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Game Developer Primer
INFORMATION OVERLOAD2 ! ! !
As a speaker and consultant, I’m often asked a simple question about the Multimedia – “What should I learn and how should I learn it?” Years back I created a laundry list of resources and would forward it to interested parties. I’ve updated the list and it is below for all to enjoy.
UPDATE: This post is from 2009 and is generally focused on Adobe Flash. It may be useful to other types of developers too.
Part of the trouble with Flash development is that ‘Flash’ can do so many things. I’m lucky to meet talented individuals from a a dozen different disciplines that all use Flash; illustrators, animators, UI designers, hard core coders, professionals, students, teachers, managers, business developers, and hobbyists.
I wanted to take a step back and provide some insight and direction for how each other’s personalities can learn from the free, cheap, (and expensive) learning resources out there. I love to learn and love to teach. Happily I get to do a bit of both each week.
With the Multimedia Primer below, and reader contributed comments below it, I hope we can turn the maze of information overload into a network of sharing to help us all meet our goals.
ULTIMATE PATH LEARNING
Luckily, there are many great resources to learn. Wikipedia is a ridiculous resource. Its goal is to house the sum of humanities knowledge and provide it for free (WOW!). While Jimmy Wales is working on that gem, take a look at the list below. I hope it helps.
The road to learning is not easy. Its easy to get burnt out on a project all day and feel lifeless to sit down at night and learn for learning sake. I invite yo to find and focus on your end goals (whatever that means for you), get inspired to build passion, and burn that passion as you work your ass off to meet your goals.
Thanks in advance to all those who helped me learn in the past and continue to fuel me in the future. If you love or hate any of my links or can suggest others, please leave a comment!
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BEST WAYS TO LEARN (ANYTHING)
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Get excited! Learning about what interests you is like swimming WITH the current.
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Get Paid to do it!If you or your manager does not allow for 20% of work time to learn, think seriously about making a major professional change and get on the trendy train of seeking more balance in your life (see # 7.5). When planning projects, don’t just take ones that are easy. Challenge yourself to accept new projects which are calculated-risks balancing familiar core concepts with some new-to-you tasks too.
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Get Pressure! Some pressure is good pressure. By placing time-sensitive criteria to specific goals ( I will learn how to float an image in CSS by the 1st day of next month), you are holding yourself accountable. We resist these types of deadlines for only one reason: We are afraid to ‘start’ something we may not finish it. Mark it on your calendar, START IT, and finish it. You’ll be far more thankful at the end of 30 days if you meet a few learning goals than if you managed to watch another dozen repeats of ‘The Office’ on TBS. (Awesome show BTW)
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Give Back! Its amazing how much you can learn by helping others. Showing someone a new technique, sharing a favorite book, or other things (like writing an amazing blog post, HAHA!) are all fantastic ways to re-learn the fundamentals, practice articulating concepts, and align your chi.
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1. Resources from RMC
Learn from the tutorial resources available for digital software and programming.
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Get Inspired By A Real-World Portfolio and fine art
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Learn to Create Your Own Blog (Video)
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Done!
2. Resources from NowAndThere.com
Learn about lifestyle design, mindfulness, work/life balance, and World Travel. Be a digital nomad!
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Be a full-time, seasoned professional traveler
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Learn a foreign language and study in county of your dreams (such as Italy)
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Make personal and professional mission statements, and annual goals (Set them, and follow-up!)
3. More Resources
INSPIRATION
GENERAL DESIGN
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Learn About Design That Doesn’t Work
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT
CONFERENCES & EVENTS
ADOBE FLASH PLATFORM
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Lee Brimlow’s GotoAndLearn.com
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http://www.kirupa.com Tutorials
ACTIONSCRIPT 3.0 (AS3)
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Best Book Ever ActionScript The Definitive Guide (ASDG), and also Essential ActionScript 3.0
ADOBE FLEX
ADOBE FLEX / FLEX WORKFLOW
LEARN ALTERNATIVES TO THE FLASH PLATFORM: Compare/Contrast/Stretch
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