[dwgrant]

Kalera, Thank-you for bringing this up.

Originally Posted by Kalera

So, here are a few things that have crossed my mind over the years, and I am wondering what everyone's thoughts on them are... especially people who sell tutorials.

In general, it is considered poor form to reveal or teach a technique sold in a tutorial. However, there have been a number of situations in which I have had the following questions:

What if you have been practicing a technique which creates the same effect for many years? Once a tutorial on it comes out, I have often felt as if I should refrain from sharing my method on the forums, because I don't want to step on any toes or for people to think poorly of me as "that jerk who undermined so-and-so's tutorial sales".

Someone will always find fault no matter what the action or circumstances. If the question asking about a technique is coming up because of the tutorial release then it would seem like bad form to spill the beans in a public forum at that time. Having said that, I can think of several exceptions, but guarenteed, 100% of people would not agree.

What do you do when a tutorial comes out that teaches a technique you know someone else has been practicing for a long time, and has previously published their method elsewhere? Is it poor form to mention it?

It might be poor form, esp in the same thread announcing the tutorial for sale. On the other hand, if the author was claiming it was proprietary or they were the first one to do something, then I would "out them". Again, not everyone would agree with such action.

What if you come up with a technique that creates the same effect as one sold in a tutorial through your own independent experimentation, without trying to copy? Is it fair game, or do you refrain from posting pics or explaining how you did it, out of respect for the artist who published the tut?

Independant experimentation before the tutorial came out or afterward?If you clearly did beads with a certain technique before a tutorial came out then you are certainly within your rights to tell/show your method accomplishing your beads. But just because you have a right to do something, doesn't mean no one will be pissed off.

What if you showed someone one of your techniques, and they later (having forgotten where they learned it) incorporate it into a tut? Do you refrain from mentioning it or explaining how it's done, so as to avoid embarrassing them or harming your relationship?

Of course this is up to the individual. If it were done, it would probably best be done in private.

What if you have an especially effective way of doing something, and although it isn't necessarily unique, you believe that you can create a particularly effective tutorial to help walk people through the process step-by-step? If you find this category of tutorial legitimate and beneficial, does that affect how you view any of the previous dilemmas?

Just as their are many books on any given subject, there can be many tutorials. People may be willing to pay for your version. Based on my response above, clearly I wouldn't take kindly to the author pretending the techniques were unique to them if they weren't.

These questions make me think we need a source of independant reviews for tutorials, especially since they are not returnable. There often more than one tutorial on a given subject, how do I choose which one to buy? Or should I buy both? Does the tutorial go beyond information freely available elsewhere? (Even if a one or two page tutorial was in a book or magazine, I might want to buy the 30 page tutorial from the author.) What is the quality of the photographs and descriptions? ( I might want to buy a hardcopy book more for the photographs of an artist's work rather than for tutorial value.)

So when is your tutorial going to be available? And what is the subject?

Darrell