Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Tutorial

What do I want to do to this picture?

patnasty — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:40:57 -0800

I have a picture I want to modify in photoshop, and I'm sure there are relevant tutorials out there on the web, but I don't know how to describe what I want to do to it. Basically, I'd like to give it the illusion of depth -- make the back wall seem further away, and give it more of a sense of perspective, so you get more of a feeling of looking into a room, and less like you're looking at a flattened image of a room. Is there a term for that? Googling for photoshop and depth has turned up a lot of stuff about depth of field, but I don't think that's what I'm looking for. I'm not looking to make anything more or less focused, so much as alter the picture's perspective.

Also, I have the black + white original of the pic I linked to, so if it'd be easier to add the 3-D effect I'm looking for first, and then colorize it later, I could do that.

Help me re-find this irreverent filmmaking tutorial site?

scrowdid — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:04:57 -0800

I'm trying to re-find an irreverent filmmaking tutorial-video site I never bookmarked. In one memorable video, to show how a camera captures photons, they dropped a hundred tennis balls and tried to catch them in a plastic bucket. Anyone seen this? Also, I seem to remember them having:

- a cool Day In The Life of a Location Scout video

- quite a few really helpful videos on lighting where they hung china balls in a bare white warehouse space and showed the effect of CTO on the windows

- a couple humorous tutorials where they recreated some famous movie scenes (comically badly) to illustrate some point of editing

- a video on editing where the often-silent comic foil of the presenter duo takes center stage with a well-written editing primer

- pretty irreverent spirit & design to the videos and site overall

I'm pretty bummed that I can't find it again and am having serious problems with my google fu here. "tennis balls photons bucket filmmaking video" just isn't doin' it. Help?

I need a 102, 103 class in photography. Suggestions?

GilloD — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:35:23 -0800

Where do I go for my 102 on photography? I took a couple of photo classes in high school and know my way around an SLR/DSLR pretty well. I'm at about 102- I understand an Shutter Speed and an Aperture and I understand the trade-off between the two, but I'm not always sure what I'm looking at when I see my photos, i.e. this photo looks great, but how'd I get there?

Now that I've gotten a bit more serious, I'm interested in how lenses interact with that process. I understand what's different about an 18-55mm lens and and 28-200mm, but I'm not 100% sure what those terms mean, in terms of being useful for me, and how they change the photos I take beyond "Well, this one can zoom farther than that one". I'm also looking for clarification on things like AE, and the various forms of AF and why one matters more than the other and... phew!

I got myself a copy of Understanding Exposure, but that's much more about picture taking than the complicated technical world of equipment. I'm really looking for a 102-103 class: "Okay, you're comfortable with the camera and you understand what the aperture and shutter speed are. Let's go farther.".

Suggestions? Books are fine, but I have limited access to English language books. Web tutorials are better and I don't mind shelling out for something I can DL. FWIW, I'm shooting on a shiny new Nikon D90 with 28-200mm Nikon lens.

What are some really great music tutorial websites?

rongorongo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:16:29 -0800

What are some really great "learn by example" music tutorial websites? Somebody gave me a ukulele and I have been having a great time with tutorial sites like Aldrine Guerrero's "Ukulele Underground", Jim Rosokoff's "Doctor Ukulele", and the songs of "Ukulele Mike" (Michael Lynch). They are free, informative and entertaining enough (I think) to appeal even to people who are not studying to play. So what are the great sites out there for people studying other instruments? I'm thinking, in particular, of ones where somebody includes audio or video of them playing or singing.

Need Illustrator reference recommendations

karmaville — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:51:44 -0800

I can competently use Illustrator CS3 and do so daily for my job but want to increase my knowledge base and skills. I currently would call myself a mid-range user but typically use illustrator for simple designs--usually integrated with photos from Photoshop--and signs, cards, posters, etc. I'd like to expand my knowledge into custom shapes, vectors, and some other upper level stuff as I am mainly self-taught on an as needed basis.

Any recommendations on tutorials, web sites, people to follow, essential books, etc.? I use the Visual Quickstart Guide for CS3 as my basic reference but want more. Step by step tutorials either web or video are my preferred option but anything else would be great too.

Inept Brunette

Juliet Banana — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:31:21 -0800

I'm a girl with very fine, very straight, waist-length hair and for the past few weeks I've been abiding by a self-imposed rule where I do not wear it the same way two days in a row. I'm looking for ideas for hair-styles and, preferably, links to videos that explain how to do them. I was never one of those girls who does her best friend's hair during recess. I'm trying to catch up, now, and I'm surprised by how easy some interesting looking styles are. I'd like this to be a resource I can use whenever I get bored with my hair.

Hair Styles I'm Not Interested In: Anything that relies on mousse, a curling iron, hair spray, back combing, and/or volume. My hair is slippery and straight as a ruler and the only way I can get it to do anything complicated involves elastic bands and copious bobby pins. No bouffants, afros, pompadours, or beehives, as awesome as they are.

Hair Styles I Am Currently Getting Sick Of: Pigtails/bunches, plaids/braids, single braid, fishtail braids, looped braids, buns, and Princess Leia cinnamon buns. I need way more practice on the Lady-Gaga-Inspired Hair Bow

Hair Styles I Want To Try and Need More Instruction in How To Do:
french braids (Seriously, I'm still confused; any super-clear instructional videos?)
that fairy-tale-lookin' hairstyle all the hipster girls are rocking where you use a little braid as a headband
the Frida Kahlo
braids circling the head (my hair is too long for this)

Alright, Girlzone! How the heck do I do these hairstyles? What are some other ideas? What are your favorite You Tube channels for hair instruction videos? Are any of those MAGIC HAIR STICK DONUT RAT SCRUNCH WIZARD things actually worth it?

I don't want to work, I want to bang out the code all day.

TomMelee — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:26:34 -0800

Time to stop fooling around and learn to program in earnest. Sources? I've toyed with programming since my early teens. In college, I wrote TI applications to help me with Trig. Since then I've gained a passing understanding of php---that is, I can follow it but not write it from scratch.

I find myself unemployed now, and having lots of time on my hands while I wait for the Next Big Opportunity to come around. I might as well...you know...apply myself.

There are a couple options. I've got ~$4,000 in americorps educational money left, so I *could* go to a real class, which is probably a good idea because I get distracted easily. Such a class would need to probably be in the Pittsburgh area.

In the past I've snagged O'Reilly ebooks, but in flipping back and forth between screens I inevitably get bored or frustrated and drop it.

So then, give me your inputs. PHP, ASP, C# (or any of the .net suite), java, ruby? My end goal is to be able to freelance some (fairly simple) code, but also to give me a really good foothold to expand my abilities. Websites? Interactive tutorials? Communities?

I'm at a point I can dedicate at least a couple hours a day, although a week-or-two long class I can go to wouldn't be bad either.

Lemme have it MeFi!

Also, sidebar: any Americorps Alumni out there who have successfully gotten your grant money to pay for things like computer hardware to further your education?

everything everyone says about it tells me we should love it but need to know how to play

mediocre — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:10:52 -0800

looking for a good settlers of catan tutorial i recently purchased the travel version of settlers of catan so that i could introduce it to my board game group to see if we like it before i invest in the full version expansions et all

i am reading the rules and just not quite able to get it reading alone or trying to play a me playing all players test game< so i am looking for a tutorial that could teach me the basics so that i can know how to play the game and we arent blindly playing for our first game

i am just looking for something that can give me a basic idea so that i can learn the rest as we play this evening

Laser printing and inkjet techology filter

FauxScot — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:35:53 -0800

How do laser and inkjet printers work? I know the basics, of course, but I am looking for serious expertise at the level of the actual chemistry and physics... things like fuzer specs, toner chemistry, deposition, transfer, particle masses, exotic materials; in short... the stuff an actual expert would know. I have a friend who is a hot shot civil engineer who is doing some proposal work and who, for some reason, needs to locate some expertise in the area of inkjets and laser printer technology. (I've been beating him up for years to join Metafilter, and with a good answer here, might just push him over the edge. And Jessamyn NEEDS that $5!)

He's trying to get smart on the laser fuser and the details of toner chemistry, but transfer mechanism is important, too. Rasterization less so. For inkjet, the ink chemistry and fluid dynamics of transfer.

I know there are 20 mefites with PhDs in laser printing out there, fingers poised above keys awaiting this very question. All leads and info very much appreciated.

What are the best resources for computer novices?

contraption — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:14:36 -0800

What are the best resources for computer novices? I often find myself in the position of helping friends and family figure out how to operate their computers (typically Windows XP or Vista, but OS X tips are welcome too.) While I realize there's no substitute for face-to-face instruction, my time is not infinite and I'd like to be able to set them up with some bookmarks or documents that will give them guidance when I'm not around. I'm especially interested in a well-structured, non-intimidating quick reference tool with general tips like locating a file in the filesystem, compressing/decompressing files, using the clipboard, and selecting which program is associated with a particular file type. It should not take any knowledge for granted, and wherever possible should offer detailed step-by-step instruction with explanations of any necessary jargon terms. Reliable, regularly updated lists of good free programs for various tasks would also be helpful.

Where is the Flickr manual?

pbh — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:14:45 -0800

FlickrFilter: What can I read to better understand Flickr and get more out of it? Where is the manual? Flickr seems like a really complicated place. The groups functionality seems to lead to all sorts of interesting subcultures, certain techniques seem to grow and fall in popularity and combine with one another, and the whole thing seems reasonably extensible through various APIs.

But how am I supposed to figure out what's going on? What are the rules, norms, and general patterns of behaviour on Flickr? What kinds of groups exist, and what differentiates them? Has anyone written up a tutorial on different types of groups (like critique groups, for example) or why you might join one group rather than another (e.g., why join one Canon 50mm group over another, or why join a Canon 50mm group at all?). How do I learn techniques that I've seen in photos that I like, for example, from explore? Is there something more than the technique group, preferably organised more efficiently than threaded messaging? (Are these even the right questions to be asking?)

I've seen FlickrCentral, but that seems like it's just a very large group. I've also been on Flickr for some time, so I understand the really minimal basics like uploading and sharing photos with friends.

Is there a digg-equivalent for Flickr? Do photographers just think that would be tacky? Is there a PSDTuts-equivalent for Flickr? Are there any recent general HOWTOs for Flickr culture?

(In case my objective is important, my overall goal is to get the most out of Flickr in terms of learning to take better photographs, and possibly do better post-processing.)

Is Why's Hackety Hack still alive?

forforf — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:33:47 -0800

Anybody know why I'd be having problems with Hackety Hack (the ruby tutorial)? Downloading works fine, but the forums and the shared programs are gone. My 12 yr old son was cranking through it, and really enjoying it, until we got to the portions that required downloading some shared code from the hacketyhack.net site. One of the tutorial lessons (the youtube one) uses a program called youtube.rb, but it seems that the program is no longer up there. Further, when I went to the hackety hack forums at talkety.hacketyhack.net, I was greeted with nothing (as in a completely blank site). Links to old forum posts now get the dreaded 404. Me and my son will be very disappointed if its gone as in gone-gone, but I can't find anything in wikipedia or google searches about it going away.
Also, if it is gone, is there anything close to it as a replacement?

PS. MeFi's RSS feed doesn't work with the tutorial anymore either.

Tutorials on the process of making a graphic novel?

Tufa — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:35:49 -0800

I would like to read graphic artists' accounts of their work process, like Kazu Kibuishi's walk-through of the making of Copper. Discussions of favorite pens or art supplies or studio setup also very welcome. Really, I would appreciate any guide to the making of a graphic novel. I own Scott McCloud's Making Comics.

Free Screencasts for Job Development

lunit — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:58:39 -0800

Looking for sites with free screencasts on job training, resume development, basic computer tutorials, etc. I'm looking for any websites, or one centralized hub, that provides free screencasts and tutorials on basic job training, resume development and interview skills, "soft skills", basic computer skills, financial management, etc. for very low-skill, low-education populations.

Something, perhaps, akin to this, but very basic, and to be used by job development programs and non-profit service providers. Does anything like this exist?

Thanks, hivemind!

Manjula is awesome! Is there more of this online?

ClarissaWAM — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:31:25 -0800

Based on this Mefi post about indian vegetarian recipes at Manjula's Kitchen: what similar cooking resources - other cuisines, etc - are there online for dunces like me (preferably videos)? (please do read inside what I think makes her so great!) Some of what I love about her videos:

She mentions, as she goes along, how long something would need to fry or cook, or how to correct a potential mistake. (I realize there's always some leeway either way)

She takes her time showing the ingredients, and each step of mixing / using them. There's no "here's one I made earlier!"

Most of it is done in real time, or she mentions what she does in the meantime (timing is one of my big problems).

I've read a lot of the "I hate cooking" or "simple recipes" AskMefis but I don't think I've ever come across anything like this, so maybe there are still some gems out there...

Convert Autohotkey script while learning Ruby

TuxHeDoh — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:07:40 -0800

I'm trying to learn Ruby. I know more than a little bit about VB Script, and have written some scripts to automate some windows tasks, mostly by editing existing scripts, things like pinging workstations, WMI connections looking for files and such. I've read http://pine.fm/LearnToProgram and worked through the tutorials and think I understand them. Now what.... I'm pretty good at throwing together Autohotkey scripts. I'd like to convert one of my everyday scripts to Ruby as an exercise. Are there any web communities that exist that might be able to answer questions I have along the process? Anyone have any resources to point me to for just learning? A site that provides some problems to be solved begining with easy stuff and moving on in complexity?

vBulletin is trying to destroy my sanity

chrominance — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:23:33 -0800

I have recently dived into the world of styling vBulletin forums and have discovered homicidal tendencies I didn't know I had. Please send help in the forum of guides, tutorials, and reference documents. The vBulletin manual is woefully lacking in anything past the most basic information and there's a whole lot of counter-intuitive or obscure "magic" going on in the templates—how was I to know, for example, that the $navbits variable would only be accessible to the navbar template, and not anywhere else? Or that when a template calls $threadbits, it performs the inclusion of a separate template and looping through all threads on the page automagically, and doesn't really act like a variable at all? Where are the $thread and $forum variable arrays documented? I've just spent half an hour trying to find a way to get the URL for the forum a thread is in, WITH NO LUCK. This is a ridiculous state of affairs.

Either documentation is completely lacking and you have to just try things via trial and error, or else my Google-fu is supremely lacking. I hope it's the latter. Please post any and all decent vBulletin resources that will shed some light on how to handle templates and styling properly. Things like variable references (and COMPLETE ones, please, not the "complete list of variables!" lists that somehow forget to include the most basic $thread and $forum vars), template inheritance trees, and stuff like that, as well as walkthrough tutorials and basic hack guides (not for the specific hacks but to familiarize myself with the general way vBulletin works).

Help me become a Flash guru in a flash

dosterm — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:47:04 -0800

What are your recommendations for teaching myself Adobe Flash quickly? I'd like give myself a crash course in Adobe Flash 8. I have years of experience designing with print software (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Quark), and I can pick most any software up quickly, so I want something that will get me designing animations and learning neat tricks fast.

Any recommendations for books, online tutorials, websites with tips/howtos, or other sources? Thanks all!

Indiana Jones logo in Gimp

tommasz — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:47:25 -0800

I have the Gimp, I have the fonts, I have the desire, but what I don't have is a clue as to recreating the Indiana Jones logo style. I'm not an artist and I don't have Photoshop, so this has been frustrating to say the least. There are a couple of Photoshop tutorials on the web but nothing Gimp-specific. Trying to follow them has produced less than satisfactory results given the differences and my lack of skill. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Extremely NSFW sex question.

®@ — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:02:16 -0800

After watching a sword swallowing routine in a magic act, one of my good friends commented that she would really like to be able to deep-throat her boyfriend. However, she won't practice on him due of a fear of throwing up on his penis. Just to note: This friend has an extremely sensative gag reflex; she has complained that brushing her teeth has occasionally triggered it (however, she's overcome this enough to go down on him on a regular basis).

I (after the usual I-don't-know-what-to-tell-you-caveats) suggested practicing gag-reflex-supression with a very small dildo or buttplug to start, preferably one with a wide "lip" at the end so there's no chance she accidentally swallows it and chokes herself to death. Since her boyfriend is also a generally good guy who (she says) is game for anything, I suggested just having a talk with him-- "okay, we both think this would be cool if I could do it, let's try some stuff out, fair warning I may throw up on you by accident" and see where it goes. I've referred her to the "sexuality.org" tutorial, and the very helpful previous blowjob thread on Metafilter, but she's looking for more specific deep-throat practice techniques.

Anyone got any?

Help create a GIMP convert

foxydot — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:15:23 -0800

I've been using Photoshop on and off since the early 90s, and now I want to learn GIMP. It's the little things that are making me crazy...anyone know of a good tutorial that won't bore someone already gets image manipulation and just needs to know x in photoshop = y in GIMP?

Help me create digital music.

flatluigi — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:52:08 -0800

I'd like to find some tutorials or general guides for editing and creating music on the computer. I'm very interested in mashups and making music out of other music, but I honestly don't know what I'm doing. I got a copy of Ableton Live from a very generous musician friend of mine for my birthday a while back and I've been using that to put stuff together. I can put together some basic A+B vocal over instrumental deals, but that's about it.

I can't do anything fancy and I'm sure I'm missing things due to my relative lack of experience with audio effects and methods. For example, just last week I discovered how to consolidate a cut-up track and make it loop without having to deal with all the pieces, which seems really obvious in hindsight.

What I'd love to find is a guide that takes me through the creation of a track, showing off what X effect does, how to do Y cleanly, ending a track successfully through Z -- that sort of thing. Otherwise, I'd like to find some general tips and methods.

Photography primer

aeighty — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:25:13 -0800

Can you guys recommend a photography textbook? Last year I took an intermediate photography class at a local college. It was fun, but regular assignments were a drag. I just couldn't force myself to go out shooting [often at night in february weather]... I'd like to try a structured program, but on my own time. The technical aspect of the course was really what I appreciated. I'd love a tutorial book. Any suggestions?

Blooz I can Yooz.

unSane — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:44:00 -0800

I'm a good guitar player, but I can't play the blues. I mean, the real blues. Help me learn. I've been playing guitar for more than 20 years. I've played hundreds of gigs, made commercial CDs, national radio play, been reviewed in NME... but I've never really mastered the blues. Mostly because I wasn't interested in playing it, even though I listened to it.

But now I'd like to learn.

The problem is that almost everything I look at, I already know. I know the blues scale. I know mixolydian. You show me a ZZ top tab, I can play it. I can even fake a BB King solo over 'The Thrill is Gone'.

But I can't play the blues. I can't vamp a 12 bar, not really. I get lost in the turnarounds. I just sound like a white guy faking it, which I am.

So, assuming that I can read any tab you throw at me, that I have the technical chops required, that I know my scales and chords, what are the best resources for actually sounding like I know what I'm doing?

(I'm really good at playing by ear but I find that when I hear a huge flurry of blues notes I tend to vague out..)

Data point: I love Freddie King and Albert King. Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker. Hubert Sumlin. ZZ Top.

BB King, not so much. Eric Clapton, not at all.

Name this (illustration / graphic design) style!

zpousman — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:54:04 -0800

I know you've seen this style of illustration (example, another example). But what's it called? There are a bunch more illustrations in the same style on each site, but I can't for the life of me figure out what the style is called. Any ideas? I am asking because I want to learn to do some of these (simpler probably, at least for the start) illustrations myself. But I can't find an illustrator /photoshop tutorial on them, because I can't describe what I want. So if you have tutorials on this, that'd be great too. But I still want to know what they're called....