I have learned a lot about darktable from various tutorials created by kind people. In fact, I don’t think I would be able to make use of the scene-referred tools without these.
The majority of the tutorials I have seen are videos. I am wondering why people seem to prefer this format instead of a bunch of screenshots and explanatory text.
Personally I always prefer to read and look at still pictures as opposed to watching videos. I find text easier to navigate, go back and forth, and I can proceed at my own pace.
Do creators find it easier to make videos than screenshots? Or is it about hosting?
It’s easier to record a video with a showcase then write a user documentation (explaining the howto instead of the what given in a reference)
Those, who do that decide how they do it
Naturally, but it would be great to hear from them about their reasons.
It is perfectly fine if they find it easier, but if people happen to make videos just because they think that the audience would prefer that, then maybe alternatives would be an improvement on both sides (for some people).
Personally, I would find making screenshots w/ text much easier.
You open yourself up…someone is going to tell you that you are more than welcome to convert some of those videos to tutorials if you think they are a valuable resouce…
I would actually be happy to do that, provided that the RAW and XMP files are made available with a permissive license, and I get permission from the author.
That said, I am still curious about why people prefer to create videos in the first place. Not complaining about this, not asking anyone to do extra work for me, etc. Just being curious.
It would be great to hear from some people who create tutorials on a regular basis. @anon41087856, @s7habo, @Bruce_Williams, I wonder if you could share your thoughts.
I try to spend a minimal amount of time on videos,
Trying to make things short actually takes a lot of time,
Explaining complex processes with text and screenshots can take up to 6 hours where a simple unedited video takes 1.5 h because you can’t point at things on a screen.
I know that there are debates about types of learners and whether that is a thing but really I think there is merely just momentum for video. People go to youtube and consume instructions with demonstration via video so I think creators if they are going to spend time want to reach the widest audience…what would be the unified platform for such an audience for tutorials… Some people are probably hoping to monetize their efforts…again not likely to happen with tutorials of screenshots…
Secondly its not easy to decide what screenshot and text will convey to everyone what you have done but if they can see you do it then they can at least repeat it…
RTFM has been a long standing problem . DT has a better manual now than ever and I see people on FB and other places asking questions that could easily be answered but the simple fact is people en masse don’t consume content that way anymore.
There are really nice blog posts released with each version of DT…even the one going back to at least 2.6 is great with some nice explanations and examples but I think a massive number of DT users have a) no idea they exist or b) have never read them.
Don’t get me wrong I have printed out many an manual and while i don’t read them cover to cover I do try to use them as a resource so I hear what you are saying on some level.
Perhaps the best compromise would be identify sections of the manual that need a boost and see if some people would be willing to submit content or tutorials as appendices to improve things…
Thanks for your video’s. I know that you also assist others when they are tackling the more technical modules. I must admit the last one required a few views. I did not envy you trying to explain that module.
I think the videos provide one more thing… the proof that the described result is possible…from an explanation if someone is terribly lost they may feel that there are issues with the software or the tool because they cannot transfer the written content to a practical result but seeing that it is possible can provide that positive confirmation that yes this does work provided that you etc etc…
You need to reach at least 2k subscribers or something to unlock subscriptions and advertising. Aka work for free to be able to work for some symbolic wage. That’s called an opportunity in today’s world.
The most important arguments have already been mentioned:
This is very time-consuming - for example, for a video sequence of 2-3 minutes, where I use a couple of modules, I need almost an hour to take a screenshots, and to write accompanying text. Keep in mind that when you write the text, you have to pay much more attention to the wording, because you don’t talk freely, as in the video.
Besides, as far as screenshots are concerned, you can’t just point with the mouse what you are doing, you have to mark the corresponding action on the screenshot - with arrows or graphic highlighting. This takes additional processing time.
Once you have prepared the text and screenshots, you also need a platform where you can publish them and reach a wider audience. You also need to be familiar with the web language of the platform (HTML, XML, possibly CSS, etc.).
Videos can be created relatively quickly, edited and published on, for example, Youtube, where you can reach a wide audience from the front.
Nevertheless, I’m willing to invest time for something like that if it makes sense. I’ve been thinking for a long time about how to make a couple of short tutorials to accompany the official documentation.
As an English speaker I am spoiled by the fact that you now make English videos. This has been a revelation for me. Before I would watch your videos often slowing them down and taking screenshots…which is still a viable option . I would then reach out to clarify some of the things you were doing. I should note that you are incredibly generous with both your time and advice. But now with the voice over I can just watch as you work and it is a real pleasure to learn or reinforce things that you do…thanks for being one of the many DT ambassadors…
Yet people do use Youtube to host content like this voluntarily, so I guess it is hard to complain about this. Streaming videos need much more infrastructure than static content, and someone has to pay for it.
I wonder if we could streamline this somehow — eg given the history stack of an edited image, have a LUA script “replay” all non-automatic steps and make a screenshot for each module. The user would end up with a bunch of PNG-s, named like 15-tone-equalizer-instancename.png, exported into a directory, with a Markdown file that neatly embeds them. Then just add text, and compile/import to a static website.
In the play_raw section you can download the RAWS and xmp files. There you can see which are the modules involved in the edit.
If you import them, you can study by yourself what does each module activating/deactivating it.
And I’m completely agree that videos for photography edition examples is the best way. It’s effort-effective.
But I find them particularly inefficient for quickly looking up how something was done. Then again, that’s why it’s useful to take notes while watching videos (a bit like taking lectures notes in class )
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