Screen-sharing for help, tutorials and other stuff Playmaker related.

[Red]

Okay, it's an idea I've been throwing about now and again. So, I'd like to get your thoughts on this.

What this would be would be a time when I schedule screen-casts to go over things like brainstorming FSMs, offering help and the like and stuff like that. I know I'm not here often (and I am sorry if I've been late to replying to a conversation we've been having) but I'm hoping to get some more involved in the community and this might be something to try.

It's an idea at this point and until I can invest in a better screen-sharing system it'd be with the Join.me system (the free version) but if there's enough interest it might be worth trying with some better software.

Let me know... Thanks!

P.s. These would be in the late afternoon and evening Eastern time (so, GMT+5 I believe it is.) and running until either the session loses steam or it gets crazy late (so, cut off at 11pm EST or around there.)

[Lane]

I'm down! Cool idea.

I'm in Houston (Central +6) so were around the same time. I'm on between 6pm - 9pm most weekdays.

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

 I think it would be GREAT! I am trying to find a way to overcome my inability to do pleasant screencasts, and I think that going live would be the way to go, totally good idea! and it would be good to be able to save the session for later viewing for those who could not attend, AND time tag the session for topics discussed and everything.

This has a lot of potential.

bye,

 Jean

[Red]

Jean: Yeah, just getting yourself out there can help... though, sometimes it can be a bit of a pain in the butt (but in my defence on that statement, I do have an anxiety disorder that came from my depression... so, i'm a bit of an odd duck in that respect.)

Still, this idea is more to see what kind of value that'd add and I'm sure if we can get a regular meet-up thing going where people can come in and socialize with the purposes of helping and getting help it might be worth considering.

And I've been looking at alternatives to the Join.me service that would allow remote access... so, this idea is still in it's formative phase. Still, getting a general time-frame set up as to when it's best for most people would be the first step so as to make sure that people that want to attend are able.

[Lane]

Skype supports screen sharing.

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10215/how-do-i-share-my-screen-in-skype-for-windows-desktop

Want to test it out tomorrow evening?

[Mayhem]

This is an interesting idea indeed, would like to participate.
I would say the only problem is "time". I live in germany and I don't want to wake you up in the middle of the night just to skype with you guys

[Lane]

Time zone difference would definitely be an issue. It's not as bad within the same country but gets much harder to collab with more than 5 hours difference.

I'm up for trying it out tonight and seeing how it goes. It'll probably need to gain some traction before bringing along more participants but either way it would be nice to be able to have an regular open session for people if they're available.

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

 Yeah.. I am in Russia, so I am like 6 to 12 hours ahead of america...

bye,

 Jean

[SWAT Kat]

I would be interested in tagging along, I am GMT but flexible as a student. so anytime really and I would be up for it.

[Red]

Okay, glad this is getting some steam behind it.

I've been looking into some options other than dedicated screen-sharing software (which usually comes at a cost) and a couple alternatives have come to mind... please note that these aren't really screen sharing in that people can reach into the other people's computers to help out but at the least it's still able to allow people to view what's on your screen.

First option that comes to mind are the Google+ hangout chats... it's an established infrastructure and decently powerful and from what I can tell will allow a good amount of people to join up.

Second could be a twitch channel... Though this would be one screen only being broadcast so that is one big limitation.

a third option would be a live broadcast via Youtube.

Thing is, most of these are one way and are only really broadcasts and not screen-sharing specifically. This might be helpful but it is a little outside of the initial idea since being able to reach in and checking things out is one of the bigger reasons this could be helpful since by doing this it'd be very easy to narrow down what's going on and how to fix an issue... But if this is just going to be simply a way to get in touch and hang out and all that as well as brainstorm ideas that aren't related specifically to troubleshooting, this could be an option.

[Dev_Sebas]

I´m with you Red.
Maybe we could build our screen sharing application with Unity, PlayMaker and a photon license. Just thinking…
Would like to help in many ways.
Cheers
Seb

[Red]

Heheh, though I'm sure it's possible to make a screen-share app with Unity (maybe with Playmaker as well) that's an awfully tall order.

edit: And I'm reminded of the mantra that one of my teachers would say frequently: "Why re-invent the wheel?"

[perdido007]

definitely keen to follow this…;any initiative to spread the word and knowledge of playmaker would be a great help, so anytime of the clock is good, ( i live in my pyjamas so have no time matrix anymore, i sold it to get chow ! )…will def follow this feed…cheers...

[Red]

Okay, so, an idea came to mind about what could be done to help address those in different time-zones.

For starters, if the session is able to be recorded and posted to a place like Twitch, Youtube or Vimeo that'd be one alternative... it wouldn't be the exact same because it'd be a recorded session but it'd give those that weren't able to attend a chance to at least learn a bit about what was talked about.

Second could be if we have enough people that are enterprising enough we could see about having different language sessions... There'd have to be some sort of communication between all the teams doing this so that there is a way to at least have some of the topics discussed being uniform but I'm sure it'd be far easier for some people if they were able to attend a session that's hosted in their native language (and at a time period where they wouldn't have to skip work, stay up insanely late or get up way too early to attend.)

So, does any of this sound like a viable option to pursue?

[Lane]

I think we'd want to identify a scope/purpose for the session, host it anywhere (maybe skype just for starters) and see how it goes from there.

Usually these community driven things take off as they grow, so starting real big isn't necessary.