So In case you haven't heard of this product before or couldn't work out. This is the miniature painting video of Legendary french figure painter of Jeremie Bonamant Teboul , Who has won an incredible 33 Golden Demon trophy's and 3 Slayer Swords. Making him the most successful painter at Golden Demon ever!
So in theory this video should be fantastic... But we will see. Lets get to the actual product. I will split the review into several sections covering all aspects of the product.
First Impressions
When I first received it I was surprised how professional and polished the set is from the well designed glossy outside cover to the smooth looking discs. The case cover is particularly well done with several high resolution images of Jeremies award winning figures on the front and back covers.
The set comprises of 2 dics and has a whopping 7 hours of close up footage which already seems like good value as this dvd retails at around £25.
DVD Menu, Video Quality and Audio
Firstly, I came to the menu. This doesn't quite look as fantastic, however it does it's job and you easily navigate through the content. The menu includes themed text, pictures of figures and some nice calm music. The menu is nether here nor there, It's ok and as said It does it's job of navigating the content great. Lets face it the menu doesn't matter anyway were here for the content.
The video quality overall is between good and very good. On occasions the picture is slightly blurred and perhaps to dark. However you can always see what Jeremie is doing with his brush, but due to the minor blur or dark lighting it sometimes makes it hard to see the effects he creates on the figure he's working on.
Next, Is the audio which is the only major flaw in my opinion. As you have to many options for the audio either listening to Jeremie's original french voice over or you can listen to it Italian, German ,Spanish and of course English. All with a translator speaking I imagine trying to get as close to Jeremie's original script. But listening to the translator I always feel like I am missing out as I don't believe it is his original script as often Jeremie's is talking ( mouth moving on screen) while the translator is silent sometimes for up to several minutes.
So, I didn't really feel like I was getting Jeremie's full wisdom. The other minor problem with the audio is that the English translation is spoken with a French accent, which isn't really a big problem just sometimes it's a little difficult to understand and you should expect to rewind a couple of times to hear what is said properly.
Content: Technique, Theory and Gallery
This set boasts to have more than 50 step-by-step tutorials, in depth talk about theory and audio commented gallery. The content is spread over the 2 discs with the bulk of the techniques on disc 1. Lets breakdown the Content.
It starts with a quick little message from Jeremie in his work area explaining that why he has decided to make this dvd and explains the techniques he shows aren't necessarily the best, but it's what works best for him. Quite honest and refreshing I thought.
Next we come to a five video section of on choosing tools, paints and organizing your work area. This includes a great video on making your own Wet Palette. He explains in some depth the tools he uses and paints, what they are and why he uses them. Also included is a how to assemble metal and resin figures, showing the great technique of Milliput wash used for smoothing out uneven metal surfaces.
The we start with the actual painting techniques. We come to ten more techniques being shown which are preshading, Pull/Push Blending, successive wash blending, washes, intermediate blending, wet blending, dot blending, blending on details and finally making corrections. I know what your thinking how many blending techniques can't anyone possibly make up? But, I have to say the techniques he shows are world class and each blending technique creates a different finish. His preshading technique is ingenious although now a well known technique. Jeremie uses an orc to preshade, what he does is basecoat the figures large skin area in mild green then uses GW white spray very lightly to spray the raised areas where the light would hit creating a very quick blended light effect. Superb!
Jeremie then discusses light and colour theory in several more videos. The topics covered in this section are Zenithal light, Focal points, Spotlights, Warm cold/tones, colour harmony and contrast. Now you may of heard of many of the above applications but like me for a while didn't really understand what they meant and how to apply them to your figures. However, Jeremie I must say does a truly superb job of explaining each topic and how to achieve them.
Then there four other videos the last of the painting labeled under "Practical Applications". which covers painting Gems, Gore, Leather and stains etc. The Gem video is the real highlight here as Jeremie paints a spectacular red reflective gem on a shield. When I got to this point I was overwhelming disappointed to find no videos on Freehand, I was really expecting it on this dvd. Because anyone who has seen Jeremie's figures nearly all of them feature exquisite freehand designs and would of thought he could easily create a video on this .... unless he left it out intentionally so no one will ever know his secrets of freehand. I'll admit this was the main reason I brought his video was to find out how he did freehand. So thats the last of the painting features.
Now we come to the best part of the dvd hands down. Simply put his basing is fantastic and his basing videos are fantastic. Firstly, he explains you how to choose the right plinth then he shows you how to transform a block into a woodland scene, barren wasteland, Ice land, Pavement stones with marble pillar and industrial bases. He also covers making titles (plagues) for the front of your bases and making resin water. Every single basing video is great and I guarantee you will all take something away for your own bases.
Last but not least there is a audio commented gallery showing Jeremie's best miniatures with him explaining how he painted them, what mood the figures have and why he painted them. You can also learn alot from this section just looking at his great great figures. each model has multiple shots from every angle.
Summary
In conclusion this dvd is very good and I guarantee whether you are a beginner or a professional painter you will learn loads. While this beginners might struggle to get to grips with some of the techniques on show as it is aimed at painters with a good grip on the basics. I consider this dvd good value for money when I look at some of the other products on the market. some videos are more expensive, have less content and are only digital downloads. So this certainly at the top of the market as far as I have seen. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a dvd on miniature painting and to improve their painting.
Ratings
Presentation 6/10
Video Quality 8/10
Audio 5/10
Content 10/10
Value 9/10
Overall 38/50 Recommended
I hope you enjoyed reading and hope you will find it useful!
Thanks For Looking!
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