Recording and editing is finished for Blender Basics Part 3, and all that remains is adding keystroke and callout overlays; I’m doing that right now. I’d almost rather get 39 lashes than suffer through these every time. Okay, not really, but maybe every other time…
No doubt that it’s worth it though. The overlays add sparkle to the presentation. They make it shiny. They’re like that new car smell, or 2 coats of wax after a car wash. Most of all, the feedback at Blender Underground indicates they make the material easier to understand to those for whom English is a second language.
After the overlays I’ll convert and upload. The conversion process is trivial compared to the rest of it, but uploading is a challenge. You see, I’m on dial-up. The only thing slower is sending TCP/IP packets via carrier pigeon; so I’ll need to get to someplace where I can upload, like outer space. And if that doesn’t pan out, I’ll settle for some mundane location on the earth’s surface.
Dial-up is a harsh mistress.
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We all appreciate your work. Perhaps an obvious question, but is there not a utility on Windows that shows the keys pressed automatically and temporarily on the screen? I use such a utility on the Mac.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Hey kaveh!
There are such utilities, and a few have been recommended by readers.
However I can’t seem to let go of the control I get by doing it manually; I feel I get several advantages:
First, I can customize certain overlays, like making ESCAPE read: “Cancel Cut” or “Cancel Move” depending on the situation.
Second, I can use a custom graphic that fits within Blender’s interface nicely.
Third, I can control the location of the overlay on a case by case basis, so they don’t block action or key interface elements.
Fourth, I can choose which keystrokes to show and when. For instance, in Part 3, I’m beginning to limit the amount of times I display “Move Object: G” or “Edit Mode: TAB” since they are used often, and are already familiar.
Fifth, they aren’t baked onto the video, so I have the option of changing them in any of the ways listed above.
None of these items is singularly important, really. I just appreciate the flexibility I get, and the quality of the manual method is terrific. However, it is a lot of work and I may opt for an automatic method eventually. Perhaps after the Blender Basics series is complete I can change the style without feeling weird about it.
It may also be that there is a utility for PC that does most (or all) of what I list above, I just haven’t spent very much effort looking. All these manual overlays are taking too much time
August 16th, 2007 at 2:13 am
I understand. The result is certainly good. My main concern is that you spend too much time on that and not on the tutorials (from purely selfish viewpoint!!).
August 16th, 2007 at 4:00 am
The quality of all your hard work shows in these productions. I have said it every time I have commented on them. It is a very professional look that I think shows your true talent (well, that and your knowledge of Blender
).
If you were to stop doing it the same way, it somehow wouldn’t be an “Apollos Production”. Sure, there are many tools that can produce good content, but nothing beats the hand-made in quality and respect. Things that are hand-made usually are far more coveted than mass produced goods partly because we know it is one of a kind and there will be nothing exactly like it again. Another part that adds to the hand-made mystique is the amount of mass produced goods these days makes finding hand-made items a rarity and something to treasure.
I have shared these with friends (and pointed them to this site) who had no idea Blender existed much less someone willing to share their knowledge about it. I, for example, only picked up Blender about two weeks before stumbling onto this site (a link in Blender Nation to your tutorial). I tried desperately to use other tutorials but it just wasn’t sinking in. These hit home with me and I still use them to this day. Please, don’t ever let anyone talk you out of your current formatting since I can say that to a great extent, it is the formatting of them that makes these work for me.
If nobody else appreciates these, rest assured that I always will!
August 16th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
penix1,
You are very kind. Rest assured, my top priority is that people are learning, so if that is the case with you and yours, I couldn’t be happier!
kaveh’s point is well-taken however. The more time spent laboring on details, the fewer tutorials produced. I need to find a balance, and if it works out that I’m able to continue past the Basics series (I certainly plan on it) then effort spent saving time but keeping the quality high is worth it.
I certainly don’t intend on mass-producing these, but I need to find clever ways of reducing production time and keeping that “Apollos Production” feel.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:40 am
Apollos, you HAVE the right balance. It’s not too flashy. The effects you’ve added ADD to the production. You script it all first. The tutorial is made top priority with the Keyboard overlays added to enhance it. You’ve done it all right!
I do have one problem with you, though. All this sticking it to “the man” business is just not going to work.
YOU ARE THE MAN!
August 17th, 2007 at 2:25 am
Guys, there is no bigger fan of Apollos’ than me. I am as itchy as everyone to see the next tutorial. And the secret is the quality. But if he can spend 5 hours instead of 10, with the same quality, then why not? I am a fan of automation, but only when quality is not sacrificed. So we are all on the same side.
Hats off to The Man….
August 17th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Dave’s comment has triggered an internal investigation here at BU to see if there’s any truth to what he said. Thanks Dave. I think I see a black helicopter now. My phone line is clicking, and some dude in the coffee shop keeps looking at me over his newspaper, holding his hand to his ear, and talking to someone, although nobody seems to be there. Oh, and and I’m being followed by a black SUV with tinted windows. THANKS ALOT DAVE!!!
kaveh, you are exactly right. Time saved = time saved. If I can shave even 10% off of the time it takes to produce a good quality tutorial, it’s worth it. The time it actually takes to produce each hour of tutorial is substantial. If I were paid $25 per hour spent on each tutorial, I would have made…a lot.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:28 pm