How much do videos influence your buying habits?

[FAC257]

For a possible aircraft purchase I'll use a video for cursory modeling and texturing check. By that point the aircraft in question is already on the short list of aircraft I'm thinking of getting.

The first place I head when thinking about an aircraft purchase is the text description on the product page. The second place I head is the still screenshot section. A sale can be broken at either of these two points no matter how amazing the product video looks, even if it's one of my all-time favorite aircraft.

I don't think I've ever purchased an aircraft because a video knocked my socks off. On the other hand I just made a recent aircraft purchase partially influenced because it had a tutorial video available for the FMS.

I've seen videos made of aircraft that I thought both the video and the product looked outstanding. Even then, because the aircraft themselves didn't already fit my narrow hanger definition criteria, the videos didn't make me change my mind.

For a possible scenery purchase I think a product video carries quite a bit more weight. I've found that a good video will show off things in a scenery creation better than an aircraft creation. Great screenshots on the other hand do more to influence me when looking at an aircraft than when looking at a scenery.

How many folks have watched great aircraft promotional videos to find themselves at the end more interested in the background scenery that was used in the filming?

FAC

 

[txnetcop]

Interesting answers so far.
I both watch and make videos ( at times ), but the videos i make are always based on alpha and beta versions of the model. They dont have engine sounds quite often because many times, i dont have any engine sounds when i start and simply drop something in that approximates what i want to hear.
As to the enfluence a video may or may not have?? That varies. Sometimes, as with PNW,videos are a major point i look for, other times, like with the A-7 they are informative more in what they dont show than in what they show. they allow me to pick out the six or seven prime focus area's for me to work on, or where the aircraft i'm viewing may need better craftsmanship. .

Pam in your case sound or music is not necessary. You are usually pointing out Alpha or Beta test features as aircraft are a WIP...like the P-61. Once you get deeper into a candidate for release then a video would be a great idea

 

[blazefox2]

2d pictures, and reviews can be helpful but i rely more often than not on videos as the final "nudge" to purchase a product

videos can show how the aircraft moves, how it performs, and how it responds while pictures simply can not do any of these.

 

[spotlope]

There are things about a model that you can't necessarily tell from still photos, and I like that videos give that added dimension of time + movement. Many times I've been unsure about a particular aircraft purchase, and a video will push me over the edge, one way or another. Atmospheric videos with a stronger emotional content (ones with all that "head-banging" music that people love or hate) are more of an entertainment/escape for me. When I'm looking to buy, I want to hear how the plane sounds in all phases of flight. If I'm not in an acquisitive mood, I'm usually interested in something a little more artistic to pass the time.

 

[ryanbatc]

I voted "effect my decision little"

Videos are cool but a lot of them are on high end machines, so everything looks purty. Sometimes the product gets "doctored up" imho. It's hard to distinguish important buying factors such as: performance - when all you see is super smooth fps on a i7 machine. Or perhaps you'll see choppy performance because the video was made with FRAPS etc.... You never really know. However, I do feel the developer benefits from videos because it makes for great advertising. How many users watch you tube videos? There ya go!

I think word-of-mouth on the forums influences my buying decisions the most though.... and it's the first source I go to when I'm interested in a product.

 

[MarkH]

For me, it's sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some people here have assumed you mean vendor-commissioned videos designed to sell the product, but I read your question in the broader sense of just happening across independent videos that feature the product. I think the former is a risk because there's room for all the bias advertising entails. I also agree with those who said screenshots are more important in making a decision, and definitely VC shots.

For vendor-produced videos I think stuff like John Venema's video blogs are pretty high-quality because they are just casual blogs and hence seem a fairly honest source of relatively unbiased information (or he could be a masterful manipulator, of course ). Also some of the A2A videos, like Scott's previews of the Piper Cub and the stuff about their research. So videos that add background without overtly trying to sell something.

For me, a video has the potential to swing it, but maybe that says more about my whimsical decision-making! For example, I happened to see a video over on the Orbx site about the Carenado Bonanza, and I thought 'wow, what a gorgeous cockpit!' The Bonanza isn't something that would otherwise have gripped me, but now it's on my hitlist. And then, just yesterday, someone posted a video about TrackIR and EZCA that featured the SibWings BirdDog. Now I have TrackIR and EZCA, but what struck me was how the BirdDog's intercom lead dangled around under the effects of gravity. You don't get that from a screenshot, and it's not something that gets written up in a review, but for me it says something about the attention to detail and it's put the BirdDog on my list too.

 

[kilo delta]

No effect on my decisions either, though having said that I really do enjoy a good FSX video. My favourite to date is Jaggyroad's featuring the Skysim Mirage III through the Swiss mountains........breathtaking.
I'm very fortunate in that I get relatively good fps over most areas so I get to see FSX as it's depicted in these videos on a frequent basis. I haven't ever thought about creating a video though..even though I've had a soundtrack in mind on numerous occasions while in sim.
I'm always taken aback at the sim video producer's efforts,however, especially those who have mastered the art of blurring real life flight with it's computer generated counterpart. :salute:

 

[mfitch]

Videos have never induced me to buy a package. However I do enjoy watching many. The videos may act as commercials alerting me to the existence of a product.

Like some of the others my interests (type of plane, region of scenery) dictate which packages I purchase.

In the informal additional poll here on music in flight sim videos, I prefer to hear the plane. Music as a background element or transition element can be a strengthening feature. Full disclosure requires that I note my music tastes span over a millennium and the globe, but excludes most of what has been composed in the last 60 years. This period is oft used in videos.

 

[TopDollar]

What videos do is get more exposure to a product. Sure those of us who follow the flight sim forums pretty closely are going to already know of these up and coming addons, but your average casual simmer who isn't real active on these sites probably won't know anything about them. However if they happen to watch some youtube videos, it is pretty likely they will stumble upon a promotional video. Videos are merely another medium to spread information. I also find it great when I can see a potential product in action.

as an aside..

As far as videos themselves go, I can't stand those "ultra realistic no music" type videos or videos which lack music in general. I don't watch anymore than 5 seconds of them. For some reason these have started to become the new "Princess Juliana" video (in reference to the fad of when everyone seemed to be making a video at TNCM). If I wanted to see a plane landing with just the soundtrack of it's engines, I would load up the sim and go for a flight myself. When I watch a video, I want to see the creative side of flight sim. It has the capability (as proven many times by fellow video makers and myself) to be an interesting platform to tell a story with, or just watch some cool aircraft fly to a kickin' track. That being said, engine sounds can be a pretty key element to a video, and when used properly can fill in some auditory gaps ad as a whole add more to the video itself. They just seem to be lacking when used alone.

Sorry for the mini rant hehe. Turned out to be a bit longer than I had planned.

 

[Ark]

A preview/run-down video of a new product is huge to me. Cody, your video of the Airsimmer bus was the reason I took the plunge with that add-on.

I am a huge visual guy so a video sort of lets me see what I am getting.

 

[MarkH]

As far as videos themselves go, I can't stand those "ultra realistic no music" type videos or videos which lack music in general. I don't watch anymore than 5 seconds of them.

Well said. Trouble is, everyone immediately wants to generalise from their own narrow perspective. People make their little films with different visions: some folks are selling, some are plane-spotters, some are out to entertain and some just to express a creative urge. They often won't connect, but then you wouldn't expect Avatar to engage a fan of avante-garde french cinema, and Toy Story was made for children.

That said, there are well-established creative precedents for how it's done, and music is one of them. Imagine Apocalypse Now without the Valkyries, or 2001 without Johann Strauss. Paris, Texas without Ry Cooder?! No. And let's not forget that lots of people tried to tell George Lucas the 'background music' in American Graffiti was distracting. Ho hum.

 

[IanP]

I'm going to join the "influences a little" collective. I'll watch movies of anything and certain ones will make me want something more than I already did - such as the Scilly Isles, which I didn't want at all until watching the video, some things will make me want something less - such as my pet bugbear of the impossible banana-shaped engines in the Alphasim A-6 (which weren't shown in any of the original screenshots).

I'm also not a fan of videos that only play "FS sounds" - although I would like at least part of the video, if it is advertising a product, to clearly play the sounds that come with it. However in real world aircraft, I wear a decent headset to keep the annoying, constant, irritating, drone of engines out of my ears. I can't listen to music in a real aircraft, but I can when watching an FS product video and a well chosen, appropriate and not overpowering music choice is a good thing to have, in my opinion. Having said that, it is very rare that I find music on videos "overpowering" - if it's loud, I turn the volume down, so that doesn't bother me in the slightest.

 

[txnetcop]

Well said. Trouble is, everyone immediately wants to generalise from their own narrow perspective. People make their little films with different visions: some folks are selling, some are plane-spotters, some are out to entertain and some just to express a creative urge. They often won't connect, but then you wouldn't expect Avatar to engage a fan of avante-garde french cinema, and Toy Story was made for children.

That said, there are well-established creative precedents for how it's done, and music is one of them. Imagine Apocalypse Now without the Valkyries, or 2001 without Johann Strauss. Paris, Texas without Ry Cooder?! No. And let's not forget that lots of people tried to tell George Lucas the 'background music' in American Graffiti was distracting. Ho hum.

Yep, I think that is what I am talking about. It needs to be background music so you still hear the sounds of aircraft at specific times. What I see a lot of is loud music that messes up the whole feel of the thing. PNW was done perfectly there were sound bytes of the town and the aircraft and yet the background was perfect! Cody has done a ton of really great videos also. American Graffiti would have been bomb without background music-it defined the era!

 

[Odie]

For me none. It's generally the developer and their past work AND posted screenshots that I go by for deciding to make a purchase. And, of course, the aircraft being modeled and my level of interest in it.

 

[PRB]

Very little, if at all. I'd rather see some good VC images. Videos are often too small and of low resolution to be useful for making buying decisions. For me anyway.

 

[OleBoy]

I like videos. Clean, clear and crisp. As for the music, depends on my mood. What music is used can be a real turn off. Literally (click). If I'm driving/flying (like the rest) I want to hear the mechanics of what I'm sealed inside of. Even in the RW..if you have loud music blasting all the time, how do you know something is wrong if you can't hear. An inevitable and potential breakdown.

For me, the video sets the mood. Does the scenery influence the video=yes it does. IF you're marketing scenery, +1 for you. If you're not and your marketing a model, -2 for you. Stay focused on the model, OR the scenery. That's the sale!! Not to mention the reason for taking the time to get those perfect photos to enhance the retail sales.

If your pushing something.......stay focused. Show IT!!

 

[AndyE1976]

Videos do influence my purchases when there are two or more companies selling the same aircraft, then I'll turn to YouTube for a search on the aircraft and see if I can find out more about what they are like in the sim.

At that point I've looked at the product reviews and screenshots and I'm looking for things such as how interactive the cockpit is, what does it sound like and does it appear to fly properly.

I also randomly browse FSX videos for things I already own and that often inspires me to fly that plane again and even look at other offerings from the same company.

 

[Zorg_DK]

For me videos are crucial. I think the company that does it best is A2A. The videos for their Accusim planes are outstanding. I like A2A's mix of real life videos, tutorials and promo videos.

 

[neutrino]

Videos of a certain FSX product (more specifically - aircraft), are indispensable part of my buying decision. I would buy a product based on a video alone. I look for a video, actually I may not buy an aircraft if it doesn't have a promo video, such as the VRS SuperBug or Dino's F-35. I don't care about pictures, or specs, I want to see it in action. I don't insist on it being one of these slick videos, that sort of become mainstream now - with close-ups and slow motion, and slow transitions, shaky camera etc. But I want it to be crisp, captured in 720p or 1080p, with music, interior, exterior shots, may be a nice back-story, it's a plus if it is entertaining Some videos are so good, they just stick in your mind and you watch them again and again just for fun, you know which ones I am talking about OK, an example of good videos would be the Lotus L-39 and the Vulcan.

In the era of YouTube, a video speaks a thousands words

 

[Paul K]

Depends on the video, though no video alone has ever influenced me to buy anything.

Orbx had an astonishing one showcasing FTX Australia, in which you flew through windows from the default to the FTX scenery. Easy to compare the differences, yet almost dream-like.

Mirage's A-7 Corsair vid made me think for a while...but its not my sort of aircraft in FSX. Bloody good video though