Five-minute-snippets

I wished the makers would stop doing the 30-minute videos that cover so much; you have no chance of taking it all in. I’m sure these are great as an overview and benefit those that understand the program a bit more.

I think Five-minute-snippets showing each sequential step from beginning to end, and each option available throughout that process would be of far greater value. They could limit the content to one task. I know this seems a significant undertaking when there is so much in Scaler to get your head around, but when there isn’t a usable User Guide and videos are hit-and-miss, what other option is there? These would be quick to produce, allowing the creator of these Five-minute-snippets to focus on a single aspect with Scaler. Quickly, a wealth of valuable information would be created and let all users of all levels of competence get the most out of Scaler.

What do you think?

Mac OS 12.6 Monterey MacBook Pro M1
Logic Pro 10.7.4

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They have edited some of the longer videos into shorter ones. The recent long live stream for the 2.7 release has been edited into some shorter videos. I like long-form and short-form videos. I think the support for this product from the developers is A+.

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That is the funny thing about "tasks:. One mans task is another mans project. :slight_smile:

Seriously though, I’ve thought a lot about this as I’ve cut Scaler videos for my little hack channel over the last couple years. The debate between bites size and plate size is always in the mix and it is why my videos have the tag line UnSponsored, UnEdited and UnRefined.

For this maker it came down to 2 things: What it was I was excited about AND what is the time and effort required to Design, Script, Setup software, Setup hardware, Record, Edit, Transcode, Upload, Tag, QC and Release. (and I don’t even do any video capture) Every video requires a degree of all these steps whether is 5 minutes or 50 minutes. I don’t have eye on monetization so the topic needs to be something I’m jazzed about and rarely is there a 5 minutes task that gets my attention. Auto Play might be the exception.

At the same time, shorts are handy and it is why I’m trying to use more chapter markers and segment my scripts a bit more. I split my last video into multiple parts…albeit still 20 minutes or more. It is also why I’ve recently rebuilt one of my “studios” to simplify the recording and production process. I’ll see how it goes.

As the preacher/father says in A River Runs Through It Half As Long. Not as easy as it sounds.

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Hi Both. I hope you had a good weekend.

First, let me assure you I’m not saying that the developers’ support isn’t good. I’m just saying maybe another focus on how they offer some of that help.

The snippet idea was more intended to explore and explain the tools and options of Scaler, such as how to turn on Auto Play. Short, focused information. We all get those moments when we seem to go around in circles, thinking, how does that work? Wouldn’t it be helpful to be able to search for information on that one thing? Instead of going through a longer video in the hope of seeing it used.

Not a tutorial that gets into applying the use of these tools. I agree with @TMacD; when you’re creating, you have a beginning, middle and end.
Even then, it doesn’t have to be the whole song or composition. You might create a short tutorial focusing on Section A, using the Suggest option, Perform, etc.

There is a need for a varied style of giving information. It doesn’t always have to be a video; written guides can help immensely.

I suppose the reference, Half As Long, is spot on. You have to be pragmatic and give just the information that is needed, no more, no less. That is sometimes a challenge. If you manage this, then the time taken will be just right!

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Have you checked out the Tutorials topic?

Hi ed66, Yes, I’ve checked these out; some good stuff in there, which I’ve gained a lot from using.

I checked your written tutorial, Introduction to the CHORDS page and found it very informative and clear. :+1:

I also checked out a video tutorial by @jamieh, Simple Tutorial for Chords from Single Notes. Again very good, clear, precise and to the point!

I could mention many others who have spent their time producing excellent stuff. All this interaction is fantastic and is so helpful.

I’m not saying there aren’t tutorials out there. I’m saying we need more and maybe to have them consolidated, produced by developers who know the program best and are specific to all aspects from the initial start to a finished product—creating different complete workflows that cover all the great musical genres that Scaler has to offer—building on tutorials, like those found in the Tutorials section, on specific areas, tools and options in Scaler. Learn the tools and then how to use them in the application. Understand one step at a time before taking the next step.

Maybe we could start the ball rolling here; You’ve bought Scaler, seen the videos telling you what it is supposed to do, and the DAW’s open… What would you suggest as the first thing a new user wants or needs to learn?

Step 1…

2…

3…

Greetings Alfie, I love your passion for all this stuff. It is obvious you are an educator.

Educational content is certainly an important part of this equation, especially with such a unique and multi faceted product like Scaler. However, any time the dev team spends building ed content, is time taken away from fixing and improving the product,. I believe this something few people would want to see happen, especially when there is such a rich community of users and producers out there willing to contribute. I believe the Scaler team’s commitment to this forum, where founders regularly participate in discourse about the product as well as it’s use is a great compromise.

So while I don’t think asking the dev team to take on more content responsibility here makes a lot of sense, there is certainty room for thought leadership regarding the identification, curation and classification of existing community sourced materials. I might even go as far as to say there is a potential for some common taxonomy and maybe even general guidelines.

I know others have explored similar topics, so you might poke around to see if there is some ideas that get your attention. At the end of the day, we are the they so lets keep this topic alive.

I have to say I agree with both your thoughts

and @TMacD’s comment

However I have gound that each tutorial I have produced can take over 1 hour and a video several hours, even when focussing on a single subject.

Unfortunately the threads in each topic are organised in chronilogical order based on the last post to each thread. This can make finding the appropriate tutorial for an issue problematical. I would suggest that a start would be to create a taxonomy of the tutorials with links to each tutorial, that is pinned at the top of the Topic, to help users find the tutorial(s) that they want.

The taxonomy could be organised in order of high-level subject, for example

  • MAIN page
    * Section A
    * Section B
    * Section C
    * Detecting chords
    * Audio
    * Midi
    * Saving Cord Sets

  • EDIT Page

  • CHORDS Page

  • MOD Page

  • PAD Page

  • Setting Up Scaler in DAWS

    • Logic
    • Ableton
    • Reaper
    • ProTools
    • Bitwig
    • Studio One
    • Cubase
  • Scaler Settings

  • Using Midi with Scaler

  • Multi Voice Output

  • Other Tutorials

    • Using Scaler with song styles
      ???

Another approach couild be to use the taxonomy as tags, on each posting. The tags would then be under
more user control.

Thoughts on a postcard, please to…

Good Morning, or whatever time of day it is for you.

I’m sorry for the delayed reply; I was enjoying my regular and routine treatment vacation with the amazing NHS.

Getting back to the important stuff, The last two posts from TmacD and Ed66 are both brilliant, with great comments and ideas.

My qualifications are in Education, and there is a basic premise that the best way to learn is by listening, watching and following the master. Be that painting pictures or building a wall and everything in between.

The Masters have the knowledge and skills, plus the ability to impart such to those who wish to follow.

It isn’t intended that you merely copy but learn how to apply that knowledge and skill to your style and creativity. This is the defining step between a player and an Artist.

I think the best approach concerning Scaler, or any new software-based product, is first from those who created it and developed its use.

The developers should see learning Scaler as a sort of apprenticeship. Teaching Scaler sequentially and progressively will end with apprentices being so competent with Scaler that we will be in a position to forward and grow the product. Instead of it t becoming another one of many.

The time taken for any tutorial is always far more significant than you think. You have to start with the objective in mind and how you see the lesson’s conclusion. You must ensure that it is clear, understandable and can be followed and reproduced by the learner.

How many Youtube so-called tutorials do we see with someone in front of a fancy screen, waffling on and on, making it as they go along? This isn’t for teaching; this is money-making, first and foremost.

I like the idea of tags, and maybe if those creating tutorials to help fellow users could tag accordingly, it would help with looking for such tutorials. The organised listing suggested by Ed seems a great place to start and doesn’t require anyone to be responsible for that organisation; it becomes a shared task by Tags.

Many thanks again for taking the time to reply, much appreciated!
Have a great day! :+1:

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