Well I’m not one to usually say this, but I don’t think training courses are really needed.
On this site is a very well organized area called Quicklinks, that basically, explain everything you could possible need to know, and even more.
Top that off with the excelllent and fast answers to every question under the sun.
For example, when I asked the question “How do you get the render to have the plasticy look like everyone else has.”, even with the absolutely horrible phrasing of the question, I managed to get a 3 clear cut repsonses pointing me to a script that was posted, that answered my question in no time.
I’ve had Zbrush for less then a week, but even now I’m getting good at it.
The main stumbling block for new users is that, they either
A- Think Zbrush is another tool like 3D Studio Max, Maya, or XSI
or
B- They think that modeling full figures with massive features and dynamic clothing will just be a single mouse click away.
I would be A, as I though Zbrush was a new type of “Truespace” rendering application.
While Zbrush can be shown as a 3D modeling/rendering program, and looks easy to use, its biggest block, that I feel everyone ran into at one point, was the fact that it was nothing like the rest of the 3D dev tools out there, and that the interface is quite different.
If I was to make a DVD tutorial set, I would call it “Learning to interface”, as you really only need to learn what the tools do, and then you can start modeling or building to your hearts content.
basic questions like
How do I design clothing
How do I make hair
How do I attach the head to the body(my favorite XD)
and so on, are all explained in this forum, and not only are there tutorials, but Zscripts, to show how things are done, if the user still doesn’t grasp somthing.
Not that I’m against Videos or DVDs that teach, but usually, they do not cover all areas of a program, as has been the case with many packages like this.
I’ve seen those “Learn to use Windows 98 like a pro” videos, and they only cover the simple subjects, and never delve into Networking, or how to modify the registery, or even explain why certain features do what the do.
for example, being new to Zbrush, I didn’t even think, I just clicked…and clicked…and then I found a tutorial on Zspheres, that instead of just telling me, move this to that, and click here, explained what a Zsphere was, and in that small, one page review, I learned how they worked, and what Unified skin really meant.
My point is, that if you intend to teach the program via DVD’s, you’ll need to have someone who will not put people to sleep (aka “John” from those windows vids I talked about), and at the same time, who will be teaching how to design things from the ground up that could compare to Pixolators work, or even Southern graphic’s work.
Now, I’m not saying to get someone who will go “Yo, dude, you need to click the wacked out bake button to…”, not at all
You also have to remember not to refer to, or use anything but Zbrush when doing these DVD’s, as I recall a movie on working with Flash MX, asking you to use Adobe Photoshop to do somthing.
You just need to find someone who will be able to teach, and that what that person teaches sticks with the viewer.
I know it sounds like I’m ranting, but I have yet to see one single Video based tutorial that helps with anything art related.
As someone pointed out, with the Zscript option avaiable for both Demo and retail users, the “video” tutorials are already really there.
Oh yeah, for those who are curious about how I know so much about these “instructional videos”, I used to watch them as part of various survey’s that computer companies were doing. Not a bad way to make a few bucks, and snag free software, but somtimes, so boring that I almost fell asleep.