The hardest thing was working out what information to add and what to leave out, and then how to explain without being too confusing or making the instructions more complicated than necessary. As both movies are "basic" I assumed everyone watching would not know anything or know very little about Illustrator and other graphics programme.
The order in which to present the information was the next thing to work out. Illustrator, like all graphics programmes, has several ways in which you can create the same thing. As a user one way becomes a preference once you start creating files and have worked with a specific programme a number of times. So the movies I have created are one way of using the tools in Illustrator but are not the only way.
My way of learning new things is just to start, I do not read instructions and I learn by doing with the end goal in mind. I do not consider the small details of how that will be reached along the way. So in my first attempt, the movie was not logical! I showed Greg, our team member, who politely said it was hard to follow or something similar, I cannot remember exactly, but basically I had to start again!
Next, I wrote a step by step script at the same time as I created a "motif" using the pen tool myself. All the time imagining someone following my instructions; I think it resulted in two logical movies.
It is hard to write information clearly and concisely when at first glance the process seems complicated. The pen tool is hard to master because it takes practice and a good measure of patience. To create a motif that is soft edged, as opposed to looking like it has been cut out with a pair of giant scissors, is not instantaneous. You have to get use to using the handles or bezier points to make a drawing life-like and then there is this thing of making one continuous line so you can fill it at the end and also learning to use the keyboard short cuts because sometimes you have to do two things at once and so it goes on.
Xiao, another team member and our resident blogger, was my first guinea pig. She had no previous experience of any graphic software but did understand pre-press and the output standards used in the industry, so a great candidate.
Xiao has now given me useful feedback on her experience which I am now adding to the movies; more detailed diagrams that explain the tools and what layers are and more detailed information on how to use the "handles" or bezier points in the pen tool. In my defense(!) it was hard to judge how far to go with the level of instruction I wrote and demonstrated. If someone does know what I am saying they can always press the forward button, so more information in this case is a good thing!
Hopefully the end result will be two instructional movies that students, and anyone who is interested, will find helpful and inspiring as Illustrator is a fantastic drawing programme that is truly mind boggling once you know your way around a few basics. The skills in these movies are also transferable between other graphics software which is an added bonus to the required patience and practice at the beginning!
Homer asked in one of the early Simpson episodes "Are you being helpful or just going on and on?" I hope I have not just gone on and on and this briefly explains what I have been up to in the last few months, in between dealing with my other job. And that what I have written and created in the movies is indeed useful or helpful enough to share with the world and is going to be useful to our company and our students in the future.
Another quote from Homer who said, when following the instruction; to start, press any key "where's the ANY key?" I hope you will know after watching the movies.
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| Courtesy of Google Images http://www.simpsonstrivia.com.ar/simpsons-photos/simpsons-trivia.gif |
Lynda Robinson
Content Developer
