Some people have asked a few questions about the ManCandy FAQ DVD, so here they are, FAQ style:
Q. How much is the duration of the video?
A. Roughly 7 Hours in total, spread out over 38 files with durations ranging from roughly 2 to 23 minutes.
Q. What level are the tutorials?
A. Difficult to say, but not beginner- intermediate to advanced- there is a “basics” tutorial to give an overview of the concepts used in the rest of the tutorials, but it is no subsitute for a solid grounding in blender basics. You should at least have rigged a basic character, or know the basics of using blender, or have a good working knowledge of other applications before attempting this DVD.
Q. Are they animation or rigging tutorials?
A. A bit of both: there are rigging and animation tutorials. The rigging tutorials show how I built Mancandy’s rig- this should help people looking to rig their own characters. The animation tutorials focus on how to use Mancandy’s controls, and how to animate in blender in general. They are more on the technical side, so no subsitute for a good animation book (Like the Preston Blair book, or the Richard Williams book)
Q. Are they “step-by-step in depth” or “overview” type tutorials?
A. Again, a little bit of both: some tutorials show how to build part of the rig or an animation from scratch, and others dissect what is already there.
Q. How soon will I get my DVD?
A. Well, the DVDs have all been printed and started shipping- how soon you individually get them depends mainly on the speed of the mail at this point. They are shipping from Europe (Amsterdam) so European orders will arrive a bit quicker than others.
Q. Will the video tutorials and blend files also be released for free to download off the internet like elephants dream?
A. The content is CC licensed, and as such, can be legaly shared/distributed, even by posting on the net; theoretically, anyone who owns the DVD can do so. The problem is the amount of data: 5.9 Gigs of video is not very easy to host on a reliable basis. Perhaps in the future we could do a lower quality version that is small enough for the web, or use google video (or something similar)
Q. Does it have the trailer that you showed in SIGGRAPH 2007?
I would love to have that in a high res video..
A. If by the trailer you mean the 10 minute “Mancandy FAQ” animation I showed at siggraph, with voice over by Fateh, then yes; this is on the DVD , as are all its blend files. I never intended it as a trailer, but as an integral animation overview part of the DVD.
Q. The video files wont play on my computer. They’re .flv and .ogg - never heard of them before - whats going on?
A. The flv files are flash video (like youtube and google video) and are intended to play in the html interface (index.html will start you there)
the ogg files are an open source/open format, they will play in:
VLC for all platforms ( download the one for your OS here )
If you’re on linux, the ogg files should just play
If you’re on windows, you can play them in media player if you install the ffdshow codecs (open source video codecs) which can be downloaded from multiple sites including sourceforge (just google ffdshow codecs download) and you should be all set.
If you have any more questions, ask them in the comments section and I’ll add them to the post.
Q. Can the mancandy dvd be viewed from a standard dvd player?
A. No, the DVD requires a PC (personal computer) to view the videos. This is due to the resolution limitations of standard definition video, as well as the dificulty of packing a long playing high quality video on a DVD. On the plus side, DVD should work on any computer capable of running blender, so long as you have the right software and codecs (see above)
Q. So, is it just me, or is the DVD missing section 4 and 14. And have two 13’s?
A. No, it’s not just you- I got the numbering for the videos wrong. However, though the numbering is wrong, the videos are all there, and there are no missing or repeated ones. I’ll try not to make mistakes like this for the next time.
Q. Will the DVD work with the newly released blender 2.46?
A. Most of the DVD is still valid in 2.46, however, there are a couple of small changes to be done. I will release a small errata page soon, along with a new version (Mancandy 2.3), and you will be able to continue enjoying the DVD with this addendum.