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One of the most satisfying things for me has always been helping people learn to take action in new or more effective ways. In the pre-Web era this manifested itself in the form of almost a decade of leading training seminars devoted to page layout and graphics applications. I think all trainers will agree that one of the moments that makes it all worthwhile is students experiencing that "Aha!", when something suddenly clicks and they're off and running with a new-found understanding or competency.
When it comes to Photoshop, an application as deep as the Mariana Trench, for most of us much of it will remain a shadowy mystery. Like yourself, perhaps, I only use a tiny fraction of what's more like a lifestyle than an application, and I have feeling that even the relatively simple functions I use daily could be approached in a more efficient way. As with everyone involved in a non-trivial activity, I'm in the classic situation of "not knowing what I don't know." And as such am in sore need of some solid training.
A good trainer knows from experience what the typical breakdowns will be for those embracing a new domain of activity. In a classroom environment, the trainer subsequently observes students and tailors material to address those blind spots. While this feedback loop is missing from CD-based training materials, for many these remain the only alternative, due to their modest cost and the ability to use them repeatedly within the work environment. But as with classroom-based training, how do you know ahead of time what training material will be most beneficial to you? What will specifically meet your concerns, or those of your employees, for whom initial and ongoing training should be considered an essential.
Accordingly, this is the first in series on Graphics.com exploring the world of disc-based training for the Adobe Creative Suite applications, with myself in the role of student (I'll do my best to behave and not disrupt the class). The series will have a focus on Photoshop, taking a look at everything from entry-level products exploring all the nooks and crannies in obsessive detail, to more advanced offerings that provide collections of tips or specialized techniques. Which forms the segue to the first training product in the series.
Photoshop Secrets: SpecialFX
While in future I'll be covering exclusively CS 2 training material, at this point I'm probably in the same boat as more than a few of you—waiting for my copy of Photoshop or the Suite to show up (note to Adobe: get those camels in high gear). I asked Colin Smith if a CS 2 version of his SpecialFX CD was in the works, but apparently all the techniques will still be relevant in CS 2 and in fact many of the effects can be applied in version 7 upwards. Since the lessons included some pretty cool stuff, I decided to start here. After all, Colin is well known as an award-winning Photoshop designer, prolific book author and, closer to home, contributor to Graphics.com. His most recent contribution took a look at the Lens Correction filter in Photoshop CS2. So I figured I'd be starting off in capable hands.
The Windows and Mac CD consists of 19 separate lessons for creating a wide variety of nifty effects, such as rap diamonds, toxic waste, grunge text and magnifying glass, as well as five freebies from two of Colin's earlier CDs. These are each complete tutorials in video format, accessible via a Flash-driven interface, with Colin leading the viewer through the creation of each effect. In all, they add up to about two hours worth, with the CD also containing most of the unflattened PSD files for the exercises. Each lesson is separate, so you can jump to just the one of interest. The lessons themselves are clearly recorded, and the visual quality is good. There's a nice mix of menu and dialog box usage, with keyboard shortcuts.
I've worked through a variety of the lessons so far, and while the end results of my efforts aren't going to win any awards, I do understand more clearly aspects of Photoshop that before were pretty fuzzy to me, such as displacement maps and clipping groups. While I don't think I'll need to put into use any time soon the specific techniques covered in the lesson on creating segmented chrome tentacles, one more technical veil of mystery has been lifted. When chrome tentacles are needed, I'm your man.
Whether you want to quickly add to your effects bag of tricks, or more generally approach features of Photoshop you might not be familiar with, this CD could well be of value, especially if you're at a beginning to mid-range level of competency. It's true that variations of these tutorials can to some extent be found on Web. But why hunt around when you can work through 19 of them at once with an expert like Colin?
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