Miniature Mentor releases Advanced Tutorials One

[miniaturementor]

<a target=_blank href="http://www.miniaturementor.com">Miniature Mentor</a> releases its second training DVD - <strong>Advanced Tutorials One</strong>. Taught by Golden Demon winner <strong>Laurent Exposito Mas</strong> it covers the making of Black Cloth, White Cloth, Skin Tone and Non-Metallic Metal in over 2 hours of in-depth video.

Just in time for our Subscription Service!!! Thats right, Miniature Mentor is now offering access to its entire library of videos for a low monthly fee - and this includes all future releases. For a limited time we are offering an introductory price of $40 for the first month and $8 for additional months.

Need more convincing - we are wrapping filming on four Master Class tutorials this week. Also, Miniature Mentor would like to take this opportunity to welcome Two more amazing artists to its team.

<strong>David Ayral</strong> - <a target=_blank href="http://www.anakron.fr">gallery here</a>

<strong>Romain Van Den Bogaert</strong> - <a target=_blank href="http://twotimes.free.fr/UntitledFrameset-9.html">gallery here</a>

<img src="http://www.miniaturementor.com/Images/cool_mini_AryalDavid.jpg" width="425" height="266" />

<img src="http://www.miniaturementor.com/Images/cool_mini_Romain_Demon.jpg" width="425" height="266" />

www.miniaturementor.com

 

[switch327]

subscribed straight away, downloading the last of 4 now.

Can\'t wait for the rest

 

[generulpoleaxe]

nothing happens still when i press the buy dvd button.

 

[atacam]

Well as I seem to be th eonly person posting on the other thread, I will copy my post here.

Latest email from Miniature Mentor, about the next part.

And I am very dissapointed to say the least.

Remember this post.

Just for clearification, we are doing everything to get our subscription service working. ($30 first month - $5.00 additional months). But becuase of compatability issues with our service providers it is going to take some time. Once it is up and running we will send a link to everyone who has purchased the first tutorial ($30). That will allow them to skip the first lump-sum payment and only be charged the reoccuring monthly fee.

Well I have paid my $30, and now they want another $20, then $10 more every month. Surley this is a contract that they are obligated to honour?

False advertising I think.

 

[josgertz]

Paying more

So I got the email like the poster above. Then yesterday I got one saying that people that had previously ordered the first dvd would only have to pay $20 and then $8 every month.

So by my calculations that means my initial payment is $50 if you factor in the $30 I have already paid. If I didn\'t buy it previously I only have to pay $40 and $8 a month.

This isn\'t really a way to treat people that have supported you from the get go.

There also has been no confirmation of what you get for the monthly payments. Are we guaranteed a video a month? What if something happens and numerous months go by without a video?

 

[miniaturementor]

We apologize for the small increase in cost for the subscription service. However, its implementation was cumbersome and required upgrading our service and back-end systems. The increase in price reflects this.

However, this is still the cheapest way to recieve our content. Remember that you are learning from some of the best painters in the world and we have many, many more signing up to train you. Since they earn royalties off every subscription, download or DVD - part of your payment goes to supporting them and this hobby.

For clarification - those who have purchased our previous products are eligible for a reduced subscription price of $20 for the first month and $8 per month after ward. Although people have paid $50.00 for the DVD - you must remember that it cost us money to outsource our DVD replication.

 

[mattrock]

As a matter of good business practice I think it would be appropriate to grandfather the originally quoted price to those that chose to take advantage of the offer at that time. It only makes sense from a service standpoint and it\'s also appropriate to reward those who took the plunge with the company before the bugs were ironed out.

This may be what you are doing (I didn\'t fully understand the information in your last post) but if not, as a business person myself, it seems only fair.

I haven\'t taken advantage of the program yet but I\'m intrigued. I\'ve been watching to see how things go in the launch period (as I\'m sure many other have as well) and my decision on whether to become a subscriber or not will heavily depend on how complications like these are handled by the company. If others are like me (and I believe they probably are) this may be a life or death decision for the company at this early stage in your development.

I think the new price is reasonable and assuming quality and service are up to the task, I\'ll have no problems joining up when the machine gets moving. But it\'s my opinion that you owe it to those who have already paid to honor their original agreement if only to compensate them for being patient through the bug fixes. Just some thoughts.

 

[atacam]

Originally posted by mattrock
As a matter of good business practice I think it would be appropriate to grandfather the originally quoted price to those that chose to take advantage of the offer at that time. It only makes sense from a service standpoint and it\'s also appropriate to reward those who took the plunge with the company before the bugs were ironed out.

This may be what you are doing (I didn\'t fully understand the information in your last post) but if not, as a business person myself, it seems only fair.

I haven\'t taken advantage of the program yet but I\'m intrigued. I\'ve been watching to see how things go in the launch period (as I\'m sure many other have as well) and my decision on whether to become a subscriber or not will heavily depend on how complications like these are handled by the company. If others are like me (and I believe they probably are) this may be a life or death decision for the company at this early stage in your development.

I think the new price is reasonable and assuming quality and service are up to the task, I\'ll have no problems joining up when the machine gets moving. But it\'s my opinion that you owe it to those who have already paid to honor their original agreement if only to compensate them for being patient through the bug fixes. Just some thoughts.

My point exactly. An upgrade is something a company has to take the hit from, not the consumer. I am pretty sure you have to supply the goods at the earlier published prices. I check the legal side of it first before I go on.

 

[RobberBaron]

Honestly, I think they\'ll have a very hard time getting subscribers at this stage. They really only have 2 tutorials out, and that hardly justifies the \"access to our entire library.\" Plus most customers that are interested, already purchased the first video, so it\'s really only 1 tutorial that you\'re getting.

I like the idea of subscribing instead of buying, but they implemented this service way too prematurely before they had enough videos for it to be appealing. And like someone else said, the $8 is for what, the promise of future videos? There are 2 due out for April that I\'m not really interested in, so I have to hope that May and June are going to have good videos, and be released on time?

Then there\'s the issue of what happens 2 or even 5 years down the road and the company closes shop. All that $$ you spent on the subscription doesn\'t give you videos in the end. I would only consider buying the actual download so I always have a copy whenever I want to play it.


So has anyone have a review on the Advanced series? For the display quality painter, is there any new and helpful techniques, or stuff most of us already know?

 

[josgertz]

Still getting charged more than anyone else

Originally posted by miniaturementor
We apologize for the small increase in cost for the subscription service. However, its implementation was cumbersome and required upgrading our service and back-end systems. The increase in price reflects this.

However, this is still the cheapest way to recieve our content. Remember that you are learning from some of the best painters in the world and we have many, many more signing up to train you. Since they earn royalties off every subscription, download or DVD - part of your payment goes to supporting them and this hobby.

For clarification - those who have purchased our previous products are eligible for a reduced subscription price of $20 for the first month and $8 per month after ward. Although people have paid $50.00 for the DVD - you must remember that it cost us money to outsource our DVD replication.

I understand what you are saying but I paid $30 for the initial download. For future downloads I have to pay $20 + $8/month for the service.

Now if I hadn\'t purchased the first set and I wanted to join now I only have to pay $40 + $8/month. This is $10 cheaper than the cost for the people that have supported you for the last few months.

I have no problem with the cost of the product but what I do have a problem with the way it works out for the people that have already purchased the previous product and the different information given in emails over the last week.

RobberBaron - If they are like the previous videos than they are of good quality. I dont think they are HD but they look great on my PC at 1650x1080.

 

[atacam]

Originally posted by josgertz

Originally posted by miniaturementor
We apologize for the small increase in cost for the subscription service. However, its implementation was cumbersome and required upgrading our service and back-end systems. The increase in price reflects this.

However, this is still the cheapest way to recieve our content. Remember that you are learning from some of the best painters in the world and we have many, many more signing up to train you. Since they earn royalties off every subscription, download or DVD - part of your payment goes to supporting them and this hobby.

For clarification - those who have purchased our previous products are eligible for a reduced subscription price of $20 for the first month and $8 per month after ward. Although people have paid $50.00 for the DVD - you must remember that it cost us money to outsource our DVD replication.

I understand what you are saying but I paid $30 for the initial download. For future downloads I have to pay $20 + $8/month for the service.

Now if I hadn\'t purchased the first set and I wanted to join now I only have to pay $40 + $8/month. This is $10 cheaper than the cost for the people that have supported you for the last few months.

I have no problem with the cost of the product but what I do have a problem with the way it works out for the people that have already purchased the previous product and the different information given in emails over the last week.

RobberBaron - If they are like the previous videos than they are of good quality. I dont think they are HD but they look great on my PC at 1650x1080.

I must concour the first set of vids are good quality, and have no problem with the fee I have already paid, but.....

I didn\'t think of that. So we are getting stung for an extra $10 for supporting you in the first place:flame:. I will not and recommend no one else buy these until this issue has been addressed.

 

[RobberBaron]

Actually I wasnt asking about the resolution quality, i take it the prodiction quality is the same. I was more interested in the actual content and if its worth it for display quality painters.

But this does bring up a good point for subscribers, since they aren\'t downloading the actual videos, then they will be watching a streaming video online? I\'m sure the quality will be a lot lower if this is the case.

 

[josgertz]

Originally posted by RobberBaron
Actually I wasnt asking about the resolution quality, i take it the prodiction quality is the same. I was more interested in the actual content and if its worth it for display quality painters.

But this does bring up a good point for subscribers, since they aren\'t downloading the actual videos, then they will be watching a streaming video online? I\'m sure the quality will be a lot lower if this is the case.

If its streaming than yes the quality will likely be lower. The original one was a download though and of good quality

 

[skeeve]

on a completely different note. Whatever happens do download? It is incredibly slow and freezes after it reaches about 70-75% for the first file... Is it just me or others have the same problem?

 

[Gwinn]

Originally posted by RobberBaron
Actually I wasnt asking about the resolution quality, i take it the prodiction quality is the same. I was more interested in the actual content and if its worth it for display quality painters.

Well, it depends. From my view, it was very much like the first one. A bit too much for my taste. Black and white cloth is just colored shadows, same technique as used in the first tutorial.

And the NMM? Well, originaly i thought the orange part on the photo was some kind of reflection.. Turns out its rust, and to be hones, not of the most realistic looking kind. So its basicaly the same as seen on the wolfen + the rust efect.

I didnt see the faces yet, but that part looks quite promising.

 

[josgertz]

Originally posted by skeeve
on a completely different note. Whatever happens do download? It is incredibly slow and freezes after it reaches about 70-75% for the first file... Is it just me or others have the same problem?

Are you downloading only one at a time? Because of the size of the files the recommend that you only do one at a time. I had this happen to me on a few files when I was doing two at a time.

So after looking at the pricing again...the retail price on the subscription is $50 + $10 a month, until July they are offering the subscription for $40 + $8 a month.

So the slap in the face is that the original purchasers are paying full price and not getting the $10 discount that new members get.

 

[josgertz]

Sorry to Spam

I\'m sorry to Spam this post but it should also be mentioned that you need to pay again to download the videos.

It is only a penny to download but the hassle of having to go through pay-pal just to pay a penny is a bit annoying.

 

[atacam]

I have emailed MM, and invited him to read and address the comments made so far.

Their answer will make me decide whether i carry on with the videos.....or not!

 

[josgertz]

Clarification

OK I think I may need to clarify a bit.

While the implementation of the product and subscription service leaves something to be desired. And the price point for existing members is not great and should be addressed does not take away from the quality of the final product.

The videos are excellent and I myself have learned a lot of things that I would have never known before.

I don\'t get a chance to hang out that often so I don\'t really get to compare notes and techniques with other painters in my area.

I would really recommend the videos to anyone.

Its just a bit frustrating to me when it seems like things may have been implemented in a rush and not thought out completely.

 

[atacam]

Well I have had a reply, but been asked not to make it public

They have asked me for my suggestions, I have replied to make the tutorial cheaper, by this I mean bring it down for previous purchasers, so they pay the same as people buying it now.

The problem I see with the pricing is it will probably hurt other people trying to do this, as I will NEVER buy into one of these again, until it has been going for a while.

I can only echo what josgertz has said about th equality, but I still recommend people that have previously bought into this, boycott it until the price has been made fair for everyone.