Lynda.com Training?

[sbryan]

How is Lynda.com training for a Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign Noob?

I'm attracted to the service because it offers a bunch of stuff for Web Design, too. I consider myself to be a novice at that.

$370 a year gives you access to every video, regardless of topic, that's on the commercial DVDs?

Thanks!

 

[jeremy h]

I rate it. I've been using it for quite a few years now. You can actually join monthly and I've found their subscribe / unsubscribe control panel straightforward. So I'd suggest joining up for a month and seeing how you get on. (They've now got a monthly membership that includes exercise example downloads).

To be honest, you can probably get away with the cheaper memberships that don't include the exercise files as it's rare that you won't be able to get by without them - you can pretty much follow along by using your own stuff.

Some of the 'presenters' are better than others, I think they even have David Blatner for some of the InDesign stuff. (from InDesign Secrets, the early 90's Quark bible by Peachpit etc etc).

There's actually a few short courses which aren't available on CD and one or two interesting little "How I work" shorts from designers and companies...

I'd give it a go if I was you.

 

[Simplesimon101]

I've used Lynda on and off for a couple of years.

I've found it really good for learning certain pieces of software (indesign, after effects, 3DS Max, etc). However I also tried learning some web stuff and found it much much easier to work from books. I think with things like code it's easier to read and try and understand than just being told with software it's great to watch someone work.

So basically Lynda for Software = Excellent, Lynda for Code = Hard work.

Like the previous poster said. I'd try for a month or two and see how you get on. Personally I tend to binge when it comes to lynda so a month of hard core use here and there normally works out cheaper anyway.

good luck.

 

[ChrisA]

How is Lynda.com training for a Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign Noob?

I'm attracted to the service because it offers a bunch of stuff for Web Design, too. I consider myself to be a novice at that.

$370 a year gives you access to every video, regardless of topic, that's on the commercial DVDs?

Thanks!

They are good. but there is another you should check out as well
macprovideo.com They overlap a little with Lynda.com Also they offer a very cheap
three day subscription where you have unlimited use.

 

[sigmadog]

I subscribed to Lynda.com for a year for $250. That got me all the videos, but not the training files, which worked fine for me because, as jeremy h has said, you can generally follow along with your own stuff if you pay attention.

The videos are great for getting you up to speed with new software. That's why I signed up - at the time I had just upgraded to Adobe CS4 from CS2 and I felt a bit behind the curve on several design/web apps.

After an intensive couple of weeks pouring through all the videos I could handle, I felt a lot of improvement in my ability to work with the programs. After that, I mainly just checked in about once a month to fill in the blanks on various subjects. At the end of my year, I did not renew because I felt I needed more in-depth information, which I don't think the videos provided. I have since switched to Safari Books Online, and I'm still with that service.

I'd second (or third?) the recommendation to just sign-up for the monthly subscription of videos only, then embark on a marathon of video-watching and practice until you get a handle on the apps.

 

[definitive]

you could probably buy one of those "bible" books for applications and get more out of them. ...that is if you're into reading instead of watching/listening.

 

[covisio]

I used TotalTraining.com (bought a DVD) when I was trying to get to grips with Adobe GoLive a few years ago.
Though the instructor's voice was pretty annoying, I found the content useful. Certainly worth what I paid for the DVD.
I would double-up with books though, there's no substitute for flicking to the index of a trusted guide and homing in directly on the thing you're looking for.
I recommend the 'Missing Manual' series of books, they are superbly written.

 

[GeraldButton]

Lynda.com is an excellent learning resource for Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, I have used Lynda for those in the past and it helped out a lot. Although, I was also reading Adobes Classroom in a book series on each specific application as well. If you can find those and afford them id recommend those as well.

 

[pprior]

I'm a lynda subscriber. I'll go for months without using it and then need to brush up on something and sit and watch for an hour or so. It's a great resource for a lot of different products.

I love the photoshop tutorials (cs3 ones).

Personally I think it's a bit pricey, at least for how I use it, but as of now I'm still paying. It does irritate me I don't get the tutorial files to download and work with unless I pay extra.