[Bf-docboard] The pdf version of User's manual is 15 months old- How about a new one?

[John Blain]

Thanks Narayan for the insight into your proposed manual.

Such a manual is something I would dearly love to acquire. I have compulsion
to find out what all the bells and whistles in the Blender GUI are there for
and to me it is frustrating that there is so little instruction on many of
the features. It seems that the nature of Blender is to continue to expand
and develop. The developers are enthusiasts who will continue to develop for
the sake of development. It is, after all, their passion. Even now, I see
there is talk of version 6.0 and 6.1, and so the story continues. My humble
endeavours struggle to keep up, even though it is at a very basic level. My
writing was done at probably too frantic a pace at the event of version 2.5
and now I must suffer a laborious self review to correct the obvious and
obscure errors of haste.

Good lick with your work. I take my hat off to you.

Best regards,

John Blain

On 25 September 2011 13:38, Raindrops From Sky
<raindrops.fromsky at gmail.com>wrote:

> For sure, John! I have followed your book right from the beginning.
>
> Then there is another excellent book called 'Blender Basics', by James
> Chronister.
>
> http://www.cdschools.org/54223045235521/lib/54223045235521/BlenderBasics_4thEdition2011.pdf
>
> Both these books are meant for beginners; so they cover only the
> basics of each topic.
> Too much detail would overwhelm and discourage a newbie; so this is
> the right approach.
> Once the self-confidence of the user grows, he is expected to explore
> the Blender GUI further on his own.
>
> On the other hand, a User Manual must explain the GUI fully,
> screen-by-screen.
> It is supposed to provide reference information to users with all
> expertise levels.
>
> I want to create a comprehensive user's manual that goes beyond a
> visual tour of Blender.
>
> Here are two examples of my approach:
>
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/lmms/files/UserManual/UserManual_0.4.12.1_2011-08-30.pdf/download
> http://www.den4b.com/wiki/ReNamer
>
> The common theme in my user manuals is that they explain how each
> screen works, explain the working principles; and provide further
> references for the more enlightened reader.
>
> They change significantly based on the needs of the target application:
>
> The ReNamer is a small application with a workflow-based GUI.
> Therefore its manual has mostly screen-by-screen explanation (with
> examples). However, the manual also treats two complex topics: RegEx
> and Pascal script. There are several flavors of RegEx, so it was
> necessary explain the flavor used in ReNamer. On the other hand,
> Pascal Script is not so widely used, so it is difficult to find good
> tutorials on it. So I added a quick guide on the subject.
>
> Check them out!
> http://www.den4b.com/wiki/ReNamer:Pascal_Script:Quick_guide
> http://www.den4b.com/wiki/ReNamer:Regular_Expressions
>
> On the other hand, LMMS is a complex application with totally
> non-conventional controls and a large number of interrelated windows.
> Further, the users are not expected to be familiar with the theory of
> music. So this manual follows a totally different approach: The
> musical/acoustic terms are explained first, with further reference to
> Wikipedia. Then a functional diagram of LMMS is given. That is
> followed by the screen-by-screen explanation. At all times, the
> interrelationship between different windows is highlighted.
>
> Blender is at a much higher level compared to LMMS, with many
> underlying principles to be explained. So its user manual has to be
> even more comprehensive.
>
> To conclude, the User's Manual I am proposing is quite different from
> the existing books.
> It is a reference book that can also be read from cover to cover, by
> newbies and pros alike.
>
> Best regards,
> Narayan
>
> On 9/25/11, John Blain <silverjb12 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi Narayan
> >
> > In this discussion what sort of a PDF manual are you guys discussing? My
> > Blender 2.59 PDF manual is there for grabs if you want a book for
> beginners.
> >
> > http://silverjb.limewebs.com/index.html
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > John Blain
> >
> > On 24 September 2011 19:09, Raindrops From Sky
> > <raindrops.fromsky at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> >> Actually we should NOT expect a 15-months old manual to be in demand any
> >> more; especially because the new 2.5x Blender is totally different.
> >>
> >> Let us not question whether this project is worth the effort.
> >> I would be happy to put all the effort in making the new pdf manual.
> >>
> >> That leaves only the task of installing the extension to export as odt.
> So
> >> let us simply go ahead and do it! :)
> >>
> >> BTW the pdf would NOT be a direct transcription of wiki, but a totally
> >> different creation.
> >> Compare the LMMS wiki with the pdf manual I created; and see what I
> mean.
> >>
> >> If the "export as odt" extension is not available, I could rip the
> website
> >> with Httrack and make the manual.
> >> I propose to release the pdf manual with CC license.
> >> Please let me know if there are any issues with this idea.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Narayan
> >>
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> >>
> >>
> >
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