Reply To: This lesson is going way too fast…

[Kent Trammell]

I wouldn’t say your criticism is harsh @ohem nor do I think you’re escalating at all. You’ve been respectful and valid with your crits. I’ve heard criticism like this enough that for whatever reason I decided to dialogue more in this thread than any other. Mainly because I want to understand better the disconnect between me, beginners, and this course/lesson.

You’re hitting on some interesting points about methodology. I grew disenchanted with the term “tutorial” soon after beginning to teach full time with CGC because computer graphics isn’t a step 1-2-3 kind of thing. While that method can be used to teach anyone how to get a result, it’s much less helpful for teaching the concepts that people need to understand to do something in Blender without a tutorial. We’re devoted to the latter which is why we actively avoid the step 1-2-3 method.

That line from Breaking Bad is perfect for people we’re less interested in teaching because that type of person isn’t interested in learning. For example, when I need to replace the headlight bulb in my car, I go to youtube for a “tutorial” in the strictest sense of the word. I want a step 1-2-3 video to tell me exactly how to swap out my bulb. But I actually have zero interest in understanding the process more than this isolated instance. Once I finish swapping the bulb that info is deleted from my brain and I’ll never consider it again until that bulb blows months/years later.

All that to say, while I understand that our use of the word “tutorial” has evolved into a shot in our own foot, it’s truly not the kind of teaching we aspire to. In this lesson I use demonstration to illustrate the concept. That’s different to me from 1-2-3 methodology because it’s illustrative more than it’s strictly instructional.

If you’re expectation is more 1-2-3 methodology, my question would be “What are you trying to do with Blender? Have fun with a new hobby? Do a cool thing that you saw someone else do? Or learn the trade at a professional level?”