TOTAL TRAINING - Illustrator CS2
~Total Training for Adobe Illustrator CS2~ Running Time: 18 Hours over 2 DVDs
In an exciting new affiliation between VFXTalk & Total Training, we will be reviewing lots of new DVDs in the coming months! This is an excellent opportunity to see what exactly goes into these renowned Total Training DVDs, they truly are perfectionists...and a little whacky to boot 
!
To kick things off, I have in my hot little hands all three of the CS2 suite, of which I will be reviewing Illustrator first ....!!! The whole CS2 Suite I have watched and now I will attempt to do it justice in the following reviews. As you can imagine, It has taken me MANY weeks to absorb all this info and I will do my very best to indicate my likes and dislikes (though there were VERY few) ... As such, this will not be an exhaustive review of every single little thing...but more of an indication as to what you can expect with my own personal thoughts along the way...
So, lets not waste any more time ...get comfy guys n girls ...this will be a long one!!
OK ... the details and pricing
Right now Total Training are running an extra special on their "CS2 Standard Plus Bundle" which retails at $649.99 ...a massive $200 saving rather than buying them separately ... in my opinion, coming out the other side of all this training ...its a bargain at double the price!!! and you have it there to read watch time and time again!!
Total Training for Adobe Illustrator CS2
Our host for this (and many other Total Training DVDs) is the mega brain and quite whacky Deke McClelland...here's a little somethin’ on Deke...
In 1985, Deke McClelland oversaw the implementation of the first personal computer-based production department in Boulder, Colorado. He later graduated to be artistic director for Publishing Resources, one of the earliest all-PostScript service bureaus in the United States.
These days, Deke is a well-known expert and lecturer on Adobe Photoshop and the larger realm of computer graphics and design. He serves as host to the interactive Video Workshop that ships with Photoshop CS as well as the exhaustive and entertaining Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS. His other DVD- and CD-based video series include Total Training for Adobe Illustrator CS and Total Training Presents: Photoshop Elements 3 Unleashed and QuarkXPress to Adobe InDesign CS—Making the Switch.
In addition to his videos, Deke is creator of the tutorial One-on-One series, published by Deke Press in association with O’Reilly Media. These full-color titles include 12 classroom-style lessons with two hours of video tutorials produces by Total Training. Titles include the bestselling Adobe Photoshop CS One-on-One, Adobe InDesign CS One-on-One, and the upcoming Photoshop Elements 3 for Windows One-on-One. Deke’s other books include Photoshop CS Bible, Photoshop CS Bible—Professional Edition, Photoshop CS For Dummies, and Photoshop Elements 3 For Dummies (both Wiley).
In 1989, Deke won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Computer Book. Since then, he has received honors from the Society for Technical Communication (once in 1994 and twice in 1999), the American Society of Business Press Editors (1995 and 2000), the Western Publications Association (1999), and the Computer Press Association (1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, and twice in 2000). In 1999, Book Bytes named Deke its Author of the Year. In 2002, he was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame, sponsored by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
In addition to his other credits, Deke is an Adobe Certified Expert, a member of the PhotoshopWorld Instructor Dream Team, a featured speaker for Geek Cruises’ Mac Mania and Photoshop Fling events, a regular speaker for The InDesign Conference, and a regular contributor to Photoshop User magazine. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Let me just take this opportunity up front to comment on the ALL ROUND professionalism of these Total training products...Everything...and I mean everything, including the cover sleeves inside the DVD covers has been given the finishing touches!! The presentation of all the media (not just
the Training Classes) is superb and worthy of note!!! ... 10/10 for professionalism!!
Here is an Outline of the course structure:
Part 1 Discovering Illustrator- Introducing Illustrator
- The Bridge
- Workspace & Navigation
- Drawing Simple Line Art
- Symmetrical Shapes
- Fill, Stroke & Colour
- Transforming Paths
- Using The Pen Tool
- Selecting Points & Paths
- Pathfinder Operations
- Liquify & Envelope
- Creating & Formatting Type
Part 2 Treasures From The Object Orient- Gradients & Gradient Mesh
- Blends & Masks
- Brushing With Vectors
- Using Transparency
- Applying Live Effects
- Dynamic Type Treatments
- Live Trace
- Live Paint
- Using Symbols
- 3D Effects
- Printing & Exporting
- Flash Animation
Bonus Lesson- Tips, Tricks & Real World Files
OK...now onto the review ...
As i have stated above...this is just an overview of the training series ...Its not meant to be a detailed transcript of the lessons at all...that would kind of discourage you from actually purchasing them for yourself... 
Now, as with all Total Training DVDs..you are required to install a small application in order to run the software. You also need QuickTime ...all too easy. You are given the opportunity to install All the project files so that you can work along with Deke (or who ever is presenting) and also you are given the opportunity to copy over some presets and the like to your local machine for the convenience of (again) following along with your instructor.
OK, Part 1:
ok ...welcome to Illustrator etc etc ... we cover basics about the welcome screen...discuss exactly what an illustration is, go through layers, creating and setting up a new doco..saving etc ...all basic stuff and not much to it ..bring on the rest
Side Note: Every chapter has a nutty little intro where Deke does something funny/silly ...these will be liked by some...and fast forwarded by others 
OK ...Adobes new 'Bridge' software ... its kinda like a central Explorer or finder for the mac legions...but inbuilt to adobe's program and acts as a central island of organisation behind the scenes for all of the CS2 apps ...very cool and i really liked it!! We get really acquainted with the bridge in this chapter ...pretty interesting gear.
Learn about preferences and setting ...all a bit dry ...but the necessary evils that one needs to know b4 building your master piece to the wrong specifications !!!!
In this lesson we get introduced to layers and guides, we meet the Line tool, the Arc tool and we delve into paths and the scissor tool. We also get into the polar grid tool and how to use the group selection tool in Outline mode ...good stuff!!! Lets press on ...we are mastering our toolbox one chapter at a time!!
This chapter see's us looking at the shape tools including the poly tools...the star tool, and creating other basic shape tools. We also look at paths, mirroring and aligning in Illustrator for shapes...then we finish with a little tip on the tilde key and its apparent goofiness
Fill, Stroke & Colour ...good stuff ...we learn about the differing colour spaces, and cover all the basics of working with fills, strokes and colour in Illustrator.
Path transformation is a cool lesson... we learn how to use the reshape tool, modifying paths in the outline mode, combining, expanding and off-setting paths, scaling, rotating and duplicating of paths ...all really good stuff and at its essence, really illustrates (pardon the pun) the power of this application.
Ahh the pen tool ... this lesson covers the creation of splines and how to add and subtract points and how to control your Bezier curves...fun fun!!
Points and Paths ... the workhorses of all your vector based work in Illustrator ... the nuts and bolts of pretty much everything ...In this lesson we lear all about working with points and paths and all the things that can be done to them with the abundance of tools and combinations of techniques performable by skilled artists ...good lesson!! (as they all are!!)
Intro to the pathfinder tool ...we learn all about this great tool...compound shapes Vs compound paths, cropping, dividing and uniting... joining chain links and much more ...Im just here to wet the appetite remember
A very cool tool for vector...liquify and warp ...much like what im used to in PS ...but now in Illustrator ... we learn about the Make With Warp enveloping function, how to edit this newly enveloped content, and how to use liquify with live type...great lesson!!
Type ... the last lesson in Part 1 ...and its a biggie!!!! In this lesson we go right through the whole gamut of all that there is to offer in Illustrator CS2's powerful type toolset!! We look at the following;
Importing, selecting, moving, reformatting, resizing, leading & tracking, formatting & kerning, flowing text, graphic styles, Setting area type options and much more!!! this is a tops lesson that runs for nearly 50 minutes alone!!!
OK, Part 2:
OK ... one DVD down and well enjoyed ...one more to go ...once I have copied all my project files over I’m ready to rumble...
Gradients and Gradient Mesh ...this is a good lesson, we learn about using gradients, controlling all the gradient tools aspects and also how to use the gradient mesh tool...which as it turns out, is very cool!! We get into the Gradient Mesh tool pretty heavily and perform some really neat functions...good stuff!
Blends & Masks ... Again, we touch on the gradient tool in this lesson... then we look at how to create a blend, how to modify it, and how to tweak its options and deal with changing its path. Next we look at clipping masks, using a compound path for masking, nesting clipping masks and finally we look at opacity and masks!...by the end of all of this, I really have no excuse not to be an Illustrator guru!!
Brushing with Vectors ...Now we launch into the brush tools! without going into all the detail...lets just say that 50 minutes later, you are VERY well versed in the art of using the brush tool in Illustrator CS2 ... very good lesson that leaves no brushed stone unturned. (ohh no...my humor is almost as cheesy as Deke's )
Transparency is next on the agenda ...and, like everything that has come before this lesson, we go head-on into this topic... We look at transparency in relation to blending, masking, gradients & clipping masks and how to work with the flattener previewer ... another top lesson!
Phhhewww .... i need a rest ...but i cant stop ...im near the end ...must push on ...OK, Live Effects; 50 minutes of Live Effects and how to apply them... im almost positive that everything about live effects is covered here ... its a full on lesson that should not be missed; Scribe n Scribble, Graphic Styles and more!
Dynamic Type treatment ...in a bit of a throw back to our last lesson in Part 1, we revisit type and this new lesson teaches us how to apply Dynamic treatments to our type. We learn about transform effects and stacking order, type effects and selection settings, warp effects, transformation of type, stroke effects, shadows and much more!!
Live trace is the next lesson topic, here we learn about this great tool, applying threshold and dealing with setting up the minimum area. Trace adjustments and settings, and using and modifying more live trace properties than you can poke a stick at. Another very useful lesson.
Live Paint ...now, to quote our Host Deke, its amazing with all this new 'Live' stuff going on that Illustrator doesn’t just get up and walk away LOL ...see...i told you it was cheese ball ...but its true...all these great 'live' tools are excellent! In this lesson we learn about blend modes, using the live paint bucket tool, Drawing & cloning inside a live paint object, integrating live paint with live trace, and filling and detecting gaps ...and (as always) more!!!
Symbols are the next addition in this onslaught of Illustrator goodness... Here we look at symbol libraries, Symbol instancing, creating and modifying symbols and using the sprayer tool.
Up next are 3D Effects, Extrude & bevel, lighting shading and gradient, mapping textures, and how to use Photoshop to help in texturing ...
Printing & Exporting ...
This lesson covers all the nitty gritty involved in setting up your documents printing and exporting properties... all the good stuff for all your print needs...bleed, colour management etc etc
Our last chapter introduces Illustrator or a macromedia Flash animation environment. We cover basic animation, including animating Live Effects, setting blend options, and creating an array of different types of animations.
We are done ...please pass go...please collect your Adobe Illustrator CS2 certificate and be on your way into the big bad world of vector goodness!!
I have omitted talking about the project files that accompany each lesson on purpose. As i don’t want to let too much of the cat out of the bag ...but rest assured, there are FANTASTIC lessons for each and every lesson that really consolidate upon all the new knowledge you will gain.
Even after all this quality training, there is a full 54 minutes of bonus material that is accessible via obtaining an unlock code after you register your DVDs... UNBELIEVABLE!!!
I think you can pretty much gather that I am very impressed with the collection! I have absolutely NO hesitation in awarding a VFXTalk 'Highly Recommended' status to this invaluable training compilation!! Top marks to the Total training team for an outstanding educational feat!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
TOTAL TRAINING - Adobe Illustrator CS2 –
