As designers we’ve all got skills, tips and tricks that we could share with students and young designers, heck even with each other - you’re never too old to learn. Some designers create tutorials and how to’s of their process, some charge, some are free.
My question for this discussion is, how do designers react to paid tutorial sites such as http://www.renderdemo.com/? What are your feelings toward tutorials you pay for? Should tutorials be free? You’d pay for a design book so why not a design tutorial? Are they overpriced or undervalued?
I’m still a student so perhaps my perspective is different from working professionals but I definitely see the value of paid tutorials. I have bought several of the Render Demo videos, some are better than others, and I also have a year round subscription to CadJunkie and the Gnomon Workshop series (more entertainment design focused but has some great ID related content as well). There are a ton of well done free tutorials but in general the production value of the paid ones is higher. Personally, I know that once I’ve bought something I’m much more likely to sit down and watch it multiple times, each time I’ll pick up something new, or have a concept reinforced. I definitely see myself watching tutorials throughout my career, it’s fun to watch others create and see their workflows and hear their thought processes.
Wow, you subscribe to a fair bit there Matt and it shows in your work… checked out your site and hugely impressed. Fantastic photoshop renderings and a good amount of concept development in your sketches. Awesome stuff, looking forward to seeing more from you.
Anyone else ever paid for tutorials? I personally never have, I don’t usually even watch tutorials. I tend to just explore all the tools within any given program and see what happens. Perhaps I should start watching more tutorials.
Ive also bought a few RenderDemo, VTC and Gnomon DVD’s It was great resource when I was first starting to render shoes, use Maxwell, and sketch.
Like Matt I do notice that if I pay for a tutorial I’m more likely to view it. I have a few Gnomon videos that were given to me. But I haven’t really sat down to watch them. I’m sure if I had paid 60 a piece. Id have them on loop till I got everything I could out of them.
My general view on tutorials is I think its much more beneficial to watch how someone else works, than try to pick something up on your own. When you watch someones workflow, you get a crash course in what works and doesn’t work.
I find this true in all aspects of design. I learn much more by asking other how they did something. The tricks and insights that someone who has something mastered is easier to pick up. I can bypass weeks of trial and error by watching a 2 hour long tutorial. it’s a no-brainer in my book.
I mean most people have down time. Time set aside for facebook, blogs, TV shows, PS3, Xbox, etc. Super easy to bypass one of these activities a week and sit down for a 1 hour video/online tutorial.
