Revcon DVD - highly recommended

[Bernard Devlin]

I have recently finished watching the DVD (some sessions twice), and  
I just wanted to draw the DVD to the attention of others.  I've been  
using Rev for about 4 or 5 years now, and I've done programming in  
many different languages (including multi-database server-side Java),  
and I still learned a lot and got many new ideas from the DVD.

There are occasional times when the quality of the screenshots is not  
very good.  But I think that that is a limitation of the technology  
involved.  (One can see the video camera automatically adjusting its  
focal length dynamically when there is little contrast in the centre  
of the screen e.g. if the script editor was open with only a couple  
of lines of text on the screen).  But I don't think that  
significantly diminishes the quality of the DVD - for 99% of the time  
the visual quality is fine.

Some times the sound quality varies - but I think that is when the  
sound is switched to a mike in the audience so that one can hear the  
audience members questions and comments better.  I think the  
variation in sound quality at those moments is acceptable if the  
alternative is to not get to hear the audience's input.  Basically  
the quality of the video is very professional.  I just don't want  
this to be a gushing recommendation - I'm trying to find some faults  
with the DVD just to balance my enthusiasm for it!

Unfortunately, there are times when the screen is in focus, but the  
font-size used in the Script Editor is too small to read.  Hopefully  
if Runrev are going to produce a DVD of any future Revcon, they will  
include the speakers' sample stacks with the DVD.  Then, even if  
there is some limitation in what one can read from the screen, one  
could look through the stack/code provided with the DVD.

But with those caveats aside, the quality of the talks is really  
good.  The speakers are very knowledgeable, and there is clearly a  
great sense of cameraderie.  I've never seen such fellow-feeling at a  
developer conference before.  The whole conference looks like it was  
really well organised.  I really wish I had been able to attend.   
Kudos to all involved.

If you've read the documentation that comes with Rev, and you've gone  
through the scripting conference stacks, then the DVD really is the  
next step in learning more about what can be done with Rev and how to  
do it.

Bernard