For some time now I've been toying with the idea of publishing some tutorial videos on CD. Each would be about an hour long (that's all that will fit on a CD at a decent resolution). My initial concept would be that each video would cover one single restoration/retouching job from start to finish.

I have most of the technical details worked out, but the area I'm clueless in is what users want/expect/like/dislike about tutorial videos in general.

Perhaps you could take a minute and share your experiences with tutorial videos. I'm thinking more about delivery than content, but all comments are appreciated.

For me - availability. So many video/dvd/cd tutorials are only available in the US. Please make them available to all.

I have membership of the Linda.com on-line tutorial system and find them very easy to follow - so something on the lines of these and prefereably with practice files.

Christine

Hi Doug -
I would love to own (many) video tutorials that restore a SINGLE photograph from start to finish. For some reason I just don't connect with the entire restoration process when multiple techniques could be used on a single photo, but the same techniques are used on several photos. Does that make any sense?
Understanding is aided when the technique is explained. So often tutorials suggest "this process", ok, but why am I doing this? I realize there is an art associated with restoration, and no one solution fits all problems, but give some thought to explaining why this method was selected from all of the possible solutions.
Debby

[QUOTE=Doug Nelson]For some time now I've been toying with the idea of publishing some tutorial videos on CD. ...

We've all seen a lot of tutorials where we're told to do this and this to get to this. If the viewer is told *why* it is done in a particular way, and just what happens when you do it, the tutorial gains much more value, and the viewer gets more out of it. So it's not only the *how*, but also the *why* that counts in my book.

Would there be a way to make a downloadable zipped version, maybe for Quicktime, or would that be out of the question? If it could be done, you could make it once, and not worry about making CDs or whatever. That would also take care of the availability problem.

Ed

Thanks for the input so far. Keep the ideas coming.

I like the idea of including the files. And explaining the "why" is a big part of why I'm considering doing this in the first place.

As for making them downloadable, that kind of defeats my profit incentive :)

As for making them downloadable, that kind of defeats my profit incentive :)

Couldn't you make it where the file couldn't be opened without a "key", which you would provide after receiving payment?

Ed

Or send the access to the files only after payment received. That is the way a lot of shareware is done.

Christine

Taking into consideration the stuff I hate about video tutorials (tiny screen, jerky motion, compression artifacts) I'll be lucky to get one hour onto 1 CD, and I doubt anyone wants a 700meg download :)

I can only go by the Lynda.com videos but on that site 10mins of video = 20Mb download. The video format is Quicktime.

Christine

I'm also looking at Quicktime, though it appears she uses about half the framerate I was thinking of.

I notice she captures a 1024x788 interface and shrinks it down. I was thinking about using a 800x600 interface and leaving it actual size.

Any preferences?

No preference here on size, but I wouldn't understand the technicality of it so can't say from that aspect.

Christine

Let's say you buy a video tutorial you're eagerly awaiting to view. It arrives, you pop it in your computer, and you see that you need to install a small free file before you can view it (for those of you that know about such things, it's a 3rd-party codec). Do you simply install it and enjoy the tutorial, or do you refuse and demand a refund?

Tough question. I wouldn't have a problem doing that for a tutorial from RetouchPRO. But others, who are not part of RetouchPRO might have a probloem with it, thinking that if they paid for it, it should come ready to go.

Ed

Hi Doug -
Did not want this thread to die... Hope you are still considering working on this project. I have purchased several of Trimoon's CDs and have found them a wonderful learning tool. Watching over someone's shoulder (so to speak) is a fabulous learning experience, and when their thoughts about the process as they are working are documented in a verbal format, all the better! Don't drop the idea. I need the help, inspiration, guidance, expertise.... There is no way I could possibly come up with the restoration processes on my own, but once armed with the tools.... the possibilites are endless!
Debby

Trimoon dropped out of site here, he used to be a regular poster. Is there an URL for his CDs?

Trimoon dropped out of site here, he used to be a regular poster. Is there an URL for his CDs?

Doug, here's a link to his website - page for tutorial CDs

http://www.trimoon.com/html/page1.html

try www.trimoon.com and wander around his website. Stephen has a few tutorials on his website to follow on-line.
try these sites of you want to get to his tutorials available for purchase on CD!
http://www.trimoon.com/html/photoshop_watercolor_tutorial_.html or
http://www.trimoon.com/html/tmpt.html for his portrait tutorial
Debby

Trimoon dropped out of site here, he used to be a regular poster. Is there an URL for his CDs?

Hi Doug,

Any updates ? Did you manage to get something sorted ?.

I have been making a few tutorial videos myself using Camtasia, the recording i have no problems with, but i really feel my voice does not sound too good when played back, so it puts me off making any more.

Haha, I know what you mean. I sound like Wally Shawn on recordings (check out my video tour if you don't believe me).

I'd still like to do this, I just lost confidence in the market.

Doug ? How can you lose confidance ?

The beauty of video tutorials are the sheer fact that you can come back to them time and time again and visually see what you are doing, which in my experience is a must for this kind of work.

i urge you to keep the flame lit and go forward with your project....

There is no rush, but doing it slowly is better than not doing it at all.

BTW: With regards to the isues of time and quality, have you considered doing them on DVD ?

For some time now I've been toying with the idea of publishing some tutorial videos on CD. Each would be about an hour long (that's all that will fit on a CD at a decent resolution).

That's not accurate, if you use good codecs.

My videos are 800x600, high quality audio and video (I don't like scratchy, tinny sounding audio; softness or compression artifacts eviident in my video). I use the Pro version of Sorenson 3 for video and MPEG4 for audio (mono, 22050 kHz).

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/DigitalDarkroom/VideoTutorials.htm

I use Sorenson Squeeze 4 Compression Suite, which gives me access to the Pro version of Sorenson 3, so I get a little better compression that you will with something like Camtasia, Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut, iMovie, etc. There not all that much difference in terms of size, hoiwever. Most of the difference is in the quality of the resulting video.

I find that I get approximately 2MB per minute for my video. I figure a CD can hold approximately 4 hours of video and still have 150 MB or so for sample files, .PDFs, etc.

I have given a lot of thought to this, because I do intend to offer some CDs and a digital journal. Distribution on DVD is higher maintenance and more costly than CD distribution. With DVDs, you have incompatibility issues between +R and -R to wrestle with *OR* you need to pay to have a glass master made and DVD-ROMs cut. CDs burn a lot faster, too. Just a couple of minutes with a high speed drive.

If you're video is so large, you can only fit an hour on a CD, you might need to adjust your settings. I use a 10fps rate with keyframes every 80 frames.

If you run at DV rate, you will consume a lot more space than is required simply to animate screen captures and add titling, highlights, etc. 3x the space. You don't need 30 fps.

For Photoshop, I find an 800x600 window works well. It provides enough room for the media player to display as well as the movie itself.

Quicktime is a good choice. Mac and Linux people are often reluctant to use a Windows media player. PC people will usually be familiar with Quicktime and not care if it comes from Apple.

I do recommend that you get Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite. The Pro version of Sorenson 3 codec is much better at compressing files. I use 100% quality, so I get no visible artifacts whatsoever.

Try to capture your video at the same size you will distribute. My minimized Photoshop environment is 800x600. I drag over any palettes I need/want for a video. My final video size is also 800x600. No resampling that way, which would soften a video even faster than it does with photographic images.

This is stuff I have learned from many hours and many attempts at cutting training videos, trying to get the screen capture to be just as sharp as the original and the audio quality is high. :)

I use Camtasia Studio from Techsmith for my video capture, Adobe Audition for my audio editing, and Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 for editing/transitions/etc.

For sound, I use a Samson Q7 mic, a Tascom USB Mixer, a tube preamp, and Monster cables to tie it all together. I take it on the road with me. It's all small. My mic stand and boom arm goes in a Pelican bag. I often cut video in a hotel room at night. ;)

Have fun!

Cheers,

Mitch

Doug, You might look at this (http://www.outbackphoto.com/booklets/booklets.html) method of dissemination.

Doug,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I like the sound of your voice.

Really, I do.


The best part of Russel Brown's videos, is his personality, and voice.

After viewing your site tutorial video, I really think you should start making some video on restoration, and retouching.

I for one would be very interested.