If you do a search, you will see that I have pointed out problems with discs from quite a few companies. These problems range from missing scenes in a couple of Justin Slayer discs, problems caused by RLD attempting to put a direct access menu onto their discs that caused the fast forward function from working on many DVD players, my hatred of watermarks that have appeared on titles from Jules Jordan, Vince Vouyer and Justin Slayer (which were subsequently removed by Jules and Justin) and describing to Adam & Eve's DVD author how to utilize the "subtitle" function of the DVD format in order to allow the viewer to determine whether they want to see thier "Hot Shot" icon or not.

I've never described any problems that any company has had with any maliciousness (yours included). In every case, the problems have been rectified quickly, except for yours and the Vince Vouyer watermark (but that one has only existed on one title).

99% of the people who have posted in this thread have participated in an effort to help you identify the problems with your product, not to bash you because of it. So far, your answer have been "we're trying", "if you don't like it, don't buy it" and "please lock the thread". Nothing you have done has made anybody who has had the problem feel even remotely comfortable that it will ever be fixed.

My complete lack of caring about anything that PXP does in the future is not because of the current technical problem (if you ever fix it, I would have come back). My divorce from PXP is due to my desire to never spend a penny that will end up in the pocket of Jewel or Michael. As I said in the other thread, Jewels maniacal ranting in the "Whos's shooting during the moratorium" thread put me over the top. Micheal's earlier "fuck you if you don't like my movie" rant (I don't believe for a second that his subsequent apology was sincere) from way back when already had me on thin ice with regard to PXP management.

The whole part about me not really giving a damn about PXP was decided on Monday night. It wasn't anything that I had intended to make public (I figured that you would figure it out when I didn't contact you when Photographic Mammaries 2 is released). Your reply in the other thread was what prompted me to reply as I did. If you look at that other post, you will see that it was edited. That edit was the last two paragraphs after thinking to myself "Fuck it, let him know".

Edited by - Bill on 5/16/2004 7:38:20 PM

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My TVs are rather old so I'm not seeing the problems to the same magnitude as the people with fancier setups. I used to be involved in video production, so I know what good video is, but in my personal life I suppose don't have super-duper high standards for porn.

It may be frustrating listening to much of the criticism in this thread and others, but if you didn't shoot great sex, these folks would summarily toss you in the garbage bin with many other companies and not even bother to cajole you into improving.

I, for one, will continue to rent/purchase your products while you improve your production quality. Thanks for the great sex; that's what is the most important to me. I recently picked up Baker's Dozen ; the action was pretty nuts and Dillan Lauren is a total hottie!

You've expressed the "vote with your dollars" opinion before so here's my response. I will vote "yes" with a few dollars; I will stuff the ballot box with more "yes" votes as PXP improves.

Again, thanks for your efforts!

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More than anything, to get truly good looking results from these toys that we call camera, you need to learn how to finess your way around what they will and won't do. Their fool proof design (remember, these cameras are made so you can take them out of the box and start shooting without even reading the manual) means that it is very easy to use them poorly.

That doesn't mean you won't get an image, it just means it's easy to get a not very good image and not know that you can do better -- in some cases much better.

Same goes for consumer post-production tools; they're much easier to use that professional tools, but that make them that much easier to use incorrectly or with less than optimal results. Again, if you don't know any better, you may not realize the equipment is capable of delivering higher quality, more predictable results.

Consider taking a digital production and post-production class at a local community college. Community colleges have a more vocational mandate, and as such often have better equipment and more technically sophisticated instructors than more expensive colleges and universities. A ten week course would give you a solid grasp of what the tools are capable of, and how to avoid using them in ways that plays to their weaknesses. Plus you'd be around a lot of cute co-eds.

Good luck,

T.C.

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Edited by - hardball on 5/20/2004 3:29:38 AM

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I guess it means, that the source of the problem is still unknown, more than 10 weeks after the problem was first reported here on ADT. Your current approach is obviously not getting you nowhere nearer a solution.

I think you guys at PXP need to realise, that you are not capable of tracking down the source of the problem by yourself. Brandon several times said that he wasn’t able to see the problem, which is fair enough, but as I’ve said before - you can’t fix the problem, if you can’t see it!. I’m sorry if that makes me sound like a smart ass, but I really think this is your situation, and part of the problem right now.

I really agree with an earlier suggestion from TonyC, that you need to bring in a professional video engineer to go trough all the video equipment and postproductions process in your daily workflow from camera, to tape deck, cabling, editing software et cetera including all the stuff at the DVD producers facility. Being a LA based company you’re probably in the video engineer epicentre of the world, so you will not have trouble finding one.

Secondly I think you need to reconsider your future day to day quality control process, and hire somebody outside PXP and the DVD author for the job. At a minimum you need the “outsider” to check the quality of the master tape before it is send to the DVD author and to evaluate check disks when they come back from the DVD author.

I’m sure someone hanging out here at ADT will volunteer to do the dirty work, and do it for free ;).

Edited by - ingenmann on 5/20/2004 2:07:34 PM

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I agree, a video engineer is a good idea.

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"Living Life is not made up of material things"

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The only reason I keep ranting about this is because it seems only guesswork is being done at PXP to what the problem is. All you could be wasting your money changing the cameras! If only you got somebody in who could see the problem, then let them sit through the entire process or a DVD being made...they could notice where it starts. Thats the only way!

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ABANDON ALL FAITH, YE WHO ENTER HERE

Jewel, you may enter pointless pissing contests with a drunken Chico Wang, and you may piss on Steve Holmes face in all the movies you want, but don’t piss on your customers and people who are actually trying to help you out. Stop, being so paranoid and start realising that no one is trying to damage you or PXP here at ADT.

The only thing that is hurting PXP right now is your own incompetence when it comes quality control of your own products. In the long run your attitude are damaging to PXP by just keeping to deny the DVD issue. Remember, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Not even in the porn business.

In your comments on the DVD issue you mange to contradict yourself in the most revealing and embarrassing way, and at the same time it’s a sad display of the total ignorance towards quality control at PXP. Why the hell are you trying to fix a problem you say doesn‘t exists!?

You may like to play the roles of The Queen Bitch or Mother Theresa here at ADT, but flat out denying the existence of the DVD problem really makes you look like The Village Idiot. The halo effect problem has been very well documented by several people here at ADT, and Brandon Iron has received several emails with screenshots showing the problem. The halo effect problem has been an established fact for more that 10 weeks now, but apparently you are still living in total denial.

RANT OFF. PEASE.

Back to topic. Back to being a friendly and helpful porn fan.

Edited by - ingenmann on 5/22/2004 3:31:58 AM

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Edited by - M.B. on 5/21/2004 5:33:39 PM

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Edited by - sanchez_1960 on 5/21/2004 1:30:20 PM

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Just the fact that the problem can be more or less severe, or even non-existent, on different DVD players tells me the the problem has to be in the encoding of the DVD.

I know that people aren't lieing when they say that they don't see the problem. While it is incredibly apparent on the DVD player in my den and on my PC, it's barely noticible on one of the mega-changers in my bedroom. In most cases in the bedroom, the picture is perfect. It's only at the most severe points when it is apparent at all.

If it were anything but the encoding, I would think that the problem would be consistent from DVD player to DVD player. Am I missing something?

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We are trying our best to put out good product at a fair price and have repeatedly informed people of same. Just as many of you like to remind us that "it's been 10 weeks and they haven't done anything" (which is not true), I will offer you this very telling tidbit:

It's been 10 weeks and there have been absolutely no returns for the problem you are asking us to correct.

Zero. Zilch. Nada. And, may I add, bupkis. To further the point, to the best of my knowledge there has not been a single return due to this problem on tens of thousands of DVDs sold by our company in one year, 1 month, and 21 days.

I am not picking fights -- I would dearly love for there to be no need for this thread at all. I am simply defending the good name and reputation of a thriving, hardworking, and successful company.

We are not as complacent as you suggest. The collective investment in PXP by all the directors is sizeable. Despite the fact that our customer satisfaction rate is increasing (our reorders are my only evidence), we are open to any and all suggestions, including the consultation by a video engineer. Upon my return to LA, I will personally look into this. I promise. In return, please don't insinuate that we are unwilling to do anything because of a few dollars. Our revenues reached 7 figures a long while back and we are committed to seeing an 8th figure down the road.

It doesn't take a genius to know that more customers are buying and enjoying our DVDs than a year ago. We are doing some things right. We can improve on others. Yes, we can get even better....and we will.

Sincerely,
Brandon
www.platinumxpictures.com

P.S. Tony, Bill, Sanchez. Stick with us. Your patience will be rewarded.

Edited by - Brandon Iron on 5/21/2004 2:00:44 PM

Edited by - Brandon Iron on 5/21/2004 2:02:34 PM

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The problem (as shown in the framegrabs posted to this thread) looks like it comes from two problems that are compounding each other:

1) Video camera aren't very good when you give them an extreme range of contrast. A black bra strap against a white skin is a good example. This is even more true with cameras that us the DV codec (MiniDV, DVCAM, DVPro25), and truer still with the low-end cameras used by nearly all of the porn industry (Sony's PDs and VXs, Canon's XLs.) Whatever the short-comings in a scene's lighting, these will be compounded by the low-end CCDs and analog digital converters found in these cameras. Once the conversion is done, the flaws will be further compounded by the 5:1/4:1:1 DV codec.

2) These flaws are further compounded by the process of coverting (what may be reasonably good quality) camera masters into an MPEG2 stream that play back off a DVD platter.

The reasons for this are rather technical, and have to do with both the spacial and temporal nature of both DV and MPEG compression. Bottom line: at each step, the more the image chain is stressed or degraded, the more is stress subsequent stages in the image chain. Errors compound errors, and even in a purely digital image chain, there are multiple stages that degrade image quality.

As to why these problems are evident some some viewers' systems and not on others; TVs have ciruitry that is designed to compensate for signal abberations. This is why video facilities use monitors. On top of having higher resolution that conusmer sets, these CRTs have no compensation circuitry; they are purpose built to show every flaw.

-T.C.

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Though I know nothing about DVD authoring my guess would have to be the encoding as well. Just a guess mind you.

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The fact that we haven't returned the discs doesn't mean that the problem doesn't exist. Secondly, since the problem isn't apparent on every DVD player, there could very well be people who have tried to return the disc to the store where they bought it, only to be told, "We don't see a problem on our player. We're not taking it back."

I've seen plenty of stores who use this answer (across the board, not just with PXP). Most store owners aren't willing to admit that there are discs that play fine on some DVD players and not others. If it works on their player, then there is nothing wrong with it.

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1) I think the porn viewing public is unaware how porn is made, and how different that process is from the way that everything else they watch is made. My hope is that a better educated audience might demand a higher degree of professionalism from the industry, in both the conception and execution.

2) In reading your responses on this thread, I believe you are genuinely interested in improving your craft. For a film maker, even if that filmmaker is 'just a pornographer", knowing technique inside and out is the surest route to making a creative break-through. As one of the industry's top stars, you're in a unique position to demand more from the productions you're involved in, either as talent or behind the camera. At the risk of sounding condiscending, I hope you will grow to love the craft of filmmaking as much as you love sex and love women. As with lovemaking, their are no masters of this craft, only those with the passion to be life-long students.

-T.C.

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"If we were to return all of the PXP discs we own that have the problem, would the problem be fixed any faster?"
** ABSOLUTELY! There is no faster way to alert a company to a quality issue than to return it as defective.

It doesn't do anyone any good to suffer in silence, or as in M.B.'s case, to suffer repeatedly before going super nova on us and placing us on his shit list. Somehow I managed to avoid being on the recent HIV quarantine lists only to find myself put on his Shit List! Oh, the humanity!

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As noted here the Halo problem dissapears when the picture is made black n white!

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A) The colour quality just isn't there. Everything is way too gray, brown, beige, and just downright dull.
B) The halo effect. If the colour happens to be good, the freakin' halo problem is there, it's either A or B.

I'm done beating this dead horse.
This IS my last post on this subject, I promise!

Edited by - M.B. on 5/21/2004 5:46:46 PM

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Edited by - mason on 5/21/2004 6:02:48 PM

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You can been shooting a nice Canon or Fujion lens and 2/3" HAD chips for only about $16K. Lots of other professional features that will make it easier to get a professional result, but still MiniDV, so it will fit right into your (I'm guessing) G4/FCP/Firewire image chain.

-T.C.

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I’m with Bill on this one - PXP makes great porn, but the fact that we haven't returned the discs doesn't mean that the problem doesn't exist!

This treads was newer about the porn quality of you work, but about visual quality from a technical point of view alone. I don’t think you can really make any conclusion on peoples opinion on the visual quality based on the return rate. Personally I have three PXP disc that are visually flawed in three different ways. “Euro Girls Never Say No” - black levels are way to high and so are the color and contrast. ”Anal Expedition” has several scenes with heavy ideation . ”Anal Expedition 2” has the famous halo effect problem. The visual quality sucked but the sex rocked!. Has all this stopped me from buying more PXP titles? NO!. So I’m still adding to your sales figures.

I newer even considered returning any of them, because sadly I’m so used to see substandard visual quality in porn,. T ‘s just business as usual. Secondly I’m a lazy bastard, and returning the disc by mail halfway across the world would be to much hassle and too costly anyway. Had the DVDs been from a company outside the porn industry, I would have returned the disc immediately, because I know what good visual quality looks like, and know what to expect from a DVD. I think that is sad state of the porn business in general, that no one really expects a porn company to delivers good visual quality. Hey, it is just porn and as long naked chick is getting fucked in the ass, no gives a flying fuck about how it looks, except some porn geeks hanging out at ADT. Outside the porn industry, people involved in the production of the three DVDs mentioned above would have been fired.

You say you are countering facts with facts, but you can’t counter visual quality with sales figures and return rates, it is simply a false comparison. Ten thousands billion trillion zillion burgers sold will never make McDonald a gourmet food restaurant either. I’m positive that MacDonalds has a low return rate burgers too. But this is all business and I really don’t care how you guys run or ruin your business. It seem to be going very well and more power to you, Brandon.

Edited by - ingenmann on 5/22/2004 5:45:51 AM

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Second, don't kid yourself, M.B. You will be back before I can eat the next bite of my chicken McNugget. Let me buy you a Happy Meal and see if we can turn that frown upside down, OK? You only hurt those who are closest to you. True....so true.

Yes, a video engineer will be consulted. Our process with be thoroughly examined by someone who is capable of making an informed opinon.

As far as spending $16,000 on a video camera, I will give it some thought. After all, we just passed our first anniversary. I thought the first year's gift was paper, right? I celebrated by buying new model releases. This is further evidence of my personal commitment to quality.

Here is the list of wedding gifts. If anyone knows when video cameras come up, let me know.

First - Paper
Second - Cotton
Third - Leather
Fourth - Fruit/Flowers
Fifth - Wood
Sixth - Candy/Iron
Seventh - Wool/Copper
Eighth - Bronze/Pottery
Ninth - Pottery/Willow
Tenth - Tin/Aluminum
Eleventh - Steel
Twelfth - Silk/Linen
Thirteenth - Lace
Fourteenth - Ivory
Fifteenth - Crystal
Twentieth - China
Twenty-Fifth - Silver
Thirtieth - Pearl
Thirty-Fifth - Coral
Fortieth - Ruby
Forty-Fifth - Sapphire
Fiftieth - Gold
Fifty-fifth - Emerald
Sixtieth - Diamond Modern Wedding Gifts
First - Clocks
Second - China
Third - Crystal/Glass
Fourth - Appliances
Fifth - Silverware
Sixth - Candy/Iron
Seventh - Desk Sets
Eighth - Bronze/Pottery
Ninth - Linen/Lace
Tenth - Leather
Eleventh - Jewelry
Twelfth - Pearls
Thirteenth - Textiles/Furs
Fourteenth - Gold Jewelry
Fifteenth - Watches
Twentieth - Platinum
Twenty-Fifth - Silver
Thirtieth - Diamond
Thirty-Fifth - Jade
Fortieth - Ruby
Forty-Fifth - Sapphire
Fiftieth - Gold
Fifty-fifth - Emerald
Sixtieth - Diamond

Note that Iron is to be given for the sixth anniversary. So please stock up now on any and all Brandon Iron Productions for 2009. I will throw in the halos at no additional cost. I just looked in the mirror, and right after I made this generous offer, I saw a halo appear over my head! It IS there! It DOES exist!! I can only take this as a sign from God that I must continue to make movies and that I am his Chosen One.

Relax and enjoy. If you want to pout, commisserate with M.B. If you want to watch our stuff, more power to you. If you find that it's not up to par, may I suggest renting instead of buying.

As a token of our appreciation, I will Supersize any order you give me by adding a second DVD to a Brandon Iron release once things meet or exceed everyone's expectations. This includes yours, M.B.

See you at Mickey D's,
Brandon

Edited by - Brandon Iron on 5/21/2004 8:24:41 PM

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-T.C.

(edited to add)

It looks like "appliances" occupies the 4th anniversary on the modern anniversary list. But why wait that long. At PXP's rate of growth (looking forward to 8 figures!) I hope you'll be renting your gear from Panavision by the time your 4th anniversary rolls around!

But seriously, if you only shoot 200 scenes during the life of the camera, we're only talking $80 per scene to use real video making tools. Is that really so much to spend to do it right?

-T.C.

Edited by - TonyC on 5/21/2004 7:59:19 PM

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I called the office today to make sure I didn't jinx myself with respect to the returns of any defective product. Sure enough, the streak is alive!! No returns!And, yes, we did get more reorders, too! (M.B., are you secretly trying to order TEN LITTLE PIGGIES #3 before it comes out next Tuesday?? Shame on you!)

Let's all celebrate by spending this Friday evening having a drink, going to a movie (Troy is good!), eating at a restaurant (McDonald's!!).....ANYTHING other than this!

Enjoy the weekend!
Brandon

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Yes, everyone is using the same "prosumer gear" and everyone gets the same crappy results: pasty skintones, blown highlight, crushed and/or muddy shadows, stairstep aliasing. In short, video that looks like it was shot by a hobbiest (that's who those $3,500 cameras are made for) instead of video that looks like it was shot by a pro.

If no one else is using real professional equipment, then here's your chance to separate yourself from the pack by using equipment that will deliver a quantum leap in quality over your competiors. More lines of resolution, more range, more smoothness of image and camera movement.

You know you want it, Brandon! You owe it to your audience, you owe it to your talent who is literally putting their health and safety on the line to make your movies, but most of all, you owe to yourself!

"I want to work to the best of my abilities," Brandon? Time to step up!

-T.C.

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Listen, I really want to go see a U2 cover band at a bar tonight. At least you have given me something to think about, like how much I have to work out and look like Lee Stone in order to hand-hold the high-def camera that I will start using for the next A GOOD SOURCE OF IRON.

More importantly, can I write off a plasma TV as a deduction on next year's taxes? We have heard from many video experts, now let's hear from some tax experts!

Thanks,
Brandon

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As far as your plasma screen TV, if you're not already writing that off (or better yet, expensing it to PXP), you need a new tax guy. Of course when you're spending $16K on thing like cameras, the tax guy doesn't blink an eye when he sees "HD plasma production monitor: $7.5K." on your schedule C or corporate return.

Destiny is calling Brandon. A chance to take gonzo to the next level. The question is, do you have the balls to answer?

-T.C.

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How these actions don't help the problem get fixed any better than someone returning a disc because it is "defective" is beyond me. If everybody who is experiencing this problem were to send their discs back to you with a note "I want my money back, this disc is defective" and then you played the disc on the same player that you are currently using to view your discs. You'd reply "No it's not" and not give a refund.

As someone pointed out earlier, the only reason the porn shops will let you return a DVD is if it won't play. Even then, they will only let people exchange it for the same title.

Even the store where I showed them the problem on "Feeling Black 2" put the disc back on the shelf to rent to the next guy. We're used to getting shit product from adult companies. We learn form those mistakes and try to avoid making them again.

A forum like this allows us to point these problems out so that hopefully they can be fixed. When people from a company participate at a forum like this, I maintain that there's no faster way to alert that company to a quality issue than tell it to them directly and then show it to them . That's exactly what has been done here. When the reply from a company is that they realize that the problem exists, but it hasn't cost them money in returns, so it's not really as big of a concern as if they were getting returns, that says an awful lot about how little that company actually cares about the quality of their product.

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To that end, I implore my fellow ADT'ers to vote with their wallets and not further enrich PXP until the issue is resolved.

A few years ago, I chose to buy a high-end DVD player and TV because I wanted to enjoy the richer audio and video quality. If I wanted to see halos and blurriness, I would've kept my VCR.

With my recent boycott of PXP, I've held myself to what I have preached and have discovered other competent studios (Hustler - Professianals, Fusxion - Disturber) that otherwise I might not have. Between myself, Bill, Sanchez, Renee (my apologies if they don't wish to elevate their "boycott" to my extreme), we can make a difference.

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It does not mean we don't care. Imagine yourself to be a momma pig called Platinum X Pig and you have thousands of teats from which thousands of customers voraciously succle. They tug and nip away night and day at the too-few teats until you just hope that they all enjoy the milk. Enjoy your milk, Howie, or just quit sucking.

If I were a master of everything, I would have learned how to solve this myself. I am not and I haven't. Your boycott is justified and I encourage you to follow through with it.

What more can I offer you than my fond farewell, a wish that we will earn your business in the future, and a promise that a video engineer will be consulted?? Tell me! Please tell me, because I am getting tired of all of this, too. I can't even feel good about the record-setting week I had.

Again, have a good weekend. If we have frustrated you beyond your threshholds, please go in peace. I repeat....in peace !

Have a great weekend,
Brandon

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A: "...the overall quality of our product meets or exceeds most other companies.”

B: ”They look the same on my television as they do on my computer when I edit them. Also, the edit masters look the same as the original footage that is shot on my Sony 3 CCD camera. I cannot fix what I cannot see.”

C: ”I don't get it. ... I looked at it. An associate looked at it. It looks exactly as it should look.”

D: ”It is very simple. To date, I have NEVER seen this problem occur on any TV or computer screen.”

E: "...there have been absolutely no returns for the problem you are asking us to correct.”

F: ”I feel you put us down because you try to damage us sorry if we had such technical issues we'd have tons of returns and I can say that's not been happening.”

G: ”I've watched our stuff and it's clear as can be so don't try to put PXP down thinking you are hurting us all you are doing is making no sense.”

Edited by - ingenmann on 5/22/2004 8:05:55 AM

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All the titles were watchable, and so I don't expect something like this would results in massive returns or complaints. At first I thought I was the only person seeing this halo thing, but learned otherwise when there were other people posting here about it. I wonder if the average porn viewer out there (there are many more of them than read ADT) just thinks that he's the only one seeing it, so he's not going to complain, since he can still play the DVD.

I didn't think much could be done about any studio's DVD quality, until I saw DVD's by Jonni Darkko and Tyrone Shuz from Digital Sin. The first thing that hit me when I watched their work was how clear the picture was, and how natural the skin tones looked (none of that sickly orange-yellow jaundice look).

The issue is when there are gonzo porn directors and studios out there that are able to make titles with good video quality, that raises the bar for everyone else out there making films. I assume Digital Sin isn't spending way more money than other studios to do achieve this level of quality, but somehow they are able to make it happen.

P.S. Porn companies are not the only ones who can have this attitude towards customer issues. My other hobby is knitting, and one of the best yarn companies out there (Debbie Bliss Yarns of England) responded to a customer complaint about a bag of yarn that was full of knots and fuzzing thusly:
You are the only one we have heard from with this issue. We have thousands of satisfied customers the world over, who have never returned this particular yarn. We believe that you are mishandling the yarn, and that accounts for the problems you are having.

The dissatisfied customer posted the letter on a Internet knitting message board, which sent the yarn company on the warpath. They then began to post counter-letters disparaging the customer. More knitters began posting that they would never knit again with Debbie Bliss yarns. Does this sound familiar?

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Ingenmann: To conjecture what MIGHT happen or what we MIGHT do is unfair and unwarranted. To the best of my knowledge, we have never refused any return made by any customer for any reason. We are a growing company with many things to do in a day. We don't second guess our customers as to why they are returning their product. In fact, our General Manager has an excellent reputation for customer relations. Anyone of you who has dealt with him knows this to be true.

Yes, we take responsibility for improving our DVDs. So far, I have accepted the advice to consult a video engineer upon my return to LA. This seems the step with the highest potential for success in light of the fact that our directors, editors, DVD author, and pro staff from a camera store have been unable to pinpoint the source of the problem. I will personally do this myself in order to understand the process better and make sure that it's not passed off to someone else. Having said that, I really take offence to comments that extrapolate what our response would be to unsatisfied customers. Unless you speak from direct experience, please be reasonable. I am not saying that some people have not had issues with our DVD quality. I AM saying that far more people have been satisfied with our responses to other customer satisfaction issues. Be fair, that's all.

The problem with issues such as this is that they quickly escalate from "Hey, you should be aware that some of your DVDs are not sharp some of the time." to "Boycott the product of these insensitive capitalist pigs!! No, burn them! I want to see their heads on plates! Wait! First sear them in the flames, THEN cut their heads off so they suffer more!! And use that knife that was used by the Iraqis to cut that captive's head off! They OWE me, damn it!!"

Renee: Please help be part of the solution. Call up Debbie Bliss Yarns and order a ton of the stuff. I will pay you to knit hankies for all the people who cry that we are not doing enough for them. We want to please everyone but are woefully inept at doing so. We are the worst video company ever and are quickly rising to our highest level of incompetence. On top of that, we will single-handedly bring down the entire adult video industry because of the loss of consumer confidence resulting in higher rates of sex offences throughout the industrialized world.

We must be stopped!

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I was on a job last week that (for reasons that aren't important) needed to be done at a nominally higher level of production than what I usually do. Nothing earth-shattering, we just needed to bump things up a notch.

Normally when we're on location we're about 3-5 people, and can work out of a cube-truck or small panel van. But for this job we were 10 people and needed to P30's full of gear. At one point I turned to my soundman and commented on how amazing it was that we needed twice as many people and twice as much gear for an incremental increase in the scope of our production. He's a rather laconic fellow (sound people tend to be listeners) and simply responded "It's logerythmic."

Another example:

If you look at the corners of the frame in lots of gonzo videos, you'll see the distinctive yellow legs of everyone's favorite painter's light, available at Home Depot for about $29.95. That's about the same price as the bulb that goes in the Totalights ($119.95 each w/out a stand) I use to solve similar lighting problems, ie pumping up the light volume in a room. The Totalight offers more finess, but more importantly it offers a color balanced bulb that does not change temperature as it gets older (it just burn out rather than getting more yellow/red).

This burn characteristic is that much more important when using toy cameras (like the VXs, PDs, and XLs) because they don't have near the capacity to adjust and compensate for off or mixed color temperature that cameras like the DSR-570 have. (Because it's a DVCAM (5:1, 4:1:1: compression) camera, the DSR-570 is regarded as a toy by many serious video shooters. True or not, it's still a HUGE step up from what I see used in most porn, big studio features included.)

The point is, to deliver marginal improvements in the overall quality and/or scope of a production requires quantum leaps in the investment of time, talent and ultimately money. That's why you see 10 tractor trailers parked on the street to shoot a simple LAW AND ORDER walk and talk scene. Dick Wolfe isn't spending big bucks for the fun of it; he's spending the least he can to get the results his audience expects/demands.

-T.C.

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What is unwarranted, is the fact that these quotes, from PXP people, were ever made to deny the existence of this problem in the first place.

Edited by - Bill on 5/22/2004 1:52:34 PM

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I stand by what I said. We don't question why our customers return product. To say what we might do in reaction to something that hasn't happened is simply conjecture and does nothing to help us. In fact, it is meant to attack us and hurt us. I respond to all such attacks by defending our name.

See how big these circles get when all we do is go round and round?

Take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Watch good product from whatever company floats your boat and enjoy it...really enjoy it, OK?

Thanks,
Brandon

Edited by - Brandon Iron on 5/22/2004 1:53:38 PM

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I have no idea what the answers might be, if I or someone else did send a DVD to PXP complaining about the halo thing. Apparently not the same thing that happened when others raised the issue on ADT.

Please, do realise that the quotes I’ve used are your and Jewels own words on the quality issue posted here at ADT. Remember that the best lies and funniest satire contains tiny elements of truth.

I never said I would stop buying your products, and never put you on any “shit list” and never rallied for any boycotts of PXP as others has done. Actually I’ve spend quite some time to analyse and try to figure out the halo problem, because I wanted to help you. I had to spend 30 dollars on new DVD software just to make the damn screenshots I’ve posted. I want to help because I care about your products. If I didn’t care, I would JUST IGNORE you, and NOT ATTACK you.

Next time I try to be funny, I’ll post under World News & Nonsense to avoid any mistakes. OK?

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Thanks and have a good one,
Brandon

P.S. If you want, I would love to buy that software off of you. It really is cool! Can it work on a Macintosh? I have a G4 with OS 9.12. Will pay you top dollar...and include a free DVD. Uh oh! The halo is starting to appear over my head again! I can be such an angel at times.

Edited by - Brandon Iron on 5/22/2004 3:12:11 PM

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Brandon get some sleep...how bout a watermark?...haha, just kidding!

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As far as the feds looking at your books, you must be refering to a contractor thread from a few weeks ago. You're probably too young to remember how much trouble this caused in the film, video, and photography industry 12 or so years ago, or in the computer industry 6 or so years ago. I'm not too young to remember seeing any number of formerly profitable production companies go belly up in the face of enomorous bills for back payroll taxes.

I think what I said is that the IRS can be picky about who is and who is not a contractor, and a producer who did not want to risk trouble would pay talent as employees, and figure the payroll taxes into the cost of doing business. How you run your business is your business, as is the camera you use.

-T.C.

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