Anything really … although I have owned hype for a couple of years, I haven’t delved into it all that deeply yet. Any topic would be great.
A concept for tutorials I am really enjoying are provided by Ripple Training. They do a weekly (well, almost weekly) set of tutorials on Final Cut Pro X and Motion 5, where they take a single topic and present the nuts and bolts in a 5 minute (or less) demo. Although it covers that specific point in detail. They also cover the why, not just the how. I’ve learned a lot over the series. In fact, when they take a week off … I’m a bit disappointed
This method offers end users the insight and info needed to advance their skills … and doesn’t tie up either the viewer or presenter on creating/viewing a longer extended video tutorial.
I was thinking about creating an interactive book about Hype on the iBooks Store, something similar to The Interactive Stencyl Textbook. (The interactive elements were made with Hype.) Are people interested in this?
The first link you shared is a bit off target ... the resulting youtube page says there is no content ... you have to navigate to the playlist in order to see the videos.
While I appreciate the link ... I'm looking for something a bit more in-depth where the presenter offers an instructional video on an actual project and not only explains what a specific slider can achieve ... but why using that slider is a best use scenario ...
I understand the basics of the tools ... I'm looking for more refined details.
I spent 13 years as a software reviewer and have spent more than a few hours with manuals and tutorials (a couple thousand). The number one most common problem with software documentation is that it is written by technical writers on behalf software authors (people who worked their tails off to create inventive and powerful functions) rather than by "normal" people and it tends to focus so heavily on "how" but often leaves out the "why".
For example, "Scorp the waydorp by tonsing the swink" sounds great, but what is a waydorp, how do I scorp it, and why does its swink need tonsing? (I used to tonse my swink but my mother made me stop.)
I'm confused. Does that mean someone else would like to see a Hype book?
I've been working on a Hype project that has been a source of great frustration for me. Yet, it's been a pretty good learning experience and I think it would translate into great examples for teaching how to use Hype.
If I'm remembering it correctly, I think someone one commented that my GameSalad book didn't focus enough on the "why". So, I'm not sure if that's three people in favor of the book.
My big concern about making a Hype book is that the software is too exclusive. It's Mac only. I'm not sure if this is a large enough community. To solve that problem, I thought about doing a Kickstarter. Yet, to properly run a campaign, a lot of work is required. It might just be easier to start working on the book straight away.
Yet, if Hype is going to add more game development features... as suggested in the Is there a Physics API? thread ...then that could change the theme / focus of the book.
So, I've been waiting to see what happens – while trying improving my skills with the software.
Look … I’m not sure where the conversation is leading … I was interested in more in-depth tutorials (not necessarily a book) that would help me utilize Hype Pro more effectively in my daily workflow to serve my client’s interests in a more efficient manner.
If the developers don’t see the advantage to consider such an offering … there’s not much more I can do to encourage them.
I started this thread on April 1, 2015. It is now May 22, 2015. The tutorial page for Hype Pro shows one tutorial for “getting Started with Hype 3.0” … Not Hype Pro … followed by 9 Hype 2.5 tutorials with 1 hype 2.0 tutorial then two more for v1.5.
How are those offerings (which I utilized ages ago) supposed to help me with Hype Pro! I understand the basics … I wish to push the envelope!
I love that Hype is based upon a WYSIWYG fashion … but I would think it would behoove the developers to understand that not all of we users that shelled out the cold hard cash to acquire Hype Pro are life-long, dyed in the wool, HTML 5 aficionados …
Some attention to detail to offer insight on the finer points of what is possible with the app could go a long way in advancing the user base for such an app. Pure and simple, really. Otherwise, maybe we would be better off saving the money on apps and simply hard code our HTML 5 projects from scratch.
Thanks for all the prior references to the existing options … but when considering that Hype Pro is a totally new offering … a lynda.com tutorial for a version or more back that I devoured in it’s prime, is really of little use now. I like history … but when it comes to software I depend upon for my livelihood … I tend to prefer to look to the future and not the past.
I’d like to see newly released insights on how to best take advantage of my new asset beyond the basics … trial and error is not always the most efficient pathway forward.
I agree. It is somewhat disappointing to purchase an upgrade for what appears to be a significant advance, but we are expected to trial and error and ask support questions. I wonder how many just give up on the software.
First, Hype is a great app and the price is absolutely spectacular. (Compare it with Motion Composer. It’s light years better.)
For years I’ve wondered why they don’t charge at least 40% more. I assume that keeping it under $50 is strategic.
Second, I have always preferred printed documentation but it is too expensive to produce in paper form, so forget a printed manual.
Third, tutorials are great for finding your way around. A great example of this is with Softpress Freeway. If the human resources could be devoted to producing a tutorial series that covers 90% of the subject matter, this could reduce the time spent on tech support.
I've come to understand that there are an unlimited number of problems which can be encountered if you work on tools for producing content on the web. Currently, we (try to) support every browser, device, and screen density created after IE6. It's fun! What would be really helpful to hear is a specific area of the program that we can create tutorials for that will help you make the most of Hype. What is confusing? What specific Hype features would you like to see a project built around?
I agree that we need to create more tutorial videos. Videos are a very time intensive process which slows down my response time to critical issues I receive over email and these forums so we plan them carefully -- they need to teach universally useful concepts. The key concepts covered in the 'Animations' video for example covers the basic concepts of Hype's animation engine. Some features like Motion Paths (link to docs) are easy to explain in words & a cute GIF.
Lately I've found that working on guides and tutorials covering topics outside of Hype's featureset have a greater impact on the success of Hype animators. I see more frustration with understanding technical concepts outside of Hype than frustration with Hype's features. When we hear that our documentation is unclear or missing a key concept we quickly fix it. Some recent posts like smooth scrolling, triggering animations based on scroll position, Google Analytics tracking and placing documents in ad networks come to mind.
But that doesn't mean I'm not working on tutorials -- one document almost ready to share is a comprehensive tutorial (built in Hype) of the Physics engine. The next tutorial I have lined up is a guide for working with Flexible Layouts & Responsive Layouts for responsive documents. These documents should evolve over time and be immersive, so I'm building them as interactive document you can pick apart within Hype, isolating individual features within scenes. Building them as a video would make them harder to update and revise.
I'd love to hear some ideas for tutorials you'd like to see.
It’s simple really … how about you take just one of the projects displayed on the Gallery Page (I’d prefer to see you use one from the Ads & Web Banners … though, I am but one user) and show how a user can take a concept and walk through a generalized step-by-step and create a real finished product with the app … emphasizing on the “why” and “best practices” not just the how-to aspect. Like, when is it better to use multiple scenes instead of one long timeline. Are .png images more advantageous to the overall finished quality than .jpg images … beyond the basics.
Individual features don’t mean much if it takes someone hours, days, weeks or more to reverse engineer the hype documents made available for such projects to see how it’s done. My time is limited to. Trial and error is not cost productive to my bottom line.
If you personally don’t have the time … how about contracting one of your very skilled and talented users who have mastered the app already to create them for you? You shouldn’t feel you must complete all these tasks on your own.
Like I said before … if we were all skilled and talented coders … we wouldn’t need a GUI like hype … we’d just need TextWrangler and we’d be on our way.
