posted 9 years ago
Part of my day job now involves digital. Mostly photoshop of still digital images, though I do shoot video too. Both for personal reasons, for our own DIY (a carb teardown gets filmed so it can be put back together, etc). I also do some work for clients, including remote photoshoots, producing merchandise for them with their images, etc. I currently have an iPhone 6S+, the larger screen is nice to be able to see stuff, and it shoots better pictures than my current digital Olympus, which was quite a camera when it came out. I ordered an iPhone 7 pro, which will now be the 7S... as it is a super handy field data logger and between that and using it for digital image clients... until I can afford the camera of my dreams (let's just say it'd be worth more than my house with all the lenses).
Coming back to RMH's. I purchased the "Rocket Mass Heaters: Superefficient Woodstoves YOU Can Build" by Ianto Evans and Leslie Jacobs. I have also the 6" (currently free, thank you Ernie and Erika Weisner) and the 8" plans. I made plans to build three, one in my house, one in my shop, and one in my massive walipini. Walipini is two years behind schedule, and will be an aboveground earthbag with massive terraced back berm (water table issues on the only land I can install it on). Still locating some stuff for it.
Hearing these DVD's were going to come out, I waited on starting on my RMH's. I did collect steel barrels, pipes, and just had a trucker friend deadhead my 200 plus firebrick from the factory to here. Now I would have given a few body parts to come to that innovators workshop last year (2016 release DVD#4).
With reading the book, studying the plans, and now having the information in all 8 dvd's, the past weekend spouse and I set up a proof of concept with stacking bricks and all that and trying a test fire and it worked.
The quality of playback of these virtual DVD's. I purchased SD digital download, the least expensive and about the fastest way to get the set. After everyone went back and forth on here, I tried downloading to various things and playing back. On my 42" tv, it's kind of crappy, mudded out. But most youtube does that too, played back to that TV. It's a Hannspree and the best brand you never heard about... they mostly just make monitors now. On a 23" monitor, pretty fair. On my laptop with a 17.3 monitor, looks okay at full screen and at the default on one player (about 70% of screen) looks pretty good. On a 10.1 tablet, looks good. Put to my iPhone 6S+, looks very good.
I am also taking correspondence/internet classes to repair sewing machines. Those cost $50-100 an hour in HD but the detail is vital. The more expensive I also receive digital book (e-book for kindle) and a link to some reference material online materials. I pay a lot more for the HD format and I know that I am, because that detail is vital.
In these RMH videos, you see enough to make it happen. In SD. If you are displaying it on a mobile type device (to have it in the field beside you) it looks very good. I would say that I prefer the laptop or tablet display, though I can put them all on my phone if I needed to (yes it's a 128 ). If you need more detail, download the free 6" plans and that will help you a lot. I repair vehicles like this, the Haynes, the engine, and my hands to braille some of it as the picture I'm looking at is not the orientation I will find that bit in and I can't even see it. Familiarize yourself, avail yourself of the free plan. You don't have to build THAT one but it is handy when learning how one goes together.
The DVD set is well done, someone cared about how it went together and the content. In the format it is released in, and the intended use thereof, its perfect. I appreciated the price point as well, I think #1 of the 2016 set is worth what I paid for all eight. My next favorite is the innovator's workshop, #4 of the 2016 set.
When the content was offered, it was made plain what the formats were, that were being offered. SD and HD take radically different amounts of space, and that costs, the more data to be juggled the more it costs. It's not free. I have done my own internet access (aka I am my own ISP I pay for gateway and have my own in-house server) since the late 90's. Everything costs. I commend Paul and the crew for managing to produce a content rich offering, well done, and in different formats at different prices. When I selected SD I didn't expect the electronics level detail (see repairing sewing machines) but I expected to be able to see what's going on when I needed to see what is going on. In that respect, yes, there's enough detail in the format I am using to view it and use it.
I have not seen the HD version personally but from average grabs that have been posted, it looks close enough that the HD would only matter if you're blowing it up. When I take stills I tend to go for as high a resolution as I can get in case I'm clipping a small part of it and have to blow it up... and it's easier to throw away detail from that image to make something fit download/upload constraints--one piece of proprietary layout software I lease, has a file size maximum so I often have to resize to make something load in.
In this case, for most of us, going to go out there and play with firebrick, cob, and pieces of metal, the SD format material should work. Only thing I wish is I could reach out and touch the cob to know what it should feel like when it's ready, and have someone supervise the first time I try to split a firebrick.
SD will work for most everyone, and also, the price is very bleeping good for the information shared. Why do you think most of your youtube has adverts imbedded? To pay for handling the data file. Paul and crew did well to hold a line on everything. If you don't like the SD he is allowing an upgrade, and yes you have to pay for it because there's more costs involved with handling the format and delivering it. Just like the physical DVD has a lot more overhead and costs more.
I'm defending this because I believed in the whole concept, and I am appreciating the fruits of all that hard work and the monies everyone kicked in to make it happen. Without all that work and the original backing there wouldn't be any content. Data costs. I'm reminded of that every month when I pay for the phones and the internet access; the data transfer traffic; everything. This is not amateur video shot with a dubious smartphone on the fly and haphazard editing. This is a carefully documented set of how-to with careful shooting, editing, and content rich. Retry playing your purchase in the intended format and you will find it works well. Don't be afraid to get other aids, such as the free 6" plans, to peruse as well. It all goes hand in hand with a wonderful pool of reference material, that will go a long way in helping me do what I need to do.
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