Matrix Content (www.matrixcontent.com) has added video and animation to their growing roster of high-end photo galleries.
Since its September 1999 inception, Matrix primarily has leased original photos to Webmasters. But at January's Internext trade show in Las Vegas, Matrix debuted its new video and animation components.
"Our new products, which Webmasters can custom order, include video lease galleries - lots with interactivity, as far as choose-your-own-adventure," says Matrix Senior Content Director Norman Bentley. "It's mostly glamour videos, small vignettes of girls stripping, masturbating, and some behind-the-scenes video of hardcore scenes we photo shoot. They average 10 minutes in length, but when we compress them for sale, they're cut into one-minute segments. Most people watch the first and last video first, so it saves lots of bandwidth. We also compress it in full-length, for people who wish to serve that much bandwidth."
He likes to call Matrix the "kings of compression." "That's one of our main focuses here: getting the best quality for the least amount of bandwidth," Bentley says. "Bandwidth in turn is money. We're always on top of the technologies, and the new codecs - the software component that compresses the video. With photos and videos, we strive to get the best quality with the smallest degree of file size. Which means the images load faster, which makes the members happier."
It is for these reasons that Matrix has yet to take advantage of its beautiful natural surroundings for its video shoots. "If we went straight to DVD or VHS it'd be great, but when shooting primarily for the Web, I really wouldn't shoot outside, because the background is so detailed compression would suffer," Bentley confesses. "File size would be bigger. If you're looking to fit it within a certain frame rate, or connection speed, quality would suffer. It's much better to have a simple background."
"Of course, the higher bandwidth surfers have, the better the video quality and the faster you're going to be able to see it," Bentley continues. "For DSL surfers and 300K and above, it's VCR quality using the Microsoft player. But I always keep in mind there are viewers with 56K modems who are willing to wait to see the clip. They'll download it, walk away and watch a movie or something. So with all our videos we make sure they're 56K accessible."
The company's in-house videos are lensed at what photographer Robbye Bentley calls, in homage to the Playboy Mansion, "Matrix Manor." This spacious upscale two-story home is ensconced on 23 acres in rural Ventura County, California, providing a handsome setting for Matrix's homegrown videos.
Bentley says she worked in Penthouse's video department and on Playboy TV's Night Calls. She has an engaging manner, and creates a good rapport with Matrix's talent. "Show me your cookie!" is one of Bentley's favorite expressions.
"I shoot with a Sony VX 2000 MiniDV camera," Bentley reveals. "It costs about $2500 and is very high quality. A 60-minute cassette costs around $15, unless you buy them in bulk. The only reason why the media doesn't shoot the news with it is because - even though it's broadcast quality - nobody would take them seriously, carrying around a small, lightweight camera like that. Matrix stands for quality. If it's not high quality, we won't use it."
In addition to its own shoot-'em-ups, Matrix recently signed a deal with L.A.-based Asian Eyes Pictures. "They shoot all their video in Asia," says Norman. "We're real excited about it - Asian Eyes has an incredible library of videos and photos, that has never been put on the Net. They have thousands of images no one's ever seen, with models from the Orient."
He describes Matrix's business model vis-�-vis Asian Eyes: "We're trying to enable a small Webmaster to take advantage of this product. We start with a low base cost, then we upsell to pay per view, where surfers can actually watch full-length movies via the Web."
As for its in-house videos, Matrix uses another business model. "The start-up cost is basic for the smaller sites, and we'll base the cost of the video content we lease to Web masters on use," says Bentley. "Bigger sites will pay more for it; and for newbies, it can be very reasonably priced."
The expanding company is also launching erotic animation in the form of a flash series called The Adventures of Christie Climax, a secret agent known for sexual prowess who out-fucks 007 any day. The X-rated cartoon created by San Jose, California animators, pits Climax against the syndicate with wit and style. "Open any well-known adult magazine, and there's a comic on almost every third page," Bentley points out. "People like the humor. Drawings are something else to see and experience."
"Christie Climax will be available on a lease basis, similar to the Asian Eyes model," Bentley says. "Since the animation is comparable in quality to what you can get on DVDs, when we get enough material together, we'll actually master a DVD and sell it through the lease gallery, where the Webmasters would earn a piece of everything sold."
"Matrix is doing very well," Bentley proclaims. "It seems all of our hard work, pride, and quality pays off and people pay notice."
A weekly newsletter e-mailed to its hundreds of clients keeps Matrix and its Webmasters in regular contact, enhancing customer service. The ever-growing content provider is also working on a choose-your-own-adventure interactive streaming broadband video with multiple camera angles from the male's point of view; Virtual Man may be Matrix's next arrow in its creative quiver.
