Why Don"t YOu Make Video Tutorials Created Jul 8, 2010

With our limited resources we don't have time for everything. We have put a lot of effort into the current documentation we have and also think that it is fairly good. But I also understand that there are people who find tutorial style documentation to be more accessible.

We would be happy to have links in our site to flowplayer related tutorials. This is a good way to get traffic to your site/blog. flowplayer.org is a *high* traffic website and we would be happy to link to any flowplayer related tutorials. Anyone interested, give a shout here!

While text documentation is essential for learning a program such as this one, a video can be used to give an overall picture of what it is all about and may be a good introduction to why the Flowplayer would be a good choice for someone wanting a massively customizable web integrated player. As someone stated above, it would be a great means of promotion.

Yes, I stated that video is a good means of promotion. As (in many cases) opposed to a good means of learning. imho you are making a point against video tutorials: You are confusing selling with learning, an attitude caused by watching too many video (so called) "tutorials" ;-)

This is surely not an either / or question? Some of us need to see things visually first to get an overview of how something works to build up a mental map and then to use the documentation.

Personally I find it very difficult to follow written instructions alone without some form of visual/practical demonstration.

This is nothing to do with being a newbie or not - simply that people's minds function differently.

Other sites and services I use do this and, as Anssi says above, have links to "how to" tutorial videos hosted on other user's sites.

Who said that it is an either/or question?

I just pointed out some difficulties for creating a good video tutorial. Which might be one of the reasons they do not exist (yet).

To give a practical example:

One of the recurring questions in these forums is: "Why doesn't it work in IE?" And the answer is most often: "You have spurious commas in your configuration, e.g. before a closing brace." Difficult to point out such pitfalls in a video, because text or html editors look different etc. and in the end you have to be able to read, you have to master some kind of abstraction level - sometimes simply called "understanding" - to access flowplayer's manyfold capabilities.

But to be clear: this is only meant as encouragement - rise to the challenge! - for someone visually talented to actually create video tutorials ;-)

waiting for the better answer.

I think it's a good idea. Does anyone have the solution now for us newbie? :P

I was also looking for some video tutorials. I would really benefit from them due to the fact that I am very much a visual learner. Any sugestions? student exchange
exchange student Thanks for the help.

I have to admit that whenever I look into using something new, technical or otherwise, I will always look to use a video instruction before anything else as they are far easier to follow and it is far easier to remember certain steps that would be difficult to remember otherwise.

Hello,

Flow player configuration is really easy http://flowplayer.org/setup/index.html )and it takes a lot of time to make those video tutorials. You should take the time and make some if you really want to help.

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The problem with videos is that the details of what your trying to say can get lost. Written word is a simpler and easier interface beacuse it allows people to take information and put it into a format that can be understood worldwide.

Therefore putting that into a video form can be be difficult. But if you can pull it off... it's wonderful.

I'm not posting as much these days because of all the forum spam, but I just have to comment on this on...

You mean easy configuration like this?

http://flowplayer.org/setup/index.html

(set up, then choose Get Embed Code)

or how about the part where you can take your configuration and compile you own custom player from it?

Anyway, if you find the written documentation too difficult, a video isn't going to dumb it down. This is a complex piece of software, when you consider the program files themselves, the need to convert and upload videos, create Web pages, and possibly even reconfigure the Web server in case it's not properly set up for streaming videos.

There are plenty of services that simplify much the task of converting videos, posting them on pages, and setting the look and feel of a player. That's their business model. Not everyone has, or should have, the same business model. That's how the world works.

What about a video tutorial with a link to a written content below it? That way, you will cater to those visual people out there and at the same time also cater to people who prefer to read.

I also prefer a combination of written and video tutorials. A lot of us are real newbies to the web who need to learn how to work on our own sites and especially use video, which is a big part of my work.

As Anssi already said, nobody is against video tutorials. It's just a matter of actually creating them. Anybody is welcome to go ahead. Someone like RCM101 seems to be predestined for the job according to what he has to say about himself ;-)

Being an old fashioned guy of course I still wonder in what way a video makes it easier to open a text editor, copying and pasting one of the many demos provided, and start tweaking them. Sometimes an attitude: "Ok, I'm curious now, let's try this out, after all my computer won't break" can be a good self-encouragement to get out of the newbie state. And no video will teach you patience, unfortunately always a requirement - at least for someone as slow at understanding as me.

A lot of questions on this forum also are about quite elaborate setups, again a problem to cover that with a simple video. You could say that flowplayer's flexibility and scriptability is simultaneously its big strength and its curse ;-)

But I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong, and have a video that actually makes me work and understand faster.

Sometime simple text documentation can be just as effective as video for getting people to use a product or service. Where some people can read a few paragraphs and be up in running in minutes, other people have difficulty grasping the necessary concepts by merely viewing text and image documentation.

Because of that fact, I can agree that video demonstration is becoming mandatory training materials. However, I know first hand that producing a good demonstration video is a very time consuming and mentally laborious process. So you complete as much as you can with the resources at your disposal.

http://razworks.org