While I would agree that many pool VHS/DVD's and streams from the past were of pretty rough quality........it's really turned the corner now.
I don't expect the film quality to be that of a primetime TV show, so I'm actually fairly easy to please. It's all about the content and the clear, concise presentation of it (as in "can the average person understand and comprehend what's being presented?).
For example, I've been getting several of Grady Mathew's videos that were made many years ago. They're DVD's taken from the original master copies. They're still pretty darn rough. It looks like Grady is teaching from a basement garage somewhere. HOWEVER, the CONTENT is top-notch. And I love the way he explains things.
And man, could Grady give you your money's worth. When I first bought one of his videos, I was thinking, "Wow, just a 50 min. video." He literally crams like 3+ hours worth of stuff into that 50 minutes, however. You GOTTA have one of his videos at the table with you and just watch a section, quickly stop the video and then work on it.....before moving on. With many other pool videos, a section could be 10-15 minutes long. You could watch that chapter, digest it and then work on it. I still don't think anyone could beat Grady in "bang for the buck".
Mark Otto (sorry, if I have the name wrong) has some decent videos and is a member of this board. He's done videos of his own teachings that I own that have TONS of info on them. In fact, his Pool 101 is probably one of the best I've seen for an ABSOLUTE BEGINNER player. They would be really good for introducing your kids to the game. That's not a put-down in any way. It's Pool 101, right? NOW, his pool 202 (or whatever it was called), is much more advanced and I would think is geared to the intermediate player. Tons of systems and content.
Point above being:
1. He has alot of content.
2. His content is broken down among skill level groups nicely, IMO.
3. It looks like he's set it up at his house (not slamming him, just sayin). Probably kept costs down.
4. His production quality looks to be intermediate among all the videos I've acquired in the last couple of years. Not a slam, just being honest.
So, he might be a good person to ask as to what goes into making a video, but don't be surprised if he or anyone else doesn't tell you how much it costs to make one. Sometimes those are business decisions/info that you just don't offer up to anyone that asks. I know his stuff was very affordable. He's done videos for John Brumback, so he also has the point of view of what it's like to film something for another player and what's involved in that. Brumback's videos were pretty decent in terms of production quality and had lots of advanced content, especially if you're a Banks or even 1P afficianado. There might be some players here who would argue that point, but show a Brumback video to your average bar banger or beginning player and their head would probably explode. For us more "seasoned" players, it's hopefully the next step in the evolution of our individual games.
Altho I haven't seen them (yet) the "Break and Run" DVD set by RunOut Media is supposed to be the cream of the crop when it comes to production quality and chock full of content. They're next on my list. A major player in that company is also on this forum.
Of course you also have Justin Collett and Mark Griffin from TAR that frequent here. Their stuff looks absolutely great and I've never had a problem watching one.
BigTruck streams are really good and he's on this board.
I could go on and on. You're in the right place, as to whether you get the answers you seek is another.
If you haven't bought anything new in the pool DVD/stream world lately, I'd encourage you to do so. The production quality is much more advanced.
