[Opinion] Tutorial makers, please show us what we’ll be making!
Ok, so I have just finished reviewing some Blender tutorials and here’s a thought I want to share with you: way too many video tutorials start with a default Blender screen (hello, default cube!) and a voice telling me we’ll be creating something awesome – instead of just showing the final result.
This is not exactly motivating, and it forces us to watch your entire video (or just skip to the end) to find out what it’s about.
So from now on, show us! Start your video with that fabulous animation you’ll be creating, or the still we’ll be rendering. That way, it’ll be easy to see if this is what we need and if we like the quality of your work and skills.
Simple, right?
I have noticed this as well, and absolutely agree.
Great that you bring this up! I think that´s really important for good tutorials. I hope everyone sees this.
There needs to be a nice tutorial somewhere on some basic tutorial creation etiquette and techniques.
A meta-tutorial. I like that idea.
Andrew Price has compiled a list of 10 tips. That could be a starting point.
Absolutely one of my biggest peeves with video tutorials of all sorts. There have been numerous times where I just gave up on a Tut when I couldn’t see the final goal in the first bit.
Another big peeve with Blender Tuts: spending 30 sec showing how to install add-ons. Seriously, it’s been covered to death. Get to the point.
Blender users should be lucky enough to have free content created by volunteers. It seems as though most people have something to complain about unless it’s content created by Andrew Price or another blenderhead celebrity. These online forums have turned into nothing more than a jealousy critique trip and a Colin Levy fundraiser.
Free content still spends your (literally) precious time. Some just ask that instructors be more mindful of this fact. A little organization, a little more effort.
Because NOTHING in life is more expensive than time. You can recover money–you can’t recover lost time. Time is precious, man.
Also, a little better attention to flow and style also better aid in comprehension. If one is going to share knowledge, one might as well share it efficiently, right?
Sure, perfection isn’t always necessary (or even always desired), but a little effort in quality goes a longer way–and goes greater appreciated.
Actually, your comment sounds just like complaining, too. Complaining that others only have to complain about something.
I don’t see why Blender users should abstain from getting shown the result of a tutorial, just because it’s free? I guess it wouldn’t be too difficult to put it up front.
As Brian wrote, time is precious. Especially when you maybe just have time in your lunch break, and even shorter tutorials have to be split up into two days. If I spend my time watching how add-ons are installed and the default cube is deleted just to get to the end and see, the result is not what I expected… than it is a waste of time.
Of course it is adorable how volunteers put effort into teaching other people their knowledge. But if there could be just a glimpse of what the outcome is, then I could decide if I like what I see, if it looks like a beginner tutorial or if I think there is something for me to learn.
Sorry Jim, but attitude like yours is one of the biggest problems in open source communities (it’s not exclusive to Blender). Always there was unwritten, but often said rule, like: “As it’s done for free, you can’t criticise it! Thank for it or shut up!” A result? Hell lot of software and tutorials. And hell lot of junk – soft that barely works, with tons of UI/UX flaws and missing features, tutorials that teaches many wrong habits, recorded without any thought behind them and sometimes without a real knowledge of the topic. It resulted open source being a larg junkyard, with occasional diamonds here or there. But if you tried to criticised ANYTHING, you were constantly concidered rude and/or jealous.
But now things started to change. People started to be honest about the quality of software and tutorials, praising or criticising when needed. Maybe it’s kind of a coincidence, but this started with Andy Price material about “Why Blender is broken?” – something for which half of Blender community virtualy crucified him, as a jealous, rude and unwanted guy. But it gave a start to kind of a revolution, where critique =/= attack. Thats a good change, for sure.
Very much agreed! I know it’s tempting to just throw the screen capture software’s output straight on Youtube with no edits, but just a few simple edits like putting the result first makes a huge difference.
This is true! All in all I am grateful for all the tutorials.
Hey guys, ok, first thing is delete the cube…
I agree, I think back to old days when we present the result first, then we walk-through to the end or maybe commented the timelapse screencast. Anyway as personal preferences, I like the way Gleb from Creative Shrimp present his tutorial.
Thanks for share this reminder.
First of all, I’m very grateful for all the great tutorials out there and a big thank you to all tutorial makers for putting the time and effort into creating them! However, I have to agree that this is something that could be improved. Skipping to the end of the video to see the final result is very relatable ;)
I totally agree! Yes, I also agree with Snippetsuniverse (Thank you all for your tutorials!), but in the end, a tutorial is a product that needs to get its message across the audience its aimed for. In a virtual world full of of tutorials for us to search for, yours need to find a way to be appreciated to its fully extent.
It’s like a basic marketing strategy: you show the product first and get the audience hooked on it. And then you can start talking about it and so on.
Andrew Price (Blender Guru) and Gleb Alexandrov (Creative Shrimp) have created very good tutorials with this principle.
Thanks Bart, I really miss this on many tutorials. Sometimes, even if you skip to the end, the final result is only visible for 2 seconds.
I’ll add that tutorials would be more informative if the author not only showed what he will be creating, but if he/she also had a short demonstration of the key techniques / tools he/she will be using.
In the future when you want to refresh you memory about a technique or tool, you don’t have to scan through the entire tutorial to find where it was used.
It’s like show people what they will be making, then tell them the purpose of the tutorial (i.e., the key techniques and tools they will be using), then do the tutorial, and finally, provide a short review.
And if you are going to use an add-on that cost money, then show an alternative way to do the same thing without the add-on. Several of the best authors of tutorials do this. I’ve been following along on a tutorial only to find that the author is using an add-on that I don’t have/need and/or I don’t want to pay for. That forces me to stop and figure out a way to do something similar without the add-on. Better, tell people up front what add-ons are going to be used.
That’s something I tried to do, from the very start. Thanks bret.
My Tip.
Practice your tutorial at least once before recording it no one likes a tutorial when the author sounds unsure about what their doing.
Glad to hear this direction Bart. Long ago I recall in the 2.50 days or around there, people demanding complete instructions, saying tutorials did not show enough. Now, there are more intermediate users in the world.
That said, it is time to give guidance to the teachers. I learned to tolerate… different things… rather than comment to a teacher and I am okay with that Many have improved greatly over time. There are several very good teachers who know how to put the word clear and move forward instead of adding opinions of blender work flow or development or other things they think are more interesting than teaching. I think some get bored with teaching and want to have a platform to talk. If I feel I could make a better tutorial, I might comment to them. I have baled out on some long even one hour youtube tutorials that ramble on. Good practice is to see teachers who break up their tutorials into parts.
Also, giving credit to people who contributed help is great, just keep it in a paragraph at the end instead of right in the middle of the tutorial stopping the flow of thought. I enjoy reading the credits.
Thanks- John Hamilton, Jonathan Williamson, Kent Tremal, Greg Zale, Blender Guru… gosh, and so many more.
best always,
ron
Thanks Bart for bringing this up, I hope tutorial makers (and commenters) will understand critique is not the same as complaining :-)
The effort some tutorial creators spend on their creations is amazing so it is even more valuable for them to listen to critique so that people watching a tutorial will not leave with a feeling of disappoinment.
So here are some additional pieces of friendly advice:
– keep it short, tutorials longer than 30-40 minutes will make people loose focus. If you have a lot to tell, create more than one tutorial.
– keep it structured, intro first with a preview of the end result, a well structured middle and a summary at the end. this structure is recursive: if you have a lot to tell, each major step should have its own intro, substeps and summary
– keep it to the point: If you want to tell something about texturing, don’t spend 35 minutes modeling something. if you want to show the modeling as well, consider creating a separate tutorial
– rehearse, not because you are not allowed to make some mistakes but because it helps to get a feel for the structure of the talk and identify things that might need some extra attention
– pay attention to sound, even though it is a visual medium sound is important. poor quality sound makes it difficult to understand and detracts from your effort. you may want to consider a voice over and/or subtitles
And finally, don’t let criticism put you off, i’ll appreciate your efforts as a tutorial maker anyway :-)
I agree with all your suggestions. But there’s one more that is critical:
– NEVER use background music! If you feel that what you are saying is so unimportant that you must drown it with music, then at least stop it as soon as the intro is finished and the education begins! Your choice of music is NOT the viewer’s choice of music, and we are trying to concentrate on what you are telling us about Blender.
Give me Thomas Beck’s style of quiet and informative Sneak Peeks any day…
I agree! The music may be ok for speedpaint/speedmodeling/speedsculpting videos that do not have any narrator. It may also be okay in a mute tutorial that has text showing you what to do. In both cases, you can just mute the video if you don’t like the music, and even play your favourite music in the background. Otherwise it interferes with the message.
As some one who has made a decent amount of tutorials thanks to the people who said thanks to the tutorial makers.
Putting the result of the tutorial in the front of the tutorial makes sense. However sometimes you don’t even think about an issue unless some one tells you so I’m glad that Bart posted about this.
It is so wonderful to see so many great comments here. Bart has opened up a wonderful world of renewal or advancement in the tutorial world even for Blender, where I spent lots of time each day along with blending. I am so thrilled to see the world outside of the Blender Foundation making such an impact on improvements of tutorials and constructive comments. We are all part of the whole of making Blender… Blender Foundation and Blender users make Blender more wonderful.
I also like the pod casts from blender. Wish blender groups would do the same even if they only give short reports of what happened it is a good time for all. Certainly more fun than TV or radio.
P.S. I completely enjoy learning a new dialect of English spoken by non English speakers. Over time, I understand more or maybe they speak better? Some of my favorite tutorial authors speak a dialect of English from their native tongue. Keep at it, we are here and happy to listen.
best to all always,
ron