As you may know, the Tuts+ network is accompanied by an online educational members-only site called Tuts+ Premium. We’re very excited to announce that Tuts+ Premium has received a huge upgrade, including a new library of courses, 27 top-selling educational eBooks, member forums, and a completely redesigned UI. You can check out all the changes at tutsplus.com (I recommend taking the tour) or read on to learn about what you will get from Tuts+ Premium.
Library of Courses
You’ve seen Sessions and series at Activetuts+ and on the other Tuts+ sites; the new Tuts+ Premium introduces courses.
Would you like to learn how to design your first website in 30 days? Or get to grips with the languages of the web, HTML & CSS? Perhaps you’re already familiar with that, and you’re more interested in understanding the essentials of CSS3, or maybe you’d like to study something completely unrelated to web development, like using Photoshop to create concept art. Our new Tuts+ Premium courses will show you how. We’ll be adding new courses several times per month.
45 Exclusive Flash and Browser App Tutorials
Tuts+ Premium includes 45 (and counting) in-depth tutorials on browser app and game development, covering the same kinds of topics you’re used to from Activetuts+, but in much more detail:
- Carlos Yanez has a set of tutorials explaining how to create various simple games from scratch – design and code
- Jon Reid has written a great guide to an unusual topic: using the Kinect with the Flash Player
- Mathias Johansson has created a brilliant tutorial explaining the basics of advanced body mechanics (for animation)
- Daniel Branicki has shown how to create a Match-3 game in Flash and a 2D Portal-style game in Unity, in tutorials so big they each require multiple parts
- Freelance Confidential –
$29Free for Tuts+ Premium members - Successful Facebook Marketing –
$24Free for Tuts+ Premium members - How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer –
$29Free for Tuts+ Premium members - Twitter Up Your Business –
$8Free for Tuts+ Premium members - How to Build a Successful Blog Business –
$39Free for Tuts+ Premium members - How to Take Great Photos –
$19Free for Tuts+ Premium members - … and lots more!
…and there’s plenty more, on animation, game engine development, 3D user interfaces, and special effects.
Every tutorial now has a free preview, so you can get a taste of what’s in store before you buy.
My Thoughts
Earlier this year, I got to manage the awesome team that migrated the tutorials from the old Tuts+ Premium system to this new one, so I’m very familiar with both systems and the content. I think it’s fair to say that the old system… had some flaws. It could be difficult to find tutorials unless you were looking for one specifically, and having to download and extract a ZIP file (which in some cases could be over 1GB) just to access the tut was a huge pain.
The new Premium is better in so many ways. You can filter tutorials by topic, by difficulty, and by completion time – and search across the entire library – so it’s much easier to browse for and discover content. Reading tutorials and watching screencasts is much easier too; they’re all accessible in your browser, with an interface similar to the regular Tuts+ sites.
And I must confess: before doing the migration, I didn’t realise how much great content there is on Premium. I don’t just mean the Flash and RIA Premium tutorials – although that selection is excellent, and becoming even better as we add more and more (you should see what we have planned!) – I mean all the content from the other Tuts+ sites that I wasn’t even aware of.
For example, Aetuts+ has some excellent videos about animation, like The 12 Basic Principles of Animation, that are relevant to anyone doing animation, game design, or even flashy UI design. Cgtuts+ has some incredible series on modeling 3D objects, like this next-gen armoured car, which will be useful to anyone creating assets for a Unity project. And if you want to learn JavaScript, Nettuts+ has you covered.
I’ve highlighted tutorials that are related to the topics we cover on Activetuts+, but if you want to branch out and learn something new, there’s plenty of opportunity to do that as well. Illustration, photography, digital audio, mobile app development… oh, and you have to check out Ed Lopez’s amazing digital painting tutorials.
The new extras – forums, ebooks, courses – are all great, but to me, the appeal of Tuts+ Premium lies in its tutorials. Now, at last, those tutorials are easy to find and easy to read (or watch, for screencasts). That alone is worth the $19 a month entry price.
Top-selling Educational eBooks
Tuts+ Premium memberships now include 27 top-selling eBooks worth more than $440, including:
Beautiful Redesign
The new Tuts+ Premium was designed by Orman Clark and Envato designer Jacob Zinman-Jeanes. And, thank you to Simplifilm, who make a mean product demo video!
Enjoyed this Post?
Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!
By Michael James Williams
Join our newsletter!
Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!
Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Activetuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More
WOW ! This is really nice. I have to admit that almost everything I learned in past 4 years comes from this tutorials on all Tuts+ sites. With markets and everything else this has to be one of the must-check websites on internet for every web developer. You guys are just awesome.
The new Plus section is pure awesome sauce! Really a very big improvement.