Benchside Reference CD-rom or book - any difference?

[Wandy]

Just curious. Does anybody know if there is a difference between the Fly Tiers Benchside Reference book and cd-rom. Does the CD actually show the techniques in action or are they just pictures?

Thanks

[Rangerman]

Typically, the CD version of a printed book does not contain animation.

It is basically a pdf type of file that would contain all of the pages/images that would be in the actual book. The price is cheaper because the cost of materials & labor to produce the CD is lower.

On the plus side, you could print out specific pages and take them to your bench while tying. The down side is that you would obviously need to be at your PC to browse thru the CD version.

[Wandy]

I was not certain. Animation or any action instead of still pictures work best for me. It always seems that the pictures show the holding of the point where a feather ties in and then it is tied in with a description to follow and very little in between.

[kjgallaher]

Wandy,

I have both and they are both excellent. In general I prefer to sit down with a book than with a computer. Depending how you have your tying area arranged either the CD or the book may actually be more convenient. The CD version does have some hyperlinks buitl in which does eliminate some page turning. No animation.

Regards,
Keith

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"Time's fun when you're having flies." Kermit the Frog

[Hans Weilenmann]

Wandy,

Initally I was quite excited about a CD-rom version of the book, but that enthusiasm was soon lessened when I found out that indeed it was simply the .pdf formatted content of the book.

So much more could have been done to make the content approachable in many, more flexible, ways.

Ah well, a missed opportunity to make a great work richer in content still.

Between the two options, on balance, I favor the printed version for my use.

Cheers,
Hans W


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=== You have a friend in Low Places ===
http://www.danica.com/flytier

[Wandy]

Hans,

I have seen your work here, at Danica and other places on the 'net and you are quite the artist. Do you know of any DVD, VHS, CD that shows in action the techniques to tie flies, trout in particular?

[Gardenfish]

I recently purchased a copy at a dandy price. I like holding the book, any book really, and paging through it. THere is something satisfying in that for me. I can use paper bookmarks if I choose. There is more room at my station for a book than for a computer. And if one is going to make copies from the cd, why not just have the book?

[ducksterman]

Wandy, Many VCR's are coming out in DVD format now and new one's all the time . For starters check out a sponsor here.... [url=http://www.btsflyfishing.com/:83bad]http://www.btsflyfishing.com/[/url:83bad]

[Wandy]

Hans,

I asked this question because I have the FTBSR book and was looking up how to tie in fibers for a wet fly. I took a class and he taught to tie using a partridge feather with stem first then wrap forward towards the eye. But between the class and now I forgot and did a websearch hoping to find a QT tutorial, came across your method which does this in reverse and then looked at the FTBSR. I do not have partridge I have a hen neck and the feather look and feel different plus it is a little bewildering to look at a neck and try to figure out what and how to choose a feather. That is why I was hoping the cd version would be animated.

[ilmbaba]

Wandy,

The Art of Fly Tying CD has some animation. It's pretty good, but when you look at different flies, it will reference the same video clip for a certain tying technique. Overall, it will show you had to do alot of different things.
Overall, I think videotapes and DVDs offer better teaching of tying techniques. AK Best videos have alot of information regarding the materials used.
Hope this helps.

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Elliott W.

I tie flies to give the fish something to laugh about.



[This message has been edited by ilmbaba (edited 02 March 2005).]