affinity designer Forest Camping Site - Isometric Design

[Phillipp]

Hey,

 

I tried to create some nature scenery this time. It's not entirely my idea/design because I used something I found online as inspiration but it was a good practice. Turned out those trees are not as easy as they seem. 

I am glad for any feedback!

 

 

[William Overington]

Thank you for posting.

I have watched the first two minutes of it so far.

I know it says Speedart. However. I liked the initial picture showing what you have produced, but the other was just far too fast, in my opinion, for me to learn from it.

Also, in common with many other videos from other people, the writing is far too small.I realize that it would make the video longer but for me I would rather have a, say, one hour video, of a live recording of you doing it, at a slow pace such that someone who is new to using the software can follow what you are doing. Too many videos from many people show a click on the menu bar, a drop down menu and something chosen and moved on before I get a chance to take in what is being done. For me, if instead of a musical background you were providing a running commentary, speaking, slowly, as to what you are going to do just before you do it then that would be good.

For example, "I am now going to choose NAME1 from the menu bar." then do it, pause for the viewer to take it in, then "Now, I need to select NAME2 from the drop down menu", then do it, and so on.

Maybe it needs a series of videos, such as, say four videos, namely overview, drawing the tent, drawing the trees, putting it all together.

Quite what can be done about the tiny lettering is a difficult problem. If you have video editing software, could you overlay an enlarged version of the current drop down menu in the lower left corner of the final video.

As it happens, I use Affinity Publisher and I find the white on black menu and so, for me, awful frankly. So I always use the option of the light background with the black lettering. I accept that is a matter of choice which choice any user makes, it is good that Serif allows us that choice.

As it happens I learned some very basic isometric drawing using a program called AutoCAD, and so the complexity of the result that you produced impressed me.

William

[Phillipp]

Hey @William Overington,

thanks for the great feedback. Let me reply to a few things. 

First you said you prefer a live recording that is much longer. I understand your point, but I also know that many people prefer speedart videos because they are just interested in the rough path to completion rather than looking at every individual step. To have a good middle ground, this video (and all that follow) is in 60fps. This means you can change the playback speed in the Youtube player to 0.25 and still have a smooth video. Most of the video is sped up by x5 and just 2 sections are x10 (the other two tree trunk benches and the placement of the trees). This means you can watch it almost in real speed. I hope this could be useful for you even if there is no voiceover explanation of what I am doing (there is nothing very special tho).

Another wish of you was a commentary, which I received quite often already. For me, as a non-native english speaker, it's not that easy. My written English is rather good but I lack some speaking skills. I would have to write me a script, otherwise I would just talk some BS. And even with a script, my pronunciation is also lacking. I am sure that videos with me speaking will come some time in the future, I just need to get better at speaking first. 

Then you suggested creating more tutorial like videos that would even span multiple parts for a single illustration. I thought about that too already and I guess it is related to the commentary problem. I could do versions with captions instead of commentary but I am not sure if that is much better than just showing the design process.

Your lasts points were about the small UI size and the dark/light theme. As you already said about the theme, it's up to each one to decide which theme they prefer. I can work best with a dark theme. Even though I just have a 13 inch retina screen (MBP, 2015), I prefer to have a smaller UI that fits more elements. Due to the resolution of the screen, the video is available as 4k (or as close as 3360 × 2100 comes to 4k), so you can always increase the playback resolution to your needs (given your monitor is large enough). Your suggested overlay with a larger version won't really work in a speedart video but is definitely something that can be done in a more tutorial like video. 

All in all, thanks for your very detailed feedback. I hope the adjustable playback speed in the Youtube player gives you a more fitting watching experience and the other points you mentioned are definitely things I will consider in the future (based on my abilities).