When Working With Your First Video, Did You Use A Guide?

[tgpo]

Yes, But It Wasn't Very Helpful

The early Mac guides were not very helpful and very confusing. But after working with it for a very long time I finally got the hang of it.

[jimmalenko]

Yes, But It Wasn't Very Helpful

I suffered the fate of (no doubt) many people here in that I wasn't using the exact same version of a particular program, and there were very, very minor differences between the one in the guide and the one I was using. It wasn't a big learning curve to adjust it, but for someone who knew absolutely nothing, it was enough to confuse me.

[ghoster]

yes and i thought they were very helpful. i never had any problems following the guides. course when i started there weren't many guides written at the time. if i started now i wouldn't know even where to start because there are so many.

[lordsmurf]

pffffttt.. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I wish. There were no guides.
Nothing even remotely worthwhile, in the form of documentation, existed back them (the early days of DVD-R). I was confined to reading software help files, readme's, books in stores, and journals that I really did not comprehend. As well as LOTS of trial and error, and plenty of guessing. The Internet was mostly a wasteland on the topic of DVD video. My analog video knowledge was mostly worthless, too, in the realm of DVD.

I started to learn about DVD video when most "digital" enthusiasts were still trying to cram a full movie on one CD-R. Suckers. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that I learned KVCD was developed about the same time I was making DVDs.

Imagine being dumped off in a strange country and having to learn the language the hard way. That was my video experience.

[fritzi93]

Had to fill in the gaps, and a lot didn't make any sense to me. Was trying to do a VCD, fewer apps, fewer guides. And I didn't know squat.

[raffie]

No way, I didn't even had internet back then. I bought an MJPEG capture card back in 98 and installed it on my Pentium 100. Took 3 hours to encode a 3-4 minute music video to mpeg1 @ 352x288. Then I had dial-up in 99 and broadband in 01, and that's about when I discovered this site and all it's helpfullness, but I did learn most of it on my own.
My first videos were just mpeg1, wich I just burned as CD-rom. Only about after a year I heard about Video-CD so maybe some guides would have been handy.

[Baldrick]

Trial and error and error and error and error.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Used a guide but had to fill in the gaps

I used a guide from somewhere to do dvd to divx. I think I had a couple of problems making sure I had everything selected. This was a few years ago (before I got my dvd burner ).

But after a little working I started doing video a lot better

Kevin

[Capmaster]

Baldrick took the words right out of my mouth

I'd add a few more "error"s to that though

[bazooka]

Yes, but it wasn't very helpful.

[hech54]

Yes, It Was Very Helpful

I was making cDVD's....practicing up for the day I got my first DVD Burner. The guides were very helpful. I was also just plain amazed that it could be done(DVD to DVDR)...
I've never captured anything above...say...5 minutes. Unlike the Pro's here who have capturing and converting for what seems like Eons. Hell I even had a Terapin VCD Recorder. My computers were always one step behind (technology wise) than my other "toys".
I've made VCD's and SVCD's on my computer too....but that was after my Terapin bit the dust and did more reading(here) on how it was done.
I've been here for a long time learning what I can....I'm still an idiot but I can make backups of my DVD's....

[Rookie64]

Tricky question


Very first video would be VHS days, right? :P (no...never started with Beta)
Way back in very early Jan. 1979 - did not use any quide.
Was shown the basics and I just used common sense.


First video capture for PC - NO...never used a guide 'cause when the guy installed my card he didn't give me anything that it came with.

Not only was it my first experience with capturing analog...it was my very first time ever using a PC - I pretty much figured out how to do the captures, but Saving files was another story

No...I didn't read guides for my computer...had a few people walk me through different things and caught on quickly.
Actually started using the 'net before I even knew how to do much with the computer itself, but oddly enough, I learned all that stuff as I was doing it and had someone online explaining things gradually.



First VCD - just used a wizard to walk me through the steps.
It wasn't hard to do...so really didn't need to read a guide.
First VCD came out nice...and I still have the first one I did.


First DVD-R - I used lordsmurf's site while he was still in his earliest stages.
I was reading everything from capture to burning stages...and kept reading and held off 'til he added more to his site before I started trying to do one myself.
And in the process, I had gotten a new computer and a new capture card...so I was filling in that time with installation and building my computer.
I was reading a lot on this site as well...but lordsmurf made it easy enough for me.
First DVD-R was successful - thanks to lordsmurf

Kept learning more and more as read stuff here since 8)

[TheFamilyMan]

No, but I wish I had.

My very first experience was when I got my AGP/capture card. It came with a full up version of winproducer 2. It had capture, edit and MPEG1/2 export (all you needed, right?). I could not believe how crappy my first vcds of family videos looked. A friend at work suggested I check out vcdhelp.com...and two years and a DVD writer later my family video DVDs look excellent, thanks to all the guides, tools and forums found on this site.

[Paul_G]

No.

I learned the hard way and it certainly is the best way, i think people on this forum should not spoon feed people and the people who want to have someone hold thier hand every step of the way should not be answered.

[lordsmurf]

No. I learned the hard way and it certainly is the best way, i think people on this forum should not spoon feed people and the people who want to have someone hold thier hand every step of the way should not be answered.

I agree with the spoon-feed part. Shows lack of caring.

Info however... that needs to be provided. I learned in an age when info online was scarce. Guides can be good, if they are just "guides". That means it HELPS you find a way to do it (usually by showing you one successful method, and explaining other options). It should never be a rigid set of commandments, which is what several guides do.

[pbhalerao]

Guides were very helpful and this site is wonderful. I had some problems with VCDEasy Chapters. Sefy and Adam helped me out.

Long live Sefy and Adam!

[hech54]

No.

I learned the hard way and it certainly is the best way, i think people on this forum should not spoon feed people and the people who want to have someone hold thier hand every step of the way should not be answered.

Yea.....right
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=338975#338975

[Capmaster]

No.

I learned the hard way and it certainly is the best way, i think people on this forum should not spoon feed people and the people who want to have someone hold thier hand every step of the way should not be answered.

Yea.....right
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=338975#338975

Oops

[Alan69]

Yes, and very helpful.

Ron Jeremy's Guide to Porn.

[DivXExpert]

I started with FlaskMPEG and divx 3.11, pre Nandub, no guides. I was like.. in 6th grade? i forget, it was a while back.

[Sefy]

When I started out I didn't know anything, only thanks to adam, vitualis and a lot of the "original" people who used to dwell around here, did I manage to get the hang of it!