john christopher burns DESIGN

Training available in or on:
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe After Effects
  • Chyron Duet/Lyric
  • Chyron Infinit
  • Avid Deko and Dekocast
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Apple Motion
  • Mac OS X
  • Web development
  • Scripting
email is jcb at thisdomain,
or call 404-492-7567 voice,
or ping @jcburns on twitter, instagram, flickr…
Home Training

Learning the tools that make the stuff.

Custom training programs

Without patient explanations that bring the big picture into focus, sometimes gear is just a bunch of mysterious packages with shiny discs inside.








There are two approaches some folks have to software and complex television equipment. One is "it's a computer, right? So you just click somewhere and the machine does all the work." The other is "it's not for us to ask what that program does...who can say? Who can know? Step away from that mouse! Run away!"

Both approaches perpetuate the myth that these systems are mysterious black boxes, opaque to the outside world, the magic hidden safely within. I guess I'm of a generation and of a background that says the less mystery, the better.

So I train. And discuss. And explain. Often this comes as part and parcel of a complete redesign project. Because, sure, you can just drop off a tape or a bunch of discs and say "good luck," but I think there's more to the job.

On the major channel design projects I've worked on, the training phase starts with making sure the people who actually work with the elements I've created understand how all the dozens of pieces come together—how to work with layers in the control room, or while using Adobe Photoshop or Adobe After Effects, or in a nonlinear editing environment.

And beyond mere functionality, it helps to have a sense of the possibilities...to discover the many ways that compositing is a lot more than putting thing A on top of background B.

Cross-specialization training is important, too. Increasingly, technical directors have to understand graphics. Graphics people need to know about editing and how NLEs work. Font people need Photoshop skills, and designers need to understand how that graphics machine in the control room works. Live sports operation is a different animal then promotion or news.

I've worked with small groups, and one-on-one. Trainees have come here, I've gone there...there's lots of ways to set it up. Contact me (click on that email address at the top of the screen!) and we can discuss how to make this sort of technology less opaque.