BP14_Flash3

Success! But wow does Flash have a lot bugs in it. Although the screen shot I have on this blog post shows what I created, it does not show the animation or ActionScript code I had to figure out. Go to my site to check it out (click HERE).

Basically tweens (the animations or movements) are very fickle things when converting them into symbols (what you need to do to create a button or link and to write code in it). After some troubleshooting I had the convertion process down.

So, after I had my nice text (that represented each page on my AR site) and nice animations, I needed to allow a visitor to be able to click on the word and go to that Webpage. In order to do that you need to write ActionScript code. Here is an example of what the code looks like:

button_ar.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, goAr);
function goAr(e:MouseEvent):void {
navigateToURL(new URLRequest("http://web.me.com/antosb/Site_2/index.html"));
}

Jibberish! Basically the code is saying "hey, Flash, pay attention when somebody clicks here (addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK goAr) and create a function, or program, called 'goAr' (which is short for "go to Action Research Webpage"). So it creates the function 'goAr' which navigates to a URL of my choosing (navigateToURL(new URLRequest("http://web.me.com/antosb/Site_2/index.html")). The URL I want goes in quotes. And repeate 13 times for each Webpage!"

My timeline was sloppy and my coding had bugs, but I worked through it. I am happy I had some background (very very very small background) in Flash programming because it really helped me marry the Flash timeline for Webpage creation and the functions it is able to execute.

I am looking forward to more Flash programming! Nerd!

PS. I also had to figure out how to insert my Flash .swf file into iWeb, which was a huge pain. If anybody ever needs help with that, I have a nice template to expedite the process. But wow they don't make it easy!

BP13_Flash2

Hello everybody. I have just finished watching Todd Perkins' Flash CS4 Professional Getting Started tutorial on Lynda.com. There's a lot of stuff to take in but one of the reasons I chose Flash for this - besides the fact it's useful to know - is that it's timeline based like the editing software I use.

My goal is to spice up my AR Website by using Flash. The results will be in my 14th blog post.

My biggest concerns are:

- Remembering my ActionScript 3.0 so I can create interactivity, e.g., buttons for navigating

- Time. I have 3 days to do this and 36 of those hours will be spent at work.

- Figuring out how to transfer what I create in Flash to iWeb so it appears on my site.

What I might end up doing is just creating one or a couple of buttons to navigate through my Website and just keep adding as the school year goes on.

I'm cautious but excited!

BP12_F1ash1

I am choosing to learn more about Flash. I have dabbled in Flash a little in the past, but I am not close to being proficient. The part of Flash I have explored is ActionScript 3.0. This was about a year ago so my memory is very fuzzy.

I am hoping Lynda.com can help me with the basic timeline aspects of Flash. I am very interested in creating Web sites using Flash animation.

So my plan is to watch the tutorials on basic Flash and learn that first before I try and refresh my memory on ActionScript. Perhaps I will revisit that when we use the software in the appropriate class.

BP11_Aimoo Commercial

Watching Gregg's video made me determined to actually get some nice looking fonts into iMovie. Since iMovie cannot do it itself, I used Keynote for all the fonts. Enjoy the dramatic trailer for Aimoo message board hosting...

BP10_Comment to Gregg Eilers (again)

His video was too cool not to comment on. Back to the Future... Check out this LINK

BP9_Comment to Gregg Eilers

Check out my comment to Gregg by following this LINK

BP8_Aimoo

For my third Web 2.0 tool, I chose Aimoo. Aimoo is a free site that allows you to create a message board for whatever you want. I have been a part of the Buffalo Bills message board for almost a decade, and I always thought that having a message board for the edit department at work would be a really good way to promote more of a community. I think it would be beneficial in these ways:

1. Announcements - As of now we strictly rely on mass emails to promote events or conferences. Having a static list of upcoming events would be more effective than an email lost amongst the 50 or so that we receive each day.

2. Projects - A message board would be a good way to post what project each editor is working on. This way you would avoid duplicate projects. It would also be a good way to provide feedback or ask for ideas/help.

3. Community - You would get to know employees on different shifts; you could have avatars and quotes that you can create so you get a little taste of someone's personality; management would enjoy being able to reach their direct reports in a more casual way.

From what I have tinkered with, Aimoo is a fully functional message board. You can create different categories and sub-categories, password protect things, and create stickies. The best thing for my place of employment would be the privacy settings, so it would be restricted to employees only. Increasing interaction between employees could only be a good thing. I can go 8 months before meeting someone sometimes!

BP7_Survs Commercial

This commercial was inspired by the old Electric Company program on PBS. I wanted to have fun with the name of the software: Survs. I also love clearly amateurish commercials like FinallyFast.com or the online college commercials with that girl in her pajamas or the singing waitress. Branding is major component of commercials, so i hope I succeeded.... Survs!

BP6_Comment to Bob Mercer

Bob found a good, free picture site, follow this LINK to my comment

BP5_Comment to Brooke McKaig

Find out how Brooke showed me a new way to inspire creativity by clicking HERE

BP4_Survs

I used Go2Web2.0 to find a new Web 2.0 tool that I will be using as part of my Action Research project. I eventually chose Survs, a survey creation program. My Action Research project problem statement has changed over the last month, which was mostly due to compromises with my employer. I’m going to be re-training production assistants (which I do look forward to) and one the first steps they want me to take is creating a survey to see what problems exist that I should address.

And that’s where Survs comes in. I was not a big fan of Survey Monkey (a site my previous professor suggested) and typing up a survey in Microsoft Word was clumsy at best. Survs has a very simple user interface (UI), and some bells and whistles that seem very useful.

The first one that stuck out to me was how it aggregates information very easily. If a question is “on a scale of 1-10, how well do you know the Quantel editing software”, Survs allows you to quickly scan data for all the 10s, or 1s, or break down all answers into percentages. Reading the data is simple, whereas I would have to create a separate Excel spreadsheet if I created my own survey from scratch, or worse yet, I would have to coordinate with Human Resources, which is a lengthy process.

The second thing that stood out to me about Survs was the ability to allow multiple trainers to have access to and change the core survey. I might be the administrator of the survey, but there will be other trainers working along side me that can have access to the site. They can change, update, and add questions, as well as access data results. While I am spearheading this initiative, I am not the only person involved. Survs allows for easy collaboration, which is why I chose it.

BP3_DiscoveringWeb2.0Tools

I don’t know if it’s too lame or obvious to choose YouTube for this assignment, but the class previous to this one (Training and Motivational Development) was the first time I ever uploaded anything to YouTube. Since I am video editor trainer, having a place for new and existing editors to post their work (using the private settings) would be very beneficial. Ironically, we don’t really have a forum for editors to show off their work (outside of yearly awards) and this could be a good way to allow co-workers to see what each other is doing.

One of my RSS selections was an After Effects video page, but it would be even better if we could utilize our own employees’ work. To not only show off our work, but to have it be able to motivate other editor’s projects.

The biggest problem with this is copyright issues. The copyrights are not only held by my employer, but also the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, etc… They do not allow public postings of thing without permission, but that is why I would utilize the privacy settings. Not making it available for public viewing could get around these issues.

This is the point where I ask all of you following my blog (and you too, professor!) If any of you have a suggestion for a website similar to YouTube that is perhaps a little more private, something we could only utilize internally.

Being able to showcase your work is very important. I personally know that seeing other people do good work motivates me to do good work of my own. Using YouTube (or another site) would be a great way to do this.

(picture used with YouTube's blessing)