I have to tell you. I am so jazzed about the new Total Training training videos for Adobe Dreamweaver 8 it almost hurts. I have been after Total Training to do videos on the (then Macromedia products, now Adobe products) for over a year and a half. I always felt they could do the best job and given that programs like Adobe Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks are massive and yes even complex programs I always felt they needed Total Training touch and now they have it.

 

Like with the Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere and all of the other Total Training training videos these new ones for Adobe Dreamweaver 8 are of the highest quality and have an incredible instructor. They are easy to use and very complete and thorough. Like I have said about Total Trainings other training videos these videos are like taking a complete collage course on Adobe Dreamweaver 8.

The instructor for these videos is Janine Warner. If you would like to read about her and what qualifies as the instructor for these videos you can find a bio of her on the Total Training web site or you can click here.

 

Like all recent Total Training training product these videos are playable only on your computer. The older products could be played on your TV connected DVD player as well as your computer (with DVD playback software) however, about a year ago Total Training made this change to a computer only format. While I liked being able to play them on my TV I think this new computer only approach has some good advantages. For one thing the interface is easier. The videos are broken down in to categories and then further broken down in to sub-categories. This makes finding what you want to watch very easy and takes the videos to a whole new level when compared to chapter stops on the old TV compatible products. This all means you can quickly and easily find the subject you want and just watch that. That makes these videos not only great for learning the product overall but also a great reference and refresher package as well.

 

The other thing I like is that when you stop watching the videos the software remembers where you stopped and the next time you go in, it takes you right to where you left off. Even if it is days or weeks later and you have removed the disc from your computers drive. This makes it easy to use these videos at your own pace. Now the down side to this new way of watching the videos is that you have to install some software on your computer. It doesn’t take up a lot of room, but it does have to be installed.

The quality of the videos is just as good as the old DVD movie format, it’s just much more flexible and user friendly now. You also get all of the project files on disc so as you watch the videos you can follow along in Adobe Dreamweaver and actually do what is being shown. This is even easier to do if you have a dual monitor system as the video can be playing on one screen and you can have Adobe Dreamweaver loaded on the other.

 

The new software interface has other features too; I am not going to go in to them here. Just to say there are many, some more useful than others… at least to me.

 

Like with the other Total Training products I have been lucky enough to use and review I can’t recommend these enough. It doesn’t matter what level you’re at. If you know web design, but are new to Adobe Dreamweaver or if you are new to web design and Adobe Dreamweaver or even if you just want a product to use as a refresher and reference Total Training for Adobe Dreamweaver 8 is your best option.