I Am Back, Baby!

[Greenlaw]

Okay, I have been looking around, and I see that there are way more Moho tutorials out there, especially on YouTube…so I was wondering if it was worth the effort of making more of the same thing ???

Hi Giles!

I think it depends on your goal and what your interests are. Do you find the existing tutorials on YouTube lacking in any way? Do you like to teach? Will creating your tutorials be a hobby, or are you planning to make a job out of it? These are some of the questions I asked myself last spring when I started my 'Moho-focused' animation tutorial channel, intending to make it my full-time job.

As you noted, the Moho Animation Software channel has a lot of great ‘feature walk-through’ videos, so that area is well covered. However, I felt there was room to expand on familiar topics by including my experiences using Moho to create animation for TV shows and in my own cartoon shorts. And because I like to entertain with my art, there’s a bit of silliness sprinkled in my tutorials. So, for me, making these videos has been a great creative outlet.

Making these tutorials videos is LOT OF HARD WORK, though...much more than I anticipated. Seriously, Space Tommy took about 3 weeks to plan and animate, but some of these tutorial videos took twice as long to complete! I gave myself a year to see if this was a practical career choice, to develop and improve my workflow, and to see if I even liked doing it. So far, the channel's performance and viewer response have been encouraging, and I do enjoy making these videos. I'm still unsure if this has been a smart career choice, but I have a couple of months to decide. My wife and I think it’s viable if we release one video a week, a frequency we're finally achieving, and I've been working towards getting 2-3 completed weekly. Getting a steady income for our effort seems within reach, but until that happens, I know I'll have to find other work, which will slow me down again. I'm feeling optimistic, though, and not too optoomuchstic.

I’m glad you asked this question! It’s allowed me to reflect on how I spent this past year and where I expect to be a year from now. (Forgive me if what I wrote in this post pops up in another form elsewhere.)

[GCharb]

My Moho tutorials YT channel is 14 years old, and I have been teaching animation since the 80s, teaching is a great way to learn and a great motivation tool, but it seems that there are plenty of tutorials as it is, so maybe tutorials aren't needed anymore, especially since the Lostmarble course teaches all that you need to know about Moho!

[Greenlaw]

...it seems that there are plenty of tutorials as it is, so maybe tutorials aren't needed anymore...

The 'basics' may seem well covered, but there's a lot to talk about in the 'how to' category. Moho is so flexible as an animation program that I find new and unique ways to use it every week. For now, I've been covering some basic topics in our series as a foundation for more advanced topics and techniques that I'm eager to teach. Using Moho with other programs will be a big one with me. Also, using Moho in short productions since that's my specialty.

For me, one area where I wish there were more tutorials is scripting for Moho. I think using Moho for VFX work is also underserved. (I'll probably be doing some of that, too.)

I think people like seeing how Moho is used for 'real world' work and why artists like to use it. That's the stuff a basic 'walkthrough' video can't do. And I believe every Moho artist can offer a unique spin with this approach.

[Greenlaw]

Oh, and Lost Marble keeps adding new tools and features. As obsessed as I am with Moho, even I haven't tried all of the new stuff yet. More topics for tutorials!

[GCharb]

I made two scripting tutorials back in 2011 and 2013, one basic, one more advanced...

http://gcharb2d.blogspot.com/search/label/Scripting

[Greenlaw]

Yes, and those are great! Your tutorials definitely got me started back then.

Outside of your work, there really isn't much instructional info for Moho scripting though, especially on YouTube.

[GCharb]

Professionals, like the guys at Cartoon Saloon, don't rely on tutorials, they mastered Moho on their own, the best way to learn a piece of software is to use it, not to watch someone else use it, yeah, it takes a little more time, but it's very rewarding, and it's the best way to develop your own style and workflow, like Cartoon Saloon did!

[hayasidist]

...
For me, one area where I wish there were more tutorials is scripting for Moho. I think using Moho for VFX work is also underserved. (I'll probably be doing some of that, too.)
...

IMO, Scripting needs competence in three levels:

programming concepts and practice
the Lua language and its standard libraries
the interface between Lua and Moho

It's perfectly possible to create tutorials for the first two, but there are plenty of courses and resources out there that do that.

And, at the risk over over-inflating the value of the CURRENT content of moho scripting.com , speaking personally when I get a question about a scripting function that isn't well covered by the content, I aim to update the site fill in the blanks. (There are others ) who also similarly contribute to the scripting website.) IOW - not so much a set of tutorials but more an encyclopaedia - that is as yet doesn't answer "all" the questions, but is slowly evolving in response to new questions when they are asked.

And that leads me to much the same conclusion as Gilles as to the value of new YT videos about scripting.

[GCharb]

And that leads me to much the same conclusion as Gilles as to the value of new YT videos about scripting.

I agree, at some point it becomes redundant, and the new users get lost with all the videos out there.

A good example of that is Blender, with 124K YT channels and over 600K videos, it has become nearly impossible to filter the good from the bad.

Of course Moho doesn't have as many videos, but still, with 2K YT channels and 8.6K videos, it is still a lot to filter for new users.

Which is why I always recommend new users to learn the basics, then dig into the software, learning by yourself how to use Moho is the best way to learn it IMHO.

When you learn by doing, you train your brain into figuring out the tools and what they can do on your own, instead of waiting for other users tutorials all the time, once you get used to it, you won't need to rely on tutorials anymore, and that goes for scripting as well.

Not to mention that when you rely on tutorials, at least in my experience, chances are that you will need to revisit these tutorials from time to time, but when you figure things on your own, that new-found knowledge tend to stick with you for the rest of your career !!!