Okay, what do you do when you have gone overboard already playing with motion tweens, and you want to save a certain effect so that you don’t have to recreate from scratch? ……….Save a Motion Preset.
I actually saw how easy it was by accident. I right clicked my white rose and selected insert motion tween. I dragged the rose a few inches on the stage and then I right clicked to see save as Motion Preset as an option.
Save a name for it, and when you want to apply it again go to the motion Preset menu and look for it under the Custom presets folder.
3.You can do this for any Motion Preset you are using.
Experiment, a little but be careful…there is enough tacky website design out there joined to the hip with bells and whistles.
In the same document Lynda.com chapter, I was exposed to the Motion Presets, which allow you to automatically apply some standard but dynamic effects to imagery in Flash…
First I imported another rose, and saved it as a symbol…. (I’m on a rose kick today)
This time, save the Rose as a Movie Clip Symbol.
You most save a symbol as Movie Clip to use a motion tween.
Drag the white Rose symbol to the stage and while it is selected go to Window » Motion Presets
3.The Motion Presets window comes up with a list of motion tweens. And a small window at the top that previews what the effect will do when applied. Once you have chosen the desired Motion, click Apply.
You will see the motion applied to the Timeline.
The Motion tween is shown on the file at a neon-jagged line that outlines what direction the animation will take the graphic into.
1.
4.To preview the effect, click the Control Window » Test movie » Test which will so you what the effect looks like.
Before you get too heavily into everything else I thought it might make you eager to learn more if you saw how quickly you and animate something.
At times to me Flash can be extremely frustrating and boring when the lessons deal with the essentials, probably because they sometimes tend to straddle between need to know info, I already know info, and I could have figured this out with a little time to play so this time out I played with some effects (That is what people us Flash for anyway)
This one way important to me to grasp because I am very graphic designer makes you kind of partial to pictures…The concept of Symbols as it relates to Flash:
My screen shots will give you a visual example.
1.I opened up a Flash document and when to File » Import » Import image to Library.
the picture I selected it the rose you see. Saving the image to the Library is a way of collecting you resources much like saving a file for research paper on the computer. This saves the picture in the working Flash file for continued use.
Next I dragged the file to the document (stage) and then convert it to a symbol by going to Modify » Convert to Symbol Background Info:Flash streamlines image usage and keeps file size down by using Symbols. (A representation of a file that you can use repeatedly in the document instead of copying the image over and over again) Once you have a symbol in your library, you can use it over and over again and barely affect file size.
When you convert to symbol you need to name it and choose to convert it either to button, graphic or movie clip; which have characteristics specific to each. This graphic…. is converted as a “graphic”
The next image shows the Rose being used repeatedly in the Flash file by dragging it from the library to the stage.
5.Each Rose is call an instance. 4 separate elements on the stage. They can be individual altered and will not affect the Rose from the library UNLESS you specifically alter the Rose directly from the library. (Think of it like altering an copy of a file sent to you. The original is unaffected unless you alter the original
6.Using symbol instances can help you to show animation, movement by affecting each based on what you want to do (like frames in a movie…. which is the backbone of what flash does anyway…. it is called a Flash movie)
I got an email from Classroom 2.o about how Elluminate and Wimba are one in the same now. Since they had a session in “Wimba 2.0” I went in to peek. I took a couple of screen shots of the interface to show you what I saw in the event that we end up upgrading any time soon.
The usual features we have been using are still there: the raised hand, yes check No X , text window and the talk button…….it was disabled though….probably because no one was in the room moderating…though the meeting was supposed to be at 9. (it could be I was in the wrong room…I have done this before)
I don’t know if this is standard for all user or of the moderator, but I saw some things that were either new or had not been used before:
1.a file transfer window. To upload files to the group or moderator…. not sure.
2.A note page to take notes on the lecture on the interface
3.A function to print the participants list or the whiteboard…. since we all have print to PDF, this would be very useful.
4.A save function for the Chat conversation, participants’ list or whiteboard.
5.The away button is a lot easier to see (as door with arrow on it when you leave chat)
I am sure I am missing something, but the Wimba learning curve lent itself well to familiarizing myself with Elluminate…Looks like it may be way cool.
Since I am already using Wimba and a member of Classroom 2.0 I guess I not breaking any laws sharing this with you all…….its all web20. Anyway right?
Okay, I admit it, I really like this site......
now, I went to it because I needed to research Web 2.0 software, and yeah I went to it to create a flash based site without learning flash......BUT......
I do plan to learn flash....there's no real way around it......(I do have Lynda.com until next August anyway)
I was well overdue to create a page that shows my work with some flash based elements, my concern was I really did not want to take time away from class and Job/Project searching to work on my site when I could do it just as well here (Clients pay for their site...there's no pay for redoing MY website).
To be quite frank, I wanted a new look with some interactive elements and to show a nice range of work without having to take too much time from the bills....and Wix did the job.
I will state two things for those unfamiliar to the site: you may not code, but you will design, and you WILL work. There is some effort to putting this together. any website is a bit ike a puzzle; this is more a question of whether you want to do a 500 piece or a 1000 piece ......but the look is totally customizable..which I like (yes I am a bit of a control freak for my design work)
My biggest gripe is that you have is still the ads...they are still relatively unobtrusive, but you have to pay almost 10$ or more /month to get the ad free site. The saving grace is a VERY customizable site, with a great look and a lot of potential.
still, I like what I see......I might jump ship from my current host.........MIGHT
JCIII
3. Select layer without shape on it and either right click insert keyframe
4.click on motion tween timeline and at selected intervals choose insert keyframes (alter
the “instances” I altered the ball by scale and skew at a few points in the motion tween)
Unfortunately, My good fortune did not last with Aviary. I imported a piece of stock photography that I downloaded from another Web 2.0 resource, PhotoXpress. and attempted to create a piece for their artist showcase.
Tutorial (Intermediate)
My interpretation
From the initial glance, it would seem that I was successful, however this is not where I stopped on this piece, this is where Aviary got on my last nerve. I wanted to do something with the negative space behind the model and play into the desaturated pice motif a bit more.
it took a few attempts to get this where I wanted it, most specifically with the program not allowing me to paste into layers like I wanted. Other times I could not see the work on the layer yet when I was giving the computer instructions there were things going on behind the scenes (at one point I had cut a whole square out of the lady's face, but I did not know it until I had a "window in her head"...yet undo wasn't accessible.
I could dismiss my concerns with the Phoenix program of Aviary as just being lack of familiarity with the platform, yet the interface is very user friendly in terms of streamlined desktop functions and buttons. In addition to that, I am not convinced that I am that far out of the learning curve to get in there and produce considering be that most image manipulating programs do essentially the same things (Photoshop, Gimp, Phoenix, etc)
at present I am 1-1 with Aviary, (I give the loss, with prejudice, since the tutorial was reproduced fairly successfully, but I wasn't able to move as fluidly through the program as I though i should be able to)....... I still am unwilling to write Aviary off...I just am not going to get into a gotta be done yesterday project and go there expecting to produce (not without out a BIT more experience)
I've had Aviary as an account yet I have never really used it. Today seemed to be a descent time for me to play around with to see how significant a tool it is for me to use.
In a nutshell, Aviary, is an online based open source version of Creative Suite, playfully names after various bird species. (That is the best way to explain it). There is a Music Creator, Audio editor, Vector image creator, Image manipulation tool and a color editor and a few other tool available for beta testing for those die hard souls who pay to play on the platform.
As a simple exercise I went to my most regularly used tool of any design software tool, the vector editor....in this platform, that's Raven. as a regular logo designer, and a old schooler who still likes to actually draw out a concept I prefer the vector editors because may of them will allow me to convert scanned pictures, bitmap images and photos in and turn them to vector images.
after a playing with the parameters a little bit, I recreated the Bitmapped image in Vector based form. The image is converted to about 32 colors, but the recreation is very good looking for a trial run.
This image is just to show how the pic was recreated in vector form. The green areas are layers that were highlighted when the I moused over them.
Not Bad for a trial run......Gotta really take this thing out for a spin.
I am not the best fan of the fact that this is solely online, as i usually prefer much more freedom with my work, but the results I have by just playing with it for a few minutes merit a further look.
JCIII
After reviewing the wiki by my peer's Web 2.0 review regarding Wikispaces, I thought it a great place to start trying out Wikis. After meeting with dr. De Leon and finding out that there will be some level of interaction and/or correspondence with educators in my workplace (in my case former colleagues) it seemed like a solid resources to establish for interaction with the teaching staff as I am not in regular access or correspondence with them about there feeling on professional development.
This forum would allow me an area to gather thoughts on the current state of the staff's professional development, what they feel works, does not, is present and is lacking in their professional development as well as submit potential tools for use that I have come across thus far during my studies here at Full Sail.
Though the feedback is the primary purpose for the Wikispaces, providing a source of resources for the staff team to better engage their students is more than enough reason to maintain the site.
ATTENTION: PC police…. this post is stereotype laced…Just thought I’d warn you…that is all!
The Walden books of Barnes and Nobles…………
I am waiting to have my Mac looked at and since I am an hour early, I find myself once again drawn to the siren song of the book store…not the intellectual haven one might find in San Marco, in some cozy, slightly mildew scented nook with a old gray haired caretaker who looks like he might smell like hemp (I am not intellectual NOR hip enough for that store)…
No, my stop is that yuppie heaven/java bean bastion of commercialism addicting Voracious reader everywhere…(Drum roll Please……………) Barnes and Noble!!!
I admit it; I am a media junkie. Over the last couple of years I have found myself drawn to the nearest B&N or Walden Books, or Borders ,Mac Store, Best Buy, Comp USA, Circuit City or the like whenever I am nearby. Today, it's B&N based solely on vicinity. It’s one of the few places I can loiter, thumb through books I will not purchase, make my self comfy on the furniture AND expect a yummy super small, caffeine laced quadruple toffee mocha something supreme (with soy) .Though I benefit, I still marvel at their commitment to customer service to the point of allowing us to freeload.
One might think by the post above that I am somehow anti-bookstore…. quite the contrary…my frequency of visit is a testament to my love of the Media “all you can eat”. Though I must admit I used to come in to look through comic books (excuse me, graphic Novels!) then I started thumbing through computer software learn-its, then I moved to autobiographies then I got to the point where I could come in, have an amaretto or a Venti something, sit in the Grandpa’s chair and skim the afternoon away on something with words in it.
Who knew after all this college studies focused on images, color and computer, that I still had a little bit of a love affair with words…(and a tall coffee of course)
Ok, Beat Marker sounded cool to me from the start, soooooo…….
Actually, Beat Marker was a technique to synchronize the showing of still photos or Video footage in iMovie to the “beats” of the audio track in the movie…… (It’s much easier than it sounds, I assure you…)
Open up a new project in iMovie and Make sure NO Transitions are preselected when you start out. The reason I will explain later as it will make more sense then.
Find a track in the iMovie Jingles that you like and drag into your Project Library. click the gear in the top left corner to open the inspector where you can adjust audio and video clips. Select Clip Trimmer.
Press spacebar to play music and insert Beat Mark Marker where you hear a drum, or a Beat. The Button for a beat marker looks like a music note,
but you can also insert a marker by just pressing the letter “m” when you get to a point where you want to insert a marker.
(Note: It is important to insert markers, but not too crucial that you get it exact….if you are having trouble look for the “peaks” or the “Spikes” in the waveform of the audio. The tutorial suggested that you play the audio, and insert by clicking “m”. this worked for me because I could then focus solely on where I heart a beat and insert accordingly.)
You can now add video in your Event Library or Stills from iPhoto to your Project library. The video or still photos automatically snap to the beat markers where you inserting them.
Play the movie to try it out.
Reminder: check project properties and make sure No Transitions are preselected. The reason for this is that any transitions will override any beat Markers you place in the audio.
If you don’t want to Snap to Beats, got to View menu and de-select Snap to Beats If you don’t want to use the markers anymore, go back to audio in the clip Trimmer and Right Click (or Contrl Click) on audio track and select remove all beat markers
This tutorial isn’t one that could just be shown simply as screen shots so I am also attaching a small video sample that I did for this exercise.
JCIII
I am glad I spent the time in Lynda.com on iMovie. Under most circumstances when it comes to technology I don’t realy like to spend a whole lot of time in a medium where there are a lot of functions that I don’t know much about. Needless to say I am feeling much better now with iMovie. This time around, I am learning what Ducking is (at least what it means in iMovie).
Ducking is a feature that allows iMovie to diminish the audio output of music tracks over video when someone is speaking. It is an alternative to completely cutting off the audio track. My most recent video “ducked” my jingle pretty well so I will just share the procedure.
First select the clip or series of clips where you want Ducking to occur. Again, click the gear in the top left corner to open the inspector where you can adjust audio and video clips. Select Audio Adjustments
On your adjustments panel you will be adjusting the Ducking controls, which are second from the top.
If they are at 15, you should be fine (default), as most tracks and video audio work well at the default setting. If not change it to 15. Teak it a little lower if that still doesn’t suit your needs.
Since I have spend most of my creative career using still images, the Ken Burns effect in iMovie was especially cool for me. It allows you to utilize Pan and zoom on still images in a movie without changing an active movie presentation into a static one. The setting is default when utilizing stills with iMovie, but the Ken Burns Effect allows more control over how it is executed.
Lynda.com shows an example of a photo slideshow with dissolve transitions, but since I already have an example on the last 4 seconds of the embedded video in post Bp8 of my Blog, the principle can be explained here.
First make sure that the stills you are using are in the iPhoto folder. (Drag it into the iphoto icon on dock, or open iPhoto and drag it into the photo collection. It will assign it as an event.)
From there, you can drag the still to iMovie wherever in the video you want it to appear.
Click the gear in the top left corner to open the inspector where you can adjust audio and video clips (whichever you have selected) Select Cropping Ken Burns and Rotation
On your screen you should see a Green start and red end square which instruct iMovie when to start and stop Pan and how much (if any) to zoom. Put Green square where you want pan to start, and Red one where you want it to end.
If you want it to zoom in make end square smaller than start size of if you want to zoom out, vice versa.
To get a brief example already done, look at the last 4 seconds of the Bp8 blog to see the finished look
5. Each Rose is call an instance. 4 separate elements on the stage. They can be individual altered and will not affect the Rose from the library UNLESS you specifically alter the Rose directly from the library. (Think of it like altering an copy of a file sent to you. The original is unaffected unless you alter the original
After inserting the bitmapped image into Raven, I went to Object menu. (From working with illustrator and Freehand, I know that converting to paths is another way of saying changing a bitmap to vectored objects I pulled in the first bitmapped image I had available (in this case a pic of my sone from one of my last iMovie projects) and used vector editors to convert the bit mapped images to a paths (or vector based images) Raven on of my most frequently used functions
I actually played with the effects for only a minute or two (and about two unsatisfactory attempts)
Vector
This image is just to show how the pic was recreated in vector form. The green areas are layers that were highlighted when the I moused over them. 
