I make my living with something else. And it's extremely rare to find those assholes in my business. It's so unprofessional to troll at the forums with hobbyists, sometimes with your real name. Of course there are exceptions, but among video/audio professionals, it's definitely more common from what I have seen.

It's not just camera forums; spend a few years on 3D forums, and you'll see the same thing.

Though to be honest, after spending a few years on a 3D forum - you WILL get to the point that you're tired of newbies ignoring Stickies and Search, endlessly asking "how do I make XYZ effect?"... especially when the effect they're asking about took a team of 10 people and 2 months of work. ;)

The only forums I've visited that I I haven't seen this sort of thing are related to Ferrari ownership and drumming. Maybe passion vs professional career also plays a part?

Psychology Today: Internet Trolls Are Narcissists, Psychopaths, and Sadists

by Jennifer Golbeck, Ph.D.

In this month's issue of Personality and Individual Differences, a study was published that confirms what we all suspected: internet trolls are horrible people.

Let's start by getting our definitions straight. An internet troll is someone who comes into a discussion and posts comments designed to upset or disrupt the conversation. Often, it seems like there is no real purpose behind their comments except to upset everyone else involved. Trolls will lie, exaggerate, and offend to get a response.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-online-secrets/201409/internet-trolls-are-narcissists-psychopaths-and-sadists

@Caveport

Bang on!

Seriously though, as a pro who has spent my entire life working in the media biz, there are many non-pro people on forums who expect others to hand over their knowledge gained from years of working, when they have not read or researched for themselves.

Yes, people expect others to share their knowledge. Including one gained via years of hard work. This is how people society works.

Your attitude that newbies can be treated very differently and they somehow jump from newbies to professionals (I really do not know that this words mean exactly in this context) in their sleep are strange. If you see some "pro forum" where normal newbies are not welcomed and they somehow must go to special reservation it usually means that strong inner circle holds moderators positions and fully set policy, usually do not result in anything good :-)

It must be always a balance and warm welcome to new guys. Very hard to do and requires proper people with different attitude.

I love to share my knowledge. I choose to share with people who will understand the concepts or technicalities of what I am saying. If the person asking has not done any research and/or can not understand why certain things are done in the professional business, then I advise them to go and educate themselves. I am NOT obliged to hand over my experience for free (with a smile) to people who don't have the basic understanding of the subject. There was a recent case of this kind of thing in these forums. A user thought that a simple extra grading tool would be of great benefit for him in Resolve. No matter how many responses he received by well-meaning posters, explaining why it was unnecessary and even counter-productive, he insisted that Blackmagic should include it because other software has it, and he would find it useful. It kind of proves a point; once someone has made up their mind about something it is VERY hard to communicate. No offence intended to the poster I referred to above. Keep your mind open and adapt. That's how I stay alive. If a software package is not perfect, I change the way I work. I don't complain to other media people. I complain to the software maker. If I need advice from other media people, I try to let them know what my level of experience is, to assist them in answering me.

@Vitaliy I did NOT say or imply "Your attitude that newbies can be treated very differently and they somehow jump from newbies to professionals (I really do not know that this words mean exactly in this context) in their sleep are strange."

To sum up: If you fill pro forums with questions like "Why can't they make it the way I think it should be?" you won't make any friends.

They say find whatever you're good at, and do it for a living. So....

I wouldn't say a$$holes. Most are pretty good about sharing knowledge. Guys that aren't willing to share knowledge probably are wasting their time on the forums. Why else go to forums but to share info? Blackmagic forum is especially crappy. Dreary atmosphere and unmotivated gururs..

EDIT: the media industry forums are full of internet a$$holes for some reason, but like Twitherb says, the a.holes are generally outnumbered by the helpful ones, and it depends on the moderation.

I think the worst is when somebody has a real problem that relates to one thing, and nobody even bothers to respond

@tonalt Ripple Training just brought out a new training course for Resolve 11, I'll be getting it, sure it must make lots clear, I got the editing in Resolve 11 one and it was very good.

http://www.rippletraining.com/categories/avid-adobe-davinci-courses/davinci-resolve-products/color-grading-in-davinci-resolve-11.html

@tonalt Thanks for posting the links. I read the entire thread. It really highlights the communication problem when people have fixed attitudes. The 'pro' wants the camera manufacturers to adhere to 'pro' formats and make these new cameras easy to work with while the 'non pro' wants the software makers to adapt to lower end cameras that have great image quality. I don't see any issue with those posts at all. I think some 'non pro' people don't realise that 'pro's' must deal with ANY camera footage that is provided and we must build custom workflows FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL JOB!

In your linked forum thread, people are complaining that Resolve does not support audio in a non-compliant mp4 format designed by Sony. Blaming Blackmagic seems a bit unfair.

I have had many issues like this over the years, with Avid, FCP, Premiere, Smoke, FCPX, Resolve, Nuke, Media 100........ are you bored yet?

The best way to approach 'pro' forums with issues is to ask for assistance rather than complaining. I get frustrated with things not working just like 'non pro's' do. The difference is in how I go about finding a solution. IMO it is the 'non pro's' in that discussion that had the fixed attitudes. This topic is itself an example of 'non pro' attitudes. I don't think you will find a forum thread started by a 'pro' that complains about 'non pro' assholes on forums.

Thanks for keeping THIS thread polite!