Writing a guide need moderator

[aftertaste]

I'm writing a dvd ripping guide that I would like to see on doom9. I have a few questions. First, is Microsoft Word an exceptable format? Second, as far as the screenshots go, i'm importing them directly into MS Word. Is there a certain resolution i need to make these screenshts before I import them into my .doc file. And last, how do I go about getting this guide on doom9's site? I imagine one of u will proof read and make a decision. Also will someone from doom9 help me edit and makes certain changes?

[Kaizen]

See the 'submission' part of this page: http://www.doom9.org/contact_info.htm and it will reach the right people.

I think html would be preferred by them, perhaps .rtf.

I'm not sure but I think its a start. Noticed that someone hadn't replied. Figured I should help.

[aftertaste]

I can save a .rtf within MS word so if thats what they want then its an easy conversion on my part.

[jeremymacmull]

thats fine but surely if you save as RTF u lose the screenshots as i thought RTF was only text

word can export to HTML too u know and that would be better surely

JEREMY MACMULL

[Scipio]

word can export to HTML too u know and that would be better surely

do yourself a favor and don't do HTML export with MS Word. It's full of Microsoft's "own" HTML-addons that you end up with a blown-up document that only Internet Explorer will display correctly...


as for the actual question:

I wonder what your guide would be about? Doom9 is always interested in improving guides, not in duplicating existing guides. You should really read through his guides and ask yourself if you can bring anything *new* into these guides. Chances that something like "yet another gordianknot guide" will be available on Doom9.org tend to zero.

So:
- what's your guide about? DVD-Rip to which format?
- what does it offer in addition to Doom9's guides?
- why should Doom9 host it? (it has to offer something new)


and finally: if you've just got little improvements, it would be better to tell them to Doom9 than to rewrite 90% of an existing guide and just add 10% of new stuff to it.

[aftertaste]

well the guide is simply for Main Movie only rips using cce and scenarist. In my opinion its better then any guide available for this option. Not only will it make the most compatable dvd but is written in a manner which someone with no knowledge will be able to understand. Covers everything from installing the software to explaining why certain audio streams should be kept or left out to burning. See in my opinion the rob shot method is a waste of time. I have found that by doing a total of 4 passes you never get any gray areas that need attention. So why should someone just starting out try to learn something so complex (to them anyways) when its just not necessary to achive the same quality. Basically what it comes down to is this. I'm sick of sending buddies to the doom9 guides and having them come back to me with questions that should have been answered in the guides. I end up sitting there teaching them from scratch. I want to design what i like to call a noobie guide which explains everything right down to installing the software so i can spend more time encoding rather then teaching. Now don't get me wrong the guides available here have taught me alot and they get my upmost respect. However none seem to break things down as simply as mine. If you have just a touch of computer knowledge you should be able to follow my guide and start making movies without filling the fourms with questions that have been answered a 100 times. Reguradless if doom9 hosts my guide it will be a great tool for me to hand out to friends. Which in turn will save me hours and hours of my time.

[Scipio]

I see...

so that's not a bad idea. Doom9 tries to guide the user through all important steps but nobody is perfect. Perhaps you could take his Scenarist/CCE guide and improve on that rather than writing from scratch?

The idea behind this is re-using stuff that you would write just or nearly the same. If you send in an improved guide, Doom9 can integrate this guide more easily without having two guide that describe nearly the same things but "only" in a different style (more newbie-friendly).

So if you want to help and make it easier for Doom9, you could and should re-use stuff of his guides and extend/abridge existing guides. Even a completely new guide is nothing bad, but as I said above: Then, 2 guides for the same thing would ask the possible newbie for yet another chance: which guide shall I choose? multiple guides for the exact same purpose/method are not in Doom9's interest.

so again: "recycling" is better, saves you time and chances are greater that it can be integrated into the guides without too much effort. :)


(edit: just noticed that I said the same thing three times... I hope you get my point better that way. don't want to keep you from writing a new guide... just wanna help you ;))

[aftertaste]

Yeah I see what your saying. However my guide is nearly complete. And I must say it has turned out quite nice. All in outline format making it so easy to work your way through. Right now i am in the middle of adding a few feaures like - explaining the difference between PAL and NTSC, adding avi scripts covering the 2 formats, and explaining the difference between using lossless avis and importing a script file. Originally I was gonna make it straight forward covering only the steps I use to make movie only DVDs. As I went along in the process I found it necessary to explain alt. options to give users a more diversely angled guide. Users shouldn't have to read through 2 or 3 guides to figure out how to do something alittle different to suit their needs. Which is exactly what I found myself doing in the beginning. Making Movie Only DVDs is like a tree. You can branch out in many directions along the way depending on your personal situation and achive the same quality finish. Its confusing enough for a beginner to go straight down the main trunk of the tree let alone trying to branch off as they go using different guides. Explaining different options within the same guide is the only true way to write a guide that is diverse enough to walk a beginner through.

[Scipio]

when it's finished you could post the guide here - or a link to a website where you have the guide.

about choices: keep in mind that - for newbies - choices are a bad idea, since they make the guide seem more complicated... but for understanding purposes it's good to mention branches of the tree. simplicity is often the result of cutting options of a complex subject.

[aftertaste]

I had to edit my last post to better explain branching for beginners. I feel it is necessary for even the beginner to make a few simple choices if explained in a manner which they can follow. A beginner should be able to choose either using a lossless avi or importing a script and what they will lose or gain from doing either. They should be able to decide on their own if they will benifit from keeping a DTS stream. Understanding what would be better if dealing with a movie thats over 2hrs long or a movie with alot of action. Some people may perfer to have better sound quality rather then video quality. These things need to be explaind before tackling the process. For example one of the guides explains that if your stream is 98% film you should run force film and leave out telecide and decimate. This is not true. And users should be aware of why you should only force film if you have a 100% pure FILM. Is it "good enough" at 98%. Well maybe for some it is but the simple fact is there are a few frames within that video stream that need to be fixed. I am a perfectionist to the highest degree and i know many other people that first start out want to make the best backup possible. Why should they have to read 3 guides to get the most out of it. As far as i know none of your movie only guides explain that if you don't author a dvd in a way that creates a video_ts file your backup may not play back on certain standalones. I made about 50 movies using ifoedit then one day realized they won't play on a number of standalones because I wasn't creating a video_ts file. Not to mention people know things that I don't. They read my guide and say "hey i got a better or faster way of doing that". Great, I'll not only start doing it that way but I will also re edit my guide to incorporate new and better ways of doing things. Again i'm not trying to put down the guides on doom9 for they have taught me alot. I'm just trying to better explain the movie only process and incorporate things that I believe were either left out or watered down to make it easier.