Fall 09 week 7:—10/26/09: Wed. 9:00 - 12:00

Hi Everybody,
So you can all breathe a sigh of relief: you got through the midterm push. Whether you did well at midterm or poorly is not relevant at this point. You should behave as if you're starting fresh, almost as if we're starting a new semester. What you should all consider, however, is HOW you want to start off the rest of the term next week. IF YOU REALLY WANT TO START OFF GOOD, THEN MAKE SURE YOU COME TO CLASS NEXT WEEK WITH YOUR PROJECTS WORKING PERFECTLY AND LOOKING GREAT!

WEEK 7

1. Homework:
   Take a look at your projects and do as much as possible to improve them by next week. We will continue working on these projects for the Final, so you don't want to start out the rest of the term behind by having to fix what you have and then implementing all the many new items of ActionScript that we will be adding over the coming weeks.

Fall 09 week 6:—10/19/09: Wed. 9:00 - 12:00

Hi Everybody,
You all seemed to jump right into working on your midterm projects, which is a good thing. It's a bit of a push to get it done this week, but I'm confident all of you can get a lot done in one week if you put your minds to it.

These projects will be due next week. This means you have to have all of it done by next week. That DOES NOT mean they have to be perfect. We will continue working on them throughout the rest of the semester, adding features and editing what you already have.

The most important part of this project is to get the ACTIONSCRIPT to work. Design is very important, but should take a backseat.

WEEK 6

1. Midterm Requirements:
• page size: 1000px X 700px
• page number: 5 pages
1. bio: this page is about the artist and should include sufficient text, and then enough accompanying images to help explain or demonstrate the text.
2. art: this page is about the art, and should, like the bio page, contain sufficient text and images to accompany the text for us to have a basic understanding of the art.
3. gallery 1 & 2: these pages should contain thumbnail images which, when clicked on, cause a larger image to show up with a caption below it—the best way to do this is to place the large image in a separate Flash file and type some text below or beside it. Each page must have at least 5 images and each should show up with a unique caption to go with it.
4. bibliography: this page contains a list of links and a brief description of at least 10 online resources that have information or images. Also, list some recent books or films about the artist and/or his/her work. This should include who wrote it and when it was published it if is a book; or who directed it and when it was released if it is a film.
2. Midterm Grading:
• topic: 10pts—this is a giveaway of points (10% - a whole letter grade - of the final grade) if you all follow the topics you chose;
• color: 5pts—this has to do with whether you've seriously chosen your color scheme: if you choose too many colors or if they simply don't go together, points will be taken off; so, if you're not sure, keep it really minimal, or use the COLOR INDEX;
• images: 5pts—another point giveaway if you use enough images AND if you DO NOT DISTORT THEM; and also if you don't use images more than once in such a small website;
• text: 5pts—once again, another giveaway of points if you use enough text and if you spend a little time formatting it: a couple suggestions are that you should NOTstretch text all the way across the page, but break it up into a couple columns instead; also, like color, make sure you do not use too many fonts, especially multiple decorative fonts together;
• layout: 10pts—you should carefully consider the organization of each of your pages and, especially, keep in mind that consistency from page to page is very important;
• title: 5pts—make certain that there is a title and that it is present (in the same spot) no matter what the user does;
• buttons: 5pts—buttons should be fully functional, should have 4 frames in which the hit frame is a simple gray rectangle, and they should be designed well&#a hint here: students often make their buttons too large;
• content: 5pts—yet another point giveaway and it is simply points to determine whether you have enough content in each page;
• movie-clip container: 5pts—do you use a movieclip container (box_mc for the index and bigImg_mc for the gallery, for example)?;
• initial load: 15pts—when the user first opens up your site using the index, does content AUTOMATICALLY LOAD as it should, or does the user have to click on a button to make something appear when the page loads up initially?—this also pertains to the gallery pages;
• button loading: 20pts—this simply refers to the functions connected to the buttons on the stage: does content load when you click on all your buttons?
• folder organization: 5pts—the folder that you give me next week should be organized, meaning that images should be in one folder. Also, right before you give me your project, put your .fla files into a separate folder as well. You should also remove any images or other files that are not being used.

Fall 09 week 5:—10/14/09: Wed. 9:00 - 12:00

Hi Everybody,
Most everyone seemed to do well in our last class, although there were a few who lagged behind. Please study the code that you have from class to try and complete the exercise as it will be essential for creating the midterm project.

This week's posting is late, but because of the short time between our last class and our next class on Monday, I am not asking you to do very much, just a little search and gathering.

So, please read below for what you will need to have in class on Monday, and enjoy your weekend.

WEEK 5

1. Classwork
• LINK    This week's class files
2. Homework
• exercise 1: Please do research on the artist that you chose in our last class as the subject for your midterm project and begin collecting information. You will need to bring the following to class on Monday:
1. At least 1 image of the artist him or herself.
2. At least 10 large images of the artist's artwork. Many of these artists have work in local museums; so, if you want to know where to look so that you can take pictures of the actual works yourselves, please let me know and I can tell you where to go.
3. Copy and Paste some text on the background of your artist into a text file named bio.
4. Copy and Paste some other text on the artistic practice or artistic ideas of your artist into a text file named work.
5. Copy and Paste URLs (web addresses) of two websites that you like that you would like to model your own site after into a text file named urls. One of these sites MUST be a site for a museum, an art gallery, or otherwise some art related site.
• exercise 2: Collect all of these files, the 11 images (at least) and the 3 text files into a folder named midterm and bring it to class to give to me on Monday.

Fall 09 week 4:—10/05/09: Mon. 9:00 - 12:00

Hi Everyone,
Nice to be back. Hate being out, but I guess occasionally it cannot be helped. Better than getting all of you sick too.

But okay, we've officially jumped into the real stuff of this class, ActionScript, so good luck and try not to get behind.

Below, you will find the files that we created in class. You should use them as references for your own work.

You will also find the assignment for the final project. You have little time to produce this, so don't delay!

WEEK 4

1. Classwork
• LINK    This week's class files
2. Homework
• exercise 1: Since not a single person in class really tried to do the homework this week, it will be due next week and worth double the points: you will need your TWO walk animations, the one we did in class and the 2nd that you should have done for homework. If you do not have these two available, you will need to create those first. In addition, create a third animation. This time, with an entire character walking, and not only legs.
1. Create a folder for your work named week 4.
2. Place your three walk-animations into this folder and rename them, one.fla, two.fla and three.fla.
3. Create a new file, set a background color, and start off by saving your file as index.
4. Now, create a new fully-functioning button symbol with all of the required 4 frames.
5. With the button on the stage, test your movie to make certain it functions properly when you mouse-over it and when you press down on it.
6. From the library, drag two more instances of this button onto the stage, and place them both near the bottom edge of the stage as we did in class this week.
7. Select one of the instances (do NOT double-click and enter into edit mode).
8. Open the properties, and provide an instance name for the first button of b1_btn.
9. Now, click on the 2nd button on the stage to select it.
10. Again in the properties, type an instance name for this button as well of b2_btn.
11. Repeat the above 2 steps for the third button.
12. Name the first layer buttons.
13. Save your file and test again to update the .swf file.
14. Open each of your other two animation files one at a time and test those as well to generate updated .swf files for both of them.
15. If you look in your folder now, you will see that you have EIGHT files, 4 .fla files and 4 .swf files.
16. Click on the index tab to go to that file and create a new layer BELOW the buttons layer named frame.
17. Create a frame similar to the one that we did in class. Make it so that it is rectangular with curved corners.
18. Create a new layer named as.
19. Lock the other layers, click in frame 1 of this new layer, and open the actions panel (F9).
20. Download the class-files from the link above and open the file named as.txt in a text or code editor.
21. Use this code as an example of what to type for your homework. Chances are, it will NOT function properly if you simply copy and paste.
• exercise 2: Choose a topic for your MIDTERM PROJECT. This should be a visual artist from the 20th Century prior to 1950. If you are not certain which one to choose, then ask your art history instructor or me for suggestions. You must come to class prepared to tell me your idea, or you will not get credit for your homework. You should also come with more than one artist in mind, as some artists are very popular (such as Dalí, Picasso, Warhol, and Matisse) and there will only be one person per artist.