A few years back, Digital Juice produced some really great programming for DJTV that I was lucky enough to be involved with. It sure didn't last long, offically from October 2006 until late 2007, but the concept was well ahead of its time and most of the content still feels fresh in 2010. Unfortunately, while almost all of the shows are still available for free online, they are also almost completely and hopelessly lost in the chaos of Digital Juice marketing, promos and lesser screen-grab training segments. (Yes, I have contributed to the "lesser" content, but I accept no responsibility for the lack of organization!)

And so, I present here my annotated and completely biased catalog of DJTV programs and episodes. Much of this content is also available for purchase on convenient, conventional DVD-Video disc from Digital Juice as well, but you'll have to track that down yourself!

Production Notes (Perry Jenkins)

OK, I'll just admit it: Production Notes was my favorite show on DJTV (sorry, Chuck!). 14 episodes of practical advice with a whimsical touch of humor that will make you laugh out loud a few times in every segment, Mr. Jenkins really knows his stuff and presents it in a uniquely watchable way. While we all worked as a team on all of the DJTV shows, Production Notes is really all Jenkins, right down to spending long hours after work in the studio by himself shooting... well, himself. Perry is a one-man tour de force production team and the entire series is a behind the scenes look into the mind of the master!

Field of View (Chuck Peters)

My second favorite show was Chuck Peters' Field of View. By design, the 11-part series was not meant to be as pragmatic as Production Notes and the tone is definitely more philosophical and contemplative, but Field of View is the pinnacle of DJTV in terms of vision and easily matches (and often exceeds) the quality of high-end cable television programs on the Food Network or HGTV (or anyplace else, for that matter). The show works on multiple levels, with excellent writing (Mr. Peters); excellent cinematography and lighting design (Mr. Jenkins); and unobtrusively excellent editing, subtle effects and evocative color by Chris Gates. Where Production Notes was all Jenkins, all the time, Field of View was really a chamber orchestra trio brought together in perfect harmony. It may be my personal second favorite series, but it was definitely the best show on DJTV.

Cutting Class (Chris Gates)

Chris "Ace" Gates' Cutting Class may be the finest screen-grab based training in the history of the Universe. Seriously. We've all seen endless hours of crappy boring trainers, droning on and on about this or that. If you are really lucky, you might actually watch a video with someone who is a good teacher that is fun to listen to and who gets to the point right away. And, if you are REALLY lucky, you'd get a training video from Mr. Gates. Not only is his writing and delivery dryly witty, but the content is dense throughout all 12 episodes. Don't worry, you can always rewind and watch the video again. Whether it's editing, compositing or color correction (like my personal favorite, Blending Bliss, which tackles the *yawn* exciting topic of blending modes... wake me when it's over. Wait. Hey! This is fun!), Cutting Class is genuine Film School-level computer-based training.

TechKnow (D. Eric Franks)

TechKnow was my show. Without being too critical, the early episodes are bad. I was shooting myself, which would be bad enough if I were a cinematographer like Perry Jenkins and, well, I'm honestly not friends with the camera, like Chuck Peters. Further, some of the content is now horribly dated. Wanna know about what is new and exciting about HD television?! How to get the most out of YouTube... three years ago?! Still, pick through the 38 episodes by topic and there are some good, solid fundamentals and, if I may be immodest, some of the clearest and most concise technical explanations you've ever heard. Combine the writing and pace with genuinely innovative and illustrative animations (Brent Milby), tight editing and a bounce of energy from the show's later editors (Chris Gates and Charlie Burket) and you end up with something that still makes me proud.

Audio Buzz (Jeff Earley)

Mr. Jeff Earley of DJTV's Audio Buzz was not a natural-born talent on camera, but he turned out to be a really great host. In my opinion, this show was, to be honest, crippled by trying to squeeze it into a visual format that did not serve the content very well. You can tell that Mr. Earley knows what he's doing and he's communicating it very clearly, but mostly we want to HEAR what he's doing, with before and afters, and there's not enough of that. This may be why the show was never terribly well received and was canceled after the first 13 episodes of the initial season, but episode 111 "Audio Alterations" really showed the future potential of what could have been done, in my opinion.

Take Five (Chuck Peters and Rick Green)

Take Five was really the pilot show for the entire DJTV venture. It started as a narrow sort of "Tips for Using Digital Juice Products" marketing piece (nothing wrong with that at all and a great idea) and eventually expanded to cover more than just Digital Juice, which, in my opinion, made the show much more broadly interesting and useful. Relatively easy to produce, it was never a fancy flagship showcase, but man, between Chuck and Rick, the 30 or so episodes (and 150 Tips!) sure were fun to watch. Unfortunately, due to the disorganization over at Digital Juice, these episodes are truly lost in the clutter and I couldn't figure out how to tease them out of a simple search. Some day I'll see if I can't manually dredge through the files and find them for us!

Billy Allan & Sean Mullen

There were a couple of other partially complete series you should also catch, including Billy's Blueprints with Billy Allan (1 episode) and Suite Effects with Sean Mullen (3 episodes). Mr. Allan's show is really and truly amazing, especially since no one knew whether he'd be any good on camera (not that anyone ever knows until you start rolling tape). Billy's Blueprints could easily have been the best hands-on show on DJTV (or anywhere else) if the show was sustainable. While Mr. Allan is certainly a Renaissance Man fully capable of anything he puts his mind to (including hosting a TV show), he wasn't a trained producer and there was no forward momentum to turn him into one at the time. I think that the Billy's Blueprints pilot episode was wildly successful (and one of the best DJTV segments ever overall), but we couldn't bring the resources together to produce it the right way as a series at the time.

Sean Mullen's Suite Effects suffered a different sort of death, coming as it did at the very end of DJTV's run. I think this show had the potential to be as engaging and advanced as Chris Gate's Cutting Class, focusing instead on pure After Effects compositing. Over the course of three episodes, the extremely talented Mr. Mullen was just beginning to get his groove on, in my opinion.