Session 14/ 15 [Tues 230210] - Final Project Brief Review/ Mapping Out The User Experience/ Anticipating Tech Requirements/ Intro To Flash Components

Final Project
Hi Sally. Thanks for the brief. It's pretty clear. There are a few omissions and alterations to make -

• Give your brief a more relevant title, and a subtitle to act as a short, lucid, objective statement.


• Your aims need rejigging to fulfil the required criteria for the Web2 course.
  
  Your Practical aim actual counts as the Creative Ability criteria and should be changed to something like - To create a simple, eye-catching, and engaging flash application to promote a rock/ pop band.
  
  The Technical aim fits the Technical Competence criteria partially - Good. However, re-phrase this to something like - To learn how to design in the Flash medium in collaboration with a developer, utilising existing After Effects skills.
  
  Your Creative aim really fits with the Problem Analysis criteria. Change this to something like - To transfer a time-based visual language to an interactive platform enhancing the user experience.
  
  Finally, a Presentation aim is required. Something like - To present the finished Flash product live with a folio of supporting planning work.


• For the Intro you need, more importantly than any personal reasons, to justify why you are making this shell for an existing video - how is it appropriate to today's music marketplace and why it would be an effective tool in a band's promotional campaign.


• Add something about utilising A/E skills into the mix.


• Forget about the mind map component - not enough time - but I can still show you the drag/zoom technique.


• In the Format section tell us what the size of the piece will be.


• Finally, let's have some deadlines. We have two more Tuesday sessions. I will also be in on Friday 050310 for a Flash workshop. The final deadline needs to be Thursday 110310 at the latest. You will no doubt be using that day to prepare the finishing touches to your folio though.
  
  Have a think about what you need to supply and when by this coming Tuesday where we can hone the deadlines further.

WHEW! See you Tuesday at 11:30am. Bring along any further work you have for the project. If you haven't managed to produce anything else, still come along for further instruction.

Session 12/ 13 [Fri 190210] - A Way Forward/ Using Flash Essentials Application For Final Project

A Way Forward
An idea mooted in this session in support of your achieving the Web 2 technical competence and final project requirement was to use the Flash Essentials assignment to structure a small compendium of work made over the last year at AIU.

Your principal job would be to organise and style the content within an eye-catching, contemporary shell, skinned by yourself.

The flash functionality would be engineered by your technical assistant [lecturer/ instructor].

The site should act as proof of your flash capabilities for future job applications.

First Task
Create a set of documents that outline what you want to include and how it will be laid out, and how the user will interact with it, based on the Flash Essentials existing structure - text, image, video, sound, drag-zoom, feedback form.

Be comprehensive in your visualisation and annotation so you can account for the entire forthcoming application in session with your project manager [me].

Please achieve this for Friday next [260210] at 11:00am.

Finish your blog which can be used as the research aspect if you choose to submit the FE project in your final portfolio.

See you on Tuesday 230210 @ 11:00am as agreed.

Session 11 [Tues 160210] - Flash Essentials In Progress/ Finishing The Navigation Functionality

The title lists what should have been covered this session.

Session 10 [Fri 120210] - Postponement of Instruction

As there was no response to the Session9 post below, there was little point in supplying further information for this session. I await submittal of required work before spending more time on preparing session content.

This session should have seen us moving forward with the Flash Essentials site construction - the Text and Image pages need to be complete by Wednesday for us to have any hope of completing the task over the next two weeks.

Session 9 [Tues 090210] - Final Site Ideas/ Flash Essentials Set Up/ Following Blog Requirements Closely

Homework
Hi Sally. Despite a failure to meet the requirements laid out in the previous blog entry we did have a successful session from a technical instruction POV. You seemed to take quite naturally to this unnatural coding activity.

Looking at the previous blog it is essential that you push your professionalism. There are clearly stated submit points that have not been met. So, following on from our work today and in reference to the requirements laid out in the previous blog -

1. Please let me know where I can view your final superbanner for grading and be sure to prepare an A3 folio of all relevant support work for the banner task for handing in next live session [Tues 160210 at 11:00pm]. Remember to use the branded planning template to present all work.



2. Write your brief for the final project and email a PDF, ASAP. Also, consolidate all your ideas into clear, client presentation boards using your planning template sheets. Stick these in your folio as well clearly demarking which project is which.



3. Write more blog entries and orientate the site choices towards helping you research for your own final work.



4. Download the Flash Essentials Page Shell file from the link to the right and use it as a guide to build your own Flash page shell for the Flashessentials task. In the ActionScript file can you try and add comments that explain what you think is happening at each stage of the code. We'll take a look at how you did next time.

Finally and optionally, you may have noticed the link to the Adobe Text Layout Component. This is an extensions that you can load for Flash that gives you more professional control over your type setting for those building with CS4 for Flash Player 10. Install this and find out how it works if you have time.

I'll try and put some more stuff up on the Flash Essentials task for Friday or over the weekend.
See you on Tuesday.

Session 8 [Fri 050210] - Banner Review/ Blog Review/ Major Project Discussion/ Pseudo Scene Movie Construction & The Related ActionScript

Next Meeting
Next meeting is on Tuesday 090210 [Session 9] at 11:00am.

Final Project
Today we discussed your main project. While the discussions are interesting, I am somewhat concerned that you are not driving this ideas process.

You must, from a professional POV, get your ideas into a presentable format as if for a client. This means clear concepts and ideas on planning sheets that can be discussed individually by a review team. The ideas should be able to be understood quickly with little explanation.

We talked at a surface level about versatility and malleability and how they might be sold as positive characteristics in a fast calling card type Flash scenario. Please, for Tuesday, a written brief and evidence of early brainstorming around this concept is a must.

Submitting Final Super Banner
Thanks for your banner work.

Please finish the banner, with agreed changes, for viewing on Wednesday [100210] on a web page. Create a mock up of a Guardian web page with your banner in the usual advertisement spot. Make sure you're banner is wired to take the user to the related web site when clicked.

Put the page live and send me a link. To accompanying banner for grading purpose, please put all preparatory work, including initial ideas sheets, in an A3 plastic folio and submit on Tuesday.

Blog
Aim to finish the blog project over the next two weeks as part of your research for the final project.

Cause & Effect Animation Structure

The Main Timeline

The journeying_mc Timeline

The zeroGrowth_mc Timeline

We spent a lot of Friday's session looking at a new structure for your animations involving some fairly dense ActionScript code.

Primarily you saw how each act or scene of the animation could be contained in individual MovieClip Symbols. Each symbol could then be placed at a keyframe on the main timeline.

Labels are used to mark defined scene changes on the main timeline and the code does the work of getting the playhead to the appropriate place at the right time.

To make the code work you must give each MovieClip a addressable instance name in the Property Panel.

The Cause & Effect Code

stop();

   addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onLoop, false, 0, true);

   function onLoop(evt:Event):void
   {
       if(journeying_mc.currentLabel == "end")
       {
           gotoAndStop("growth");
           zeroGrowth_mc.play();

           if(zeroGrowth_mc.currentLabel == "finish")
           {
                gotoAndStop("badge");
                trace(currentLabel);
                removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onLoop);
           }

        }
    }

Session 6/7 [Tues 020210/ Wed 030210] - Communication Breakdown

Next meeting 4:00pm, Friday 050210.

Final Banner and an avalanche of main project ideas due.

The brief for the next exercise is now available to the right.

I have written a tentative shell of a final project brief which seems to set a realistic goal for the end of term and leave things open enough for whatever you might do. I will bring this with me tomorrow.