? Can we have access too?

The ugly little secret about the hx4700 that no one wants to tell people is that because it doesn't have a dedicated GPU like the X50v does, it's incapable of VGA WMV video. The CPU just doesn't have the horsepower. So the best you can do is watch the QVGA sized video. :-(

[Jason Dunn]

Perhaps provide subtitle so that those hearing impaired, or musically inclined, can still enjoy the visuals.

Great idea, but not possible with Photo Story. I may switch to a full-blown video production later, but for now, Photo Story allows me to focus more on the content and less on the editing. The speed of workflow with Photo Story is phenominal...I love it! Doing the same product in Premiere would be incredibly painful. :-(

Great job. One thing I like about ThoughtsMedia, and this site specifically is that is always growing. I like that fact that you guys haven't pigeon holed yourselves into one type of article.

Thanks - if I had the resources to match my ambition, you'd see even more cool stuff. ;-)

[R K]

The ugly little secret about the hx4700 that no one wants to tell people is that because it doesn't have a dedicated GPU like the X50v does, it's incapable of VGA WMV video. The CPU just doesn't have the horsepower. So the best you can do is watch the QVGA sized video. :-(

Sorry for going a bit off topic, but doesn't the iPAQ hx4700 have an ATI Imageon GPU? Last time I checked the BetaPlayer (DivX) benchmarks, it was scoring 130% framerate on a 30fps VGA clip.

[Darius Wey]

Sorry for going a bit off topic, but doesn't the iPAQ hx4700 have an ATI Imageon GPU? Last time I checked the BetaPlayer (DivX) benchmarks, it was scoring 130% framerate on a 30fps VGA clip.

Yes, the Imageon 3220, but this doesn't give it a boost in performance. As weird as it may sound, the hx4700 is notorious for having poor graphical performance (including video playback - and note that it's difficult comparing Windows Media and BetaPlayer since the former seems to hog a lot more resources). When put head to head with some lower grade QVGA devices (e.g. the low-end rx series), the hx4700 seems to lose because with four times the pixels, it puts a major drag on graphical performance, which unfortunately, its specs cannot make up for.

[ethancaine]

I liked it very much. I have seen quite a few video reviews online and noticed that most are either huge in size (even for my 3 mbps DSL connection) or very poor quality. Your review was top notch; the video was crisp, the music appropriate, the voice-over clear, and the review was of adequate length. Excellent idea for a review focusing on a feature as opposed to intricate product detail.

I do have concerns about the video format issue: How dificult is it for you to convert to the different formats? I would think it'd be pretty painless. And I don't think you need more than two formats; high quality 800X600 for PCs and a smaller 320X240 for PPCs compatible w/ WMP9.

Also, the idea of transcription or subtitles for the hearing impaired would be a nice addition, but I don't think it necessary.

Oh,

Must admit that it's weird hearing your voice after so much time on the site.

I so agree.

[Albegor]

It has been very pleasant watching and hearing this video review, nice piece of job!
Probably it was funnier to produce it than a standard written one, so I'm looking for more now. :D

[Jason Dunn]

Sorry for going a bit off topic, but doesn't the iPAQ hx4700 have an ATI Imageon GPU? Last time I checked the BetaPlayer (DivX) benchmarks, it was scoring 130% framerate on a 30fps VGA clip.

I can't output a Divx AVI from Photo Story, only WMV. Can the hx4700 play a VGA WMV? I didn't think it could, but it would be nice to be wrong. Can someone check?