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Review on Full-Color Origami Butterfly Ebook: Enjoyable Origami Book with 12 Exciting Projects and Downloadable Instructional Video: Perfect for Kids and Adults of All Ages by Karla Richter

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Not for Beginners - Poorly Written Instructions

-- This book is marketed as a beginner's book, but it's not a very good book for beginners, mainly because the instructions are actually pretty poorly written. I was going to post a few examples in the now defunct client gallery, but to be honest it seems to me that the instructions were not a fully tested draft for Lafosse's later butterfly books. In particular, his 2013 DVD book charts much better. The reader is constantly referred to instructions in other parts of this book, which in itself is not a bad strategy, but since the models in this book are variations on a theme, the diagrams on the "other" pages need not be similar be to the model you fold. It would still be fine if the diagrams for the model you are actually stacking clearly show how your model differs from the diagrams on the 'other' pages, but this important information may be sparse or non-existent. quite horrendous omissions and errors - for example, the text is not attached to the correct diagram, the steps are missing, and the direction of rotation is not specified. On the other hand, the models and the system are really great, which makes this book worth reading. from the library if you a) have at least one intermediate folder with a lot of experience with crappy diagrams or b) have stacked a few models from a 2013 book. Butterfly Books (his 2013 book with DVD or his 2007 book Origami Butterflies: A Field of Discovery Through a Design System), check out Revain's preview of his 2013 butterfly book Alice Grey. The directions are much better. and nd help you circumvent the shortcomings of the kit book. The 2007 book still needs some work - it's pretty much the same as the kit book + a few extra models and a few corrections, but the pictures are bigger, making it easier to use when the directions aren't quite right . Beginners should definitely buy the 2013 book (well reviewed on OrigamiUSA) and not the full book. Instructions for Alexander the Sailboat from the kit book are also available online - see the OrigamiUSA review above for more information. If you're not happy with the set book instructions for the Origamido Butterfly, get LaFosse's copy of Advanced Origami which has great instructions for this particular model. Finally, I cannot understand why other buyers liked the set. Paper that's quite thick, glossy, not particularly strong, difficult to fold, and leaves white marks in the folds once you've managed to fold. However, I've found a great use for paper - it makes amazing scanned images for instructions. Because white marks remain on the folds, you can fold the paper, scan it, and easily find white marks in Photoshop for annotating.

Pros
  • Excellent general work
Cons
  • Doubtful