Amber King Project 3

Project 3-1

Project 3-2

What was your favorite feature of Flash presented in this Module? Why?

I found the trace bitmap feature really interesting and fun. I had no idea Flash could do something like that. Having done things like this in the past by hand with the pen tools, this could make life a lot easier.

Describe your experience importing bitmap and Photoshop images. What was your impression of the results of using the trace bitmap feature?
I found them both pretty painless, which is something I generally appreciate about Adobe products. I really like having the ability to import specific layers from Photoshop files. The trace bitmap feature, like I said before, I thought was pretty neat, and I think that it can create a very interesting visual style.

After seeing how to create layers for your timeline, please discuss how you manage your layers panel in future projects.
For more complex projects, I'll probably end up using nested folders, first grouping into major components, such as characters, background, effects, and then any specific thing inside that that requires more than one layer, like a character with multiple parts that have their own animations, would be given their own folder inside the character folder.

Please discuss how you will manage your library assets in future projects.
Folders, folders, folders for all! I like being able to find things.

What challenges did your encounter creating and editing symbols?
The biggest challenge really was remembering to change the type (Movie Clip, Graphic, etc). It's really easy to just hit F8, name it, and hit enter without thinking about that.

Discuss which filters and blend modes you used in your project.
I only really used a color tint (27%, R 170 G 255 B 199) on the alien in the project because the background image that I chose was fairly complex and I didn't want to add more complication to the image.

How will you use the 3D tools in your future projects?
I imagine that I'll use them more often in something that I'm planning on animating, because I see having the ability to move things along the Z axis being very useful in animation.

Project 3 - Dan Silber

What was your favorite feature of Flash presented in the module? Why? 

The 3D tool was interesting to work with and can be very useful and fun. My favorite feature was the trace bitmap feature and distorting the image, the filter and blend modes were cool too.

Describe your experience importing bitmap and Photoshop images. What was your impression of the results of using the trace bitmap feature?

I had no previous experience importing bitmap images but found it very easy. I greatly enjoyed the results of using the trace bitmap feature.

After seeing how to create layers for your timeline, please discuss how you manage your layer panels in future projects.

I will make sure the layers are properly labeled and create a separate layer for each object/instance being used. Ordering the layers in order of appearance is important and the ability to go back and reorder layers is a nice feature.

Please discuss how you will manage your library assets in future projects.

I will keep my library assets properly labeled to avoid any confusion and import to the library previous to deciding what you want on the stage. That way everything you want to work with is already labeled and in the library ready to go.

What challenges did you encounter creating and editing symbols?

Creating and editing symbols was pretty self explanatory and not very challenging. Selecting the entire image, trace and fill, is important before converting to a symbol.

Discuss which filter and blend modes you used in your project.

I mainly used the blur and brightness modes along with adjusting the alpha level making instances more or less visible depending.

How will you use the 3D tools in future projects?

The 3D tools are very useful in changing the design and look of the objects or text. Also adding shadow effects will be very useful.



file:///Volumes/HP%20v100w/project3-2.html

Leo's Project 3

What was your favorite feature of Flash presented in this Module? Why?

The ability to control the layers of artwork from other programs was great. It really gives the feeling of control over the individual aspects of the artwork.

Describe your experience importing bitmap and Photoshop images. What was your impression of the results of using the trace bitmap feature?

I import images back and forth for Photoshop and illustrator all the time. I rarely used the convert to features as they had never seemed great to me, but this version is a great improvement.

After seeing how to create layers for your timeline, please discuss how you manage your layers panel in future projects.

Using lots of folders to separate all my elements to keep them straight and easily edited.

Please discuss how you will manage your library assets in future projects.

This is still a little confusing but it’s starting to make more sense. I have to be certain which I’m working on, either the library object or the object as it exists on a timeline.

What challenges did your encounter creating and editing symbols?

Mostly just as above, in recognizing whether I’m working on the object or timeline.

Discuss which filters and blend modes you used in your project.

Alpha and drop-shadow of course. You always need that for text.

How will you use the 3D tools in your future projects?

I really only understand their use for text at this point, I really need to see how they’ll be used for other things later in the modules.

Project 3 - Brooks Burwell

Link to my Project 3

What was your favorite feature of Flash presented in this Module? Why?
I liked the Filter effects feature in this module.  I like using filters in photoshop so I was already a little familiar with this feature.

Describe your experience importing bitmap and Photoshop images. What was your impression of the results of using the trace bitmap feature?
I was familiar with importing already so my experience was good.  I think the trace bitmap feature is great, it gives the image a watercolor look.

After seeing how to create layers for your timeline, please discuss how you manage your layers panel in future projects.
I'll know that I need to keep it organized if I want to have fewer problems in future projects.  I've had no problems so far.

Please discuss how you will manage your library assets in future projects.
I will keep my library assets organized and in folders.

What challenges did your encounter creating and editing symbols?
None.  It's simple.

Discuss which filters and blend modes you used in your project.
I used the glow effect on the text.  That was all since the project directions didn't require any filters to be used.

How will you use the 3D tools in your future projects?
Not all the time, but in some projects when it might be needed.  I don't think its always necessary to make text or parts of an image 3D.

Project 2

It's uh, oh, 2 hours and 20 minutes late but here is my Project 2!

As you can see I got maybe a little carried away with making it look good so maybe Mrs.DeAngelis can excuse the lateness because of effort, eh?  Eh?  Okay there's no excuse.  Sorry.

What challenges did you experience using the drawing tools? Which drawing types did you prefer?

I had a little trouble changing the size of the brush tool because I  was used to changing the size in the properties menu.  I figured it out though so it's a-okay.  I liked using the brush tool and tweaking it with the sub-selection tool, mostly because I was used to doing the same thing with Illustrator.

What deco tools did use? Were you able to create the objects you wanted?

I only used the required tree deco tool since I think using the premade flash decorations makes things look a little amateurish.  You can see I tried to tuck a third of the tree out of the picture.  Since I had to use a variety of tools (some of which I would not use like the tree deco tool) sometimes I would get frustrated that I had to make something that would be better suited to be made with another tool to make the picture look more uniform.

What did you draw using the pen tool?

I made the boulders solely with the pen tool and sub-selection tool.  I often like to make a quick rough outline with the pen tool and tweak it later since if I do it all at once I make a lot of points which are harder to work with when I edit it later.  Which is why the brush tool is good because it makes creating a rough outline with few points even easier.

Alien Creation Process 

First I made a rough body shape with the brush tool on the body layer.  Then I made some circle eyes with the brush tool on the eye layer and filled a dark pink into the center.
I tweaked the body around to my liking with the sub-selection tool and used the brush tool's fill selection option to form the outline of it's hover teeth.  I used a white color to fill the teeth and deleted the outline.  After that I made a gradient on it's lower body and used the gradient transformation tool to angle it to the feet spacing and moved around the gradient to get the effect I wanted.  I did the same for the eye stalks.  It's eyes looked weird to me so I added eyelids via brush tool selection fill with the pupil and outer part of the eye selected.  It still looked unfinished so I selected the pupil and used my old friend brush selection fill to add some highlights, bam, cute lil alien.

As for how the layer order helped me out, well, you can't have the sky in front of the mountains.  And locking the folder elements I wasn't working on helped with not accidentally selecting them.  Naming helped me locate them easily which was also nice.

PS I used http://colorschemedesigner.com/ for the pretty color palette, I really cannot recommend it enough, if you start out with one color you like it gives you colors that work with it and if you hover in front of the color blocks it gives you the hex code.

Project 2 - Dan Slber

What challenges did you experience using the drawing tools? Which drawing type did you prefer?

They were all fairly easy to use once you get the hang of what each one does. The pen tool and the anchor points took a minute to get the hang of. At this point I enjoy them all for their purposes but I really enjoy using the selection tool to manipulate the lines on any object. 

What deco tools did you use? Were you able to create the objects you wanted?

The spray can for the stars and the tree brush tool for the tree. I was able to create the objects I wanted.

What did you draw using the pen tool?

I drew the boulders and some of my alien with the pen tool. 

Please describe how you created your alien.

I mainly used the pen tool and shape tool then just changed the lines of the objects with the selector tool. 

Please discuss how the layer order and folder management assisted you in managing your project. 

The layer order was helpful in terms of the most recent object being on top and then locking the layer so I did not mess anything up as I progressed and added new layers. The folder management was nice to keep the timeline clean and organized. 

Project 2 - Amber King

Project 2

What challenges did you experience using the drawing tools? Which drawing types did you prefer? 

Deciding what to use to do different things when making the alien was challenging. I tried to use as many different things as possible so sometimes it felt like there were too many options.

What deco tools did use? Were you able to create the objects you wanted?

I used the tree brush as instructed. I wanted to find a way to use a deco tool to add to my alien but ultimately I didn't like what I came up with so it didn't get used.

What did you draw using the pen tool?

I used the pen tool to draw the boulders and the alien's nose. I wanted a nice smooth curve and it was the best tool for that.

Please describe how you created your alien.

I started with an oval for the head and pulled out the top edges to get the shape I wanted. I did something similar for the body. I made sure to use the same stroke style for everything to give it cohesion. I used the pen tool to create the nose and ovals for the whites and then pupils of the eyes. I used the pencil tool for the eyebrow/antenna things and the legs with ovals for feet. I changed the stroke style but kept the color and made a pencil stroke for the hairs. For both the stroke and the body fill I used a radial gradient. For the body I had to use the Gradient Transform to move the highlight where I wanted it.

Please discuss how the layer order and folder management assisted you in managing your project.


It was a little strange remembering to use the layers, but by the time I was working with the alien I was wishing I'd used three or four layers for that part alone. I rarely find myself using folders for layers in other Adobe programs and I'm starting to think I should.

Leo Project2

What challenges did you experience using the drawing tools? Which drawing types did you prefer?
The Pen tool is always a challenge if you don't use if VERY often. It just takes lots of practice, but you can do anything with it eventually. Remembering to turn off the object drawing was also an issue

What deco tools did use? Were you able to create the objects you wanted?
The stars of course, but they were great for that and I could see that it would be in the class demo.

What did you draw using the pen tool?
Lots of my Robot parts, just because I like to practice with it.

Please describe how you created your alien.
Used the pen tool for the Head, and then the oval for the body, Pen again for the eyelids.

Please discuss how the layer order and folder management assisted you in managing your project.
Perfect, it makes a huge difference being able to control all the objects through layers.

Here's a pic of Project 2

Project 1 - Dan Silber

What challenges did you experience using the Flash interface?

The only challenge I had was remembering to make sure the layer was selected and set the frame before selecting the photo. I did it backwards at first and the photos did not sequence correctly. Other than that it was pretty straight forward. 

How does Flash compare to new programs that you used in the past?

I have used photoshop a tiny bit and the tools are similar in some ways. The organization, labeling, setting frames and key frames is similar in some ways to recording software when it comes to labeling and prepping tracks.

What do you hope to do with Flash in the future?

I would like to be able to build and design websites and learning Flash will definitely help with that. 

Project 2 - Brooks Burwell

Link to my Project 2

• What challenges did you experience using the drawing tools? Which drawing types did you prefer?

I think the pen tool is confusing to use sometimes but I am getting more and more used to it as I use it.  Other than that I had no real problems with an tools.

• What deco tools did use? Were you able to create the objects you wanted?

I only used the stars with the deco tool.  I don't really understand this question, I just did what the directions told me to do with it.

• What did you draw using the pen tool?

The boulders at the bottom of the stage, right infront of the tree.

• Please describe how you created your alien.

I had fun creating my alien, it was my favorite part of the project because we could make it look however we wanted.  I used the oval tools and then went to the edges to form its arms and legs.

• Please discuss how the layer order and folder management assisted you in managing your project.

The folders and layer orders didnt give me any problems, I am sure if I didn't make sure it was organized I would have had many problems.

Project 1 - Brooks Burwell

Sorry I am a bit late, I've had my project done for a while and just forgot that we had to use this blogging site.

Link to my Project 1

• What challenges did you experience using the Flash interface?

None actually, I've used it before in high school so the basics I am familiar with.  I am sure once we get further into the course I will have more challenges.

• How does Flash compare to programs that you used in the past?

It is very similar to Photoshop in a way.  The tools are basically the same it just has a different point to it.  Knowing some stuff about Photoshop definitely helps me with Flash.

• What do you hope to do with Flash in the future?

I'm not sure. It might be useful on my web pages but I just would like to have the knowledge of Flash so if I need to use it in the future I can.

Leo's Project 1

 Leo's Project 1

 My project consists of some character illustrations I have done. With a nod to SNL.

What challenges did you experience using the Flash interface?
Maybe I tried to too quickly jump into some of the tools as they so like the other Adobe products that I’m familiar with. It might give me a false sense of confidence and to try to skim over some of the instructions.

How does Flash compare to new programs that you used in the past?
I have never used a program like Flash other than Flash itself. What I find most interesting is how a co-worker and I struggled with client projects in Flash, that neither of us actually knew anything about, while just learning this little so far, makes me go “Oh that’s what we were doing wrong.”

What do you hope to do with Flash in the future?
Initially I hadn’t planned on much other than having the knowledge for work requirements, but now the program seems more useable to me for my own interests and projects.

Project 1

Here's a link to my first project!

It features my own art and character.  I'm quite fond of this character even if I have no idea what his personality is yet.  He is nice to look at though.

What challenges did you experience using the Flash interface?

It was pretty easy despite how rusty I am at flash, it's certainly changed for the better since my run in with it in 9th grade.  I guess the challenge is getting a little faster at navigating it since I don't remember all the key shortcuts.

How does Flash compare to new programs that you used in the past?

Most of the "new" programs I use are adobe like flash (photoshop/illustrator) and have the same kind of feel and complexity.  Flash takes way longer to load than those though and I heard many horror stories about it crashing a lot.  It could stand to be a little more streamlined and less bulky.

What do you hope to do with Flash in the future?

I'm mostly looking forward to some recreational animating with it just for fun.  But coding a web site in flash sounds good also.

Project 1

I didn't want to be the first person to put my project up but if I keep waiting I'm going to forget to do it before it's due, so here it is.

http://sws.pcc.edu/student/CAS175_patricia.deangelis_15159/amberreneking80/FileManagement/Projects/project1/project1.html

What challenges did you experience using the Flash interface? How does Flash compare to new programs that you used in the past? What do you hope to do with Flash in the future?

The most challenging thing about using the Flash interface so far is remembering where to look for things. It's pretty user friendly compared to a lot of other programs I've had to learn to use (3d modeling software is a beast), and it helps that I've had quite a lot of experience using Photoshop and a fair amount with Dreamweaver and Illustrator, but it still hasn't completely sunk in where I'm supposed to look for things to get the best workflow I can. Since I'd like to eventually build some games with Flash, it's important to me to have everything I'm actually going to use be easy to find and in the most convenient place for when I need it.

Greetings!

Another little hello to everyone in the class from me, Amber. So far I'm finding Flash pretty fun to play with so I'm looking forward to the rest of the term!

Greetings.

Leo here. This Blog is straining my limit for remembering passwords!

A quick note on the light scribe, is that it didn't work in my Firefox, but did through Chrome.

Hello everyone! So far I'm having a lot of fun learning the flash program. The book is awesome and makes it really easy to get through the tutorials. I hope everyone else is enjoying this class so far. See you all tomorrow afternoon :)

Hi everyone:
I look forward to learning all I can from flash