Digital Workshop

Following the discussion regarding video tutorials for Opus this thread is for the proposal and discussion of possible subjects for tutorial publications for Opus.

We are unable to cover everything, so what should we cover?

An introductory video could cover the basic workspace and properties and actions for newbies but this is fairly intuitive. Probably worth including but couldn't hope to be comprehensive.

I favour focus tutorials on key aspects where we can take users through a real world solution (they end up with something useful at the end of it) which highlights both basic and advanced functions relating to that project. And in the process highlights possibilities which might not be immediately apparent.

Feedback welcome. Please reply here to allow for discussion or send private email if you'd rather just put the idea on the list - we can't guarantee to enter into discussion this way.

Thanks.

Paul Harris

Well, for starters, although I'm fairly familiar with the basics by now, the area I personally had difficulty in working out for myself is within the Actions group.

It would be really useful if there were some detailed, visual explanation of how these worked, where they fitted in the scheme of things, and how to relate them to the objects they refer to.

I know a lot of this is intuitive, but I struggled in the early days with, for example, Simultaneous Actions, Synchonise to Start/End - how they worked, how to set them up.

Not difficult when someone explains it all to you, but not that simple when you try to find the answers in Help.

Scripting is also a mystery - we non-programmers often fall at the first fence because we have no idea where to look for help. I can see programming expertise being a definite advantage in order to get the best from the programme, so we duffers are missing out because we are afraid to jump in at the deep end. Maybe some simplistic tutorials as to how the basic inbuilt Opus scripting works could be considered.

Just a couple of examples from my own experience.

This is just such a brilliant programme - if simple, intuitive video tutorials make it easier to learn and use, the customer base must surely increase and it would serve as an alternative to the steep learning-curve programmes like Flash & Director!

Yes I agree with Chris - Scripting is the area where I think most people struggle.
It's not so much the editing of scripts - interpreting what's happening - particularly when Alan Dews and Robin Garrett include those "nice green" explanations within the code - it's "How do I write a script from scratch?"

Having attended the DW training - introduction to scripting - and read the opus script help + the "bouncing ball tutorial" - which is a good and useful place to begin - I can manage to write some scripts.

But for more spohisticated usage - I am reliant on editing pre existing scripts.

Pete

Perhaps a complete tutorial on “web posting actions” can benefit most types of users.
I do write software and I understand Opus scripting, but I still have few gray areas on this subject… I guess this may be a good tutorial to include at some point.

Regards

How about translating some of the tutorials already posted on the forums into video?

It would be nice to see some more examples like the bouncing ball one - perhaps some that are translated examples of some of the flash tutorials in Brendan Dawes "Drag, Slide, Fade" There are lots of things that flash gets used for that can be done in Opus - but as I've said before I can't code and translating from Action to Opus Script is beyond me too!

I also think that some basic tutorials would help the users saving much time. Especially scripting tutorials would be very helpful. I think there are no more than about 20 standard tasks for which beginners need help (samples, tutorials) to make their work easier and to understand how opus script works.

Providing one small tutorial example for each of this tasks would help very much.

Frank

I'd very much appreciate some tutorial(s) on building quizzes/tests. I know that Opus has a host of capabilities and functions for the creation of educational materials. There are quite a few posts related to this subject in the forums, but it's a very time-consuming task to gather all those scattered bits of information. In my opinion, a comprehensive, structured tutorial detailing these features would be really useful.

I almost would rather see the Help files completely updated with everything in them and more extended examples for functions and similar. Perhaps you could revisit the Help engine and do like Micrsoft have on/offline. That way you'd only have to update it once on the web and people would always have access to the latest/greatest version if/when they need it.

I think Opus does SO many things and there are SO many ways to accomplish things, that it's really an impossible task for you all, but at the least you could document WHAT it could do, so people at least know where to start and then ask questions from there.

Regarding the scripting requests, I don't think it's feasible for you all to help people become programmers. You can't teach coding and programming theory in a basic level tutorial, or maybe you can, but I'd like to see resources spent elsewhere. I learned what I know (and that's enough to be dangerous) from JavaScript. There are already resources out there on how to do that, it just requires rolling sleeves up and diving in.

This might be inappropriate here, but I still think DW should focus on getting an easier solution to the SCORM issue. It's not going away, and I'm afraid it will turn potential users away at some point if it's not doing that now. Lots of people have LMSes these days and we need a tool that will play nicely with them. That would mean a solution for both Opus and Opus Flex publications. For example, I use Saba Publisher (variant on Lectora) frequently for clients. It has one button publishing. You click the button, fill in a couple of fields and Publish. It does all the SCORM calls for you, packages the related files and zips them up into an easily importable package into the LMS. That's what I would hope for and where it seems to make the most sense to focus your efforts.

Sorry for the long-winded post.

And keep up the great work, it is a fantastic tool!

I completely agree!

I found the Help files very confusing. Let me clarify. The Help files are very thorough and generally give excellent treatment of any topic.

However... if I am a beginner or use a non-Pro package... then there are features and how-to's discussed that do not apply or do take time to read through and mentally filter out. The semi-transparent icon codings are "weak". Would there be a way to Activate a Filter for the DW product being used.

Tutorials... definitely:
1) a visual workflow of the different publication paths ( Web, CD, Flex/Flash ). Then callout or highlight the issues and factors involved.
2) Clear illustration of the Database connectiivity. One case for general principle (local DB) and another case for MySQL and hosted server.
3) SCORM. Starting with more treatment of questions, surveys, and such. BTW, there are more and more options (sftw) to create an online Survey... some pretty slick for setup process. Seems a time-saver.
http://www.chumpsoft.com/products/phpq/ ... vey-editor is one example. I have not used, but seems well thought out. Acknowledged... this is a different market segment.

Simplicity. I find Intuit's overview Flash clean.
http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/ad ... #tabAnchor

I'd sure like to see DW expand. I'd like to see more corporate-oriented solutions built and Showcased. Or medical industry. Conspicuously missing on the DW website.

Seems like a great product with potential to grow.

Hi

To the many useful suggestions made so far, I would add three scripting tutorials, each providing a step-by-step explanation and sample walk-through, usng examples similar to "Hello World."

Scritping topics:

(1) Arrays

(2) Loops

(3) Using Parent-Child Scripts

Kind Regards,