Vegas Manual point

Coursedesign wrote on 1/13/2006, 5:20 PM
Combustion is post-production software used to do many things.

For example, it is often used for wire removal. When you see fantastic fights with people flying over each other, or in many dangerous stunts, you can count on there being strong steel wires that will of course show in the footage shot.

So somebody needs to remove those wires. But how to accomplish this practical task?

Turns out that even a novice user can go to the manual (or online help) and enter wire removal. This then shows the following:

Using the Reveal Tool

Voila! Those are the three tools that the user needs to know to be able to do wire removal.

This is the kind of manual improvement I have been asking for, that I think Sony (and users!) could benefit from having for Vegas.

Being able to enter what the user wants to do, with the manual saying how this is done in Vegas.

Could be as simple as "3-point editing" leading to an entry about how it's done in Vegas. I'm using this example, because it will be one of many areas where Vegas does something better than in previus generation NLEs. It just does it differently, and if you don't know the Vegas way yet, the manual sure won't tell you.

It wouldn't be a huge project for Sony either, and I think the return would be very good.

And users would send roses to Madison...

(well, maybe not, but they sure would be happy!).

Comments

TeetimeNC wrote on 1/14/2006, 4:33 AM
Coursedesign,

You make a good suggestion. I think an excellent example of where the manual could be improved is from

about applying the Sphereize filter to parent AND child tracks. Grazie (and many of the rest of us) learned that the "Pre/post triangle thingy" next to the fx name by the key frame controller is used to toggle this on/off. If you hover over that triangle it is labeled "pre/post". If you search through the help or manual there is no hit on "pre/post" In the manual it is referred to as "Before/After Pan/Crop" button. I could never guess from the writeup that it would be used to accomplish what Grazie was trying to do.

Suggestion: perhaps a good starting place for Sony would be to add a rich, use case based FAQ as a sticky at the top of the forum, then incorporate this into the next manual.

Just my .02 worth...

-jerry
farss wrote on 1/14/2006, 5:33 AM
I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't single out the Vegas manual though, this is a very common problem in all technical literature. Manuals need a more task based approach. At the moment reading the Vegas manual is like trying to figure out how to ride a Harley from it's workshop manual.
Bob.
Grazie wrote on 1/14/2006, 6:45 AM
Yes Bob I agree, but I wouldn't just single out Harley's either . . think about what would happen with a Nuclear reactor? Huh!

Manuals read like the legal document. It is the "Well it is IN the manual!FOOL you!"

Having a task based document is NOT a manual. The product stands and falls on the reference to the manual.

Manuals are for the lawyers . . . Tutorials are what we need . .lots of 'em . ..

Grazie
TomE wrote on 1/14/2006, 10:06 AM
I agree with Grazie,

Tutorials are what we need. Why wait for Sony to do this? Vasst or any of the other Vegas 3rd party crowd could probably do this (please keep price low --lol)

The ultimate would be an online based tutorial that you could search using the terms you mentioned above (wire removal or other task you need to complete) and have an online video tutorial play that shows how to do that. Charge a subscription or one time sign up and have at it. The videos could be created by the community and have some residual payment system set up for them when they contribute.

TomE
Grazie wrote on 1/14/2006, 10:17 AM
Tom ! Yes yes yes . .

Those who have had a SKYPE experience with me, know I can point my web cam at my screens and be assisting within seconds. This IS a 2-way street though? Yes?

Using MSN and SKYPE I have learnt loads . . Maybe a SKYPE cafe hereabouts? I've even shown the central part of some dallies over the INTERNET.

It is all getting rather exciting!

Grazie
Coursedesign wrote on 1/14/2006, 10:31 AM
Software vendors used to spend more money on manuals than they do today. This is indeed pretty much across the board, although there are some wonderful exceptions.

Lightwave 3D comes with a 1500-page manual, well written, and in color no less (this is important in this case for being able to see the different elements on the screen).

They offer the customer a choice of a download with a PDF manual, or for $100 more they get the printed manual also. This would be a good model for Sony too, I think.

It's always tempting to say "it's not our job to teach users how to use our software" and "it's enough if the manual lists the features we offer and how to push the buttons to use these features as we intended," and "third parties can handle even the basic user education."

Well, the risk is that then people figure that they might as well get some third party software too (i.e. not Sony's), something that is more user oriented (as in communicating the software's capabilities in their "language".)

Sony could get a lot more good word-of-mouth with a different manual, and support costs would be reduced also (although support seems to mostly consist of this forum if you can believe some of the posts here).

Vegas loyalty today is very deep but very narrow, i.e. there is a small number of very enthusiastic, knowledgeable users. A really good manual would help widen the loyal user base more than any new whiz-bang features would.

I think there is a tendency today for much software to have an immense number of features that are rarely used because few people know how to use them.

Just look at how much even many of the pros here are struggling with 3D track motion and compositing!

This definitely makes Vegas more vulnerable, for example to the next version of PP and AE that I suspect will be released next week.