Ask questions to R&B Films, Ltd insider "RBFilms"

[iceman]

This thread is dedicated to asking questions of industry insider "RBFilms" (R&B Films, Ltd) who has graciously taken the time to participate here. RBFilms and all our insiders do this out of their free time and to try to keep us informed to their best abilities, and therefore are to be treated with respect and courtesy.

Before asking a question, please skim at least the last weeks worth of posts in order to make sure that the question hasn't already been asked or answered. Using the search function is also always a good idea. Please conduct your inquiries in a professional manner and avoid asking "chicken little" questions or asking when unannounced titles will come out.

RBFilms - R&B Films, Ltd - Track posts

[Mericalis]

Richard,

As a big fan of Nature's Journey and Chronos, I've been waiting on your studio's next hi-def project with much anticipation. Can you possibly give us an update on when we might expect something new?

M

[JBlacklow]

In light of your enthusiasm for Blu-ray and Warner's decision, will you be Blu-ray exclusive?

[HDJK]

Richard,

You once mentioned a test disc with all kinds of clips that allow comparing between codecs and test patterns (on 'that other forum' ).

Is something like this in the works?

Thank you very much.

[Icemage]

Richard,

You've commented in the past that you were inclined to settle on one format. Do circumstances now make that decision easier, or do you feel that there is still some money to be made in being neutral? I can certainly see a case for staying neutral, as it does reach the widest audience for the time being, but as I recall, one of the key points you've talked about at length in the past is that your company invests strategically and expects returns over time from continuing residual sales and other sources of revenue.

Given the recent shift from Time Warner (Warner Brothers Home Video, HBO, New Line Cinema) to Blu-ray exclusivity, and the subsequent announcement from two German distributors of Blu-ray exclusivity, has any of this changed your outlook regarding the current (and presumed) neutrality of R&B Films?

[PaulGo]

Any new info on the demo you were arranging in Virginia / Maryland?

Also, how is it coming with the response to Amir on AVS. I really hoped once he retired he would slow down with his BS, but all the new free time has made him even worse (if that's possible ). The scary thing is he actually believes what he is saying!

[RBFilms]

Yes, it is an easier choice now. However, we made that choice before any of this happened. We did not announce it as we do ot lay any significant role in the format wars. Announcing it would only fuel some AVS Forum member to give us grief claiming we have some delusional thoughts about actually making a difference ... even though I have been very clear we do not.

See my previous response for more details regarding our decision. I am primarily thinking we should stay away from HD-DVD due to the fact that the audience does support our efforts to raise the bar.

Originally Posted by Icemage

Richard,

You've commented in the past that you were inclined to settle on one format. Do circumstances now make that decision easier, or do you feel that there is still some money to be made in being neutral? I can certainly see a case for staying neutral, as it does reach the widest audience for the time being, but as I recall, one of the key points you've talked about at length in the past is that your company invests strategically and expects returns over time from continuing residual sales and other sources of revenue.

Given the recent shift from Time Warner (Warner Brothers Home Video, HBO, New Line Cinema) to Blu-ray exclusivity, and the subsequent announcement from two German distributors of Blu-ray exclusivity, has any of this changed your outlook regarding the current (and presumed) neutrality of R&B Films?

[RBFilms]

HD has not sold as well for us as BD.

We are going to be releasing on BD only moving forward.

Originally Posted by Icemage

Richard,

You've commented in the past that you were inclined to settle on one format. Do circumstances now make that decision easier, or do you feel that there is still some money to be made in being neutral? I can certainly see a case for staying neutral, as it does reach the widest audience for the time being, but as I recall, one of the key points you've talked about at length in the past is that your company invests strategically and expects returns over time from continuing residual sales and other sources of revenue.

Given the recent shift from Time Warner (Warner Brothers Home Video, HBO, New Line Cinema) to Blu-ray exclusivity, and the subsequent announcement from two German distributors of Blu-ray exclusivity, has any of this changed your outlook regarding the current (and presumed) neutrality of R&B Films?

[RBFilms]

Oh yes...I can assure you that project is a pet project of mine. I am doing this in an effort to lay to rest any claims made by any parties.

We are trying to get "Critics" involved so people will not dispute our methods. However, we only have one potential "Critic" for the Audio side right now. It seems that th VC-1 Encoder folks do not wish to participate.

Of course, people will still argue no matter what we do. However, I am a firm believer n the tuth winning out in th end.

Originally Posted by HDJK

Richard,

You once mentioned a test disc with all kinds of clips that allow comparing between codecs and test patterns (on 'that other forum' ).

Is something like this in the works?

Thank you very much.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by RBFilms

Oh yes...I can assure you that project is a pet project of mine. I am doing this in an effort to lay to rest any claims made by any parties.
...

Thanks a lot, that's good to hear

[RBFilms]

Yes, it is at the top of my list...

Originally Posted by HDJK

Richard,

You once mentioned a test disc with all kinds of clips that allow comparing between codecs and test patterns (on 'that other forum' ).

Is something like this in the works?

Thank you very much.

[RBFilms]

Yes, it is. We are in development now. Expect to see this sometime around 1st / 2nd quarter of next year.

Originally Posted by HDJK

Richard,

You once mentioned a test disc with all kinds of clips that allow comparing between codecs and test patterns (on 'that other forum' ).

Is something like this in the works?

Thank you very much.

[RBFilms]

Yes, but I made that decision before Warner made any announcement. By decision was based on my experience with the HD-DVD audience and the abuse I took in the AVS Forum. It is obvious they do not appreciate our efforts to raise the bar ... and in all honesty, they were not very nice about it .... so we are excluding HD-DVD with respect to our future releases.

Originally Posted by JBlacklow

In light of your enthusiasm for Blu-ray and Warner's decision, will you be Blu-ray exclusive?

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by RBFilms

Yes, but I made that decision before Warner made any announcement. By decision was based on my experience with the HD-DVD audience and the abuse I took in the AVS Forum. It is obvious they do not appreciate our efforts to raise the bar ... and in all honesty, they were not very nice about it .... so we are excluding HD-DVD with respect to our future releases.

I recall those exchanges over on AVS. It was appalling to see just how disrespectful people were with their "if you're not with me then you're against me rhetoric", even while you were delivering the best possible encodes. I apologize that we (the Blu-ray supporters on AVS) weren't able to give you more support over there, but as you may have noticed, we've been just a wee bit outnumbered on that forum up until recently.

As always, thank you for your time and dedication, Richard. I look forward to your upcoming releases; they will have a prominent place in my collection alongside my Blu-ray copies of Chronos and Nature's Journey.

Any hints on what your next release will be?

[nhaase]

Originally Posted by Icemage

I recall those exchanges over on AVS. It was appalling to see just how disrespectful people were with their "if you're not with me then you're against me rhetoric", even while you were delivering the best possible encodes. I apologize that we (the Blu-ray supporters on AVS) weren't able to give you more support over there, but as you may have noticed, we've been just a wee bit outnumbered on that forum up until recently.

As always, thank you for your time and dedication, Richard. I look forward to your upcoming releases; they will have a prominent place in my collection alongside my Blu-ray copies of Chronos and Nature's Journey.

Any hints on what your next release will be?

I remember some of those exchanges as well, and as Icemage said, it was said to see the "verbal" abuse you took for giving hard proof of why Blu-ray would have the better encodes, while still telling them you were optimizing the HD DVD encodes. Glad to see people get what they deserve, and we know you will always do the best you can for the format.

I look very forward to your pet project of a disc w/ the different encodes. Let me ask, though, if you would please elaborate on this. Do you plan on taking clips of the same length and encoding them, making clip time the limiting factor, or will you make disc space the limiting factor to see how efficient each codec is?

Thank you for your time and efforts.

[RBFilms]

No worries...I am from NY and go toe to toe with th best of them.. I have noticed a greater presence recently of BD Supporters over at AVS. It is nice to see ... especially now that I officially only support Blu-ray Disc...

I think we will be releasing some more "straight" nature content with multiple audio tracks. No super duper 96/24 audio...but really nice original high definition video content featuring 32mbps to 36mbps AVC Video Encodes and DTS Lossless Audio.

We keep getting approached to do women in High Def ... but it is not really our style....and besides, very few women ... or people for that mater ... look all that great in High Def.,..!!

I would also like to do something with motor sports or anything driven b y an engine ... planes, trains, and automobiles for example ... maybe some 4x4 Off Road action as well. I am an avid Toyota Land Cruiser enthusiast and my best female friend owns an awesome JEEP Rubicon tricked out with a winch and all....

Why, do you have any suggestions? We are always looking for content and ideas.

Originally Posted by Icemage

I recall those exchanges over on AVS. It was appalling to see just how disrespectful people were with their "if you're not with me then you're against me rhetoric", even while you were delivering the best possible encodes. I apologize that we (the Blu-ray supporters on AVS) weren't able to give you more support over there, but as you may have noticed, we've been just a wee bit outnumbered on that forum up until recently.

As always, thank you for your time and dedication, Richard. I look forward to your upcoming releases; they will have a prominent place in my collection alongside my Blu-ray copies of Chronos and Nature's Journey.

Any hints on what your next release will be?

[richteer]

Originally Posted by RBFilms

Yes, but I made that decision before Warner made any announcement. By decision was based on my experience with the HD-DVD audience and the abuse I took in the AVS Forum. It is obvious they do not appreciate our efforts to raise the bar ... and in all honesty, they were not very nice about it .... so we are excluding HD-DVD with respect to our future releases.

Bravo, sir! Many of us here appreciate the work you do, and are pleased that dropping HD DVD will give you more time to focus on what you do best.

I have Nature's Journey, and although I've not yet watched all of it, the parts that I have seen are simply astonishing!

[reiella]

First the rabid praise. Thanks for the hardwork on Chronos and Nature's Journey. They both rock and earn me many Brag Right points when I have guests over .

And now the question. With Nature's Journey, I was pretty sure that I read that the pictures were all live pictures, and not CG. I was just wanted to make sure that was accurate.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by RBFilms

Yes, but I made that decision before Warner made any announcement. By decision was based on my experience with the HD-DVD audience and the abuse I took in the AVS Forum. It is obvious they do not appreciate our efforts to raise the bar ... and in all honesty, they were not very nice about it .... so we are excluding HD-DVD with respect to our future releases.

I applaud your decision to drop HD DVD support. Eventually, some of these forum trolls who spew abuse in the direction of people who try to better the enthusiast community's access to good information and cutting-edge content, are going to have to realise that there are consequences to their childish and insulting behavior. Frankly, you displayed more patience than they deserved.

Thanks for joining us! You won't encounter any such negativity from the fantastic membership here!

[Seretur]

Richard, I haven't followed your struggles over the past year or so all that closely, but I know you were one of the few professionals who really went the distance to optimize your releases for each format's strengths. And it had been truly saddening to see you get such a negative response from the deluded side of the hi-def crowd.

Here's to a 2008 that has none of that aggravation, and lots of splendid new releases.

It's good to have you here!