Each and every book is different. The words in this book are my responsibility, but lots of people have gone into making it possible through their help, kind words, criticisms, pointers, tutorials, and other forms of encouragement and commitment. It’s rare readers ever see or hear from the people that really drive this video industry; I hope to point a small amount of recognition to those that are a big part of the industry as a whole.
First and foremost, I need to thank Linda for always being there, making sure that everything is organized, and that my life runs as smoothly as it can for someone running on seven cylinders. Second, Mannie Frances, my partner in VASST, who keeps the business side of everything organized. Mannie, thanks for being part of realizing this dream of our own book series. We finally did it, partner!
To Wes Howell, my tech editor, friend, and inspiration on this project. Your points on this book were right on, your words were masterful, and without you, there is no way this book would have been put into a form that readers could comprehend. Thanks a lot, man! I’m looking forward to our being on the Encore road and training folks on using this great tool.
Of course, ultimately the book wouldn’t be in anyone’s hands if it weren’t for Paul Temme and Dorothy Cox at CMP. I can’t express my appreciation for you two in seeing the dream and understanding the complex world of VASST. Thank you for taking the risk in creating a new book series. We know we won’t let you down. Gail, thanks for making sure we said our words in the correct format.
To the crew at Adobe, folks like David Trescot, Kristin Chan, Marc Coates, Erik Lundblade, Kendall Eckman, Bruce Bowman, Hart Schafer, Kelly Lynn, Jason Levine, Richard Townhill, Tina Eckman, Daniel Brown, and Adobe evangelists like Mike Downey, Tim Kolb, Mike Gunter, Graham Shanks, and, of course, Wes—thanks for all the support and encouragement.
To the folks at Echo, Canopus, ADS Technology, Contour Shuttle Pro, Matrox, Ulead, Artbeats, Canon, Sony, B&H, Mackie, M-Audio, Videoguys, Pixelan, DMN, DVInfo.net, DV.com, thanks for supporting what VASST is. To Ron, whose words of discouragement became my motivation, and to Michelle, whose positive critiques became my improvement. As the song says, “We’re Still Here!”
Phil, Julie, Wanda, Bob, and everyone at Artbeats: thank you so much for providing us with great footage to work with in the VASST series books. Chris Hurd, thanks for your constant support. Earl Foote, Jerry Lonn, Rudy Sarzo, Jeffrey Fisher, Richard Harrington, Ron Dabbs, Mark Dileo: damn, who’da thunk VASST would grow this much in just a few years? Thanks to Lou, Frank, and Michael, for helping us stand tall. Lawrence, Cindy, thank you for all the Asian support of VASST.
Dave H, Dave C, Curtis P, Michael B, Gary R, Caleb P, Dennis A, Richard K, you guys have been an amazing uplifting force in my education as a videographer. Amanda, thanks for teaching me that with faith, we can survive tragedy and go on to be better human beings.
The VASST attendees over the years have inspired this book series, we hope we meet and exceed the benchmarks that we’ve set with our live and DVD training products.
Finally, I have to thank the music. The music elevated me to a level of being creative with video. Thanks to the folks at Windham Hill and later Virgin who inspired me to do my own music videos. Thanks to the folks at PBS, BET, CNN, and other networks who have run my work. If it weren’t for the music, I’d never have learned I had a video side to my brain. The music drives me, but the video is a wonderful extension of that, so thank you to all my fans who have helped me keep making the music, and given me support.