[Bf-docboard] Fwd: [B@rt's Blender News] Comment: "Blender Quickstart Guide"

[Ewout Fernhout]

>  First, I'd look at the document and see if we don't have too much stuff.
> Can we get rid of some, if not then I say like you, make it 2-sided, that's
> the best option we have. It'll also leave room for fitting the page on both
> A4 and US Letter formats. It would be fun if we could use 8/9 or if not
> possible 8/9.5-10 text. At 8 points things get big enough, but we lose
> space, depends how much we can [think we] can afford.

The only thing we could remove is the "Final Words" section, since
that's a different kind of information. On the other hand, that
section makes sure the reader will find his way to other sources of
information, so I'd say keep it and make it recto-verso (=doublesided
for the uninformed)

>  About the folder, it's a great idea given that people actually have the
> sheets available. I guess we could have 2 versions, one that's a folder of a
> size I don't know, and one that's a recto-verso version.

By making it a folder I just meant to fold it in the middle, so you
have 4 pages on 1 A4 sheet. The downside of this is the fact that the
information will be 'scattered' - they have to flip the page for the
next piece. Another thing you could ask yourself is if people will
actually fold it or rather have two pieces of paper they can put on
their desk. If that's the case, we will have to split the information
in two logical A4/Letter chunks (we can make both versions available
for download and include the A4 with the releases).

> The folder version,
> I was thinking, could be put for sale with a kit on Blender.org, and could
> have a posted on the back. We could make them "collectable", what I mean by
> this is have a poster on the verso, making it useful as a quickstart guide,
> then a nice thing to hang on the wall. We could have a competition to
> collect the best possible pieces, and we can also choose from the ones
> already in the display area of the website.

if you put the poster on the verso, then where do we get the extra space? :o)
I really doubt if people will buy this just for the little poster when
the actual quickstart is included in the download anyway.

>  As I talked to you on IRC if we can get ahold of a better typeface than
> Bitstream Vera Sans, it could make it [a lot!] easier too. Problem is
> acquiring the license though! I haven't asked FontShop Intl. yet, but I got
> their EULA yesterday. I can send it to you if you want. I still support
> Scala Sans and Serif, if we can get them...

This is not feasable since if you *buy* Scala, you (and 4 other users
IIRC) are the only one to use this. I don't think Bitstream Vera is
that bad, but like I said, we can look into other free alternatives.
Perhaps Nimbus (=helvetica) is a better choice then? Not very fancy,
but perfectly readable. I'll search a bit too!

Ewout