Dear readers,
Ash and myself will be on holiday this week, so the blog will not be updated until 6th July, at the earliest.
The replies we get to our posts are encouraging signs that we're providing a worthwhile service to the Maya community. That said, we both feel there is room for improvement. I haven't discussed with Ash what changes could be made to the blog to increase our readership, so I'll keep my thoughts to myself until we've had time to catch up.
In the meantime, you can do something for us. I invite you to spend a couple of minutes thinking about this blog. What could we do better....? I've prepared a few questions I'd like you to consider, but your thoughts and comments on any aspect of this fledgling project are - it goes without saying - more than welcome.
1) How did you come across this blog ?
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
3) How often do you visit ?
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ?
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ?
Leave a comment at the end of this post, or contact me directly if you're not the sharing type.
Thanks all !! See you next week..
Owen
owen.burgess@autodesk.com
Subscribe
1) How did you come across this blog ?
You told me about it.
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
I am.
3) How often do you visit ?
No need to, it all comes via RSS
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
I have, I've posted it to the Maya discussion newsgroup at work for example.
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
I think so, yes.
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
Apart from the Mental Ray stuff, yes.
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
I think you do a very good job of covering all technical aspects of Maya.
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
Yes.
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ?
Nothing. The posts are informative, concise and exactly the kind of things that TDs come across every day.
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ?
I know what you do, not sure about Ash.
Posted by: Andrew Whitehurst | 27/06/2009 at 08:02 PM
1) How did you come across this blog ?
I think I saw it posted on a listserve
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
yup
3) How often do you visit ?
Every time there is a post... Magic of RSS reader....
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
not yet. But not that I wouldn't want to.
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
yes
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
hit and miss. Lost of stuff on MR rendering, which isn't a big part of my dev (games)
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
tips and tricks, which you already do. So carry on.
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
haven't tried, since I've been reading it from the beginning.
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ?
so far so good.
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ?
uh....er..... um.....
Posted by: Eric Pavey | 28/06/2009 at 12:47 AM
1) How did you come across this blog ?
I found it as a shared item from one of my professional TD friends
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
Yup!
3) How often do you visit ?
Every day
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
My entire Digital Animation class at UC Berkeley (I'm the instructor)
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
Yup
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
70% of the time, other times its too technical
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
More MEL and rigging tricks.
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
Yup!
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ?
Nada
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ?
uh..... no.
Posted by: Ben | 28/06/2009 at 01:58 AM
1) How did you come across this blog ?
From a link in CGSociety forums.
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
Yes
3) How often do you visit ?
Everytime I get an RSS update.
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
Not yet.
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
Honestly, no.
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
Yes and no, we all don't work on the same things.
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
More on MEL, and bring Python out of the woodworks. It seems to just be sitting there and could make life easier if it was pushed a bit more. Also, it would be nice to get some idea of what is being worked on to fix or improve on well-known issues Maya in the next version. Finally, a list of say, the top 5 or 10 most reported bugs would do a world of good so I know it's not just me having a problem and that a fix is being worked on.
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
Pretty much.
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ? Other than the tiny font on the sides, it works pretty well.
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ? Plan holidays?
Posted by: Cesar | 28/06/2009 at 06:42 AM
1) How did you come across this blog ?
CG Talk forums.
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
Yes.
3) How often do you visit ?
Every time I get an RSS update.
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
Yes, my colleagues.
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
Yes.
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
Sometimes. Didn't think much of the "What is mia and mib stand for ?" post, but loved the post about "How to update material assignments on a referenced model" and "Create simple collisions without dynamics (or MEL)", and the ones regarding the render captions. The tips and tricks are great. Not so much interested in what acronyms stand for ;)
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
I am interested mainly in rigging, animation, lighting & rendering, so anything regarding these topics would be great.
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
Never tried.
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ?
No, seems to work for me.
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ?
No.
Posted by: Geoff | 28/06/2009 at 12:08 PM
1) How did you come across this blog ?
I really can't remember, maybe CGTakj
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
Yes
3) How often do you visit ?
Whenever a post is made
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
Yes
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
Yes
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
Yes, especially the rendering issues
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
I know AD won't allow it, but bug progress or planned future updates on where Maya is heading would be nice but I doubt it.
A cool thing to have would be a "question of the week" where someone writes in as a question and it's answered on the blog
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
Yes
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ?
Not really.
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ?
No. Maya support???
Posted by: KM | 29/06/2009 at 05:34 AM
1) How did you come across this blog ?
Don't remember, i think a search engine result turned up one of your posts.
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
what's RSS?
3) How often do you visit ?
Daily
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
Yes
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
Not immediately
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
yes
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
I'm interested in any and all maya info!
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
average
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ?
nope
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ?
no
Posted by: rob k | 29/06/2009 at 03:22 PM
1) How did you come across this blog ?
I think it was a link on The Area or The Annex
2) Are you subscribed to the RSS feed ?
not yet
3) How often do you visit ?
Every couple of days
4) Have you recommended this blog to anyone?
Yes
5) Is it clear that this site is a service provided by Maya Support specialists?
Not immediately
6) Is the content relevant to the kind of issue you face on a regular basis ?
yes
7) What other aspects of the software would you like to see covered ?
It great to get a range of maya info as you're providing but I'd like to see more info on mental ray for maya as in tips and tricks
8) Are previous posts easy to find ?
yes
9) Would you have us change the way we present the content of the blog ?
I think it works well but you could categorize items in modeling, surfacing, lighting etc.
10) Have you any idea what Ash and I do all day besides blogging ?
no
Posted by: steve | 30/06/2009 at 07:03 PM