Action speaks Louder

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 2:17 am

I believe the most potent thing we can do for Creamware and ourselves is support new users. Make it easy for others to get on board. This is already done by Z and it's members. I'm suggesting we take it further.

People with professional audio experience appear to find the transition to Creamware fairly straightforward. But what about the huge market of home based new users, headed for a huge learning curve.

Would others contribute to a "Getting Started" section on the Z? Obviously we need John's support. I envisage "Getting Started" being broken into sections such as:

Which Card
Card installation
Software installation
Choosing a PC/Using present PC
Making it Work (Getting sounds out)
Basic Projects Recording?Playback (Ultra simple)]
FAQ

Added contributions wanted. What's the feeling of Z? Is there support for such a section?

Post by **garyb** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:11 am

that's quite a book.a nice thing to see for a newbie,though.

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 4:24 am

Thanks for your comment Gary. Yes, it probably could end up as one...but it certainly won't start as one. Is there support from Z? Once there is commitment, it's surprising what can follow.

petal · Post by **petal** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 6:00 am

I think it's a good idea.
But in order to make it work differently than as with the search-function here on Z, there should be one or just a few editors for that particular section, in order to control what is being posted in there. That way we can avoid the long discussions about bugs and different subjective opinions about the plugins and the platform that we all have in one way or another.
This would make all these "guides to...." much more userfriendly, if they where cleansed from discussions and only straightforward step-by-step advice of how to do different things like:

- How to make XTC work properly in SX/SX2

- Optimization advice for windoze
- How to use SFP-FX inside SX from outside SX

I know that almost all of these information is to be found somewhere here on PlanetZ, but it would make things a bit easier, if you had the information overload narroved down a little bit.

Cheers!
Thomas

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 7:39 am

I guess from a lot of questions that at least 50% of the users have never even looked at the pdf documentation provided with the cards, let alone try to understand it.
For the sake of a virtual coolness (...I don't have time reading manuals... don't need a manual...) they perform as idiots.

One could take the (sequence of) topics from the original documentation (presumed as known) and add additional information, like common traps, how does the featured item interact with current versions of OS or drivers etc.

This would prevent re-inventing the wheel as everyone already has the basic stuff and possibly drives one or the other to have a look at it - I'm no exception - it probably took me year until I first opened one of the pdf files

and I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. I've seen far worse manuals than this...

my 2 cents, Tom

[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2003-11-15 07:42 ]

Post by **garyb** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 1:44 pm

yeah,the manual is the first step.we could have a forum called "rtfm"......

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 2:42 pm

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 5:29 pm

First thing I do when I consider software is print the entire manual. I felt there was some step by step dot joining missing....just to help me get started. I may be wrong. It appears to me that most newbies turn up with similar questions.

In a forum on SOS recently, the comment was made that the Creamware platform "is an instrument" needing lots of learning. Is this relevant?

Post by **hubird** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 5:46 pm

A start could be to make just a list of discussed topics on planetz, followed by all relevant links to the different forums.
Easy, fast, and inviting to do own reseach for new CW card users.

Billy goat gruff · Post by **Billy goat gruff** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 6:04 pm

Nice start. A lot easier than re-writing the manual. Perhaps it's important to discriminate between:

I support this
and
I'll do the work

For now, maybe the focus should be "Will this make a genuine difference? Is it worth the effort?

Also, in my experience, it's the same old faces that get things done in volunteer groups. Maybe it's time for the experienced to just provide guidance. Help decide whether it's genuinely useful. If others really want it, let them do the work.

So, is it genuinely useful? Will it make a difference?

Edit: Perhaps we should ask Creamware if this is something they consider valuable. We seem disgruntled that they don't ask us our opinion often enough. Maybe we should ask theirs, just to set an example.

[ This Message was edited by: Lifechangee on 2003-11-15 18:21 ]

John Cooper · Post by **John Cooper** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 12:04 am

I'm not sure if this warrants an entire new forum-- I've heard some opinions in the past that we've got too many forums already!

Perhaps some well coordinated topics in "Pulsar Study" would be good.

Thoughts?
-John

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 12:12 am

Good point. Thanks John. Perhaps a "sticky" in announcements...."New Members Start Here" which directs them to a section in Pulsar Study ...filled initially with links..as suggested by Hubird. How does that sound?

[ This Message was edited by: Mikka on 2003-11-16 00:14 ]

Post by **hubird** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 12:18 am

sounds perfect...

Billy goat gruff · Post by **Billy goat gruff** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 1:53 am

Maybe we could start looking at appropriate sections, while Z considers the options.

Petal's comment re: editors was a good thought. Anybody got time left to cover a section? All volunteers, one step forward. If you'll teach me how to post links within Z, I'll happily cover a section.

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 2:20 am

Well, here's how I post links: I open a second explorer window, find the page I wish to link and simply drag and drop the web address into the message box. I guess it's the most basic way to do it but it works.

edit: on second thought, I think it would be clearer to rename the links by the topic(s) they cover, like "tweak XP", "which motherboard to use" and so on. This, I've never done, could someone show us or give us a link? Thanks!

[ This Message was edited by: eliam on 2003-11-16 02:23 ]

bassdude · Post by **bassdude** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 2:53 am

Some forums I've seen have a FAQ thread which is read only. Maybe we could have a Beginners FAQ thread.

huffcw · Post by **huffcw** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 10:15 am

Personally, I believe it is more of a development need on Creamware's side to make things easier for the new user and general musician that may not have the audio production background. Many people generally prefer systems that are user-friendly enough that everything just makes sense without having to read through a huge amount of material. That is why I would like to see two operating modes for SFP - "aasy" and "expert". Of course, this doesn't address the hardware setup issues - which I think really needs to be improved in the Creamware manual - but may make using the system as a whole much easier and appealing for the masses.

There also could be other advantages to this alternative operating mode. As I posted in the "Read My Lips" thread...

How about a simplified operating mode option that offers more efficient, ultra stable operation (something like a Noah operating mode for the DSP cards)? Like the Noah system, you would give up some flexibility in exchange for more efficieny and more stable operation - and an easier to understand system (for the novices).

This could also help Creamware sell more cards since it would offer an "easy" mode that wouldn't have as sharp of learning curve. This would make the system more appealing to the general population of musicians out there who are not audio pros and want something quick and easy.

Of course, I would only want this if it was a voluntary mode (you could choose between easy mode or "expert" mode, at your choice).

petal · Post by **petal** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 11:24 am

Don't get med wrong, but wasn't XTC supposed to be that "easy to use" version of the platform, that you are proposing?

Thomas

Post by **garyb** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 4:12 pm

i really found things to be that intuitive,huffcw(just connect everything up and go).

everyone's different i guess.i WAS looking for a studio,though........

Billy goat gruff · Post by **Billy goat gruff** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 4:23 pm

I suspect many of us are overtalented and underqualified.