Project One: Infographic--the Death Star

Death Star is right! wow this is a pretty intense project.  Though I think I made some real progress today! I have done pretty much all of the external swfs except for 2 and the hard part I think will be tracing R2D2 and making the buttons on him function for the buttons of a photoalbum.  I need to make sure that they stand out so that people know there is something to do on that "slide".  Also Im having trouble getting the fonts to show up and not revert to a default.  I saved some as TLF but it didn't work.  For some of the other files the TLF showed up but for others I ended up breaking them apart and converting them to graphic symbols and it worked.  I don't know what that is all about?.  So, so far it has been kind of rough but I am getting there and all I need to do is figure out how to externally load all of the files in to the main file and make them slide like an accordion, but I figure it has to be similar to the timeline action-script so it cant be too bad.  Also I need to figure out about video content for an external video.  I don't have any videos of Star Wars on my own computer and thought that I could link it somehow to YouTube but that didn't work  :(  i might just have to come up with a new idea for that file altogether.

Interactive Timeline Assignment

Well, I'm not sure if this was one of an easier flash assignment or if I am just getting better in working with flash ( and I hope it is the second one) but I had very minimal problems in completing this assignment.  I even got to include the custom cursor; and it actually functions and is not just for show!! I like that we learned how to make a toggle button where we can just code functions for the same symbol rather than having two buttons to view and hide externally linked swf files.  I made my timeline on the history of Harry Potter books and movies.  This was perhaps the most tedious part of the project was finding the correct information and then copy and pasting multiple layers and renaming and editing to say the correct information, man HP sure is a huge franchise!
The only thing I might try to change is to add a button that can switch on and off looping sound because it does get kind of annoying if you look at the file for too long but other than that I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

Another Website

I thought this was a cool tutorial and I might try to include my custom cursor in the new flash project


FLASH CURSOR

Flash Game

If your looking for a study break or just a way to kill time

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/315702

is a cool flash game that is like a Rubik cube where you have to drag  lines of colors around the cube to unlock the next level, I got to level 16  the other night before I realized it was past bed time.

Help! I Need Somebody...

Here are just a few websites I found with helpful Flash tips and tricks


This is just for the basics, using tweens, masks etc.
http://www.freeadobeflashtutorials.com/

This shows how to make images with water look like it is moving
http://www.pixelhivedesign.com/tutorials/Realistic+Flash+Water+Effect/

This is a cool transition effect
http://flash-effects.com/tutorial-drip-transition-effect/

Finally this website is for creating an effect that looks like someone is writing
http://www.flashperfection.com/tutorials/Pen-Writing-Text-22903.html

Flash Woah-Oh

When I first came to the iMedia program I certainly had my reservations about learning Flash.  We only slightly touched on it in the end of my undergrad career at JMU but lets just say it was an unpleasant experience. It seemed like magic or fate or something just clicked (finally!) in the iMedia Bootcamp.  I still don't know a lot about Flash but what I learned in the first few weeks of the program definitely gave me the confidence to know that it isn't as scary as it seems (even though action-script can be picky about when it wants to work) and that I can make Flash animations.  Now that I know some basics, like making slideshows and photoalbums and mini web pages that externally load and unload other .swf files, the next thing I want to conquer is making a short animated video and work more with the bone tool.