Best thing about the visuals: they lessen with each time you watch

Haha, yes, I have to agree

I barely noticed them last night... Ive watched it quite a few times, lost count..so that pretty much tells you what I think about it.. I also let it roll when Im doing other tings, just to listen to and catch glimpses of when I m doing stuff around the house.

Definate thumbs up from me.

The sound quality is very good on the "live" section, clearly better than on SYL DVD which is a standalone.

I absolutely agree with that comment and that alone makes it a better DVD IMO but that's because I'm an audio whore

Can anybody post a screenshot of these controversial visuals??

Have a psychedelic Beavis:

http://img81.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pdvd0268xk.jpg

I think it should be noted that the visual effects are not as pronounced throughout the peformance as this particular screen shot would suggest. There's an awful lot of times where the visualizer effects are completely in the background, too.

Apparantly I expected way too much from the Synchestra DVD. Ok, so there's no making-of documentary, no problem, I can live with that. Let's look at what interesting things Dev has to say on the album then (studio tour)... Oh he's just either really stoned or really sick or something, let's keep watching anyway... (5 minutes later) This is a waste of time, why would I find any of this inconsistent rambling interesting? Well, maybe it's me and I should just get with the fact that the studio tour thing is just an extra etc... .

One more thought on this: aside from what everyone has written:

I dont know how many times devin has been in front of a camera and done a thing like his "studio tour". Ever flip on a camera and just "go"? I mean, he isnt playing, not being asked questions....
So you know, its freaking nerve wrecking: what do you say? Its not easy to be super-spontaneous in front of a camera... I mean, he wasnt being asked questions, wasnt scripted..

Just a thought.

you know..we are lucky that someone who's art we enjoy so much is willing to share their time with us or go out of their way to make a fun DVD for us...
Thanks Devin!!!

I was somewhat disappointed, but I still liked the DVD.

Devin's studio tour wasn't what I expected. I expected a "making of" style thing, rather than a stoned ramble through a studio. Still quite enjoyable. The live "concert" was great in my opinion. The tour footage had highs and lows. Storm was a good video for the meagre budget.

The sound quality is very good on the "live" section, clearly better than on SYL DVD which is a standalone.

I absolutely agree with that comment and that alone makes it a better DVD IMO but that's because I'm an audio whore

Right on. Who really cares about wibbly effects when you're talking about a 'bonus' that sounds better than most live albums/DVDs?

The DVD is awesome. It is you that sucks.

Right on.

I remember the days when buying an album like "Live After Death" or "...And Justice For All" was something very special, because these came as double vinyl editions. Nowadays we can buy CDs with bonus DVDs which feature material with a playing time longer than the actual CD, for heaven's sake! What do some of you guys want? Consider Devin Townsend's limited resources. What more can an artist like Dev do in order to please his fans?

The band's tongue in cheek humor that could be offputting to some random new fan who knows nothing about Devin's personality? Visible cameramen? Visual effects? Not so good menus? Who the fuck cares, really!

I find all the bitching about the bonus features to be very impertinent. You sound like spoiled little kids.

As for the live in the studio part itself: It blew me away! Phantastic sound and performance. Almost everything was spot on apart from some high pitched vocal parts which must be very touch to pull off live. I've heared earlier recorded live material by Dev (Terria bonus videos and the official bootleg) and his voice on this Synchestra bonus DVD sounds much stronger - as good as in 2003 on the "All In The Family Tour" or maybe even better. Actually I like some of these live versions almost as much as the original album recordings (I'd add some more backup vocals here and there in a live environment). The DVD doubles the value of the whole package IMO.

I'd love to burn the live performance onto an audio CD but right now I don't have the hard- and software to do so. Would it be possible that somebody hosts the live performance as mp3s and posts a secret link or something?

PS: Is it just me or is the sound on the Storm video MONO

/me wants more Stoney Devy
technical discussions are fine but we've got some on Alien's DVD, and lot of
now there's a time for fun and jokes
plus I think somebody's forgetting about the 1 hour studio concert
I don't think every album on earth's got that much bonuses so you should be happy

My criticisms are just feedback. It's not like I'm laying into everyone involved and I'm certainly not complaining. I thought the DVD was cool. I'm just saying, "For my 2c, this is how this sort of thing could be improved next time around."

Is it rude to express one's personal preferences? I call it constructive criticism. Whatever. I don't want to start an argument about it. *shrug*

I find all the bitching about the bonus features to be very impertinent. You sound like spoiled little kids.

Quality control. By "bitching" I hope to see next thing made better. Band is great, production of DVD has glitch. That really isn't hard not to click on "apply most awful video effect possible" button and leave footage as is, that costs nothing. Tight budget is no explanation here.

That's my gripe - rest of stuff is ok, no problem with band fooling around, Dev making ballet figures in studio (that's because they're hippies, bro) and even menu, which isn't that bad as I initially thought (maybe longer listening of background music worked, hehe). Sound quality is excellent - you can hear where Dev guitar ends and Beav's starts, loud bass and everything. That's brill.

You know, maybe I'm a fanboy, but not uncritical.

I hope that was constructive enough. If no, I'll fuck off

EDIT: correction of redundant redundancy

/me wants more Stoney Devy

keep in mind that he made city and OM without mr. green

That really isn't hard not to click on "apply most awful video effect possible" button and leave footage as is, that costs nothing. Tight budget is no explanation here.

Yeah. I've watched the DVD a few more times through since I first posted and I'll say that you do kinda get used to the effects and they become less intriusive, but I also realised what bothered me about it all the most - it's not a fault in the video quality that couldn't be helped... someone was sitting there watching the raw video and thought "hey, swirly effects are a good idea" and intentionally put them on.

Yeah. I've watched the DVD a few more times through since I first posted and I'll say that you do kinda get used to the effects and they become less intriusive, but I also realised what bothered me about it all the most - it's not a fault in the video quality that couldn't be helped... someone was sitting there watching the raw video and thought "hey, swirly effects are a good idea" and intentionally put them on.

Maybe it's Devy himself that was sitting there watching the raw video and thought it was a great idea. I hope not but we don't know!

They're hippies bro!

No disappointment here. Hell it's worth it's weight in gold just for the "tour" section in the Extras.

Anyone else notice the carefully placed sound effects in the background during some of the sequences? I think I here Devin saying "A$$hole"(fucking word filter) while RVP is in the Lingerie shop. Also during Dave's wet dream sequence I swear I hear some chipmunk style words being sampled in over the top of Dave's moaning.

Oh and Dev emptying the RV's shitbox and his reaction to it had me on the fucking floor.