Friday, September 23, 2016

Needle Felting Tutorials: DVDs vs. Digital Downloads

Dvds are great and we all know how they work. Pop them into your machine and press that sideways triangle (who decided that was "play" anyway?) to get going. We are happy to make dvds for our customers and hope that you watch them again and again as you create. As we move into an ever-increasingly digital age we have also found the need to offer digital files. There are many benefits to a digital option for Sarafina tutorials

While a dvd is a nice option, there are a few down sides to the dvd choice.You have to pay more for a dvd than a digital download, and pay for the shipping to get it to you. You have to wait for it to arrive. Every now and then a dvd does not work. It skips, it freezes, it gets scratched or gummed up by a sticker, and refuses to play. On occasion our burning machine pops out a bum dvd and we do not know it, until you contact us to let us know your dvd is defective. Of course we are happy to ship a new one free of charge, but again you have to wait for it.

Digital downloads are cheaper and you have instant access to the material. No shipping fees, no waiting for Mr. Postman. SarafinaFiberArt.com does not have the ability to host and deliver digital media files. After a lot of research into several different options, we found Gumroad. Gumroad is a website that allows us to upload digital files and offer them for purchase.  It is kind a strange name, but give it a chance and hopefully you will see why we decided to stick with it.  Once you have made a purchase of a tutorial, you will receive an email from Gumroad confirming your purchase. You will then have the option to view the product directly from that email.


You can also log in to your Gumroad account once you have set the email and password.  When you log in to your Gumroad account you will have access to your library. The library contains any digital purchases you have made. 

Once you go to Gumroad you will see your purchases. When you click on any item in the library, you will have a few options. 

The first is to View the product. You can also save it to Dropbox, or choose to resend the receipt of the purchase to your email. If you choose to view the product, you are given the following options: 

Open the product in the Gumroad App, Download all of the files, Watch them streaming, or Download individual files. Gumroad gives you many different options, and overall the site is user friendly once you navigate around for a little while.  Like I tell my mom, if you aren't sure...just click something!  Your computer or device isn't going to explode.  I promise. 

Streaming your purchases is a simple option, which you can access by choosing “Watch” when viewing a product in your library. You need internet access for this option.  *We suggest being on a wifi network rather than using your phone's data plan.  It can drain some serious data with these monster files! You will have control over playing and pausing your digital file, similar to YouTube. This is a great option for a Felting Eweniversity purchase. These files are only available via a dvd purchase or a download. They are large files, so storing on a mobile device might be difficult. Having access to the Felting Eweniversity via streaming internet is an exciting possibility, and we are thrilled that Gumroad added this option. You can also view streaming through the free Gumroad app, available for Android and Apple devices.

It is our understanding that you are able to download the files more than once. We have tested this and it works on a windows based computer. Phones and tablets, either Apple or Android, are all different. Some allow for downloading of many files types and saving onto the device. Some do not allow that. You need to keep in mind that these video files are not small files. They are offered in an mp4 file format, which is suggested and is the most compatible file type. Many devices will not have the storage space to save all of the video files. This is where the Gumroad App becomes very useful.

The Gumroad app is available on android and apple devices. Once you get the app and log in to your account, you will have access to your library. This app is simple and user friendly. You can use the app to view your purchase streaming or to save the file to your device. Again, your ability to do this will depend on the storage and device limitations. There are so few options that you kind of can't go wrong.
We hope this blog post explains Gumroad and the digital download possibilities available to you.  I have a hankering for some Bubble Yum now.  

It's time to close out with a word from Milo:
Why did the bubble GUM cross the ROAD?   

 Artwork a Chloe Original.  Thanks, Chloe!

Written by Kyla DeStefano