SI training: What would you like to see, costs, delivery?

[Rork]

Hi All,

A recurring subject on all Softimage forums is 'training material'.

With Softimage we got lucky a while ago when Redi-Vivus 'set up shop' and delivered a ton of training for free.
But there still is a need for extra training material, some people are looking for more in-depth or specialized training on a certain part of the application. Some people are just struggling with basic concepts or are newcomers that are overwhelmed with all the options.

So I was thinking about creating training 'on demand'. That would mean running a poll and from the results create a hands-on, production related video to explain concepts, workflows etc. Video's would be around an hour in length. Long enough to explain stuff in detail, short enough to avoid people to fall asleep....
Also, interaction with other programs could be added. E.g. getting tracking results into SI, getting your passes into AE, Nuke, Fusion. Shooting HDRI's for lighting and setting it up in SI.

So I wanted to see how people would answer the following questions:

1. What parts of Softimage, workflow in Softimage or disciplines would you like to see covered? Keep it general for now. E.g. passes/overrides, linear workflow, archviz.
2. Would you be willing to pay for this training, and participate in pre-sales?
3. What would you think is a fair price for training like this?
4. How would you like to access the videos? e.g. website login/streaming, download link, torrent?

I don't think this will ever make tons of money, but if it pays for the hours and work put in there, and even makes a little profit, this can become a 'series'.
I'm not looking into setting up the next Gnomon btw....
Also, people who are interested to participate with a certain area of expertise, please PM me.

And if things do start rolling, we need some people to run though the material to see if things are explained as simple as possible. But that's still far ahead.
First things first, answering the questions. oh... Please state your answers in the numbered order to keep it more readable. ;)

rob

[Gabba]

Hi Rork!
I don't have so much time but I will be glad to partecipate.
And for the questions you are asking. For my personal need I would like to see training on passes (and then ported to the next step, composite in a specific software). Some ICE tuts would be great (I can even do something simple in this field). Something about xsi to zbrush would be also great!
Cheers and thanks!

[Hirazi Blue]

0) I don't think a true on-demand business will survive in the long run. Listening to your potential customers is one thing, letting them dictate your future is another. You must find a nice mix between giving the people what the people want and giving them what they really need (as far as you are concerned). Besides that, doing tutorials "on demand" on topics you do not know enough about or do not feel any enthusiasm for, will only hurt you in the long run. And you don't want to do one ICE tutorial after another I would imagine, while the cries for them are still the most heard.
1) Simply put, "any feature" that was introduced after version 7 could use some extra attention in the form of new tutorials, as the R-V stuff doesn't cover anything past version 7 (last time I checked): stuff like Face Robot, ICE Kine & maybe a bit of Lagoa. But ICE Kine would get my primary vote...
2) Yes, although it obviously depends on the quality of the product
3) A fair price? Really haven't got a clue, but the more quality, the more money, obviously.
4) Downloadable content. Streaming solutions don't really work for me, as my workstation isn't connected to the internet & my internet computer isn't fit enough for Softimage. But that's just me...
;)

[steven07]

I think this is a great idea. I think you would be very well off making a tutorial on anything.. that is.. anything that's in a series and not just a single video on a single feature.. although those are helpful I think people want tutorials that are more in-depth and project-based. I think people are willing to pay $20-$60 for good training... of course that totally depends on the training..

Although I think an interesting idea would be to have a large database of training for free and just accept donations.. I think it would attract a large number of people (since there isn't that much training available for XSI) and you'd get some interesting surprises ;)

[kshep92]

1. Effects - I know there are probably vids already out there, but a series like what Gnomon has with fludis and effects in Maya would be great. That and possibly application data exchange SI -> Endorphin, Maya, Max and back.
2. Yes.
3. Per lesson, about $10-$15, per series $60-$100
4. Download link or torrent. More the latter, provided that you have a dedicated seed and users who like to share.

[Hirazi Blue]

Okay, as you asked for a little more concrete examples: while it's true FaceRobot is somewhat of a niche product, one got the impression the addition of the automatic lip-sync increased its value ever so slightly for people not able to work with facial mocap files. An exploration the possibilities and pitfalls of FaceRobot outside of its intended mocap environment could make an interesting case study/tutorial, I would think...
;)

[rray]

I've only made one tutorial so far and it's been far more work than I'd have thought - Then again it sold reasonably well, so all it all I'd say it was worth the effort.
A friend mentioned just yesterday that probably the availablity of the Foundation version back then had a big impact on # of sales.
I agree with that and I think right now I'd be more inclined to make another tutorial if something like a Foundation version was still around.

I'd pay around 50$/hr for good quality training videos, best option for delivery was probably to offer both streaming and download versions. With "good quality" I mean mostly "bottom-up" teaching (not using methods or terms that were not explained before) and not too much room between the juicy bits .. tricky to balance this out

My potential-buy subject would be Rigging/Animation. I think a good overview tutorial would be useful also, showing users where's the limits of ICE, where C++ has its uses, where ICE exactly operates on, where it takes its data from, where stuff lives in the scene etc.

[curly]

I once bought a book titled Deconstructing the elements. ( I know that's a 3DS MAX book)

This one:

http://www.xenomorphic.co.uk/gallery_dte.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Deconstructing-El ... 024052019X

A very good book. (Until I discovered that in XSI everything is node based and that XSI for decades has a node based surface editor-> They are just starting with that in 3DS MAX.)
Since there's no such thing that combines how to create the elements-> How to create an ocean, water, fire, clouds, a forest with Level of details, mountains, grasslands, waterfalls, firework etc..
There are seperate tutorials on this subject available for XSI but not one who combines all these things. As an animation artist you need these skills to create environments. These are the basic things everyone needs. I would buy your training DVD if it would be honestly priced.

Newcomer alert - Moderator edit: please use the URL tags - HB

[Nizar]

Interesting
I think a blog similar to Blender Guru will be nice. blender Guru has month theme (a month water, another fire ect.) and produce free tutorials for recreate this element in blender, after this, he (Andrew Price) sell a ebook, complete with video and file tutorials (not a collection of tutorial in his blog, but a more deep study and tutorials)

I'm a newbie, so anything is well accepted, but animation tutorials will be rally nice (modelling, rendering and Ice look more complete then other aspect). Walk cycle in XSI i.e., or something like Jeff Lew character animation for maya (rally interesting for all)