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Video tutorial: Creating windows with good topology

14

Here's a bit of an experiment - I can't really make up my mind about this tutorial. The first time I watched it, I really disliked the robot voice, but now I rather appreciate the high-speed format of this video by OneMinute VideoTutorials (the video is two minutes ;-). What do you think? Would you like to see more fast tutorials like this one?

OneMinute VideoTutorials writes:

It can be a bit tricky to create nice geometry/topology for walls when your modeling a house in Blender. This video tutorial shows you the best way we have found to easily cut windows while keeping face loops flowing in a nice way.

About the Author

Avatar image for Bart Veldhuizen
Bart Veldhuizen

I have a LONG history with Blender - I wrote some of the earliest Blender tutorials, worked for Not a Number and helped run the crowdfunding campaign that open sourced Blender (the first one on the internet!). I founded BlenderNation in 2006 and have been editing it every single day since then ;-) I also run the Blender Artists forum and I'm Head of Community at Sketchfab.

14 Comments

  1. Yes, fast tutorials is a good thing in my opinion. And this fast robotic voice is also good, even if a bit weird. I use to scroll a lot in the usual Blender video tutorials that I see. Here, I didn't. And I tend to like it. It's a good option, imho.

  2. Thats exactly what we need. Super fast tuts that include shortcuts, tips, and useful information. They're so hard to find! I always end up spending 30 minutes or more on YouTube looking for the right information.

  3. I think this is great- not just because it's fast, but because non-english speaking people can deliver video tutorials that are much more understandable. There is some good content out there that is almost unusable because of how heavily accented the voice is.

    Most video tutorials could also be much concise and to the point.

  4. Honestly, it's not so much the length of videos that concern me most when watching a tutorial. Sure, ideally, if someone can get the job done in two minutes, then great! But if the video's on the subject I need, and if I see the person's making an earnest effort to share it, I can sit through it.

    It would also depend on the subject as well. Small feature on average should probably take just a few minutes. Others need a little more time, such as videos walking through a new add-on or introducing a brand-new native functionality.

    I'm aware that not everyone has the same level of ease with presenting and producing videos. There's also not a whole lot of free easy-to-use tools for easily editing videos. Most people don't have Camtasia Studio or After Effects, and even Blender's editor isn't the most straightforward thing to use.

    Also, as someone who's produced a few videos myself, I easily understand just how fast recording time can escape you. You're basically trying to balance between minding your pacing and your information, which just isn't easy. Even with the aid of non-linear editing, even a simple video can take a lot of planning and editing.

    I don't mind an automated voice as well. It's a bit unnatural to the ear, but I see that they're making an effort to share something useful, so I can deal with it. There could be a number of reasons why they'd use such a method, including not having a good microphone or not speaking English in an easy manner.

    For these reasons, I tend to be understanding. I also give video makers the benefit of the doubt that they're aware they need improvement. If I see someone struggling with something time and time again, then I make a friendly suggestions in a constructive, non-complaining manner.

    • By the way, if anyone does need a good free video editor, you can check out AVS Video Editor 6.4 or VSDC Free Video Editor. I don't use these, but I see that they have most of the basic features that my video editor has, and are sufficient for easier editing of tutorial videos. Just thought I'd put that here, since not many people are aware of them.

  5. It cures a lot of problems with tutorials....
    - The pace is even.
    - The voice is understandable.
    - The person writing the script had to think how to express things concisely.
    - There's no background music (always to the presenter's taste, irritating everybody else).
    - 'It' sounds female! When was the last time you heard a female voice presenting a Blender tutorial?
    I could watch plenty of these.

    • Agreed. Clear and pleasant verbal delivery is an art on its own that no 3D artist - or anybody else for that matter - gets born with.

  6. That was terrific!

    In this case I didn't learn anything I didn't already know about using Blender. For me this was a study in concise tutorial delivery. There should be a LOT more like this.

    Even long videos often feel improvised and full of errors and "um" and "er" and "wait a sec". This just delivered. The voice is odd, yet even at pace it's perfectly intelligible. I wonder if the method would lend itself better to the translation of videos into other languages too!

    Good job "OneMinute" Tutorials! This could catch on. The style just needs a catchy name and there could be a Wikipedia entry before the year is out...

  7. Austin Prescott on

    I have seen math tutorials online that are equally well made, although the human speakers simply cannot relay the information as quickly. That doesn't seem to be a deal-breaker; it could be done either way if thought out. That said, this same style could be used for human voice as well. Write out the steps. Record an audio clip of each step. Record a video (or several) of all the steps. Finally, trim and cut the video(s) as needed while adding the audio clips in a video editor. The audio tracks, if human, could even be sped up.

    I've only done 5 videos, but I'm looking to do dozens. I'll have to try something like this. I'm not very interested in speed; I've actually focused on going slowly. I do like perfect videos, however. This technique may be easier to achieve that than editing together multiple takes. :)

    Thanks for sharing. I found the contents of the tutorial interesting as well. I've been diving much deeper into Blender. I even plan to use it as my video editor.

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