Do you prefer Video or Text tutorials?
polycounter lvl 13
Hi Guys,
I am thinking of preparing some tutorials, but I am not sure about what is the best format. I would like to know your opinion before spending some time on them, and also if you can come up with further pros and cons for either type.
■ Video - (i.e. Substance Designer #9 - Working with FX-Maps part 01)
Pros:
- Requires less effort to follow than text
- Shows the full procedure step by step
Cons:
- Difficult to retain all the information seen (usually requires multiple views)
- Difficult to browse and search for specific information
- More difficult to make right and edit (plus I am not a native English speaker)
■ Text - (i.e. Analysing a Stone Texture)
Pros:
- Can go deeper in details by adding further information, i.e. maths
- Simple to browse and search, all the information is available at the same time
Cons:
- Requires more effort to follow than a video
- Might skip on some simple operations that could make a beginner stumble
- Probably requires more time to make than a video
Thank you
- Enrico
I am thinking of preparing some tutorials, but I am not sure about what is the best format. I would like to know your opinion before spending some time on them, and also if you can come up with further pros and cons for either type.
■ Video - (i.e. Substance Designer #9 - Working with FX-Maps part 01)
Pros:
- Requires less effort to follow than text
- Shows the full procedure step by step
Cons:
- Difficult to retain all the information seen (usually requires multiple views)
- Difficult to browse and search for specific information
- More difficult to make right and edit (plus I am not a native English speaker)
■ Text - (i.e. Analysing a Stone Texture)
Pros:
- Can go deeper in details by adding further information, i.e. maths
- Simple to browse and search, all the information is available at the same time
Cons:
- Requires more effort to follow than a video
- Might skip on some simple operations that could make a beginner stumble
- Probably requires more time to make than a video
Thank you
- Enrico
Replies
i find it tiring to sit through videos unless they are really quick and to the point feature demonstrations. worse if you have to listen to audio to be able to follow (it's not always on at the machine).
This initial learning of a package ya sure a video can help a lot. But once you already know your shit, and am just looking for a new way to approach a problem. Text is much more efficient.
The main reason is that it's much, much easier to search for specific subjects in a text tutorial, which you can't do in a video, unless you fast-forward through it all to see IF the video actually have anything about the subject in hand covered.
On the other hand, videos is much better at showing exactly what you need to do, and how it's done, especially as mentioned with tutorial like ZBrush, about brush strokes ect.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that I'm a speedreader, so getting the information I need from a text tutorial is so much faster then having to watch a video.
I like both text and video tutorial,
I made text tutorial with interactive image because , in my personal experience, I always want to skip video because I understand most of the step , but often in video i dont have option to do this.
( i even state this on my tutorial : " if you know about zbrush sculpting you can skip to next point )
if you make tutorial on YouTube you can always divide the tutorial by time section ( with explanation ) in video description , that would help a lot
Almost every thing else - text.
Probably also depends on the individual producing the tutorial, IE some people are better at presenting in real-time, speak clearly, etc. whereas others are great at describing their process in text/image format.
because it can be translated, which is great for the 100s of artists in my studio who don't speak English
Text + pictures for things that aren't application specific, or take a lot of time to setup, but very little time to explain.
I used to like video tutorials, but after the introduction of youtube's 2x playback feature, I just don't have the patience to sit down and wait for someone to finish their sentence before I get the information, so I just don't use most video tutorials.
I think ZacD's description perfectly illustrates where each is most effective, though.
If the video is bookmarked, which has been rare for items like Youtube videos, I put them at equal footing with good text tutorials. Otherwise, I sort of balk at even spending 15 minutes of my time trying to scrub through for what I exactly need. Everyone who bookmarks the timecodes on their youtube videos, ya'll are super cool.
Or maybe I just don't have a patience to see 30 minutes of video with a core information that could be passed in just a few clever structured paragraphs.
Perhaps just because the writing something down requires you to think a bit more of how make the information clear and not "war and piece " size.
Although once the video would have a kind of tags to core sentences /information so I could skip all the mm...., oh..... and "it should be there" I would prefer video in such case
I can't stand tutorials that don't skip things or at the very least fast forward through the redundant content.
Explain something, give a few different examples of where/how you might use the thing then move on. I don't need to see 40 minutes of you doing the same shit over and over.
Video tutorials are never useful unless motion is important and if that motion cannot be conveyed by a series of pictures.
Practical examples: I want to find out more about support loops for hard surface modeling. I'm not going to watch a 30-minute tutorial for 15 seconds of information. With text it's just Ctrl+F, 'loop', done.
Example 2: I want to find out more about what each option does for the smoke simulator. Text can describe vorticity and temperature or whatever, but a video tutorial can show me what each option does in motion.
I find painting/sculpting tutorials easier when its realtime in a video format.
However, if it were a tutorial on baking texutures from xNormal, it would be much more helpful as a text document.
Essentially if the tutorial is based on technique then a video would be better. If its about a framework of some sort, text would be better.
Basically its what everyone else is saying here.
Using videos for quick info is probably going about things the wrong way.
EDIT : See this sort of thing is better handled by the documentation your app comes with:
"Practical examples: I want to find out more about support loops for hard surface modeling. I'm not going to watch a 30-minute tutorial for 15 seconds of information. With text it's just Ctrl+F, 'loop', done."
However, if you want to know what support loops do, how subd modeling behaves, etc. then you can't beat a video.
Whereas more technical stuff tends to be better suited to text and images.
Some text tutorials feel just like this image.
[ame]
Also i don't need to know how/where the guy saves his files to his hard drive. surely they must think it's a good idea to edit out any non relevent stuff.
I really prefer text based with a few pics, It's just easier on the brain and eye.
[ame]
That would be a nice tutorial if I could skip all the basic stuff of how to create material , extrude the text ,blah blah.. and it give a tag or frame number directly to dissolving part
As of OP tutorial video (fx maps) it's not bad but still have a lot of parasite information noise. Could stil be compressed a lot if you get rid of all that advertising parts of how it's cool and simple etc and keep only how it works
https://www.youtube.com/user/Pavlovich2005/videos
Focusing on how quickly the information enters your head means that video is really never the right choice for you.
Speed modeling/sculpting videos are just masturbation. I don't count those as information sources. Entertaining perhaps but, as you said, the odds of you learning anything is low.
But this is precisely the issue - sometimes, videos are the only source for a given piece of information, in which case they become quickly frustrating. It happens often for Zbrush stuff for instance.
Regarding the original question : I can't really vote, as I like both depending on the subject matter. That being said, video tutorials should come with timestamp/bookmarks more often.
Its basically this.
he is not trying teach you how sculpt but he teach metods of sculpting anything
Honestly though, text+image tutorials aren't much better. Why does the Joan of Arc tutorial STILL get recommended when A: the subdivision model is outdated and parts of it just don't work, and B: 80% of the poly flow for it is not up to modern standards? It's really weird.
lots of good points I didn't consider. It is clear that whether it is better a video or a text and images tutorial depends on the content that needs to be shown. Sculpting and painting tutorials work better in video format, while technical and more abstract tutorials are better represented in text format. In the former case, the procedure itself: specific teacher's gestures, strokes and step by step instructions are a relevant part of the lesson, while in the latter case the information provided do not depend on the teacher's skills.
It is also interesting that introductory to intermediate tutorials can benefit from the video format, because they guide through every single operation and show them happen. They should not provide too much information, but rather give a general idea and let the user pick up the software without being completely clueless. On the other hand intermediate to advanced tutorials work better in text and images form, because the user often refers to specific parts and the ability to search and quickly find the information needed is crucial. On top of that the text generally does not set a pace -unless it's very verbose, therefore slow- and the reader is able to set it for himself.
The links I added in the opening post are not random. I selected something comparable and close to what I would like to work on. Given the nature of the subject matter, I think I will stick with text and images.
Thank you very much
- Enrico
A good example is Substance Designer. I'm trying to learn it but almost all the tutorials I find are video and given it's node based, the narrator will often speed through elements without saying why they're important or simply won't mention it at all.
I remember one tutorial I tried following where the narrator was suddenly having a box appear letting him choose a new node but he didn't explain what he'd done to bring it up. I had to pause the video, Google how to add new nodes, come back when I figured it out and start again, completely breaking any flow I had going.
That being said, if they're planned out well, they can be really good. Whalebone's tuts are awesome, for one.
Yeah, this kind of situation is extremely frustrating. I can tell that them making video guides comes from a good intention, but it really is less than ideal.
There is however one way to make things a little bit better, which is to include keyboard and mouse input in the corner of the video. Blender has this with the "screencast keys" add-on, and there are a few third party programs available for this purpose too. It's far from a perfect solution since it doesnt cover the issue of a video not being searchable, but at least all the information is displayed on-screen for the viewer to look into.