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Digital Self-Improvement

Oct 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By S. D. Katz

Great training manuals are as rare as great software. Perhaps even rarer, since many of the best software products are cutting back on printed documentation. While including Help files built into the software is convenient, most developers don't go beyond explaining basic features and adding a few beginner tutorials. It's up to the users to find innovative training from third-party publishers.

Most Barnes & Noble bookstores have entire shelves devoted to software, such as Photoshop, LightWave, Final Cut Pro, and Flash, as well as general manuals on technique, for instance, painting texture maps or lighting for 3D computer graphics. Over the past two years VHS training tapes have given way to DVD, VCD, and online courseware for most of the major graphics software applications. There are still non-virtual courses, including a handful of dedicated visual effects schools featuring talent from Industrial Light & Magic and other top studios. All this variety is good, but the quality of training varies considerably. The following list includes some of the better products in each training category: DVDs, books, and online training.

DVD

Total Training

Carlsbad, Calif.-based DVD and CD-ROM producer Total Training (www.totaltraining.com) is at the top of the training pyramid. Since the first comprehensive After Effects VHS series appeared in 1997, Total Training has grown to include DVD and CD-ROM products for the entire line of Adobe software. Founder Brian Maffitt sets the highest standard with the most in-depth series for After Effects, Photoshop, and the rest of the Adobe line. What makes these products so good? The quality of the presenters and the choice to make the most definitive series of tapes for any software. After Effects 6.5 is covered on a DVD with over 40 hours of training. Photoshop CS with Deke McClelland includes 24 hours of training on seven DVDs. All Total Training products come with project files to accompany the lessons and are targeted to beginner and intermediate users.

No other training product is as ambitious or as successful in explaining complex software. This is, however, essentially high-level feature training and not project-based tutorials.

Desktop Images

Desktop Images, Burbank, Calif., (www.desktopimages.com) has titles that cover Photoshop retouching, textures for games and 3D, Avid editing, LightWave, animation, character animation, and modeling and motion graphics problem solving. The DVDs contain a lot of information, however, the production and presentation are not as slick as those of Total Training. Desktop Images has recruited some of the top graphic artists in their fields, for instance, Photoshop retouch expert Katrin Eismann. Eismann moves quickly through the core skills required for color correction and image repair in the series Digital Retouch and Restoration for Photshop 7. Photos used in the tutorials can be downloaded from Eismann's useful site (www.digitalretouch.org), allowing you to practice the demonstrated techniques and compare results with Eismann's finished examples on the DVD.

Texturing for Games is a two-DVD Photoshop series that includes Texturing Concepts and Texturing Details presented by Christian Bradley. They are a good general introduction to texture editing for 3D. You quickly forget that the presentation lacks energy as Bradley guides the viewer through basic game texturing and advanced image editing tricks for making seamless image tiles. The lessons are thorough and easy to follow. There are, however, no downloadable image files with which to follow along or use as a reference. But that's a small complaint considering that the information on both DVDs will greatly improve an artist's image editing chops.

VideoSyncrasies, the motion graphics DVD, is by Chris and Trish Meyer, authors of Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects and After Effects in Production. Videosyncrasies is aptly marketed as “The Motion Graphics Problem Solver,” and will save new and intermediate motion graphics artists a lot of suffering. The Meyers are working motion graphics designers in L.A. and are active in the training community. They've heard or experienced all the common technical flubs and “gotchas” common to broadcast graphics and visual effects. They decided to write a book on how to avoid all the output, video standards, and audio issues that software manuals don't tell you about. The DVD is actually better than the book because you are shown the actual problems in video. The book is worth having for its convenient index, as well.

Digital Media Training Series (DMTS)

DMTS, New York, (www.digitalmediatraining.com) is a subscription-based approach to training from Magnet Media. Zoom in (www.zoom-in.com) is a DVD magazine-format training program published quarterly. Different software applications are featured each issue along with industry “Spotlights” that include top production artists at major studios or facilities, such as Technicolor or Comedy Central. Typical training chapters include Scripting in DVD Studio Pro 2, Color Correction in Final Cut Pro 4, and Motion Tracking in After Effects.

Magnet Media (www.magnetmediafilms.com) also publishes single-title DVD training products for software, such as After Effects, Inside Motion, DVD Studio Pro 3, Final Cut Pro HD, and Premiere Pro. I looked at Inside DVD Studio Pro 2, a six-hour in-depth introduction to DVD authoring, and was impressed with the production value and the project-based approach, but the organization of the material failed to establish the basic workflow. This meant having to spend an hour with the Apple tutorial and manual to move more quickly through the lessons. I recommend this as a supplement to Apple's training materials.

Digital Film Tree

Color Correction for Final Cut Pro, an introduction to color correction, is the work of Digital Film Tree, Hollywood, Calif., (digitalfilmtree.com), a postproduction company that helped pioneer the use of Final Cut Pro and Apple computers in motion picture editing and episodic television. The DVD teaches basic color theory as it relates to video, the use of scopes in Final Cut Pro, and monitor calibration. A simple project and project files will get you quickly up and running. The DVD teaches fundamentals — not sophisticated color correction practice — leaving an opportunity for someone to create a masters class for up-and-coming colorists. There is also a book version self-published by Digital Film Tree that is essentially a rehash of the material on the DVD. The book is not professionally bound, so the $99.95 price tag seems steep.

DVCreator

This L.A.-based training company (dvcreators.net) is carving out a niche with skill-based training for DV filmmakers. Its latest offering, DV Enlightenment, a CD primer for basic subject lighting, provides a good balance between theory and technique. DVCreators offers Final Cut Pro PowerStart and LiveType PowerStart. DVCreators products are available as CDs; not DVDs. You copy the projects and tutorials to your hard drive. This method turns out to be every bit as good as a DVD, and the interface is very polished, with navigation and pause controls. DVCreators makes good use of graphics to highlight different parts of a software interface. This is the type of refinement that makes CD or DVD training materials more useful than print-based training.

The early introduction section of the training is basic information, but in later sections the training becomes hands-on. The video pauses while you perform the requested action. When you are finished, you push the Play From Here button for your next task. This method allows the user to step through a fairly complex editing project. DVCreators offers innovative training for a limited number of programs, but it's excellent training for beginners.

DvGarage

If you are interested in visual effects-specific training, check out DvGarage (www.dvgarage.com). A trip to its site reveals the eclectic selection of training products generally geared to intermediate users. DvGarage also tends to provide skill-based tutorials on subjects such as photogrammetry, surfacing for 3D, camera mapping, and multipass rendering. The techniques can be used in any software, but tend to feature popular applications, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya, or Electric Image.

The products I evaluated — Photoshop Basics volumes 1 and 2, Maya Lab volumes I and II — are CDs with Quicktime movies. Don't expect an elaborate interface or hand-holding. DvGarage is for motivated beginners and intermediate users who want no-frills information. Recently, DvGarage added DvGWeeklies: shorter CD training for Photoshop released over the course of several months — a semester's worth of classes. I have found great tricks and under-the-hood explanations of Photoshop's workings that I didn't find anywhere else. I recommend this passionate and eccentric training site. If you are looking to improve your visual effects skills, this is good place to look for hard-to-find information.

Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects by Chris and Trish Meyer is a wonderfully illustrated classic in CMP Books' (www.cmpbooks.com) Digital Video Expert Series. It offers an exhaustive feature-by-feature explanation of After Effects with lots of contextual information informed by a thorough insider's knowledge of the program. This book is one of the high watermarks in the training field.

Books

This year I have been more impressed with video training than with text-based training. There are a lot of mediocre books for every major software application, and they tend to be expensive. At $29.95 to $49.95, you can easily spend a few hundred dollars at Amazon before finding great training in print. This seems true across the board. Adobe, however, has encouraged third-party training more than most software companies. Consequently, After Effects and Photoshop are better served than most other software.

CMP Books

After Effects in Production by Chris and Trish Meyer, in conjunction with the Total Training series, represents months of learning compressed into two products. Together, they are better than just about any weekend or week-long workshop. More than that, they represent a resource that you can return to over the years when you need to brush up on a skill or explore some new aspect of the program.

Color Correction for Digital Video by Steve Hullfish and Jaime Fowler is a terrific book that begins with an introduction to color theory and practical explanations of vectorscopes, video parades and the other basic tools of color correction. A CD of test resources is attached to the inside cover.

The book tends towards the theoretical. Two more chapters on applied aesthetics would make this a perfect book. I would also like to see tutorial projects. The approach is software agnostic, which is good when you are reading theory (much of which is fascinating). But by the end of the book, you will want to know how to get the “crushed black” look that is all over FUSE and MTV. Explanations and examples of that and a dozen other “looks” would help readers establish their visual bearings.

Reviews of Producing Great Sound for Digital Video (Second Edition) and Audio Postproduction for Digital Video by Jay Rose were included in “Essential Reading for DV Filmmakers,” in Millimeter, February 2003. Rose has a gift for making technical subjects interesting. For instance, did you know that because sound travels more slowly than light that having the microphone more than 50ft. from the subject will have a delay of approximately one frame? Rose reinforces the point that indie filmmakers need to concentrate on audio as much as on the visuals. These books help you do just that in a highly entertaining way.

Digital Film Tree

Cinema Tools for Final Cut Pro Users Guide from Digital Film Tree (www.digitalfilmtree.com) is a manual detailing how to edit 24p footage in Final Cut Pro and match back to film using Apple's Cinema Tools. This is a self-published book; not surprising since the number of readers who need to match back to film is in the hundreds. The book was written by folks who have more film match backs under their belts than anyone. Digital Film Tree helped set up the Final Cut Pro system for Walter Murch, editor of Cold Creek Manor, and have written some of Apple's documentation for Final Cut Pro.

Michael Wiese Publishing

Directing Actors by Judith Weston from Michael Wiese Publishing (www.mwp.com) is by far the most practical guide available for filmmakers learning to work with actors. Weston is a full-time acting instructor in Los Angeles who presents workshops in the United States and abroad. Directing Actors is influenced by The Method, based on the work of Stanislavski and popularized in New York City in the 1950s at the Actors Studio under the guidance of Lee Strasberg.

Weston's approach is practical and focuses on providing directors with information that is immediately usable. The book dispenses with detailed explanation of The Method since the main concepts are familiar to most American actors. Weston covers script analysis, rehearsal, and the director/actor relationship. What makes this book really great are the no-nonsense examples of things that directors do wrong and how to correct them.

Peachpit Press

Photoshop Color Correction by Michael Kieran is the definitive treatment of Photoshop color correction. Kieran provides in-depth technical explanations with straightforward real-world examples illustrating the use of curves, histograms, and sharpening tools within the context of professional image manipulation. While Photoshop can be used intuitively with reasonably good results, you may be sacrificing the absolute quality of the image. Kieran shows you how to alter images while preserving the maximum tonal range and detail. The manual is well-written, with excellent illustrations. Do yourself a favor and buy this instead of the latest Photoshop secrets or tricks books. (www.peachpit.com)

Morgan Kaufmann Publishing

I have not read Complete Maya Programming by David Gould, but the book has been widely acclaimed. In fact, Gould is working on two new books on programming, a subject that has little competition. This manual on Maya is rapidly becoming a standard text and comes strongly recommended by Maya users. (www.mkp.com)

Online Courses

Online courses are the newest delivery method for training materials. The approach is similar to DVDs. In fact, some companies repackage their DVD materials for online versions. Typically, there is a subscription fee per subject or a larger unlimited fee allowing you to stream video lessons to your desktop, usually in DivX or QuickTime formats. With a broadband connection, the screen size of the movies is close to that of DVD with a little more noticeable compression. Many training companies make online training more affordable than DVDs since duplication and inventory are removed from the equation.

Lynda.com

Lynda Weinman has been using and teaching desktop digital software applications since the 1980s and is also responsible for the highly successful Flashforward conferences. Her training company is located in Los Angeles, and she publishes books, DVDs, and online training at lynda.com. Titles include 3ds Max, Acrobat, After Effects, Director, Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, Flash, Illustrator, InDesign, Painter, Microsoft Office, Microsoft XP, Photoshop, and QuarkXPress, as well as general training for digital video and print design.

Depending on the subject, there can anywhere from four hours of lessons (InDesign) to 15 hours (Macromedia Director MX). The movies have excellent audio and video. My experience with the After Effects and 3ds Max lessons confirms my general opinion that this is introductory and intermediate feature/interface training. As a supplement to tutorials supplied with the software, this is a good resource.

What's missing — and this is true throughout the publishing industry — is high-level technique training. There continues to be a hole in the training marketplace for techniques such as chromakeying, rotoscoping, match moving, lighting, and film technique. There exists an eager audience of intermediate and emerging professionals that want to move beyond mere competency in their chosen software applications. The problem is that this is a relatively small market, so the financial rewards are not there for the publishers. Lynda.com is an example of first-rate competency training — no small feat — but aimed at the broadest market. Hopefully, Weinman and other publishers will try their hand at high-end training and prove that this is a worthwhile area for further investment.

Gnomon Online

Having just complained about the lack of high-end instruction, I come to the exception to the rule. The Gnomon School of Visual Effects is an actual school in Hollywood, as well as an online training program (www.gnomon3d.com). The instructors are all top guns — Ray Harryhausen (Mighty Joe Young, Clash of the Titans) was a guest lecturer this April. The school offers individual classes and a certificate program, as well as online Maya training and DVDs. Software featured at the school includes Maya, Shake, and Photoshop. Classes are scheduled around 10-, five- and one-week sessions. Skill training is as important at Gnomon as understanding software. There are drawing classes, basic filmmaking courses, and production design courses. Skill-based courses pertinent to Maya, for instance, include modeling, texturing, and animation. I recommend this for intermediate students with the time, money, and dedication to make a career in mainstream studio production.

Recently, Gnomon pioneered production illustration and design courses on DVD. The several I have looked at are excellent. Each of the Gnomon Workshop DVDs consists of a single two-hour rendered illustration by a top production illustrator. To Gnomon's credit, the entire process is recorded with relaxed and informative narration by the artist. These are master classes with artists from the top visual effects houses.

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