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Out-of-context videos and the confusion they create


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I'll be the first to admit, I am NOT an accomplished photo artist.  In fact, I would put myself at a "3" or "4" on a 1 - to - 10 ability scale.  Therefore, I am always looking for more and more lessons to increase my skills and enhance my talents.  In doing so, I hope to gain the most from the Affinity tutorials, given I'm a registered user of all three apps.  And therein lies the frustration.

In short, when I attempt to watch the Affinity tutorials, the presenter starts by introducing the subject, and then proceeds to open an image, and in doing so, nearly always opens up a series of layers he has already created.  Unfortunately, he has also renamed them, so those of us who are learning, have no (grrrrrr) clue of how or why he created them.  Therefore, HOW ARE WE EXPECTED TO KNOW WHAT, OR HOW HE IS PROCEEDING?  It's obvious he is 'assuming' we all can successfully guess what the hell he has done, why, and with which tools.  (Beyond frustrating; more importantly, it is a terrible representation of Affinity.)

Specifically, these tutorials are high on the 'frustration menu':

Blend Modes (https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/tutorials/photo/desktop/video/310319088/).  He calls them 'render passes'.  No definition of 'render passes', (I can interpret such a term in a number of ways given it's out of context.  I spent the better part of any hour searching for 'render passes' without luck.)

Layers (https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/tutorials/photo/desktop/video/311178905/).  Even in this video covering basic layering, he begins with a highly populated list of layers.  HE KNOWS WHAT THOSE LAYERS ARE, WE DO NOT!  How can we get a strong, integrated understanding (i.e. without obvious questions popping up such as, "What are those layers, why did he chose them, and how did he create them?")  It would only take a few minutes to explain them and build the lesson from the beginning instead of beginning the tutorial at some arbitrary point along a learning curve.  At the least, reference those tutorials which provide the lessons for creating the components he is utilizing.

The list of other similar examples is long.  The solution is to include the steps he has left out prior to his video starting point.  PLEASE, make videos for the audience, not the perspective of the presenter.  If you are going to start with pre-created elements in support of a subject, take the time to explain them.  You know what they are, but if you expect us to get value from the tutorial, you have to explain yourself so we are on the same page as you.

Thank You.

 

 

Edited by RickyO
Grammatical and typo errors

RickyO
APhADe and APu user
New User as of Mar, 2018
(Still stumbling along given too many directions at any given moment)
Windows10 platform

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  • Staff

Hi RickyO :)

Thanks for your honest feedback, it is more than appreciated.

I'm not a part of our documentation & tutorial team, but I'll make sure this is passed on to the relevant staff members!

Please Note: I am now out of the office until Tuesday 2nd April on annual leave.

If you require urgent assistance, please create a new thread and a member of our team will be sure to assist asap.

Many thanks :)

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@RickyO,

You might want to try Drippy Cat's tutorials. He gets pretty detailed, they're not expensive. I've purchased a few of them one being the Beginner to Pro tutorial. He just updated some of them for the recent 1.7 version. In the post he provides a discount coupon code. 

 

Affinity Photo 2.4..; Affinity Designer 2.4..; Affinity Publisher 2.4..; Affinity2 Beta versions. Affinity Photo,Designer 1.10.6.1605 Win10 Home Version:21H2, Build: 19044.1766: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz, 3301 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s);32GB Ram, Nvidia GTX 3070, 3-Internal HDD (1 Crucial MX5000 1TB, 1-Crucial MX5000 500GB, 1-WD 1 TB), 4 External HDD

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53 minutes ago, Dan C said:

Hi RickyO :)

Thanks for your honest feedback, it is more than appreciated.

I'm not a part of our documentation & tutorial team, but I'll make sure this is passed on to the relevant staff members!

Thanks.  Very appreciated!

RickyO
APhADe and APu user
New User as of Mar, 2018
(Still stumbling along given too many directions at any given moment)
Windows10 platform

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5 minutes ago, Ron P. said:

@RickyO,

You might want to try Drippy Cat's tutorials. He gets pretty detailed, they're not expensive. I've purchased a few of them one being the Beginner to Pro tutorial. He just updated some of them for the recent 1.7 version.

 

Thank you; will look into it.

RickyO
APhADe and APu user
New User as of Mar, 2018
(Still stumbling along given too many directions at any given moment)
Windows10 platform

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