Introduction To Flash

Lecture

This weeks lecture was a simple introduction to flash and showing us what flash is capable of. We started by talking about RSS readers and we were shown examples of how they work. We were then talking about which flash version we will be using, the version we will be using is Flash CS3. We were then shown how to perform a motion tween, we were shown steps such as converting an image into a symbol and inserting key frames. The first animation we were shown was how to make a simple ball bounce across the screen. We then went on to creating a shape tween, which is making one shape transform into another. This involved inserting two key frames, drawing two different shapes in either key frame and then setting it to a shape tween. The first shape tween we saw was a rectangle transforming into a circle. We were then shown high quality examples of flash productions such as the Pixar website and a really good website by Dario Piana.

External links
http://www.pixar.com/index.html
http://www.dariopiana.com/home.html

Tutorial

The tutorial this week was a follow on from the lecture, allowing us to experiment with simple motion and shape tweens in flash. We were given step by step instructions on how to produce a symbol bouncing around the screen. The first of the steps was a detailed explanation on how to create a symbol, this involved inserting a symbol and then drawing or writing what was desired. This was then followed by the creation of key frames and setting up simple motions, to allow the symbol to move around the screen. As the instructions went on they showed us how to use the free transform tool to cause the symbol to change shape/size as it is moving around.

Reflection

I found this weeks lecture really interesting as i haven't used Flash before. The simple introduction was good, it broke down the initial steps to creating a flash production really well. The lecture also showed us complex flash productions such as the Dario Piana website, this really made me want to learn more about the software and try and get the most out of it. This weeks tutorial was great, a well explained step by step set of instructions allowed me to create a simple flash production easily. The first production i made was some text bouncing around the screen, i eventually made it change shape as it was bouncing off the sides giving the impression that it was squashing against the side of the screen. During the lecture this week we talked about ActionScript. I was interested with what it could do so i found a tutorial. I have found this week interesting, helpful with learning how to use Flash.

Actionscript Tutorial - http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/action_scripts/actionscript_tutorial/

Dancey.