September » 2009 » Glenn Ward

1.1 Introduction to Adobe Flash – The Workspace and Tools

The Flash Workspace

I know what it’s like to open a program for the first time and be overwhelmed by all the windows so I’m only going to explain what is necessary to get started. Fortunately if you are familiar with Adobe Photoshop or Dreamweaver the rest will begin to come clear as you begin to work with flash.

The Stage and Properties Inspector
The white square in the centre of the screen is known as the Stage. As you have nothing on the stage, tale a look at the properties inspector (top right) it will currently should the Stage properties. The main Properties you will be concerned with is FPS (Frames Per Second) The Size of the Stage, default is set to 550 x 400 px, you can alter this buy clicking edit. Also the Stage background color, set this to whatever best suits your intended output.

The Timeline
Next, lets take a look at the Timeline, as you will see your first layer is pre populated. For those familiar with Photoshop, layers can be stacked on top of each other and can also be sorted in folders. The main difference here is that each layer has a timeline made up of keyframes. Each keyframe is like a page in a flick book, you will notice the counter running above the timeline, if your FPS is set to 15 you quickly be able to calculate each second of footage.

There are three tools for operating the timeline and layers these are from left to right. New Layer, New Folder and Delete.

The Library
The library can be found in the bottom right of the workspace and is used to locate all of your imported graphics, imagery, sound and video clips. You can drag and drop these assets to the stage from the library.

Ok that’s enough to get started, much of the other windows Will become apparent as you begin to work with Flash.

Introduction to Drawing in Flash
Things to Remember #1 – when drawing in Flash only place one ‘object’ in a layer – treat it as if you were drawing on separate layers of acetate. For example – sky (Layer 1), grass (Layer 2), sun (layer 3), tree (layer 4) etc…

Start drawing and see how shapes, lines and fills work in Flash. Save all your experiments to your journal.

The Toolbar
Click on the different icons to see what each tool function does. Whenever you click on a tool you will notice it’s properties appear as icons below the Tool Bar. Make sure you click around to experiment with these so you can gain an understanding of Flash’s functionality.

Arrow: (Selection Tool) This is used for when ever you are not using any of the other tools. It selects individual objects or frames or a marquee for selecting multiple objects. It operates the tool bar and menu systems. Etc.

Subselection Tool:

Brush: The Brush tool is not unlike the pencil but it allows you to create thicker objects for freehand drawing.

Dropper: Use the eyedropper tool to copy fill and stroke attributes from one shape or line and immediately apply them to another shape or line.

Eraser: Pretty self-explanatory really..

Lasso: This is used for selecting single or multiple objects in hard to reach places by allowing you to draw a line, which then becomes the selection.

Line: This tool does what the title suggests. It draws lines. Useful for drawing polygons and other weird shapes the Oval and Rectangle tools can’t deal with.

Pen Tool: Allows you to draw very precise lines vector lines and curves for filling

Magnifier: You will be able to zoom in on your stage and objects with this tool. Holding down the “Alt” key will change the pointer to a “minus” sign. This will enable you to zoom out.

Paint Bucket: This will fill objects with a colour of your choosing. Ink Bottle: This tool creates lines around objects. For example, after selecting the tool and clicking on a circle object it will create a circular line around it. This can then be turn into a separate object.

Pencil: This tool draws freehand lines. Some bright sparks at Macromedia have granted you the ability to straighten and smooth the ravages of your unsteady hand. Have a play with this by choosing Modify> Curves> …

Rectangle: Another useful tool and you guessed it! It draws squares. When you draw one it will create a border too if you have to border colour selected. Clicking on the border once and it will only highlight one side. A double click will highlight all four sides. Oval: A very useful tool, which allows the designer to create circles and ovals of any size. Remember: When you draw an oval, Flash creates a border around it if you have a border colour selected. So if you don’t want it there either turn the border colour off or click on the border of the object, this will highlight the border, and delete it. (These borders can be useful in your design)

Text: This tool allows the designer to create text or text fields. Fill Transform tool; Adjusts the direction and angle of a gradient or bitmap fill

Free Transform tool: Allows you to rotate, scale or skew a selected object.

Hand Tool: Allows you to quickly move around the stage.

Deco Tool: Fills the stage with annoying patterns, useful for almost… nothing!

3D Rotation Tool: Exactly what it suggests but will not be needed at the moment.

Obvious improvements from Mac OSX Leopard 10.5 to Snow Leopard 10.6

I bought the upgrade to Mac OSX Mainly for the performance upgrades, demands on the computer and hard disk space. Here are the obvious changes (not always upgrades) I noticed so far.

iTunes
When I updated iTunes I noticed that the iTunes welcome screen opened at program start up. No obvious change to the program and everything was as it was.

Mail
I opened Mail and it reconfigured, again everything was as I left it, I’m guessing it’s the improvements to Microsoft Exchange Server that was the main change there.

QuickTime
I must say I almost had a almost had a heart attack when I opened the new Quicktime player, it’s gone all consumer with share instead of export and limited functionality much like when Apple wound the clock back on iMovie. Fortunately I managed to find the legacy player still on the machine Applications > Utilities > Quicktime 7 player with all he old functionality… Few!!

I didn’t check the free Hard Drive space when I did the upgrade but apparently you will get 7 gigs of disc space back. I have noticed speed improvements but the MacBook was pretty quick to begin with although I have not noticed the fan kick in for a while which probably indicates a reduced demand on the hardware.

Oh and the Desktop has changed. Granted this post hasn’t been as in depth as I first envisaged so ask me any questions and I shall test it out for you!

Speed up your blog posts with quick screen grabs using Mac OSX shortcut keys

You could always use Grab, Apple Macs built in screen capture software but I will tell you how to print screen in seconds, even capture screen images ready to go straight into you blog or powerpoint presentation, already cropped and re sized without the need to use a program such as Adobe Photoshop.

Ok, first method. Hold SHIFT + COMMAND + 3 to print the entire screen, this will automatically place a high .png file on your desktop with a generic name.

Second method, SHIFT + COMMAND + 4 provides you with a set of cross hairs to select your desired workspace. Click and hold at the top left of the part of the screen you wish to capture and then drag diagonally down until all of the area is highlighted, release the mouse and the image will be generated and saved to your desktop. If you change your mind press escape to remove the cross hairs.

Be sure to name the image in a way the the search engines can read what it is, for example My_Screen_Grab.jpg

Insert the image into your blog, web page etc and have a brew with the time you just saved faffing about with picture editing programs.

Playstation 3 – Performing your PS3 update from an external portable device

I have my PS3 quite away from the modem and as a result it continually drops the downloads during update to the system and to games. I finally read up on how to do the update by downloading the update from the Sony PS3 site, creating a folder on the external drive called PS3 (case sensitive) and within that another called UPDATE, (again case sensitive) drop the update file in this folder and connect it to your PS3′s USB port. Using the PS3 menu screen navigate to the left and up to Software Update, follow the prompts and your update will be done in a fraction of the time!

Also, check out how I streamed my iTunes library from my Mavbook to play on my Playstation 3 Click Here

Four Dimensions Movie Trailer – Will it be as good as The Windsurfing Movie?

Since the launch of The Windsurfing Movie in 2007 by Poorboyz Productions, not many production companies caught on to the fact that the best way to make a windsurf film was to actually intend to make it in the first place, develop some camera techniques and put a budget behind it rather than ring around your mates asking them if they’ve got any footage for their video. Andre Paskowski seems like he might have done it properly judging by the trailer with Four Dimensions.
Watch the trailer below.

Also The Windsurfing Movie 2 is currently being made and is set to be better than the first.

Using iDVD to quickly output your videos with professional Chaptering and Menus

Often you will not have time to create DVD menus, chaptering, fancy graphics etc but you do need some that looks good, plays like a DVD and serves a purpose.

I personally wouldn’t use iDVD for professional output to client although it can often provide a quick solution.

Open iDVD, choose New Project and you will be faced with the default template of your current version. On the right hand side you will see a panel where you will be able to scroll through all the templates, be sure to switch through the dropdown at the top as this will show more templates from pat versions of iDVD. More templates are available on the Internet.

Choose your template and be sure the aspect ratio still matches that of your original movies. You should of by now exported all the movies you require for each chapters as separate movies (usually full quality DV or HD) and iDVD will encode them as it creates the DVD. iDVD does support chapter markers but more on that in another post.

Once you have all your movies neatly in a folder you are ready to bring them into your project. You can simply drag and drop each movie to the menu frame and a chapter menu button will be automatically created. This button is customisable.

You are almost ready for authoring. Just turn off the Apple branding in the bottom right hand corner of the screen by clicking iDVD > Preferences > Show Apple logo watermark

Hit the burn button. It will become ready and prompt you to put in a blank DVD. Do so and press burn. Your DVD will now be created. For multiple copies keep adding DVDs after each burn, this will reduce the disc creation time as the multiplexing and encoding only needs to be done once at this stage.

My (08.09) favourite iPhone Apps, Social Media, Sat Nav, Remote Access and more…

The launch of the iPhone 3GS has brought about many new and more advanced apps. On my 3G my most used apps were (in order) email, maps, iRail, twitterific, wordpress, facebook, eBay, aroundme. These are the apps that I found to be a massive timesaver and helped streamline my life. I could do my emails, blogging and stay up to date with my Twitter followings on the train and even check my eBay. Getting out of London at the weekends and having maps in my pocket meant that I rarely got lost, in conjunction with AroundMe I rarely even spent time looking for things.

Current Favourites
Using maps for directions has evolved, I now use Copilot Live, I used to have this on a Touch Diamond and to be honest put my Tom Tom away after a while. I have written about other 3D Sat Nav apps available at the App Store. Also I am a big fan of the remote access app, LogMeIn Ignition, although slow (possibly down to network and WiFi speeds) the concept is sound and I’m sure as soon as O2 upgrade their the 3G network and if I hardwire into the modem I might not be editing video from my iPhone but I will be conducting most other tasks. Also, look into Internet Tethering, o2 now support it and I’m sure it will be quicker and more reliable as it was developed by Apple but it does carry a monthly bolt on charge price depending on your data needs.

A few nice to haves
A few websites I often visit have developed iPhone apps, I don’t use these on a daily basis but they are useful to have in my pocket. Wikipedia, always good as a quick reference and very easy to use. Google Earth, better in a WiFi area but often very handy. Rightmove saves some time looming at houses and also provides a location tool so if anyone ever asks you, I wonder what house prices are like in this area? You can tell them.

The intelligent thing about these apps is that the developers have thought about why you should use the app rather than just navigate to the site using Safari.

Future Apps
The introduction of the video camera to the iPhone has opened the door for real time apps and I am especially looking forward to the augmented reality stuff. Here’s a few teasers. London Tube Signs, Twitter real time location tweets and even a Sat Nav that displays the route on reality not a 3D generated image.

What I learn’t about QR Codes, their success in Japan and their business application

Back in July 2008 a friend of mine, Joel returned from Japan. Knowing me he thought I’d be very interested in a breaking technology in Japan. Everywhere he went he said he saw little square barcodes and more importantly people pointing their phones at them. I quickly hit the Internet and discovered they were QR codes or Quick Response Codes, the codes were originally produced to monitor stock control on automotive production lines but given the recent technological breakthroughs of mobile phone hardware and the ability to manipulate this hardware with customisable software the code readers found their way onto your devices. In Japan QR readers are one of the most widely used applications on a mobile phones (here’s some stats) and have been embraced by businesses. So, what Are their uses and how are they being used? Well, following the success on tiny URL’s we see a need to fit into limited fields large amounts of information and QR Codes provide this without the need for a database of stored information or a connection to the Internet to decider a code, it’s all there stored in the code. Fortunately, unlike many software revelations the concept has been governed from the start to avoid deviation from the theory, read more on Wikipedia. This means that (in theory) although their a couple of different types of code, the reader you decide to install on your phone should read any code and their are plenty of tools to create your codes both on the Internet and on your phone / mobile device.

The function of the QR Code is to store large amounts of information in a small space. Much like tiny URL’s didn’t make much sense to us until the popular acceptance of micro blogging QR will probably not make much sense until industry shows us the application for real. Where this concept excels is the ability to automatically call a function on the phone, in times where we are continually trying to streamline our lives this really does pay dividends.

Functionality
The QR Code can automatically open your browser at a web page, open a pre filled text message with respondent ready for your to hit send, it can pass contact information including phone numbers, email addresses etc to your phone and place them directly in the address book. Like many innovations we are in a catch 22 situation without big companies swing the benefit to there use and investing in it users will not install the software and with limited downloads of the software business fails to see the ROI. So, outside of the box, what possible applications do we see. Again, like I always say, the greatest power comes from a combination of technologies. On a basic level, imagine you are at a bus stop and you see a poster for a movie you want to see. You scan the barcode which automatically launches your browser on your phone, a simple HTML page loads and you are asked if it can access you current location using the phones built in GPS, you are forwarded to another page and within a matter of seconds you know where the local cinema is, the showings and price, you could even request directions to see google maps launch and take you there. Of course this has advertising implications and data collection. You are reading the local paper and see an advert in the classifieds, rather than be restricted by the 60 words that will fit onto the given space, you scan a QR Code and navigate directly to more information and possible images of the goods, or even better directly to the sellers eBay advert where you can follow the transaction through to the point of sale. Again offering marketing opportunities and the monitoring of consumer habits. Final example as I don’t give away all of my ideas, your retail packaging is cluttered with nutritional information, health and safety advise and you are missing you marketing message through lack of space, a simple barcode might solve this problem, allow consumer to record what the look at, compare prices and much more. This requires far more than outside the box thinking to reach it’s full potential but hopefully I am getting that across.

QR + Existing technologies = A very powerful tool

So how does it work? the squares within the image allow the device to read it in 3D space meaning it is not required to be flat, software calculates the trim and tilt and works out what the square image should look like. The code must conform so that it can be read across readers, this also means that developers have the opportunity to exploit the concept, creating their own codes and not relying on a few software suppliers.

Devices
I first tested the software on a HTC Touch Diamond with great results, no need to take a photo and then analyse it, it automatically handled the code when it saw the image. The iPhone App store has recently seen the arrival of QR Code readers although many require you to take a picture first then ask it to be read.

Software Application
NeoReader
Kaywa Reader
QuickMark Mobile Barcode
zxing
…and more popping up on the iTunes store

Create your codes
Kaywa

Recent Changes in Digital Media viewing habits. How this affects Marketing and Advertising?

Remember when you used to have that conversation about how you read a book from left to right although pick up a magazine and flick through right to left? We know that marketing science suggests that the reader looks at a page starting in the top left, across the top and them down the right had side and we base our advertising on this. Have you stopped to think though how these habits have evolved since digital communication platforms and social media have appeared on the scene? My tweets arrive on my phone and I scroll them down, Reading from the bottom up but apply this to a forum and you confuse the reader, the reader of a forum expects to read the first comment at the top followed by the responses as they scroll the page. A controversial one, but use the same theory for a comments box under say a video or tutorial and the reader now presumes they will read the most recent comment at the top. I say controversial as I do hear a debate the other day on the way we should implement a video portal with this scenario. So you might think it stops there but like you often click on replies to threads at the bottom of a forum post to read expansion and replies to certain threads, now think about how you consume your reading on a wiki site. You read as normal but intelligent linking offers the expansion of information based on certain keywords. For those who don’t need to you carry on reading as usual but if the keyword suggest an area in which you need more data in order to support the overall subject of interesting you break the linear reading convention and branch of to better your knowledge, combine d with your browsers functionality you return to original subject and read on, a little bit wiser. This has brought a convention, if you visit for example the Apple development site the pages / PDF’s are written in this way. It’s clever, offering consumption choices one stage beyond that of the chaptering and contents in a book, improving the efficiency of how much we actually need to read.

So my first question is this, and probably one for the eye trackers! given the changing viewing patterns for the media how does effect the placements of advertising on a page? If the eye no longer follows a routine patterns and documents are viewed in very different ways, is the header banner or the right hand (column 3) the best place for the advert.

This becomes even more interesting when we add video or interactive graphics to the mix and this is something I learnt a lot about following the Chinwag forum for IPTV producers. Obviously the initial trend was to include pre, post and mid role adverting or possible and overlayed advert that reacts to a mouse action but to what extent does this put off the viewer and also with a page of content, how much does the viewers eye deviate from the video during playback? Is there a pattern or obvious place to place advertising on the surrounding page? Again one for the eyetrackers!

Just a couple of thought and questions for next time you conduct your digital marketing campaign!

Around the world in 80 raves – Chapter Four – Daytona Beach

More 80 Raves
“Around the world in 80 Raves” Chapter One – The proposal
“Around the world in 80 Raves” Chapter Two – Ready for the off!
“Around the world in 80 Raves” Chapter Three – Miami
“Around the world in 80 Raves” Chapter Four – Daytona Beach
“Around the world in 80 Raves” Chapter Five – Myrtle Beach

I had high expectations of arriving in Daytona Beach, I had seen plenty of programmes on tele of spring breaks in Daytona and it is quite a famous place so I was hoping for a party. We arrived in the middle of the night everyone else was asleep but I heard the bus stop so I got up to see where we were. Sarah and some of the crew were rushing around, we were either lost or there was trouble finding where the bus was allowed to park. I had planned to go for a swim as soon as we arrived in every new place but a lady at the hotel had said it probably wasn’t the best idea while it was still dark as there was a heavy rip running. After stretching my legs I went back to my bunk to wait until we arrived at where we would stop. It was still dark when we got to the hotel car park and we all agreed it would be a good idea to watch the sun rise over the sea at Daytona Beach, trouble is we were all still sleepy so in the pitch black we raided the freezing cold hotels outdoor pool then jumped the fence onto the beach with a bundle of blankets and sat huddled waiting to see the dawn on a misty Daytona beach. Its hard to explain the feeling of this trip, you are excited but at the same time relaxed caus there’s the crew sorting everything, making it all run smoothly so you have no worries, all you have concentrate on is having a good time and then we do stuff like watching the sun rise on a beach with your mates, it looks like a postcard and your are kinda blown away. Everyone needed a little more sleep as you don’t get much on a moving bus and the crew had gone to bed as they had been up all night so it wasn’t worth doing anything crazy or outrageous without getting it on tape, so never mind we all went back to bed. I couldn’t sleep much though, we were in a new place and there was stuff to see and do, so I got up and went to a local hotel to grab a map and leaflets on what we could do that day then went back to wake the others up, they were a bit slow so as it was a beach orientated place Chantal and I went to look at the shop’s to see if we could find some decent clothes, while the others got there asses into action. The plan was to have my tattoo early in the morning and then in the afternoon have a go at something exciting like parasailing. After walking the whole length of the beach road going in every shop and keeping it healthy with a burger and a milkshake for breakfast at Maccy D’s it was obvious that the crew would not be joining us and that meant I would not be getting my tattoo today. I was quoted $240 as well which might have contributed to Richard saying “no”. The crew joined us in the afternoon and as you were allowed cars on the beach, which was quite annoying when you’re trying to chill out. We hired a car anyway and drove up the beach with intention of turning around and driving to the other end of the beach… real cool like! and going parasailing, although none of us had a driving license Joel cruised the beach and we messed around while the cameras filmed from another car. As we were coming to the end of the beach we looked around, the sky went from being clear to there being a big fuckoff thunder cloud, right where they were parasailing, it was quickly decided that none of us fancied hanging from our pants in a big electrical strom cloud strapped to a wet parachute and being towed by a lightening conductor. So that was off! We left Daytona earlier than planned. We had had a few disappointments but it had been a good day and we had been to Daytona Beach, which was good enough, and lets face it I’m on a trip across the USA for seven weeks! mustn’t grumble!