How to make a Poly-Sphere in 3DS Max video tutorial

obliviboy

What do you guys think about the quality of this tutorial I made?

I've used a voice synthesizer because English is not my native language. I think the voice sounds pretty realistic.

Anyway is you have suggestions on what I can improve please comment.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osoSOrzipoQ[/ame]

Snowfly

I'm not bothered by it. It's obviously synthetic, some words are mispronounced (Spher instead of Sphere, for example), and there's a little bit of glitching between syllables...but it's easy to follow along at least. One thing I am missing is the speaker going go off on a sidebar to explain some concepts a little more in-depth, since I figure you'll be scripting these beforehand and following along.

If you're putting these together as video tutorials for your scripts, I think they'll do just fine.

obliviboy

Snowfly I can pause the video wherever I want to add explanation to concepts if needed.

I first make the videos then I make the script for the voice, I can to it the other way around but I prefer it this way.

I'm planning on making commercial video tutorials. There will be no fluff talk like in other video tutorials. I can chose the most relevant information to present to the viewer.

On which topics would you interested to see video tutorials?

ZacD

I don't think I'd ever pay for a video tutorial that was narrated by a synthetic, its fine for short clips or demos that last a minute or 2 tops, but that voice would really get on my nerves after 5 or more.

Racer445

obliviboy wrote: »

I'm planning on making commercial video tutorials. There will be no fluff talk like in other video tutorials. I can chose the most relevant information to present to the viewer.

i dunno, but i usually find this kind of pure technique/reference tutorial better off in text form. you can refer back to it as much as you want without having to start and stop the video, and it takes less effort to make.

just my opinion though, and it really depends on what subject the tutorial is about.

Sandro

i usually find this kind of pure technique/reference tutorial better off in text form.

+1
Even if you are not refering but researching new technique, it's lot easier to selectively scan images & text quickly then watching video.

Also, when you're in the middle of doing something or under deadline you tend to search for very specific stuff, and often videos contain only 1-2 minutes of info you actually seek. Rest 10 minutes is usually preparing stuff, explaining menus etcetera (which has to be there as other cases might require more detailed information) Text is lot more flexible in this case.

Videos are great for following other artist's workflows/process though.

Andreas

It didn't bother me. Much better than listen to someones poor English.

greevar

Sandro wrote: »

+1
Even if you are not refering but researching new technique, it's lot easier to selectively scan images & text quickly then watching video.

Also, when you're in the middle of doing something or under deadline you tend to search for very specific stuff, and often videos contain only 1-2 minutes of info you actually seek. Rest 10 minutes is usually preparing stuff, explaining menus etcetera (which has to be there as other cases might require more detailed information) Text is lot more flexible in this case.

Videos are great for following other artist's workflows/process though.

You seem unaware of the fact that people have differing learning styles that work best for them. I have a hard time learning from pure text, but a video demonstrating it for me gets the knowledge across much faster. Text and images help, but seeing it happen in front of me makes all the difference. Everybody has different needs when it comes to learning. I think that's why we Americans aren't doing the best at getting our kids to learn well.

Moosey_G

If English isn't your native language, you couldn't understand the cadence with which English is spoken, which is why it sounds realistic to you.

Also, what are we critiquing here? You added a turbo smooth to a box. People don't really care about annoying voices or 480p quality in a tut as long as the person has a strong understanding of a the topic.

greevar wrote: »

You seem unaware of the fact that people have differing learning styles that work best for them. I have a hard time learning from pure text, but a video demonstrating it for me gets the knowledge across much faster. Text and images help, but seeing it happen in front of me makes all the difference. Everybody has different needs when it comes to learning. I think that's why we Americans aren't doing the best at getting our kids to learn well.

What? What can you learn from videos that you can't learn from a good text tutorial? I'm not talking about sculpting or drawing. Yes, some people have different learning styles, but text offers a clear concise, no dilly dally way of doing something, while videos often have the guy fucking around with his mouse and pronouncing every word in a drop down menu incorrectly. Also, people not being able to read has nothing to do with Americans learning, and also has nothing to do with this topic.

greevar

That sure is a protracted way to make a polysphere. I'm not saying the tutorial is bad, actually it's that 3DS Max doesn't provide such a commonly used primitive. I can make a polysphere in just 3 steps in Blender: Add cube (shift-A), subdivide cube(Tab>w>subdivide), scale to sphere (alt-shift-S). Metalliandy even made a script (he's awesome!) that adds a polysphere primitive into the list shapes. AutoDesk should remedy that.

throttlekitty

Moosey_G wrote: »

If English isn't your native language, you
What? What can you learn from videos that you can't learn from a good text tutorial? I'm not talking about sculpting or drawing. Yes, some people have different learning styles, but text offers a clear concise, no dilly dally way of doing something, while videos often have the guy fucking around with his mouse and pronouncing every word in a drop down menu incorrectly. Also, people not being able to read has nothing to do with Americans learning, and also has nothing to do with this topic.

No, he's talking about learning styles. It's not to say that a person can't learn from text, but only a video, but would pick it up much easier seeing it done in one. For others, having a good audio narrative to the video is the key. Personally, auditory learning is my weakest, and I typically dislike scrubbing videos for useful information when I can't find suitable tutorials/manuals. (Looking at you, Blender community.)

That said, obliviboy, I think the pacing in the speech is too quick in the first half; where you're actually doing the work. The voice is understandable, but not completely natural- I think I was still processing what was just said when the next sentence came up. But I like how it's clear and to the point.

Andreas

greevar wrote: »

I can make a polysphere in just 3 steps in Blender

Eh what? Its the EXACT same process in Max as in Blender.

Mark Dygert

Here's a text based tutorial: Box > Turbosmooth > Sphereify.

It helps to unwrap the box before applying TS and Sphereify, more about that here: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1312335&postcount=16
Also: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=810733

Also you can also skip the turbosmooth step and just give your box a few more segments then sphereify it. This can be a good option if you don't want a perfect sphere.

Also know that meshsmooth has a few more options that might suit your needs so don't forget about it.

In case you didn't catch it in the second link you can skip most of the steps and use the quad-sphere primitive plug-in and make it in one step...
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2336353/QuadSphere.ms

You can also use the primitive shape maker script, to make a few quad spheres unwrapped a few different ways at a few different densities to suit your various needs. www.scriptspot.com

I agree about the text vs video tutorials. I almost always prefer text, especially when you need to follow a series of steps or follow specific settings, or people don't show you what keys they're pressing or worse forget to say or mention it. It's easier to scan and search text than it is to scrub video listening to minutes of prattle for that .04 seconds where they mention the key or the setting.

Video tuts, are great for "watch me sculpt", "animation" and loose theory stuff. But honestly the time it takes to format your tutorial and cook up visual examples really helps you formulate a good, well thought out tutorial.