Tuesday, April 15, 2008

A call for feedback :)

NOTE: Comments have been closed... please go to the post in the forums instead so we have one thread instead of two! Thanks a lot! :)

Hey, according to the poll on the top right of this blog, a LOT of you liked this recent episode! Thanks a lot for letting me know your opinions (and if you didn't like it feel free to voice that view as well).

I was reviewing the episode just now, (since I made it around midnight and want to make sure I didn't make any horrible slipups, and that kind of thing happens around then), and I was thinking maybe I should post the music info near the beginning of the video as in a music video (and some austrian ads I've seen).

That got me into thinking that I don't nearly get as much feedback as I should. I would really like to know how you think I could make this better. Seems you guys liked the animation at the beginning and the more-smooth syncing with the beat at the beginning.

However, in my current style, I don't really have too much to videoblog about between big visual updates like the cylinder. I just make a video demonstrating the latest and greatest coming out of the great minds of our Compiz Fusion coders. I can't make a videocast about every bugfix, of course.

But I get the feeling that people don't like these long gaps... a videocast should be more regular, it seems. Should I post solutions to common problems? Configuration tutorials? Perhaps other recent developments in the world of Linux awesomeness? Please... let me know via the forum post.

(speaking of which, I hadn't realized that you needed a google account to post a comment with my settings, and have since changed that... all are now welcome as long as they get past the CAPTCHA!)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

< cheesy >i love your videos no matter what format they are in< /cheesy >
keep up the excellent work

Anonymous said...

I have a lot of friends who are new to Compiz. A comment I often hear is: "Hey, have you tried out that function in Compiz? - No, where can I see how it works? - Well, there was this video cast showing of a lot of things, but I don't remember it's name.. episode 3 maybe?"

So here's my suggestion:
- Make episodes shorter, showing (mainly) of one feature. ex. "Fusioncast 5: The Cylinder"

This allows for more episodes, and helps users search your posts (instead of having to click through episodes, searcing for that one cool thing they saw)

Chris Bauer said...

I'm just brainstorming here, hope you don't mind!

What about a 60 second video smoothly formatted like a commercial for compiz? It could demonstrate effects, but also highlight productivity features that new users will appreciate.

I know there are already lots of compiz videos, the idea for this one is quick, snappy, and polished. Perhaps even with narration?

Anyway, keep up the great work.

Gavin said...

@corevette:

Well, I thank *you* for getting the word out on digg. It is thanks to you that I was inspired to make more (you made the first video super-famous).

@tomas z.:

I definitely understand what you're getting at. Would be easier for me to make too, allowing me to make more episodes.

When something new comes out, I could make a new cast, and then even if something else is also released I can save it for a little later... perhaps less than a week, even. (this would depend on the features released).

Also, adding descriptive titles would *certainly* make it much easier... I hadn't thought of that--for example this latest episode doesn't even have a good description on YouTube! Horrible for searchers. I'll change all the titles so they have the most prominent element in them.

@christopher:

Perhaps your idea would work with tomas's. Do you think it would work to have a video-per feature option?

It looks like shorter episodes is a good idea...

Anyway, I used to narrate stuff but in the case of these latest episodes it didn't seem necessary. I certainly could get back to that for the productivity features.


It might help if I made a forum post on forum.compiz-fusion.org for people to discuss each new episode (having my own forum didn't work out really). That way I could actually figure out what specific productivity features/effects to make a new episode on.

Anyway, I already found one new thing that I thought was awesome. I guess this weekend or so I'll test out this new short, commercial-like (only without the annoying) video.

Thanks a lot.... keep the responses coming!

(and feel free to brainstorm, I want this to be a community-inspired project!)

Anonymous said...

Ok, just throwing out an idea after reading the other comments here.

I think that the reason your cast got so much attention on digg (and elsewhere), was because people watched it and told their friends: "Hey, look how cool Linux can be!". Here in Norway several news sites had titles like: "Look at Linux now!"

The cast showed off a lot of great features impressing everyone. This kind of contradicts to small one-feature casts. (Also, small new features might never be shown because their to small to make an episode of).

So, here's an idea: In addition to short one-feature episodes, make some episodes that captures the "look and feel" of a particular desktop with Compiz. Many people see videos showing an uber cool Linux desktop and think: "I want my desktop to look like that!". So these episodes should show off different "themes" - or settings - with Compiz.

Ex. One episode with a desktop that has a sweet video-background, uses Expo and fire window effects etc.

Then another episode where the Cylinder is in use, together with Avant Dock, Atlantis etc.

(maybe throw in a "how to make you desktop look like this", or a settings file)

I think this would be usefull because many people are looking for a cool "look and feel" to use and show off, not just a particular feature.

Gavin said...

@tomas:

That certainly makes sense, though I'm sure if I have a 60-second cast I can have smaller features as well (not adjustments to features though, i suppose).

What about this: I make a bunch of ~60 second things about new plugins/features, and then at around the end of the month or couple of months I can have a review of these features, but with a broader viewpoint, aiming more towards usablility and the desktop experience rather than "wow, this new stuff is soo cool!!!!"

I made an episode I called "fusioncast flash" because it was short. Do you (and/or anyone else) think that having a ~weekly 60-second "fusioncast flash" episode sounds good, spotlighting one feature or howto, with a ~monthly episode afterwards?

Any ideas for the name of the monthly (unless it should just be plain fusioncast)? FusionCast Month in Review? (Though it won't necessarily be a month).

Also, perhaps I should move this discussion to Compiz Fusion forums.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I know this is a bit OT, but how much storage space does Blogspot allow? I'm considering moving from Wordpress as it is too restrictive and from the looks of things, you can do things like themes and plugins here =).

BTW, congrats on your latest video and learning blender! Looks really cool :D

Gavin said...

@Smspillaz:

Do you mean images? Blogger gives you 1GB of space for those (as long as you don't use any more for Picasa). see here: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=62969

Anyway, it's certainly enough for anything you want...

Blogger actually doesn't have plugins, just "gadgets" you add to the sidebar. But if you have a Javascript thing you can insert it as a Gadget. It looks like they are experimenting with a web-2.0 community thing though... there's a thing called blogger draft now.

Blogger works for me, though I had been considering switching to wordpress actually!

In the end, I'm not sure how it compares. Blogger's interface is quite simple though.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like we're on the same page :)

I'm not sure what you should call the ~monthly episode.. It should be easily searchable, and give a hint about the content.

Putting this discussion on the forums would probably give a lot more input, so that's a good idea.

Gavin said...

All right. Comments have now been locked here. Go to the forum post to continue! Thanks!