Getting Back In The Game, Or, zomg! josh_k does a lesson!?!?

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joshk's picture

UPDATE: Before you get too excited, I may have to postpone this. I'm feeling kinda sick, and a coughing/sneezing screencast isn't all that great. I'd still like to come up with some script ideas though. Maybe we do the video next week...

Hey everybody. As I've been hinting at for more than a month now, I'm going to try and become more involved in the Dojo (and wider Drupal community) again in 2008. I can't say exactly why, but my availability seems to come in waves, and it feels fitting that a year after getting the inspiration to start this group up, I'm once again in karma-deficit and looking for some place to make a contribution.

So! Lesson Idea!

As some of you may have seen, I'm increasingly interested in creating good quality screencasts rather that 2-hour "Drupal unplugged" recorded vnc sessions. Call it selling out if you like, but it seems like the audience for a tighter 20-minute piece is much bigger, and that's part of what this group is all about: reaching the newbies. However, I really like the vibe our VNC sessions can create.

To that end, I'd like to propose that I spend a sunday creating some nice screencast (details TBD, but something Drupal 6 related), and screencast the whole creative process with time and space for collaboration between "takes." I don't know if it would be interesting or work out at all, but I'd like to try it.

Any interest? Suggestions? Ideas?

Comments

I think that's an awesome

brenda003's picture

I think that's an awesome idea, actually. The best of both worlds.

great idea

add1sun's picture

That sounds awesome. Can you give a look over the issue we have on d.o for having standard video guidelines so we can spiff that up for the lesson? That way we can have a standard document everyone can follow to give us consistency and your lesson can show what that actually means. ooooh, me likey. (Anything we can do to nail down the storage/delivery issue would be helpful too so there is a "way" to contribute videos a well.)

I keep meaning to make a video about how I make videos but it never occurred to me to do a lesson on it. Brilliant!

Learn Drupal online at Drupalize.me

Recursion

joshk's picture

Videos about making videos! This idea actually came up at BADcamp, so I'm glad to follow through on it.

I can try and showcase the best practices for Mac, as that's my platform. If all goes well, this can potentially produce two videos: one of d6 and a "making of" version for other screencasters.

http://www.chapterthreellc.com | http://www.outlandishjosh.com

Finalize the guidelines

add1sun's picture

I'd like to nail down the best practice guidelines - they are not platform specific - before a lesson. This will a) help spur us to complete them and b) have a resource we can point to people to beyond just a document. So if everyone could review that issue (http://drupal.org/node/201890) and finalize it, that would be awesome. It would kind of suck if the lesson made videos in a way that conflicts with our guidelines since I dare say that will confuse folks at some point and the number one push for Dojo right now is to stabilize our video offerings.

Learn Drupal online at Drupalize.me

Guess whose back, back again...

alex ua's picture

Welcome back JK!

I think some good choices for D6 related lessons would be:
- Getting to know the new features in D6, with an emphasis on the new core modules. Maybe a (better scripted) screencast version of this: http://groups.drupal.org/node/8059
- More specifically how to use the new core Actions and Triggers modules
- Using the new firebug-like Theme Developer Module.
- How to work with and utilize the new Menu System

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
ZivTech: Illuminating Technology

Cool

joshk's picture

Good ideas. Honestly I'll be orienting myself with all this too, but that intro post gives a good overview.

http://www.chapterthreellc.com | http://www.outlandishjosh.com

How about

ghankstef@drupal.org's picture

Playing your pre-recorded screencast and the IRC channel for questions Mystery science theatre 3000 style?

Hehe

joshk's picture

I like the MST3k idea. For now I'm thinking of just having people watch the process and doing questions between "takes." But another option of "let's see what we've got and talk about it" could be good.

http://www.chapterthreellc.com | http://www.outlandishjosh.com

Sicko

joshk's picture

Before you get too excited, I may have to postpone this. I'm feeling kinda sick, and a coughing/sneezing screencast isn't all that great. I'd still like to come up with some script ideas though. Maybe we do the video next week... :\

http://www.chapterthreellc.com | http://www.outlandishjosh.com