Guinea pigs of all abilities are sought: those of you who feel you know the pen tool inside and out, those who have used it but feel a little mystified by a few things and those who haven't (or wouldn't) touch the pen tool with a 10-foot pole. Please be advised that, because the tutorial is based exclusively on Photoshop CS2, it is not a comprehensive overview of the almighty pen tool.
A few requirements for prospective guinea pigs:
*You must have Adobe Acrobat 6.0+ and Adobe Photoshop 6.0+
*You must have at least a beginner's knowledge of how graphics programs work. This means you understand layers, transparency, basic controls and fancy lingo like "marching ants."
*You should be willing to supply constructive criticism with an eye towards making the tutorial as user-friendly and informative as possible. This means that if you've got a suggestion, you will spell it out clearly - no "The explanations were too long" or "I didn't get the thing about the marching ants and why they're bad."
*You are capable of performing a beta test in a timely fashion, two weeks tops, and willing to engage in further dialogue with myself (if necessary) about improvements via e-mail or IM, also in a timely manner.
*You aren't going to pass the beta tutorial or its contents around. Once it's up on a-m-v.org, it will (still) be copyrighted, but available for whomever wants to download it with my best wishes.
One last thing: I asked before and got a few responses, but I'll ask again: I'm looking for editors who employed the pen tool (for whatever purpose - masks, effects, whatever) and would like to have their AMVs used as good examples of the tool's benefits. All you need to do is supply me with a link to your video and brief explanation of what, exactly, you were up to. While it's possible - in some cases - to tell when someone's used the pen tool, I'm not going to go appropriating people's AMVs for this tutorial without permission. I could just use my own stuff, but that would be boring.
I'm also seeking AMVs from editors that did not use the pen tool where they should have - and it shows.
I plan on finishing the tutorial this week, with testing to begin this coming weekend or early next week (barring weird real life calamities). Questions, comments or "sign me up as a guinea pig" should be sent to driftroot@animemusicvideos.org.
Thanks much in advance!
All I need is a ten-foot pole...
