tutorials need updating

feeling annoyed.

spent time searching the net for free cartoon/2d animation software, synfig would appear to be one of the top runners. it’s just, on trying to learn the software, i feel like everything that im reading on the subjects i feel interested in learning are redundant, jibberish jargon or both.

i check out tutorials and i feel like im reading comments in code, the terminoligy feels to me that its meant for those that have followed synfig from the start.

maybe it’s because im skipping, being that i use gimp to make images and not synfig (wanting to make my first animation cutout style to begin with to get me to grips) i understand key frames as i use other software that uses the same method, what i wanted to learn is bones/skeleton as i feel i could jump straight into an animation once mastered, just feels to me that everything i read is made complicated, i jumped straight into youtube but the support on there is limited.

i feel that your documentation, tutorials, and that jaz all need tidying up, i read a tutorial of information when finally giving up on youtube and i get through most of it to realise that the steps are invalid as it applies to a previous version of synfig, which gives the question i ask myself as im reading, am i going to benefit from reading all of this now knowing its out of date.

for me also, as bad as the insider terms used is the grammar, its hard enough for me to wrap my head around the descriptions, i’m constantly becoming challenged with the grammar, most of it is readable, unfortunatly not all there are times even i cant figure out what words should be there to connect the others together, contending with that and the advanced wording used i feel like although its a tutorial, its meant for someone much more educated with synfig than a beginer.

personally i like to jump in and DO stuff, get some experience on how to do a task, learn to perfect it, not read about what the program is doing, were there something i wanted to know more about i would look it up, i find the best tutorials are those that are step by step, that make small notes on the inerworkings with links, so when you want to learn more about something you can open a new tab and learn about what your interested in getting your head around. thats how i learn best.

i would like to see the tutorials updated to the most recent version, written in laymans (assume no prior knowledge) style, with simple step-by-step instructions on how to DO it, brief explanations of whats being done, with links to more in depth explanations.

i accept that this thread makes me appear arrogant, at present im tired, annoyed and just saying what i think. im not interested in being rude, to me im just pointing out something important, im sure im not the first to to say this.

maybe i havent looked hard enough or have been looking at the wrong material, kinda hoping someone could help me out so that i could work towards making maybe a 20 minute cartoon or something like that would be cool i think.

regards,
Gorlykio.

ps. i would invest my own time into making tutorials the way i described were i able to use the software.

Start with these fine tutorials by dartthfurby

   Synfig Beginner Tutorial Series

[url]Synfig Beginner Tutorial Series: Updated 11/3/2013]

             If your really ambitious and can afford it theres -

              The first Synfig Training Package is available!

           [url]http://www.synfig.org/cms/en/news/the-first-synfig-training-package-is-available/[/url]

   Coming from gimp you may find these Tutorials helpful
   
    [url]http://youtu.be/Q-Mf9hbft8E[/url]

    [url]http://youtu.be/BWNzY_HZhEc[/url]

Bones are still an experimental feature in  development as of this post check this out to see current status :  Development: Bones (part 2)

   [url]http://youtu.be/qbWT9sjh36U[/url]

   Hope this was helpful.

Hello gorlykio and welcome to the forums…

Synfig is a huge, crazy, powerful and complex tool… it has his own personality, it’s not a copy/paste of any other animation software.

If you want to use it at full potential, you need to be patient and to learn from the wiki first (where the terminology has been updated with last change) and then by the video tutorial (where you could find old and disturbing terminology) and following herb advices.

Feel that you want to be constructive… so again, welcome aboard!

feeling in better spirits today, enjoyed the tutorials, thanks herb. alot to take in with synfig i gather, take some practice before big projects i imagine. some things come to mind when i watch the tutorials that need more exploring, all in time but i do have a suggestion that i posted i just had this idea <<< here.

I know this is an old thread, but the issue is still current for me. I know that using any complex software has a learning curve. But, the more complex the software, the more important the documentation. This is where I seem to be stumbling.

While there seem to be some good getting-started tutorials, it may be that the features I want to use are not as commonly used. So, perhaps when I find a tutorial on a subject I want to learn, it is just that I am trying to learn a feature that is poorly documented. At first, I was thinking that some errors on the page caused part of the tutorial to not show up properly. Now I am more confident that the tutorial is not well written for a beginner. Some of the documentation simply shows the screen that the user sees in the software, and offers no explanation.

A relative novice to the program may actually be better at creating documentation than someone who knows it well, since they don’t have as much of the built-in knowledge a more experienced user has.

As for me, I keep wrestling with the idea of throwing away all the hours I have already invested into learning the Synfig, vs. jumping to another program. What keeps me from jumping ship, is knowing that another program could be just as challenging to learn. I may decide to invest in some commercial software, because then hopefully, they invested the money for well-done documentation.

-Joe