Observation About Tutorials - Page 5

chrissij · #**121** 2010-10-21, 6:26am

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCB23

No.. but there *are* recipes that have been jealously guarded for years and some even many decades...

I make what I refer to as "New Orleans White Wedding Cake" for any and all "bring a dish" get togethers. I've been asked COUNTLESS times for my recipe. I could tell them, "It's from a box. Pillsbury white cake mix. Just add two capfuls of pure almond flavoring" and put crushed pineapple between the layers. That's what it is, but there's more to it than just the basics.

I learned, quite accidentally, 'cause I f'd up, how to make a better cake, from a store bought mix. How you mix things, and in what order, makes a difference. Who knew?

I learned how to keep the edges from getting crusty while waiting for the cake to cool before frosting it from a carrot cake recipe...slightly modified, of course.

I also have those silver cloth cake pan wraps that you soak in water before putting them around your pans. They keep the cake level, and, I think, moister. Because they insulate the pan, I can take the cake out of the oven a few minutes early, while it's certain to be moist, and it will finish baking in the pan.

My icing has also evolved over the years. Mom always used 6 tablespoons of Crisco, powdered sugar, almond flavoring and whole milk. I use 4 tablespoons of Crisco, 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, almond flavoring, and evaporated milk. Mine's better. So...what does this "boil down to"?

You can have the ingredients, and the basic "how to" instructions to follow, but without the trial by error knowledge, or the correct tools, you won't get the same results. It's up to each of us, personally, to decide whether or not we think the monetary expenditure is worth it. Think it is? Go for it. Think it isn't? Don't.

Polgarra · #**122** 2010-10-21, 7:12am

I still think that there should be a review system for Tutorials. Like on amazon where you can give it _ out of 5 stars and talk about what it contained (i.e. I felt there was 1 unique technique or there was a lot of typos or not enough pictures) That way people could have an idea of whether or not they want to spend the money.

Maybe I will make a website for that =)

moondanse · #**123** 2010-10-21, 7:55am

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrissij

I make what I refer to as "New Orleans White Wedding Cake" for any and all "bring a dish" get togethers. I've been asked COUNTLESS times for my recipe. I could tell them, "It's from a box. Pillsbury white cake mix. Just add two capfuls of pure almond flavoring" and put crushed pineapple between the layers. That's what it is, but there's more to it than just the basics.

I learned, quite accidentally, 'cause I f'd up, how to make a better cake, from a store bought mix. How you mix things, and in what order, makes a difference. Who knew?

I learned how to keep the edges from getting crusty while waiting for the cake to cool before frosting it from a carrot cake recipe...slightly modified, of course.

I also have those silver cloth cake pan wraps that you soak in water before putting them around your pans. They keep the cake level, and, I think, moister. Because they insulate the pan, I can take the cake out of the oven a few minutes early, while it's certain to be moist, and it will finish baking in the pan.

My icing has also evolved over the years. Mom always used 6 tablespoons of Crisco, powdered sugar, almond flavoring and whole milk. I use 4 tablespoons of Crisco, 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, almond flavoring, and evaporated milk. Mine's better. So...what does this "boil down to"?

You can have the ingredients, and the basic "how to" instructions to follow, but without the trial by error knowledge, or the correct tools, you won't get the same results. It's up to each of us, personally, to decide whether or not we think the monetary expenditure is worth it. Think it is? Go for it. Think it isn't? Don't.

What wraps? I've never heard of them. I need a clue, or a link, pls.

Alex9 · #**124** 2010-10-21, 8:02am

Bake Even Strips by Wilton...http://www.wilton.com/store/site/pro...A1AA&killnav=1

moondanse · #**125** 2010-10-21, 8:18am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex9

Bake Even Strips by Wilton...http://www.wilton.com/store/site/pro...A1AA&killnav=1

Thank you! They look great.

Kalera · #**126** 2010-10-21, 9:42am

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnoelker

The point that isn't being emphasized here enough imho is that the tutorial author is not simply being compensated for the time it took for them to create the tutorial. I am paying for someone to teach me and I expect that a lot of hours behind the scenes at the torch were put in to bring that teacher to the point where he or she has a technique or set of techniques that will enrich my skill set. I am more than willing to compensate another artist for sharing their skills with me that were hard won by hours at the torch. If I buy a tutorial on a technique I don't have to spend those hours at torch, for instance, figuring out just how to work a certain silver glass in the flame. That author has already spent the time experimenting and gone through a lot of glass to figure it out and is now willing to share it with me. I think we need to place a good value on another's willingness and ability to share knowledge. That's something I am happy to pay for.

This is very true. The tut author may be providing information that not only takes a slice out of their market, but also adds to the buyer's. Although, where that gets messy is when someone puts out a tut that showcases a technique they learned from someone else... then the author is profiting via tutorial, and stamping their name on, someone else's technique. That's happened a few times.

Polgarra · #**127** 2010-10-21, 10:06am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kalera

This is very true. The tut author may be providing information that not only takes a slice out of their market, but also adds to the buyer's. Although, where that gets messy is when someone puts out a tut that showcases a technique they learned from someone else... then the author is profiting via tutorial, and stamping their name on, someone else's technique. That's happened a few times.

When you say 'Someone else's technique' do you mean that the someone else invented the technique and no one else has ever done it? Like it is a new idea? Or just that someone else made it famous? Or someone else already wrote a tutorial and they learned it then they wrote up a tutorial with the same info?

emoon · #**128** 2010-10-21, 10:45am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polgarra

When you say 'Someone else's technique' do you mean that the someone else invented the technique and no one else has ever done it? Like it is a new idea? Or just that someone else made it famous? Or someone else already wrote a tutorial and they learned it then they wrote up a tutorial with the same info?

I think this point is very valid. Many bought the book about Dots, but obviously, the author didn't create the dot technique. Most of the basic techniques are public domain. If you want to sit down and write about how you do dots, or whatever, and publish a tutorial on the hows and wherefores, then sell it, does it become "Your" technique, or just your tutorial?

Most tutorials share a recipe for color or a specific way and order of doing things. Therein lies the value, from my POV. And there are "new" things to learn how to manage, like silver glass, for one. But I think it is easy to see that the traditional territorialism regarding glasswork is alive and well.

Thanks goodness a decade+ ago, it was ALL about the sharing or most of us wouldn't be doing this now!!

LisaF · #**129** 2010-10-21, 11:52am

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this already, but I'm pretty sure that if 99.9% of the tutorial writers weren't able to write and sell their information as electronic tutorials, they would NEVER go through all that it takes to get a book published with their techniques. And I don't blame them. The bottom line is that other than taking a class, the only way to get the artist's techniques or information is by buying their tutorial. For me, when I want the information, the price is secondary.

And by the way, when you take a class, you end up having to write your own tutorial anyway since the teachers do not give the directions in writing. Having taken many classes, I can tell you that trying to read my notes later can sometimes be almost impossible. You are writing fast, trying to keep up with what the teacher is doing, drawing doo-dads that you think you will remember how to decypher later, etc., etc. So in a couple instances, even though I have taken the class with the artist, I will still buy their tutorial. Go figure.

Anyway, just my $0.02.

Lisa

pittypat · #**130** 2010-10-21, 11:53am

ok, Chrissij, now I want that recipe!! You had me drooling...or you can overnight one to me!!!LOL...Pat

ElementalsDesign · #**131** 2010-10-21, 12:01pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrissij

I make what I refer to as "New Orleans White Wedding Cake" for any and all "bring a dish" get togethers. I've been asked COUNTLESS times for my recipe. I could tell them, "It's from a box. Pillsbury white cake mix. Just add two capfuls of pure almond flavoring" and put crushed pineapple between the layers. That's what it is, but there's more to it than just the basics.

I learned, quite accidentally, 'cause I f'd up, how to make a better cake, from a store bought mix. How you mix things, and in what order, makes a difference. Who knew?

I learned how to keep the edges from getting crusty while waiting for the cake to cool before frosting it from a carrot cake recipe...slightly modified, of course.

I also have those silver cloth cake pan wraps that you soak in water before putting them around your pans. They keep the cake level, and, I think, moister. Because they insulate the pan, I can take the cake out of the oven a few minutes early, while it's certain to be moist, and it will finish baking in the pan.

My icing has also evolved over the years. Mom always used 6 tablespoons of Crisco, powdered sugar, almond flavoring and whole milk. I use 4 tablespoons of Crisco, 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, almond flavoring, and evaporated milk. Mine's better. So...what does this "boil down to"?

You can have the ingredients, and the basic "how to" instructions to follow, but without the trial by error knowledge, or the correct tools, you won't get the same results. It's up to each of us, personally, to decide whether or not we think the monetary expenditure is worth it. Think it is? Go for it. Think it isn't? Don't.

OMGS.. Chrissi.. I was pretty certain I was so tired that what I was trying to convey would come across as gobbledygook.. but.. from what your saying.. it feels to me like you heard me and understood what I was trying to say! (I think either you're psychic or *I* lucked out!)

~Rachel

menty666 · #**132** 2010-10-21, 1:15pm

I've written one tutorial, and I don't feel the least bit guilty charging 20.00 for it. The way I see it, what you're buying from me is less an ebook and more a quick lesson, for a fairly reasonable price. Add in that I, like most other author's I've bought tutorials from, also offer "after-care", offering to answer questions related to the tutorial.

In addition to demonstrating a technique, I also included some helpful tips and sourcing info for various tools and parts.

I think it depends on how you think about it really. If you look at it as 20 pages of information, then ok, maybe it's overpriced a little. If, however, you consider what you might otherwise spend for a similar hour of the author's time to show you in person, it's a bargain.

Plus, I really saw precious little by way of return on mine since I donated all the money I made on it for the first 6 weeks (I think...it may have been a full two months) to the AGLF lawsuit mess, and since sales dropped off on it, it really hasn't made me much at all. Maybe 20.00. Maybe.

For what it's worth, this is from my tutorial regarding passing along your copy:

"My one request is that you don't share or copy this tutorial. If you want to pass along your singular copy and delete yours once you're done learning, you're welcome to do so. In the interest of fairness, if someone's interested in purchasing a copy please respect the work I put into this tutorial send them my way to buy their own copy."

Does that mean I'm going to go nuts on someone if they happen to mention what size holes I have on my mold? No, of course not. Frankly in many cases I'd just tell you if you caught me on a good day. But if I were learning some secret of dealing with a particularly hard to use glass from a tutorial, ok, I might respect the author's request not to divulge that. If nothing else, keeping it tough to work with gives ME a marketing edge.

cadia · #**133** 2010-10-21, 3:50pm

On a happy note and somewhat related~ I just learned you can share a Kindle eBook up to 6 times, this is done by letting a trusted friend/relative log into your kindle account to download the book ( as with iTunes) so that "trusted " circle of friends etc that you might lend a book to, you can share a eBook with! Perfect, iThink!!

chrissij · #**134** 2010-10-21, 5:18pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by pittypat

ok, Chrissij, now I want that recipe!! You had me drooling...or you can overnight one to me!!!LOL...Pat

Cake:

Pillsbury white cake mix; the four egg white way; leave the eggs out on the counter so that they're room temperature when you get around to making the cake.

Soak the silver cake thingees; Pam the cake pans.

Preheat the oven to 25 degrees less than the directions say.

Put the mix in the blender first, turn the blender on so any lumps get worked out.

Then add the water and 2 capfuls of pure almond flavoring.

Mix it a little.

Then add the egg whites.

Mix it a lot; you want the batter to look voluminous, and kinda' airy.

Then add the oil. (I forgot the oil one time, and as I was pouring the mix into the cake pans, I thought, "that doesn't look right", looked over...and there, on the counter, was my measuring cup with the 1/4 cup oil I had forgotten to add. So, I scraped everything back into the mixing bowl, added the oil, and mixed it up again. I've added the oil last ever since.)

Mix it heaps, until it's really smooth. (This can be over done, and the cake will be a bit flatter if you do over do it, but you'll figure out what it's supposed to look like over time.)

Put the water saturated silver cake thingees on the pans.

Bake for the least amount of time recommended on the box.

Let them cool for about 5 minutes, and then flip them out onto two separate plates. One, of course, will become your cake, and the other should have wax paper on it so that it doesn't stick to the plate and you can flip it onto the other layer easily.

While they're baking make your icing and your pineapple filling.

The pineapple filling is made from a small can of Dole crushed pineapple.

Drain the pineapple juice into a pot.

Mix probably about a teaspoon and a half of cornstarch into the juice. (I just eyeball it.)

Add the pineapple into the pot.

Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until it thickens.

Set aside.

The icing is:

4 tablespoons of white Crisco

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 capfuls of almond flavoring

1 box of powdered sugar

However much Carnation evaporated milk it takes until the icing is the consistency you like.

When you're done with that, take a spoonful of your icing, put it into a cup, and add evaporated milk to it until you have soupy icing. You're going to paint this on your still warm cake edges so that they don't get crispy/stale while you're waiting on the cake to be cool enough to frost.

When you're frosting the cake:

Put icing on the bottom layer, top that layer with the pineapple, put the second cake layer on, frost it.

PittsGlass · #**135** 2010-10-21, 5:37pm

Who could have guessed at how yummy this thread would get

Thanks for your baking tricks!

Kevan · #**136** 2010-10-21, 5:40pm

I'm just shocked Chris eats Crisco.

jamie lynne · #**137** 2010-10-21, 5:43pm

Funny, Kevan, that was my first thought too! For a girl that eats veg burgers, the crisco is kinda shocking.

Moth · #**138** 2010-10-21, 5:47pm

Crisco is vegetable shortening...why are you surprised?

jamie lynne · #**139** 2010-10-21, 5:48pm

It's fattening.

Chrissi is an itty bitty.

Moth · #**140** 2010-10-21, 5:50pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaF

And by the way, when you take a class, you end up having to write your own tutorial anyway since the teachers do not give the directions in writing.

Actually--I do give the directions in writing. The basis for all my tutorials was the multi-page booklets of complete class notes I hand out to each student in class. When I'm teaching I want people to watch me demo...not rapidly scribble unreadable notes and miss important steps in the scramble.

Just sayin'. LOL
~~Mary

pittypat · #**141** 2010-10-21, 5:55pm

Thank you so much, Chrissi!! I am going to the store now...your tip will be in the mail!!
Pat

LisaF · #**142** 2010-10-21, 10:25pm

Mary - That is really nice of you to hand out written directions in your classes. By the way, I have several of your tutorials and love them. However, speaking from my own experience of having taken many, many classes, in not a single one were we given any written instructions at all. I think you are the exception.

Why am I so hungry for cake now?

Kevan · #**143** 2010-10-21, 11:29pm

Crisco isn't as bad as it used to be. They took the trans fat out.

Moth · #**144** 2010-10-22, 4:58am

Lisa, that surprises me! It really does. I thought most teachers did that. I would have thought it was the exception NOT to. I just do what I would want done for me if I was the student.

~~Mary

chrissij · #**145** 2010-10-22, 6:10am

How would one make icing without Crisco?

slcuniques · #**146** 2010-10-22, 7:55am

Hi Melodie, I've been sitting here reading this whole thread and one thing that really sticks out is a comment you made about ownership. Can't remember which post it was now, but....

You commented that once you printed a tutorial out, it becomes yours.
Copyrights do not get transfered to the buyer. The hard copy you print is yours, yes, but the contents in that print out will always belong to the author unless they sell that copyright or content. Just like a DVD movie. When you view them, it plainly states in the very beginning, THE FBI prohibits the reproduction or duplication of this product etc etc.. That doesn't mean you can't take that movie over to a friends house and watch it with others. You can resell that original copy but you can't make copies and resell them. That's piracy and against the law on copyright material.
Before I wrote and published my 4 tutorials I did a lot of research and talked to our lawyer about my rights as the author.
In all legality, when you make a printed copy, you actually have to have permission from the author to do so. Most tutorial writers have that permission in their edocument/tutorial. Then your printed copy becomes the original. Copyright laws protect that document from being multi-reproduced for resale, so yes and no... The hard belongs to you, but the content of it does not.

yellowbird · #**147** 2010-10-22, 7:59am

[[/b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrissij

How would one make icing without Crisco?

butter

gemsinbloom · #**148** 2010-10-22, 8:06am

I love this thread, now we are chatting about cake!

glassactcc · #**149** 2010-10-22, 9:29am

I only hand out written instructions for one bead technique in my class. I really think it has to do with the level that is being taught. For a beginner class, I think it would be feasible to have a general handout for the basics of bead making. When an advanced class is taught, which is what I teach, it would be impossible to hand out written instruction for everything that is covered. It would be like handing out six or seven tutorials. There is so much that I cover in my classes and techniques that are in depth and complicated, it just would not be doable.

I did think about giving a tutorial on one of the beads that I was covering in the class, but then I thought that would not be nice for the people in the class that had already paid for the written tutorial previously.

Moth · #**150** 2010-10-22, 10:46am

I'm not sure I understand that, Cynthia. They are paying for the information, not the printed out papers. If you are teaching it anyway, what difference does it make if it is printed out and given to the students? You are showing in person how to do it so the construction is revealed already...that is the meat of the tutorial.

Obviously, if the students had already purchased the tutorial and STILL wanted to take your class (I mean---who wouldn't? LOL) they aren't going to be territorial about what you are handing out. You already revealed it--what's the difference? I don't know- maybe I'm nuts.

Anyway, I only popped in here because something happened in the family room and gave me a new thought. Someone (and it has happened to more than just this one someone) lost the digital files of the tutorials they had purchased. A computer crash, a virus...I've heard of lots of ways these things get 'gone'. Tutorial authors popped right into the thread with the 'we will replace that tutorial- just let me know if you're missing one of mine'. I think that's pretty cool. I lost my Tonbodama book at a glass event. It just walked home with somebody else. Guess what- nobody was offering to send me a new copy of my lost book. LOL Darn it--that would have been sweeeet.

Just goes to show that you aren't paying for the file (not really)...you are paying for the know-how.

~~Mary