McLaren Tut Feedback/Suggestions
 

Hi Phil :)

...the tut is going great, no showstopping hitches so far which is superb for a tutorial. Thats always a major thumbs up. I've learned lots of little things as well as the main spline/patching skills. Drag tool, merging splines, splitting splines, working on different layers...all hugely educational

I thought I it might be helpful to share my thoughts on what could be improved too. After all I am a total noob, and if anyone can give you an insight on what bits were hard to follow it will be me!

Firstly, it would be really handy to have a little intro to any new tools or techniques when you start using them. That would have been handy in a couple of places: Like where to find bandsaw pro. That threw me. Luckily a quick look in the forums helped there though. I thought that since bandsaw was the only bandsaw option in the main menus that it was all we got 'free' with LW. :/ The other place some early hints would have helped would have been regarding how to use CTRL-F to patch the splines - you leapt straight into patching without really mentioning how to do it. Luckily it was one thing I had already learned about, so I knew what was happening there. Some pointers about looking out for poly directions and fixing problems with the infamous message: "curves do not cross correctly" would have been infinitely helpful too. That stumped me by patch number 3 or 4 i think ;o) It was message boards to the rescue there too (yay for the SLW community!).

Finally, when you say what a shortcut is, sometimes its hard to hear 'cos of the audio compression. It might be nice to say "CTRL-T for tango" ...some of those have left me thinking was that CTRL-Z, B, T, or D? Just a thought. I've usually figured it out with a little trial and error with the "u" key, but it all helps.

...and I'm done. Back to splines for me (really enjoying this, I wish I had more time to do tuts!!)

I never have any problem understanding when Philip says a shortcut the audio is clear as a bell here.

Hmm, cheers Johnny. I guess its my hearing, and I only had that fixed a year ago *LOL* I hear some of the shortcuts but not all. Usually if I am already familiar with the shortcut I'll be able to hear it. If its new/one I'm not too sure of yet, thats usually when I'll not be able to make it out.

Incidentally, did anyone else have issues with any of the audio getting out of sync with the video? McLaren Tut3 it got a bit tricky, the audio was happening about 10 seconds before the video after about halfway through the vid. Sometimes the video was lagging a few operations behind the audio. I've tried it in Zoom Player, Windows Media Player and even Winamp. ...Or is that something you guys knew about and have addressed already? I've only noticed it in two of the McLaren tuts, the others seem I have followed seemed fine.

Of course I don't want anyone getting the wrong impression. Despite these problem reports the tuts are **GREAT** I know that sometimes its impossible to iron out some little hitches or that it would take more time to fix than its worth. I'm giving this feedback in the hope that its useful for future vids, not because I am a miserable moaning git ;)

hey Catflavor. Yep you're right; I tend to mumble a bit... working on it : )

and the sound synch problem was a problem with the capturing. It's been fixed since, and the newer tutorials should run fine.

oh and, can I have a slice of lemon with my cat, please?

One thing I find that helps when doing tutorials is useing a good pair of headphones. Everything sounds much closer and clearer when usieng a good pair of headphones.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,482306,00.asp

these look sweet indeed

OK...maybe posting a pic of my workstation is needless, but the speakers are new - a present to myself after a successful ear operation (and the Gin is unopened... mmm, bombay sapphire).

Phil might have have been created mono, but he's coming from every angle in my room! Does that freak you out at all Phil? *LOL*

http://www.uudot.co.uk/forumpics/shuttle_cube.jpg

*hands Phil a gin and tonic with a slice of lemon* (sorry we're all out of cat, business has been swift)

hmm Gin Tonic :D

is that absinth in the blue bottle? If so I would have an idea or 2 why you couldn't understand some shortcuts :p

No thats a lava lamp...honest

...oh, er, the other blue bottle?

Ummm...

Sweet box you got there Catflavor, is that the PC worlds answer to the Macintosh Cube? ;)

Yup Digi, its a 'Shuttle' (SN41g2)

See Shuttle Website for more info.

Its a small form factor PC with an nVidia Nforce2 motherboard in it. Very nifty little beastie. Had to mod the fans a little bit to get the noise down though. The stock fans it comes with sound like jet engines.

...Unless of course you meant the Apple G4 Cube, which is an Apple G4 Cube *L*

I have the same mouse :)

Back on the headphones track, I'm finding that the Microsoft Sidewinder Gamevoice is quite a handy tool.

I'v managed to get it set up for a number of Modeller tools (mainly those that either require two hands on the keyboard or an extreme feat of contortion with one to perform).

That way, I can keep one hand always on the mouse, one on the keyboard and still listen to Philip.

I have a whole slew of sidewinder presets and sometimes I model keyboard free!

Its really cool just saying Knife and the Knife tool pops on or say Bevel and Bam bevel tool pops up :D Or saying Points and it goes into points mode. You can even make macros with Sidewinder so one word would execute a string of keystrokes.