Videos vs diagrams is a topic that I have thought about quite a bit. I often teach origami to beginners and I frequently hear the refrain that they tried to learn from books but they got stuck at some point and gave up. The analogy I like to use is that learning to read diagrams is a lot like learning to read music. You have to learn what the notation and descriptions mean, then you can interpret most of the things that you see.
I usually also rank the ease of learning for different methods, easiest to hardest: 1. From someone in-person 2. High quality* video 3. Good diagrams 4. Low quality video 5. Poor diagrams * There are many factors that play into video quality including, but not limited to, resolution, lighting, editing, perspective, speed, teaching style, language, captions and additional information such as diagrams, etc. My personal strong preference is for diagrams, but I understand why videos are attractive, particularly for beginners (in much the same way that video instruction or tablature is attractive to beginning guitar [or banjo] players). It is a short cut that skips the step of learning to interpret diagrams, which does take some time and effort. However, one of the biggest issues I have with videos is that they are almost never going to be paced at the same speed as the folder. The video is probably going to be faster or slower. If the video is faster, it is easy enough (if a little tedious) to pause and restart as necessary, although this sometimes requires backing the video up if it is not paused before the next step is being executed. However, when the folder is faster than the video, it can be quite frustrating because trying to skip ahead in the video can sometimes miss a step or two along the way, since youtube does not have an easy way to delineate the start of each discrete step. I think this can be accomplished by the creator adding annotations that link to specific times in the video, but this seems like it would be very tedious to do with the current tools available. However, I can imagine having links or the upper left and right for "previous step" and "next step". (This is where http://www.origamiplayer.com/ is kind of awesome, but it does not have the full flexibility of actual video.) In contrast, diagrams are paced at whatever speed you want to look at them, with the hidden advantage that each diagram step serves more than one purpose because it not only tells you what you should do next, but it also told you what the model should look like at the end of the prior step, with only the important details visible and clearly indicated. Another major difference is quantity, variety, and organization. There are probably hundreds of origami tutorial videos around now, but there are thousands and thousands of diagrams models. It is also easier for me to browse through my book collection than it is to try to sift through the available videos and find a good tutorial for something I would like to fold. All of these factors may improve over time, but right now diagrams win by sheer quantity. Diagrams are quiet. I often fold in public places, such as waiting rooms, and I do not like to disturb others, so I will sometimes try to follow a video tutorial without sound (since I frequently do not want to wear headphones, either) and some videos work in that situation, but others depend on the verbal description and are not usable in that situation. Diagrams, however, always work. Both video and diagrams can vary quite a bit in quality, but I generally feel that the average quality of published diagrams is higher than the average quality of published videos. There are a few video producers out there who do a great job, but there are others that are lackluster, sometimes due to factors that are beyond their control. There are just a lot of ways a video can be of poor quality. Lighting, speed, visibility of the paper under the hands, viewing angles to verify steps are correct, resolution, etc. When I recommend that people look for videos, I usually specify some of the sources I trust because finding a bad video is very discouraging. One of the big advantages of video is the ability to show complex (3D) steps and collapses in motion. This is probably the weakest area for diagrams as perspective sketches or photographs have to be provided and sometimes it can be hard for someone to bridge the gap between what is drawn on the page and what they need to do to the paper to get there. And finally (I mean, who would read all of this stuff?), I believe videos have a solid future because we are surrounded by the upcoming youtube generation. Across some other hobbies of mine, I have been somewhat frustrated because video seems to be the communication medium of choice. Instead of trying to figure out some way of writing things down to communicate ideas, many people just make a video because it is easier for them and, sometimes, easier to understand quickly, although I am a curmudgeon and easily frustrated by the wasted time of watching a blurry 3 minute video that could have been communicated with a paragraph of text and a photo or drawing. The tl;dr (too long; didn't read) generation is among us. Often the response to a "wall of text" is to just ignore it. (Trivia: one of the world's fastest Rubik's cube solvers [6.54 second average of 5 solves] decided to start "cubing" after watching videos on youtube in 2008.) tl;dr: I personally prefer diagrams and I feel they have a lot of advantages, but videos are good for beginners or complex steps and will likely continue to play an important role to the growth of origami. malachi On Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 11:54 PM, Ronald Koh <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 10/21/2014 6:23 AM, Paper Dragon wrote: >> >> I was wondering if other people had a preference between diagrams or video >> instructions? > > > My hand is raised for diagrams. I can sit anywhere with a book - in my > favourite armchair, in bed, on a park bence, on the train, the toilet sit, > etc - and fold at a pace I like. > > Ron
