What Sailing DVDs Do You Like ?

[Lin Pardey]

Hi,
The seminar on earning cruising funds by writing which we will be presenting at the SSCA Gam in Annapolis has been expanded to include a section on video making. I'd appreciate some imput from those of you who have bought any sailing DVD's. (I will be introducing the general concepts, Tory Salvia a video maker and editor who runs a website called thesailingchannel.tv will take over about the tech stuff.)

Questions I have are -
What makes you decide to buy a sailing DVD?
Do you prefer to download the DVD or do you prefer to buy a hard copy?
Do you prefer how-to or destination programs
How often do you watch the program?
How do you find the programs you want to buy?
What would you like to see or hear when you watch a program?

Thanks for any imput. Those of you who replied to my request for info on what attracts folks to sailing blogs might just result in an article when I finish this fun seminar tour we are doing right now.

[Wotname]

Well I have only ever bought one sailing DVD: Storm Tactics. I am sure you know it .

I guess you would classify it as "how to".
I have watched it perhaps 5 or 6 times in a 2.5 year period.
What made me buy it was reading the book of the same name
I prefer hard copy.

[crashkahuna]

I bought a few sailing dvds and all were poor - I have found better stuff on youtube. My main complaints are:
1) little sailing action. Mostly interviews of people talking about what they did and why it was so great. Lots of time on what's going on in anchorages but again little sailing.
2) For a great dvd there needs to be a dedicated person filming that is not part of crew so filming can continue during storms, crises etc.
3) Better quality equipment is needed - picture and sound. Maybe multiple cameras some mounted on the boat itself.

[JoeDiver]

I'll speak to the growing trend of digital distribution. Although the majority still likes physical media, this is changing rapidly.

I prefer digital media. All of my CD's have been ripped to media storage drives. All of my DVD's have been ripped to media storage drives. The physical disks are in boxes in a closet. The media is stored on media drives and is shared throughout my home wireless....to laptops, iPads, iPhones and my AppleTV2 to watch movies on the HDTV or listen to my iTunes library on the stereo system. Media drives are so cheap now...I just bought another 2TB external drive with FW800 for $150....(I haven't moved to eSATA yet)

When I buy something new, I look for digital media first. I try to purchase/download from the iTiunes store or other online source first. If not available yet, and is the case quite a bit, I buy physical media and rip it myself.

I would love to see more PDF/Kindle/etc versions of the popular sailing books for my digital library. They're coming, it just takes time.

If you're thinking of something new, here's what I'd like to see and am most excited about coming in the future:

Interactive Digital Media

Take a look at the DVD digital version of The PADI Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving. This is the future of text books and the true advantage of digital media. It's a wonderful combination of a PDF distill of the book, the DVD instructional videos and rich extra content. It's like reading a book with embedded videos (to explain topics), links, flash presentations...all sorts of things. It's really wonderful!

Now imagine getting The Annapolis Book of Seamanship in this format, with the 5 DVD's embedded in the text throughout along with all sorts of other things. A truly interactive, content rich, digital textbook for your laptop, home computer, iPad, Galaxy Tab, etc.....

This is what I see the future is....school textbooks, instructional books, fun books...etc....everything you can imagine but now with so much more than type and pictures. Maybe try developing something like this for sailing.

[Livia]

For DVDs I prefer ones that are stories about someone's epic sailing experience, like Jean du Sud
I like to download
I usually watch them twice
I find them through word of mouth

[Khagan1227]

I try to preview any DVDs, sailing or otherwise, before I buy. If it looks interesting, or I know the persons works, I'll buy. So, I guess the quality of the DVD.

Hard copy, but I'm not adverse to digital media.

I like both. Currently, there are large amounts of how-to videos about sailing for free on youtube. I learned how to make eye splices watching a free video from youtube. That said, the video quality of youtube is poor.

If the video is destination oriiented, once or twice, rarely more. How-to, as many times as it takes to learn.

Usually by catching a seminar by an author, then looking for his work.

If it a how-to video, I like to see the "blackboard" version, then the actual doing video. Capitian Jack Klang's videos on how to perform single handed docking is a good example.

[meuritt]

I prefer instructional videos, I will take them any format i can get including VHS. The most annoying one do everything in 30 second sound bites, trying to cover a lot on one tape. Spend time on the subject, exhaust it, explain it well. The one I've watched most is Captain Jack's Single Handed Docking and Sail Trim.

[Flyguyid]

Lin,
1. I choose a sailing DVD based upon what I personally need to learn or what I enjoy watching.
2. I prefer to buy and download the movie file. I then go through the extra work and make a DVD out of the downloaded movie file, including chapter points where I want ‘em. I have been making personal movies and DVDs for years and I enjoy the work.
3. I prefer how-to movies. I made DVDs out of your movies (I paid-for and downloaded the movie files on The Sailing Channel). I continue to enjoy the movies but I watch the “African Adventure” movie the least as it has the least sailing related info in it. However, my wife enjoys that movie. Go figure…
4. I watch the DVDs repeatedly as I continue to learn from them as my knowledge increases and as I continue to sail.
5. I find some videos or DVDs on The Sailing Channel, DVD sections on various marine supply websites or on Amazon.com. I am finding that I prefer to buy books over DVDs of late.
6. I would like to see a cruising movie showing day-to-day conditions, sail changes/general sailing, duties/repairs, and dealing with the authorities. Most people would find this dull but I would find this extremely interesting. I find much of the Latitudes and Attitudes chartering/partying sailor episodes entirely dull. I am sure I am in the minority in this opinion.