(IMG:
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/BrianSukkar/yowickayo.jpg)
This is not of course the only way to go about making a tutorial, they are just things
I like to do when making a tutorial, and I have found it is much easier for people to understand than other ways I used to make tutorials. I hope this thread may help/inspire some of you guys to make more tutorials for people =].
Presentation: (IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Lighting:This is key for presentation in tutorials, you NEED to have a lot of lighting shining directly on you from the the cameras point of view and no where else. It doesn't need to be a little dim like many people prefer videos to be because your simply trying to teach. If people cannot see what is going on, than they will get nothing out of it.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Color Contrasting:Are the viewers able to actually see the strings from where you are? If not than make your strings contrast the color of both your clothes and your background. An example is having a black background, black clothes, and white strings. The viewer can now perfectly see the strings and what is going on. This is very big for string manipulation tutorials.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Solid Background:Try to keep every day household items out of the picture so the viewers are not distracted by it. Example: A TV thats turned on, or a fan thats blowing. It is good to have a solid background in itself such as a blank white wall or maybe a sheet of some sort. (Don't forget to contrast colors with strings).
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Angular View:Always always try to include multiple angles for moves so people can really see how it is done. An example of how this could go wrong without including multiple angles: Say your making a tutorial for alternate arm wraps, but the person does not understand how you keep one stick swinging while the other one is wrapping? The answer to this is simple, the sticks may be in the same type of plane, but they are not actually in the
same plane. One plane is behind the other. The one swinging is in front of the one wrapping. There are many many more ways this can go wrong. Such as doing an orbital with only having the angle from the side... This way it can look like something very different, maybe like a small buzz saw or something. If possible, maybe even show the point of view of yourself, the stringer.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Sticks:It is of course much better to have lit sticks as apposed to dead sticks. This helps again to show what exactly is going on, or helping more showing where exactly the sticks are traveling. And just makes the video look cooler.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Video Effects:To help the viewers to see what is going on even better, it is strongly suggested that you either slow down the video at certain points, and/or zoom in the video if possible. A good move to slow down is the move orbital.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Zoom Zoom Zoom:When filming certain moves, make sure you are filming in a position that is not too far or too close. A move like a thumbsplit should be up very close to the camera when being filmed so people can tell what is really going on. However for moves like neck/knee tracing, it is much better to be standing far away from the camera so the whole presentation is caught on film rather than only the top or bottom half.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Usage of Pictures:Depending on the type of tutorial that you are making, it can be very good to include pictures, or stills to show what a move should look like. An example is orbital. You can take a still of the orbital with showing the strings being perpendicular to the sticks, which helps people understand the move much more. Another example is to show a close up picture of a link catch, where the link is.
Thought: (IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Prerequisites:It can be very helpful to newbies to post what moves should be known before attempting to do the move. Normally it will be moves within the same concept that well be needed to know to do a more complex concept. Such as learning basic catching before doing linked catching. This way newbies will know which tutorials they should look for first. Of course the actual path they take is up to them though.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Inclusion, Exclusion:You should normally try to include no other moves besides the move itself. Such as if you make a wrapping tutorial, try not to include catching, tracing, ect. It can be good however to include moves that are commonly used to enter or exit a move, even though most commonly there are really high numbers of entrances and exits that can be applied. Say which way the strings should be swinging for the move. Example: "Both sticks should be swinging weave/spiral style reverse at split time from your point of view while you are stringing." This example could be used for the move reverse spiral, among many other moves.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Commentary:It is very good to have
some type of commentary for your videos to explain
thoroughly how to do the move along the way. Including common mistakes, how to fix those common mistakes, along with many other things. Commentary can be either voiced, or written with text overlapping the footage, or you can include both. If you have music playing over the video, it is strongly suggested that you use text.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/arrow.gif)
Variations:Unless you're making a specific move tutorial, it is very good to show many variations of moves for concept tutorials. Such as making a basic catching tutorial. You might want to show the move forward and reverse both in weave/spiral style and butterfly style. This way people can expand their abilities rather than just a single variation of the move.
Comprehensive Glowstringing Tutorial Making Guide, By melvenorc12
Sep 18 2007, 02:23 PM
