YAHOO GEOCITIES USERS: If you are using Yahoo GeoCities to upload your Vector and 3D graphics assignments to the Web BE SURE to work on your final exercises early and often as Yahoo! Geocities has daily limits on the amount of data that you can upload and download (access). If you wait until the last week to upload and test your files you will exceed these limits and be "locked out" of your Geocities account, in which case you will not be able to submit your exam files on time (and late grade penalties will apply).

Vector Graphics, Part III

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SECTION

01. INTRODUCTION TO TONIGHT'S ONLINE CLASS

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Macromedia "Flash": Vector Graphics for the Web

• Macromedia home: http://www.macromedia.com/
• Flash format (SWF) is the de facto industry standard  vector graphics technology for the World Wide Web (Hear More...)
• Requires a Flash-capable browser plug-in (such as Macromedia's "Flash Player" or "ShockWave" plug-in, Apple QuickTime, etc.)
• Main authoring tool: Macromedia Flash
• Many illustration & design tools can export vector graphics in the Flash format (i.e., Macromedia FreeHand, Adobe Illustrator) (Hear More...)
• As of mid 2001 between 90-95% of all Web browsers (~ 300,000,000 browsers) have a Flash-capable plug-in (Hear More...)

Flash features

• [30 minute Exercise] Spend 30 minutes taking the "Feature Tour" (created in Flash) to learn about Flash:
  • http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/productinfo/features/ (click "Launch the Features Overview" or "Start The Tour" to begin)

During the Flash feature tour you'll have the opportunity to install the most current version of the "Flash player" browser plug-in. Do it! Download and install the Flash player browser plug-in; it only takes a minute or two even over a dialup modem. If the tour doesn't ask you to update your Flash player visit the Flash home page (start at http://macromedia.com/ and look for the Flash player from there) and ensure that you have the latest version by trying to install it.

Flash in action

• [30 minute Exercise] Spend 30 minutes exploring Flash examples of your choice from the Macromedia Showcase:

• Right-click on anything that moves in these exercises to see if it's Flash content or something else (a Flash popup menu will appear if it's actually Flash content)
• Email the class group with the URLs of your favorite examples

Example: Visit http://www.rathergood.com/punk_kittens/ for an example of the kinds of "home made" music videos that you can create with Flash even with very little experience -- all it takes is time!

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PBS Kids is an excellent example of how Flash can be use to create the graphical user interface (GUI) for a Web site. Visit the site, and click on a few of the buttons at the top of the page: http://pbskids.org/ Right-click on just about everything you see from time to time to see if it's Flash content or something else (a Flash popup menu will appear if it's actually Flash content).

Note that Flash Player (the browser plug-in that lets you view Flash content in your Web browser) and the Flash authoring tools (such as Flash Professional 8) are NOT the same thing! The Flash player is merely an enhancement (plug-in) for your Web browser, whereas the authoring tool lets you create your own Flash content.

Flash "Getting Started" authoring tutorials (Apple QuickTime plug-in required)

• Site: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/learning.html
• View the tutorials from the above "Getting Started" site and perform the required exercises after each. Download the required files that go along with each tutorial, then follow along with each tutorial and create your own Flash content (the same content shown in the tutorial). You can start/stop/pause and even "rewind" each tutorial as it plays using the QuickTime controller that appears at the bottom of each tutorial. If you have problems viewing the content you might have to set the "connection speed" of your QuickTime plug-in so that it reflects your actual connection speed (to do so right-click on the tutorial as it plays and choose "Connection Speed" from the popup menu that appears).