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Training Video
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Training Video // Feature suggestions
Post by Steinie // Aug 24, 2006, 1:41am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Training videos can be boring! The content is great but other things could be improved. I looked at your free samples on various videos and would like to offer two suggestions. They seem mono tone or thickly accented (so the emphasis is in understanding the Trainer) also the tools being selected are hard to see. This Company is certainly not alone with these problems. (I used to do this stuff for a living)
My suggested solution:
Look at trained voice talent. (Tons of them at college....cheap)
Circle the tool when being selected. (Hexagon tutorial from France did this well).
I understand the problem of "well this person wrote it and he/she should present it" but writing and presenting are two differant talents.
Your content is great, they are written great, your delivery could use improvement. |
Post by Alien // Aug 24, 2006, 3:54am
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Alien
Total Posts: 1231
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It can often be the case that even when someone has learned to suppress their native accent, it can come back when they get excited, stressed, or emotional in any way [e.g. if they're under pressure at work or whatever].
1 reason Caligari might not have decided to use outside help for voice-overs so far is the impact it might have on the price of the courses. |
Post by TomG // Aug 24, 2006, 5:18am
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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Price is one thing, the time to create them is another factor too. But also we think that as much as possible the artist should present the video, because that is what users want to here - they want to be taught by the artist. This is why we always feature the author's picture on courses now, and we always mention their name.
Personally I like knowing I am listening to a particular, well-known, well-respected tS artist. The only times where we can't do that are when the artist is non-English speaker who feels they don't want to do the voice over, and then it is usually Norm that does the dubbing.
The other final issue is one of knowledge. Hard for voice over talent to get excited by such-and-such a clever 3D technique when all they are is voice over who know nothing about 3D. Again I like to hear the author's inflection and excitement and emphasis, since the author is a 3D artist (and so is Norm in the event that we have to dub).
So far, we've not had any complaints that the people were hard to understand. The strongest accent may well be Roman's :) But then who wants a course "actually presented by the CEO!" if it isn't really the CEO doing the voice :)
All things considered, for the reasons above, most likely we will stay with the courses just as they are. Sure these guys are 3D artists and not professional presenters or voice-over artists... but isn't that who you want to hear from? These are not just dry training lessons, anonymously written, recorded, presented and dubbed. These are the very people from your community, the very users you would like to sit down and look over their shoulder and watch and listen to and learn from, if you could. So "drawbacks" aside, we think it best to still aim for that, to make it like you are looking over the shoulder of and listening to Matthew Collins, Rob Mitchell, Norbert Esser, Roman Ormandy, etc from wherever they are in the world, with whatever accent they have, so that you have a personal touch, and not a bland "Could be from anywhere" accent :)
HTH!
Tom |
Post by Chester Desmond // Aug 24, 2006, 6:30am
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Chester Desmond
Total Posts: 323
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I agree that it is more engaging with the artist themselves doing the narration.
But I would draw the line (based on the written documentation) if Chikara was to do a course for his plugins :)
Also how would a person go about getting involved with creating a tutorial? |
Post by TomG // Aug 24, 2006, 7:10am
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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We always contact the author to discuss the idea of making a course with them. If you have an idea that you think would work, you can contact us and we can add it onto our list of possible people we will contact to make courses :)
The process is a controlled one, after initial discussion, an agreement is drawn up defining what will be made and by when, and then we give the author all our standards for making courses, the standard tools to make courses, and then work with the author on making the videos, checking the content and overseeing the process. It is quite time intensive :)
People can easily set out to make their own tutorials, BUT an unsolicited tutorial has never been released by us (and most probably wouldn't be). If you want to make one to release yourself, then that is fine. If you want to make one as a "show reel" to demo what you could do, that is fine (but it would be re-recorded to our standards etc if approved). It is highly unlikely though that if you made a course, we would release it as you recorded it :)
HTH!
Tom |
Post by Chester Desmond // Aug 24, 2006, 7:19am
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Chester Desmond
Total Posts: 323
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thanks for the reply..I wouldn't expect to have it released "as is" and would probably go the "showreel" route if I was to do it in the hopes of it being "official", rather than a freebie. I've always had an interest in this kind of thing and I've been thinking that showing how some of the plugins work (clothmotion, truecontraints etc) might be helpful although geared more towards users of older versions. The main thing holding me back is the fact that it takes me 14-20 attempts to make a simple answering machine message, so my narration could be rather time consuming :) |
Post by frootee // Aug 24, 2006, 7:32am
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frootee
Total Posts: 2667
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I have found that several of the video tutorial courses also have text files which are the actual scripts. So if you have difficulty understanding the presenter, you can also refer to the text file.
I agree about having the author present the tutorial. Movies that have been dubbed poorly are very distracting (though I prefer subtitles); I would suspect that a poorly dubbed video tutorial would be just as distracting from the content.
Frootee |
Post by KeithC // Aug 24, 2006, 7:58am
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KeithC
Total Posts: 467
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One of the things that I find a bit irritating with video tutorials in general, is when the artist uses hotkeys without letting the veiwer know what's going on. Another thing that is problematic, is when the author does not have a script already set up and they constantly make errors and have to backtrack or search for the file they need; this wastes time. A good example of a tutorial done well, is the GameSpace Mini-Course series by Drew Clark: he gets right to the point; his voice doesn't fade out at all (probably wearing a headset); and he has all his ducks in a row (already has the flow of the tutorial layed out beforehand).
Of course I'm not saying that the other tutorial sets are bad or anything; but if we're expected to shell out $50-$100 (from the sounds of what you said Tom, Caligari sets the price) for a tutorial set, we should be able to understand it well and find it effective. I do like it better when single artist does the tutorial set, instead of a conglomeration of different people (like the Spirit of the Interface...are you still charging $10 for it?). Anyways, to all the tutorial authors out there, keep up the good work.:)
-Keith |
Post by Mike // Aug 24, 2006, 3:27pm
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Mike
Total Posts: 121
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In the original tS5 NURBS course Caligari had to hire a voice actor because I recorded it in a zoo and the birds would squeak and squawk whenever I said anything! I think the original with noise was better because the voice actor didn't get the timing down quite right (not knowing what the terminology means I suppose) and sounds kind of like the "Head On" commercials! :D |
Post by TomG // Aug 25, 2006, 2:32am
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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That NURBS course was recorded before my time - I had no idea it wasn't you Mike :(
And.... in a zoo?? :) If ever we have a contest for most unusual place to model 3D, you could be in with a good chance of winning!
Tom |
Post by Chester Desmond // Aug 25, 2006, 4:47am
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Chester Desmond
Total Posts: 323
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That's funny Mike because I was thinking that "you" had a rather "generic tutorial guy" voice and that your pacing was kind of bizarre (ie no pauses for breath in some places and then other times where you were modelling like mad with no commentary). Great tutorial though.
I think if I was to do one, I'd hire 'that guy' who does movie trailers.
"They broke into his home...............................they stole his mouse...............now..........ONE MAN............will be up against all odds in a race against a marketing deadline.............will he win the race? or will he be burned...........Mel Gibson..............Rhea Perlman................critics are hailing it as the best tutorial of 2006............HOTKEY" |
Post by frootee // Aug 25, 2006, 5:18am
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frootee
Total Posts: 2667
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sidebar: I saw the "Movie VoiceOver Guy" on a Geico commercial last night.
I assume it is him, since I've never seen him before, and Geico did another spot with Little Richard as well. Both are currently showing in the Northeast U.S. TV stations.
BTW... I have most of the courses and do find them extremely useful.
Frootee |
Post by Steinie // Aug 25, 2006, 5:33am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Actually I wasn't thinking of a "Voice over Guy", more like a "Voice over Female"..."now you place your bump here and touch that part over there and ohhhhh wow, oh my......
Now that would sell!:) |
Post by Chester Desmond // Aug 25, 2006, 5:53am
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Chester Desmond
Total Posts: 323
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haha, gives a new meaning to Vertex Manipulation |
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