Who on DVinfo has the coolest website?
 

Hey guys... I'm trying to design a kickin' website and I'm looking for some inspiration. As far as I can tell, it looks like FLASH sites are by far the tightest.

I'm definitely not looking to copy anybody's site... I just want to see some examples of professional looking, high-end sites.

John Locke had my favorite site up till now and I'm guessing his new one is going to be super-cool too. Since you can't see it now the old site had a film-strip style menu down the right side and it stayed full-scale as the site was boxed down or up. In the main portion of the site was a nude woman, alla statuesque, holding a torch (sound familiar?) but anyway it was REALLY cool. The torch had moving beams of light and the overall site was WAY tight.

I also like Keith Loh's site. It's not as complex as John's was, but it still has a professional, unified character.

There's a guy I used to talk to in New York... I'm sure some of you have seen one of his shorts... If you want to see some really good work AND a unified professional site go to http://www.ryantown.com/ and click on "the work" then go to "page o' posterity" and you'll see that Ryan has done some serious sh*t.

Anyway, so who on DVinfo has the BEST site? Previously I woulda' said John's was best... but right now I think he's working on it...

The site for LadyX was really good too. I think that was Rob and some other talented guys who put that together... like maybe um, John?

I'd just like to find out "whose who" with websites around here and hopefully I can learn something through observation.

My idea of the coolest website is one with great content, free from bloatware and javacr_p. Text is just fine! My vote goes to Chris Hurd's website. :-))

We've gotten some pretty good on our Flash site:

http://www.integralarts.com/

The news is a bit out of date because this site is primarily for getting web development contracts and I've been doing more video projects...

We are happy with the general organization and concise nature... the fun part is mousing around the banner image for navigation...

Let me know what you think and good luck on your site...

Matt: credit where credit is due, that's all John's work! Ofcourse we talked about certain things behind the scenes, but John did all the actual work for that!

Aaron: I really like your fire academy site. Great job!

I think my sites pretty cool:

www.videoproduction4u.tv

The content needs to be updated.

Ed

Thanks guys! This is the kind of stuff I was talking about... that's some really good work.

Barry, I assume that's flash that's moving everything on your site? BTW that's what I was talking about when I said "tight". That is a good site that delivers the message well.

Well I gotta' get back to the drawing board... I think I'm gonna' scrap everything I had done so far. It's too flashy and seems imature compared to these other tight sites.

My first mistake was making sure I used every pixel of space I had then all my friends called and said they had to scroll to see anything! Doh!

Now all my friends like what they see, but I'm the most artistic of my local friends and I would have rather seen them be CRITICAL... So if you want to do me a favor and CARVE ME UP... please! Then take a peek at www.gettreel.com and keep in mind that I have basically nothing done. I wasn't even going to mention it yet for obvious reasons.

Up till yesterday the reel-to-reel design was in all the pages, but I found that as the page growed it repeated... so then I made it a gif and I found that any text over a gif makes the gif file big, so I'm going to come up with a repeating gif type logo that changes in the way the integralarts logo changes... maybe not blur, but changing emphasis in some way.

So if you look at my site, does it scream amature? Personally I think it does... and I'm probably going to change the overly flashy crap later today... but I'd like some input if you feel compelled.

As far as I can tell the best sites are free of bloat (yeah Frank, Chris has my favorite forum site by far!)... and the best sites deliver the message well...

Is flash pretty easy to do? I'm just learning FrontPage and I'm less then a WEEK into "designing websites" so I'm as green and UNknowledgeable as I could possibly be! I need help!

This site might interest you.
Great film-makers in asia.

http://www.moviola.com.hk

Holy mackerel, Matt...thanks for the kind words! I really appreciate that.

Yep...the "lady" is gone for now, but I suspect she'll turn up in the future. What you see on my site now is simply the framework...lots of content still to format. Will you like it? I hope so... but I'm setting out to do something a tad different, so I suspect it won't be everyone's cup of tea. Funny timing for your post, though. Looks like you posted it on the exact same day that I posted the new framework.

I'll have to reiterate what everyone else is saying...the best site I know, by far, is this one right here. I spend more time at DVInfo.net, whether at the forums or perusing the articles and info, more than any other site by far. This is truly a valuable resource and I learn something every day from it.

Aside from DVInfo, there are lots of good member's sites that I've seen in the past, all good for different reasons. I've checked out the links above and frankly like all of them. They're all different in style and substance but all achieve what they set out to do. I have to admit, Ryantown.com has long been a favorite. I'm surprised you even considered my previous site to be in that category, Matt.

There are some good wrangler sites... Robert Knecht Smith's site is blog style and has tons of photos and info. Jeff Donald's site has lots of great photos. If you want to get jealous of what someone does for a living, check out Boyd Ostroff's homepage. Although I don't think he makes the actual site, you'll see photos of what he does do and they're stunning. Dylan Couper showcases some of his photography and is a good example of a business-like site. Frank Granovski always has lots of good information at his site. Imran Zaidi looks like he has an interesting Flash site in the works--I'll be keeping an eye on that as it develops. Those are some of the wrangler's pages that are worth a visit. My apologies if I've left any out... I need to go on a site surf again soon.

As for member's pages...whew! There are TONS of good ones that I've seen in the past. Problem is, I haven't always bookmarked them. I'll see if I can dig up a few of them and post them later. Keith Loh will definitely be on that list...you need to grab a beer and settle in before going to his site because there's lots to read.

dvfreak should be updated soon. This is my other website: http://www.8palm.com - I don't know if it's cool though. It's about bagua/martial art training. I still say dvinfo is the coolest. :-))

I don't know John...

You left out the newest wranglers website ;)

I'll forgive you though.

Sorry, Ed...since you were already in the "above" category, I didn't list you. My apologies. ;)

Eeeek! John, I didn't know anybody was looking!

Yes, after much procrastinating, I'm finally getting my site together. Mainly because I've been working in post on a short right now and had nowhere to put stills and possibly a trailer, which is embarrassing because I make web sites for a living.

Doh! Your own stuff is always the last to get done.

<<<-- Originally posted by John Locke :

Dylan Couper showcases some of his photography and is a good example of a business-like site.


Keith Loh will definitely be on that list...you need to grab a beer and settle in before going to his site because there's lots to read. -->>>


My website is a Keith Loh design. Credit where credit is due.
Here's Keith's site http://www.keithloh.com/

Thanks Rob.

I just had my first shoot for them today. I will be uploading my progress as their training moves along.

Today we just shoot their inspection drill. I was glad I didnt have to do pushups...

- AR

unrelated site, but an example
 

Here is a site that I built in 1997 and has withstood the test of time. Without any marketing it held it's own in the early years regarding sales.

FYI, this whole site is optimized so heavy it will fit on an old school floppy disc.

It took me about 8 months to build it @ a rate or 2-4 hours per week (my spare time back then).

http://www.i-fish.com

I built this about two months ago, it's simple has little flash and is somewhat original.

my site

I'm trying to make it something '.com' , but have no idea how to go about doing so.

Dan- I remember being proud of the fact I could fit 2-3 decent sites on a floppy. That was in the old days, when 33-56 k modems were it. My current site will still fit on a floppy... except for the two wmv files.

Speaking of which... This being a VIDEO site, and us talking about our video websites, how large and how long are the clips on y'all's sites? Which formats do you have the best luck with?

I just posted a new video on the Fire Academy site I built (www.pixel-mesh.com/131st).

It is about 60 seconds, 9.5 mb and a QuickTime Movie.

Here's mine:

www.crimsonbutterfly.com

Keith, my longer clips run 12 - 20 minutes in wmv format, and feedback on the way they run has been good, including my own experience generally. I started out posting 3-5 minute pieces, partly b/c of web viewer attention span for video (survey results), and my web stats tell me that instructional video has the best chance of being watched through. Many visitors to longer pieces bail out before the end. Can't be the content, can it? ;-)

David Hurdon

I have a whopping 20 meg of space on my web server. The actual site itself only takes up about 1.5 meg, and I have 30 cd's worth of videos. I picked a couple of the best, and trimmed them down to around 3 minutes. I then squeezed them down to around 9 meg each. I did get them smaller, but they wouldn't play acceptably. I tried quicktime, avi, and finally settled on windows media.

Since this thread is about our websites, I would appreciate any feedback on mine. The address is below this-

My site is pretty simple. I'm not an HTML guru, so I need a WYSIWYG program! Most sites I've seen from this thread are a lot better than mine!

www.mdmoore.org

(BTW, ignore the little soccer video posted. It was a little "training" throw-together video I did for my recreation soccer team!) :o)

Guys thanks for posting your sites. All of 'em are pretty darn good. So good in fact that I took a high-8-us (spelling?) from working on mine!

Barry G? Yeah, your site kicks ass. The more I play around on it the better I like it. I wish we were close friends 'cause I'd pressure you into teaching me a little Flash... Your site is damn near perfect in it's message and clean, professional look.

So does anybody use FrontPage or does everybody use Flash? Is FP a joke for designing websites?

Matt,

Thanks so much for your kind words about the Integral Arts site... it is nice to see that our effort is reflected in the result...

As far as learning Flash, I did it mostly by taking apart stuff that was out there... there are a bunch of sites that post examples and code... it is not so tough if you have a linear mind.

For Learning check out:
www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/flash/
www.flashkit.com

(I used to have more links, but a re-install changed all that)

For inspiration check out:
www.2advanced.com {amazing high-end design - check the portfolio}
www.ZeFrank.com {endless fun flash do-dads}
www.hoogerbrugge.com/ml.html {amazing - make sure your sound is on}


Just remember that Flash is fun, but unless you are creating art for art's sake then you have to stick to using it to support your message not distract from it.

I have not worked with Front Page, so I can't really speak for it. Dreamweaver is pretty much the standard in my circles. It comes in the MX package deal with Flash also. I like it a lot.

Good luck, and keep us posted on the progress.

Barry

Barry,

I came across your site some time ago and loved it immediately. The shift in focus idea is brilliant. I used something similar on a photographer's site I made once, where you focus in on the picture... but using it to highlight the menu is a really great idea. Wish I'd thought to do that when I made that site. ;) I also love how clean, colorful, and well-organized your site is. Really top notch work.

Matt... I learned Flash with the $20 a month access to Lynda.com tutorials. If you really hoof it, you can get through all basic and intermediate tutorials in two weeks to a month (allowing time for you to let the stuff sink in experiment a bit between steps).

Damn Barry! Those sites you listed "for inspiration" are NO joke... that's some impressive stuff.

The thing that's really amazing is how instantly they load and play... I never had to wait for anything.

The two sites you said are amazing... ARE amazing.

Now I've got some stuff to chew on... THIS is what I was hoping for when I started this thread. From your own site and a couple others listed here I've found almost TOO much inspiration!

I'm sure you have moments with certain software where there is such an unlimited array of choices that it's almost hard to choose? (When I first started with certain audio/video software I couldn't believe how unlimited everything was.)

Anyway, NOW I've seen so much quality that my mind is feeling numb.

BTW Barry it looks like you and your guys are having the life I dream of... now THAT'S what I call inspiration.

John... I already started perusing the Lynda site and THANKS for pointing me in a good direction! Being an incapable perfectionist has been driving me nuts.

I took a look at 2advanced. The news and the features consume a small fraction of the screen. You can't take a look at all the news without choppily scrolling down through it. What good's a Flash site if it doesn't put more content at your fingertips?

Oh, no... you're gonna hate what I'm working on now. It's Flash gone berserk. I'm remaking my entire site for one thing... still under construction and is incomplete. I posted it as is just because I always like watching buildings go up, to see the progress, so I figured I'd do the same thing with my site. It will be all Flash.

Plus, I'm making two sister sites... all Flash... to be linked to it. Then, also making two new all Flash homes for two old films. What can I say... I'm going through a Flash stage. I hope not too many people are put off by the heavy use of Flash and, in some cases, long download times.

For a great looking (sounding) page go to this one.
www.mosquito.tv

Not my page but A page.. Since you wanted ideas to build a good site don't forget that it's cool if it sounds good too!

Good luck.

I love Flash... I like the fact that it requires a practical working knowledge to combine fast loading and playing effects while trying to "fool" the site viewer into seeing animations smoothly play as if they were video.

Trying to make cool stuff and keep it physically small (kb) adds a new dimension to the challenge.

My first assumption was to use all the tricks I use for video and apply them to a site, but using 3D font files, complete with shading and 3D light effects... makes a larger page. My next instict was modding JumpBack stills and laying text over them. Then when you add other graphic effects you start to get a significantly sized (kb) page... I still may "finish" my site in that way just to have a presentable place to pop up video samples, stills, and sound files... but it's clear to me that Flash says "professional"... at least from a graphic artist's standpoint.

RKS... I think the 2advanced site is mainly wanting to promote graphics/design ability rather then offer news and content. The thing that REALLY impressed me about 2advanced is the way Flash interacts with EVERYTHING you do, but in an almost subtle way. The whole site is Flashy (pun intended) but the choices are pure class and that makes it an experience to visit their site. That main page is on the level of a polished VST synth or some other good software control panel. That's pretty impressive. I wish more of my software had such a good interface.

One thing I'd like to point out that's a personal pet peeve of mine is misspellings in the artistic parts of a site. I hate to see 'em in the body of a paragraph, but it's weird to see a spelling error in a flashy title/sub-title... you'd be surprised how many times I've seen that now.

John... I debated making a very fast loading and simple site... which compared to you guys mine will be baby-sh*t (one of my hoosier terms)... but I decided to make my site as visually unusual as my humble skills will allow because I want it to be a video/audio site and unless the viewer has broadband/dsl then they won't like it anyway.

I say make your site as cool as you can with reasonable dsl download times and dial-up be damned!

Why do web sites need a "software control panel"? What happened to a "menu"? Form needs follow function, not dictate it.

"That's pretty impressive."

Why? I couldn't do anything with it. Half the page is taken up by an irrelevant picture that animates for a few seconds, then sits there. That's good design?

I used to like Flash pages, because that was some really cool $#it. Some of the work people did was almost a cinematic experience- The Smithsonian Museum has some perfect examples on their site- http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/

Then Flash sort of became overused and underthought on numerous sites. But that is just my view... I still like some of the stuff I see, but sometimes I just need to get the info and go. DVInfo is perfect for that, and very clean.

Robert,

Regarding 2Advanced... I can't say you are wrong... it is funny that I mentioned that site in the same post that I said Flash should support the content and not distract from it... but I believe they are a special case... and since we are talking about what inspires it is worth a closer look...

They do cutting edge flash design - that is their trademark - and so their site is more akin to a demo reel than to a movie... you can look at a reel and say "well that's pretty, but I don't get the plot..." but that is not what it is about... it is about showing the capability and inspiration.

Even in movies, there are some that are about plot and some that are about feel. The 2Advanced site is all about feel... they create a mood that is palpable... and if you get off on the mood that's great, and if you don't you don't. It's a bit like MTV.

That said, there is no argument that it is a little over the top... that is why in the post I suggested that you look at the portfolio pages... that is the best part.... the work that they do for customers shows where they shift focus to using Flash to support the message - and the message is no longer "we can do Flash well". In my mind, as inspiring the main site is to me as a developer/designer, their client sites are actually far superior in terms of communication.

The thing I like most about their sites is their ability to make the site breathe... it somehow becomes a living being, not a flat piece of paper... they do it by using subtle movement and reactivity in the site components... and I personally feel that in most of their client sites they do it in a way that fully supports the message rather than distract from it... while also creating a nice feel.

Some of my favorites of 2Adcanced are:
www.locksoflove.org - - - - {the newest on their list... I love the top nav}
www.soccer.org - - - - {much of this is HTML - seamless integration
www.skyworksinc.com - - - - { I love the banner}
www.ultimatte.com
www.taigkhris.com - - - - {Speaking of MTV}

In web or video, I think that selecting the proper ratio of style to content is one of the most difficult things... both are important, and there is never a "correct" answer. So much depends on the customer base, the client, the market, etc.... most TV commercials - beer, cars, even medicine - are all about the feel, even when it would seem that the content should be more important.... Web, though, is traditionally more about content. I think that is shifting, and I for one am looking forward to more feel in web delivery, while maintaining a balance with the content ... hehe, even as I move in to video...

All of that was to say that you're right about half the page being taken up by irrelevant design components, but I am just guessing that you are not their target audience, and that content is not what they are selling.

Anyway... just my thoughts on what inspires me and why...

Barry

John,

Thanks for your kind words as well... I'm glad you like the focus thing... our inspiration came from this site:

http://www.bornmagazine.org/projects...tlantic_tango/

Which, imho, does it better than we did. It is beautiful, but I always wanted to find a way to use that and make it useful as well. That's where our nav came from. My hope though, was to design a site that worked great if no one noticed what the banner did, but that had the bonus there for people who were interested.

I like your site also... the blue fog thingy is amazing... looks like the content is forthcoming (links don't work from here at least)... I'm looking forward to seeing it done.

Barry

Take a look at http://lanier.sam.usace.army.mil/

This is a government web site that myself and another park ranger set up for the lake that we work at. It was a very complex project due to the amount of information to convey. We tried to keep it as clear and concise as possible. It probably still needs some tweaking.

Regards,

Mark W.

Mark- It looked nice, and was very clean. I would have liked to see some menus on each page to navigate with, but that is minor.

Thanks Keith,

This is still a work in progress with many changes to come . I appreciate your suggestion .

Regards,

Mark

I know how it goes, Mark... My favorite time to do web design is the wee hours of the night. I often find stuff days later, that I should have done. It always helps to have someone outside of the box proof your work.

Kind of like my pic of Florida on the front page. The site looked great on my machine, and then I saw it on another machine- I hadn't gone through the code, and didn't notice that the pic src was to my desktop, not the server. I was the only one seeing it. Doh!

I'm not a big fan of Flash sites, but what I truly dispise are sites
that open in a new window with fixed size or fullscreen (like the
site Alfred mentioned above). I want to control at what format
I'm looking at a site. I'm running at 1400x1050 (my new laptop
is boosting 1900 by 1400 or something) and I usually have
multiple windows open and whatnot. The fullscreen ones are the
worst. I might want to leave a site open for a while why doing
some other work that got in the way of visiting a site.

Whenever I see a fullscreen opening site I will immediately close
it without looking any further. Unless I absolutely need to be
there (which hasn't happened with such a site as of yet).

I'm with you Rob. How dare they not give us control :). It is an arrogant poor solution.