Too much information?

This isn't exactly a building tip, but it's a question about building tips, and one that really only applies to content creators, so I feel it fits here. If you don't agree, then sorry.

So, a little while ago, I created a Youtube channel (Shameless plug: http://youtube.com/user/BlenderSL ), and use it to host free video tutorials for Blender in conjunction with SL (Mostly sculpties, but also a few other things as I think of them/they come up). I'm also working on a website right now, and will be increasing the amount of content continually, until I can think of nothing more to add (Never.).

My question is, am I at risk of giving out too much information, and angering content creators? So far, I've mainly covered just the basics, but I'm starting to get into more and more advanced techniques, and will be covering everything that I think I'm knowledgeable about enough to share, really, even if considered a very advanced technique. I feel that some creators may become angry if I share information that's too advanced, as they feel like I'm telling people how to create something too specific, or something they feel they earned the knowledge of from time and hard work. Do you think this could become an issue?

Just to be clear, I don't steal techniques or ideas, and if I use info I learned from someone else, then I divulge my teacher (Such as in a recent tutorial, I showed Gaia's technique for creating a cube in 8 steps. I didn't ask permission <Just now thought that maybe I should'be, oops>, but I did cite where I learned it, and added a notation with a link to her site.). I don't intend to show techniques for an entire specific product, but I could be showing techniques for general ideas, as well as techniques to mimic looks of things that are on the market in SL. Everything I teach is something I figured out, or learned from other publicly accessible info/tutorials.

I don't want to anger anyone, but I also want to share all the information I can, and wouldn't feel right asking for someone to pay for the information, so it's completely free and accessible to the public.

In your opinion, could I run into some issues here, or make a lot of content creators angry if I share too much info?

The information you're talking about is about tools and techniques. Creation is about using tools and techniques to produce tangible things. If you teach a writer how to use a word processor, or a cabinetmaker how to sharpen a plane, you haven't done anything to diminish the creativity of other writers and cabinetmakers. You have, in fact, enriched the creative community by helping a new artist enter. We each do our own thing with the tools. What's there to get angry about?

My very personal opinion on this is, that knowledge is essential for improvement. And knowledge itself is only of value, if it is used. You can use knowledge and improve on your own, or you can decide to share it and spread it.

I decided to share it and spread it. So for me it is absolutely ok, if you take my ideas and spread them even further around. By the way, the idea of how to make a cube in 8 steps originaly came from... well, Domino told me, how to do that ))

So... what i get back is so much of improvement for my own benefit. So it is up to me to make profit out of that. Look, if you tell the world, how you do make furr in blender ... others will pick that up and improve and eventually give back, and what comes out there is potentially something you never thought of... Like ina's cloth example earlier this day, i was impressed and of course i will look at that later and try to use it for my own stuff, sure, why not ?

I know, there are other opinions and those opinions are reasonable. People spend really lot of time to invent something, so they want to keep it a secret in order to not let others make benefit from their work.

And the problem i can see, is that if you find out something, that somebody else has also found but kept as a secret, now the big argumentations start (stolen idea or unintentional duplicate invention?) I dont know how to deal with that

The only thing i never will do, is to tell others about something that i was told under the assurence to keep it secret. otherwise i feel free to tell my opinion about almost anything.
If that unintentionally uncovers hidden secrets i swear i do not know about that and i guess the same is true for you, no ?

So i do appreciate open and free knowledge transfer and i hope your project will succeed. And i would definitively appreciate, if you would also link the machinimatrix videos into your database

good luck to you,
Gaia

I wouldn't even think of it!
Imagine you will be opening doors for so many people to evolve, become interested, better their skills.
I know how helpful some one teaching me things has helped and turned me onto things I didn't know or didn't know how to do.
I could see how some ppls could cop attitudes, it's SL.
Stay vague
and/or specific if a person allows it, giving credit where credit is due.

My only suggestion is: PLEASE BOOST THE AUDIO A BIT! XD

So far... these tutorials are great, give me the information I've been wanting/needing in a way I can understand, and really look nice. (^_^)

If people are afraid that the world is learning their "secret handshake"... Boo to them. (=_=)y

I learned scripting in the Scripting Tips forums primarily because of one man; Newgate Ludd. He is no longer here but in the time he was he helped countless people. He once confided in me that other scripters gave him a hard time because they did not want the competition. His stance was that the truly creative in any skill want others to learn and he did not let it deter him. Because of him, several new generations of scripters have stepped up to the plate and helped new people learn. We discuss in great detail even the most advanced techniques and tricks without caring what a handful of sad excuses for humanity think.

I would hope that everyone would adopt such an attitude.

Keira, it's really nice of you to be so concerned, but please, don't be. You're offering a valuable service to the public, of which you should be proud. Whether you're offering it freely, or charging for your teaching services, or whatever, you've got every right to share your knowledge any way you see fit. Feel sorry for anyone who might say otherwise. Don't let them make you second guess yourself.

The truth is that anyone who would knowingly withhold information on technique, simply because they're "afraid of competition" is operating from a point of shortsighted, selfish weakness. If one is confident in one's abilities, one should always welcome competition. After all, it is only by competing that we become the best we can be at whatever it is we do. If I build a better mousetrap today, and no one else ever learns to build one that is equally good or better than mine tomorrow, it's unlikely I'll ever be inspired to improve any further than I already have. That limits not only my own personal growth, but the entire state of mousetrap building itself. I owe it to myself and to everyone else in the world to let others learn from me, just as I continue to learn from others. That's what makes the world go 'round, as they say.

Dr. Stephen Covey calls it the "abundance mentality" vs. the "scarcity mentality". People with the scarcity mentality see life as a kind of pie. If they get a big slice of it, they feel good. If someone else gets a bigger slice, they feel bad. It's a fairly depressing outlook. People with the abundance mentality, on the other hand, realize there's plenty to go around for everyone. Everybody gets their own pie. If someone else cuts out a big old giant slice of their pie and enjoys eating it, you can feel truly happy for that person. You understand that his slice doesn't in any way diminish your pie at all. You can still slice off as much as you want of your own.

If that sort of positive outlook is lost on anyone, then here are some equally good self-interest-based reasons to share as much information as you can:

1. We all need more customers.

The more compelling the SL world is, the more people it will attract. The more residents, the larger the customer base, the more business we all can do. In order for us to have as many customers as possible, the world needs to be as attractive as it can be to the largest possible audience, and for that, we need for as many existing residents as possible to learn how to make good-looking, exciting, entertaining content.

It's the oldest play in the retail sales book. If people stop to look, they'll stay to buy. We all need for the general public to be intrigued enough by what they see and experience in SL to want to explore more and more, until they eventually find us (or we find them). Otherwise, we've got no chance at all of ever selling them anything at all.

With that in mind, we've got very little to lose by sharing our knowledge, and potentially everything to gain. It's pretty much a no-brainer. Sharing means we all win. I don't know about you, but I'd rather compete with a hundred other creators for a customer than have a hundred less customers that I don't even get a shot at. In that it propels industry forward, competition is ALWAYS good for business.


2. Teaching others always makes you better at what you do.

Pick up any self-help book worth the paper it's printed on (many of the are not, but some are), and you'll find that one of the first things it will say will be something to the effect of "As you're reading and learning this material, teach it to someone else as soon as you possibly can. If all you do is study it, you'll absorb SOME of what you read. But if you teach it to someone else, you'll learn it all."

That's an age-old principle of how our brains work. We're social animals. We don't do well in isolation. We thrive on communication. When we explain something to someone else, we formulate and crystallize our thinking on the subject in way that we never would were we just to keep the information to ourselves. No matter how well we think we know a topic, we don't REALLY know it until we've discussed it with someone. That's just how we tick.

This concept is as applicable to SL content creation as it is to anything else. Want an example? I'll give you one, me. You see, contrary to what a lot of people who approach me these days seem to think, I wasn't born with a silver graphics card in my hand. I had to struggle through learning what I now know, just like everyone else. Want to know what have been some of my best sources for learning? This forum and others like it.

That may sound a little odd if you've read my posts, since 99.9% of the time I'm answering questions, not asking them. But think about it in relation to what I just said. We learn best by teaching. Every so often someone will post a question that it never before occurred to me to think about. The question intrigues me, so I'll figure out the answer, and then post it. End result, we all learn something new. Multiply that by all the years I've been doing this, and the inevitable result is someone who APPEARS to instinctively know as much as people tell me I seem to.

I'm sure that anyone who spends as much time answering questions as I do would have a very similar story. As much as I really do enjoy helping others learn, I do benefit from the process just as much, if not more, than the people whose questions I answer.


3. If you afraid to share, you're proving you aren't really very good at what you do.

Allow me to quote a story from Bob Richards, two-time Olympic gold medalist:



Got that? Great people will share their knowledge. Those who refuse to share are usually afraid that if they do, then they'll no longer be "on top". Well, if it's really true that the only thing keeping you up there is the fact that no one else (yet) has mastered the same skills as you, then you're not really on top anyway. It's an illusion, nothing more. Sooner or later someone will come along to dethrone you, with or without your direct influence.

You want to be on top for real? Innovate. Embrace the fact that anyone could master those same skills, and then forget all about it. Come up with something that is uniquely you.

To use myself as an example, I'll say this. Like everyone else in the world, I've got a few things I'm good at, and a whole universe of things I'm not so good at. Am I the least bit afraid it will hurt me in any way if I help others to get good at the same things I'm good at? Not at all. Because even if I share every last bit of information I've ever learned, I know that no one else will do exactly what I do. My customers hire me because I'm me. While there are plenty of other talented artists out there who could deliver equally good work, neither the work itself nor the interaction will be quite the same if a client hires one of them. I'm confident enough in my ability to deliver a quality product and an enjoyable experience for my customers that I simply don't care how many others out there can also create good content.

Anyone who lacks that confidence will cause themselves to fail sooner or later. Want to know the best way to develop it? Share what you know, and discover first hand that it hasn't hurt you. In fact, you'll find just the opposite. You'll benefit enormously from the process.


4. What goes around comes around. Reputation goes a long way.

I can't tell you how much work I've gotten from people who have read my posts here. It happens all the time. A potential client will contact me to tell me how much they appreciate that I take the time to help others, and "by the way" they've also got this project they want to talk to me about.

I don't go actively seeking that, of course. But it does happen. And it sure feels good when it does.

Call it Karma, or reciprocity, or "do unto others", or what have you. The simple fact is you get back what you send out. The great Zig Zigglar said it best, I think. "You'll get everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want."

Always share knowledge, spread it around. There is always room for more innovation and creation. Not everyone wants to build! Some want to buy and that is fine and well. I am grateful for every last little thing as to the greatest things each person who has taken the time to teach me has tauhgt. I try to pass on what little I know and I know we are all greater for it.

Keep it up Keira- it's great stuff.

/me admires Keira.

Bahaha yeah! My newest tutorial has stronger audio, because Movie Maker finally decided to let me edit the volume. I won't be going back and fixing the others, though. Too much time would be spent uploading, and I have a limited amount of time at the moment.


You have got to be the only person I would ever read that much text from. Thank you XD


And to all others, thank you ^-^

Coolies... Thank you for not finishing your videos with a screaming zombie. =^-^=

Share all you can, there are a few things I'll never give away, but on the whole, the basics are good enough to get people thinking of better ways to do things.

Also, just because people have access to knowledge required to do some stuff, it doesn't mean they have the creativity to do anything worthwhile with it.

Me, for example. (^_^)y

No.

Socrates would be proud of you.

Like lots other people have said already you doing good.

While your tutorials cover complex subjects, they only complex for people who dont know how to do them. Like me and many others at my skill level. Complex is subjective though. Whenever Im in a sandbox and show a new person how to cut and torture 2 prims and then link them together they just go wow! and when they learn how to drop in a script that moves them, then is way more than wow! As many people who help others can also attest.

Some people will say this is easy-peasy stuff and not complex at all. It is though when you dont how to do it. So if anyone has a problem with your tuts then they also have a problem with every person helping others in sandboxes and places to even learn the basics. And says more about them than anything else.

And also like others have mentioned, having a hammer and chisel and knowing which one to use to bang in nails with doesnt make us architects or even carpenters. Even though we hope to get to that stage one day hopefully maybe.

So ya, keep up the good work please =)