I’m not very keen on the (video) quality of the screencasts. Mostly very small, and blurry.
Hi Richard,
the older ones are more than ugly, especially the magic-zoom stuff - agree. Unfortunately, I lost the original files (uahhhhh) for most of them, so I have to recast them anyway (and I do for sure).
The BoxModel and Responsive videos are all hosted on vimeo, but only the “Plus” version, cause I can’t afford the “Pro” at the moment. This would be the next step and would increase the quality to another level.
it is in fact not looking too bad, is it? (even on a 27 inch machine).
Further I work on an independent platform (“Off Thomas”) to share all the collected and done “english based” stuff. But there is as well so much to do - I’m in the thick of it and don’t find the time to push it forward. There the videos are even responsive so I depend on a good quality level as well.
Screencasts to me are a perfect way to learn, together with trial-and-error as the most of us do. All knowledge I have just come from that. I can’t write actions, but I love learn to make as much advantage of them as I can. Same goes for CSS (thát I know). I still watch all Dan’s screencasts every now and then for example.
I don’t know how long you have been around the Freeway community, but I’m glad I ran into you after all … so thanks for sharing your knowledge
I don’t know how long you have been around the Freeway community…
Hi Rich,
good question.
I started to deal with web I think in 2007. Before I knew nothing about it (even not what a URL is). Purchased Freeway cause it was the only one I understood from the first minute on how to bring a page public (better said not a page, it was more some blue, red and green items).
Then stalked FWT approximately 1 year. Did my first request (never got an answer til today :))) on January 2009.
Dan’s BoxModel screencast was the initial and most important one for me. I tried and trained months and never went back to “the drag’n drop method” anymore. All the rest wasn’t that impressive - I bought them, watched them once and thought it would be so good to have a flat-rate at his store to prevent me from buying more of this less interesting things.
That’s why I introduced the subscription stuff. Having a look into doesn’t cost the world, but if there is something of real interest, I subscribe for longer. That’s what I did at Chris Coyier’s CSS-Tricks and that was my best deal ever.
I’ve asked lynda.com to do Freeway video tutorials for at least three years as well. The Freeway market must be too small for them, and that’s a shame. With Dan gone, so are easy-to-follow tutorials. The new ones for FW 6 are very small and blurry, making them quite difficult to follow for aging eyes. (I’ve toyed with Screencast and created a few tutorials videos myself for other purposes and know it’s not easy. Don’t know what was used for the Softpress videos. I do know, however, that as Freeway gets more complex, it really does require better guidance if we’re to take advantage of the program’s new features without having to learn code.)
On 16 Jan 2013, 1:34 pm, Dianna Burrup wrote:
Big thanks for your reply Thomas. I would even be happy to pay for tutorials. I have requested Freeway tutorials at lynda.com. It is just the quickest, most thorough way for me to learn something new! I have read over and over how great Dan’s were… I will continue reading and asking questions for now. Thanks again, Di
That’s exactly it. You just listened to Dan.
He just pulled you to the screen when explaining stuff. I could listen and watch him go on for hours. That counts big time.
Even when I really really want to know something, but the voiceover/video is crap … I give up. Trying (and failing) stuff yourself seems a lot easier then than holding on to that crap.
I think the company has been off since while then and it has been renamed and rebranded for other type of business, but still still owns by Dan Jasker…night the site still up.
I’m sorry to say I gave up on FWP. I also asked Lynda.com to make tutorials several years ago. I took the FWP course from a AACT in Chicago and even hired a FWP long time user who was great. I listened to almost all of Dan’s videos. I never felt comfortable with the box model and the way the program worked. My mind just couldn’t finally switched over to Adobe Muse and immediately found it simple to use, with plenty of online tutorials and support sites with great templates and widgets. The program has improved greatly in the last few years and updates every three months. I’m very happy with it.
