Reviews of Triax videos needed! Help!

[pope 0]

Hey everyone!
I need to get some reviews posted for Triax Productions' DVDs.

Anyone who has seen either Continuum or Continuum II, or either of the Bridge Day 2004 DVDs, PLEASE help us out and write us a critical review! Tell us what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd like to see different in a new production, and any other suggestions you might have!

to submit a review for:

CONTINUUM II: click here

CONTINUUM: click here

BRIDGE DAY 2004-STANDARD: click here

BRIDGE DAY 2004-BOOGIE: click here

Thanks everyone!
pope

edit to clarify title ~TA

[pope 0]

[leroydb 0]

FWIW, I loved both copies!of the the BD 04 video. I am not impartial since this was my first BD.

2/2 01:00
2/7 49:59
2/8 1:05
2/13 1:59
2/18 2:21:39

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

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[Faber 0]

just saw C II
Only thing i didnt liked alot is the Flags down in the left conor changing all the time,you look down there all the time instead of looking of the kick ass video

good word(besides the flag thing)

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

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[vid666 0]

Ok, I will bite.

Please don't take this as a personal attack ...

Rainy Daze :
while a good edit, at $40 USD I thought it was highly overpriced. I also thought that @ ~~ 40 min the video was quite over-advertised - kinda like when they show you 2 really kick ass scenes from a movie in a preview, and then you find out that those are the only good scenes in the whole movie .

Standard Video - same as before, but again, in IMHO - OVERADVERTISED, I expected more solely based on what was advertised. Granted you had a good reason not to include the "fiasco at the small S" but what about :

Quote from your site :

Triax employed no less than seven different camera operators during the event; Filming from the crane basket, from angles on both sides of the exit ramp, two angles from the landing area, and roaming cameras EVERYWHERE insures that you are likely to see your jump(s) from more than one angle.

Really ? Jumps from different angles ? I saw less then a dozen jumps filmed from different angles. Mostly Red Bull, the Triax staff and a few jumps that did look really solid and good. Of course the terrified girl on the exit ramp was priceless :) Otherwise - most jumps were - jump from the basket, landing area - gone. Some were out of order with exit/landing.

Not much footage after ~~ 1.15 PM - I am sure due to weather going to the crapper - but jumps WERE made - I think you could of extended a bit more effort to film them - though I do understand that there might of been concerns I do not know about. Safety first, right ?

Done rambling - sorry if it was not what other people thought, but opinions are like xxxxxxx's :)

peace

[NickDG 23]

Video Review:
Bridge Day 2004 (The Year of the Rain)
Bridge Day 2004 Part II (Rainy Daze)
Triax Productions

By Nick Di Giovanni
BASE 194

The first time I saw myself on a Bridge Day video is after handing my camera to the closest spectator in 1985. The footage later revealed a flash of my rig going by and nothing else. In those days consumer video cameras aren't as prevalent or advanced as they are now. The history of commercial Bridge Day videos goes back to at least 1987. Before this several individual jumpers would video parts of Bridge Day and then bundle that with jumps from different sites. These were less about Bridge Day and more about, "What I did in BASE this year."

In 1987 J.T. Williams advertised the first real Bridge Day video in the December issue of BASELINE magazine. The VHS tape was 97 minutes long and showed 375 jumpers making the leap. The cost was $15.00 and he promised delivery by Christmas. This is the first Bridge Day video that was not only entertaining, it's also the first time we realized there was so much to be learned from watching so many BASE jumps in back to back fashion. I remember saying at the time, "Man, Bridge Day is an F-111 laboratory." Basically, almost every mistake that's possible to make in BASE jumping is right there in front of you.

In 1988 J.T. did another Bridge Day Video and this time the price rose to $18.00 for a two hour tape that now included some landings as well as launches. In 1992 the best Bridge Day video to date is advertised by Tom Sanders. Tom (and his wife Jan Davis) filmed from a boom basket hanging over the rail, and that was the first time we ever saw that perspective. The price was $35.00. In 1991 a Canadian jumper was selling a short Bridge Day video that included some building jumps for $20, but the advertisement warned of "some glitches."

The late Will Forshay, under the "Lemmings" video name covered most of the 1990s at Bridge Day. He was probably the first to deploy multiple camera-persons and he delivered a good product including the first two volume set (launches & landings) for $50.00. By this time the number of jumpers registering for Bridge Day is rising and Will became a victim of his own success. A real video production house would have had a job making this video happen, but this was just Will and a couple of friends. Many jumpers are complaining about long delivery times and I think in the end Will became tired of all the problems involved.

Fast forward to Bridge Day 2004 . . .

I received my two volume set that included Bridge Day 2004, The Year of the Rain, and Bridge Day 2004, Part II, Rainy Daze, four days after I ordered them from Triax Productions. These are DVDs and not VHS video. First off thanks, Triax, for exposing me to music I otherwise might have never heard. For a week after I first screened the DVD I couldn't get the song, "Let's get Retarded (In Here)" out of my head. I even took the time to learn the tune on my bass guitar!

I must say I really enjoyed the Bridge Day 2004 DVD. This is as good, and maybe even better than any previous effort I've seen. The logistics of putting together each launch followed by its corresponding landing must have been a nightmare. If you jumped at Bridge Day 2004 (or in some cases just attended) you'll probably find yourself on one of these DVDs.

The price for the two volume set (and keep in mind this isn't the 1980s anymore) is $79.00 plus $6.00 for shipping and that's fair enough. However this wouldn't be a review if I didn't spoon up some poison so here goes; At first I thought it was my DVD player, but after playing the disc on several machines, I can see something that, after I noticed it, bothered me to no end. It appears some kind of compression software was used (I'm guessing here) and I notice a slight jerkiness in certain parts. It seems like you get jumpers walking to the edge in normal time, but once they launched I can see the compression taking place. My girlfriend didn't notice it, even after I pointed it out, and neither has anyone else I showed the video to, so maybe it's just me. Also, and a lesser offense, is the title "Year of the Rain," as it's hardly the first time it has rained on a Bridge Day. A better title might have been, "Year of the Squall."

My biggest gripe overall is the second DVD. This is the "boogie" DVD and it failed to deliver. First off it's too short and I kept going back to the main menu looking for sections I missed. There is no real coverage of the Video-Fest or the after jump meeting where several awards were handed out. There were plenty of BASE old-timers at Bridge Day 2004 and it would have been fun to hear their comments, but mostly it's the newer jumpers that are featured yelling, "Wow, I jumped from the Bridge." A big yawn . . .

The second DVD isn't a total loss. It's a good party video to play in the background, and wuffos like it, and I suppose it suffers only when compared to the first DVD. However, there's no getting around it was over-hyped. However, I must say I feel the first DVD is worth the price of both.

And once again I learned if you want to get more coverage of your antics at Bridge Day, wear a goofy costume. It's hard to seriously convey the thrill and expertise involved in BASE jumping to your wuffo and skydiving friends, and then all of a sudden here comes the Pig-Men. But, that's Bridge Day.

Other than that I will purchase next year's DVDs from Triax Productions without hesitation. Like all Bridge Day videos prior, these will continue to evolve and improve over time and they are an important part of the evolution of BASE jumping.

NickD BASE 194

[Zennie 0]

I haven't seen all of the BD 2004 video, so I really can't offer much in the way of review. As far as the jerkiness goes, it is most likely skips created during the rendering process (which, yes, among other things, involves compression).

Compressing video is probably one of the most demanding things you can do resource-wise on a computer. And the longer the clip being rendered, the more resource-intensive the operation is.

Rendering something like the BD video would require a MONSTER machine (read, fast CPU(s), gobs of memory, dedicated video card and, most importantly, an extremely fast hard drive(s)) to get all the way through without introducing any skips.

My home-rolled frankenstein machine is pretty hopped up, and I managed to render my little "Hey Y'All Watch This" video (about 35 mins in length) without skips, but it took a couple of attempts before I got a clean version.

Next time I do this I'll personally try to break the thing up into 15 minute chunks or so for rendering, then assimilate it all onto the final DVD. But that's just me.


I do have C1 & C2. Both are outstanding films and I'd recommend both to anyone who doesn't have them. Still can't get Rob D's "Clubbed To Death" out of my head. Even though C2 is better produced, I still think I like C1 just a little more.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[JaapSuter 0]

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Even though C2 is better produced, I still think I like C1 just a little more.

Funny you mention that, I felt the exact same way. To me C1 showed a higher fun factor. It was a "let's have fun jumping, and if we somehow manage to get great footage too, that's just a nice side-effect" movie, whereas C2 seemed made for the footage.

Both are highly recommended though! "Method to Madness" is still one of my favourite base-soundtrack songs.