Before we get started, here are some terms you should know:

Tween: In animation, it is used to describe intermediate frames often added by an assistant animator or by computer. See tweening.

Motion Tween: In animation, refers to movement of an object along a path.

Shape Tween: In animation, refers to changing the shape of an object.

Export Movie: With Flash, when you save your movie, you are actually saving a file that allows you to open the movie again and edit it later on. If you want the flash movie to be viewable on the web, you must export the movie (which essentially saves it as a .swf file). To export a movie, simply click File > Export > Export Movie, select the folder you want to save the movie in, then click the Save button.

Lets get to it!
Lab (part 1): Working with Macromedia Flash (Do sections 1 and 2)
What to turn in for this tutorial:
You can place each of the following shapes/images on separate frames of the same movie…or create a separate movie file for each. It’s up to you ;)

• Your custom shape…found here
• Your layered shapes…found here
• Your masked image…found here
• Your symbolized image…found here

In this section, you will learn:
* Creating graphics in Flash
* Importing graphics
* Using color effectively
* Creating a color swatch
* Layering Flash elements
* Masking content
* Organizing content in Flash
* Reusing graphics as symbols

NOTE: This tutorial starts on page 1 of a whole series of tutorials and continues on to page to 26.

Lab (part 2): Moving Objects along a Path
What to turn in for this tutorial:

• You will have created a simple animation by the end of this tutorial…save and export it, then submit it to WebCT
• Note: Have a little fun with this if you want…customize it to your hearts content…remember, you are preparing yourself for more Flash next week, so everything you learn will help

In this tutorial you will learn how Flash allows us to to gain further control of the movement of an object by the use of guide layers. This method enables to you to draw a complex path or guide which the object will follow.

Note: if you get stumped with steps 11 & 12..This is the guide layer: …the steps should be combined into one.

Lab (part 3): Creating Animations with Shape Tween
What to turn in for this tutorial:

• You will have created a simple animation by the end of this tutorial…save and export it, then submit it to WebCT
• Note: Same as above…have a little fun with this if you want…

In this tutorial you will learn how Flash can also ‘tween’ the shape of an object. This allows the shape to change between keyframes.

What to turn in
Upload your 3 flash movies (don’t forget to export them first) to WebCT.

Why just Tutorials this week?
Well, the goal of these tutorials is simply to familiarize yourself with the application and terminology in preparation for the more in-depth lab (due on the 14th). Tonight I will be posting your assigned reading and Flash Lab 2

(Next week’s lab will be posted on Thursday of next week)

The Scenario:
You are a scientist that studies chimpanzees. Last month you witnessed one or more chimpanzees do something that has never been done before. You were tasked with creating an application that details various aspects of that discovery…for some reason you chose Powerpoint as your tool.

Minimum Requirements:

• Your application must make use of various forms of media. (text, images, etc) – 20pts
• Your application must include at least 12 slides PLUS an additional notes slide that lists/describes the types of navigation used. – 20pts
• Your application must utilize (at minimum) conceptual/modal navigation and hypertext. Other forms of navigation can be used as appropriate. – 25pts
• Your application must not navigate as normal powerpoint slides navigate (i.e. advance on click). To get a starting point, read the instructions below. – 25pts
• Use proper spelling and grammar. – 10pts
• Be creative and have fun with the assignment! – Priceless

Setting Up Your Powerpoint Application For This Assignment:

• With your powerpoint application open, click on Slide Show > Set Up Show….
• In the Show options section, check the box: Loop continuously until ‘Esc’
• In the Show slides section, check the From radio button and choose the start/end slides as appropriate to your application. (If your first slide is your contents where you begin all your navigation, then you’ll want the start/end boxes to be set to 1 and 1). Experiment.
• …this is just a starting point. Explore the application and make it bend to your will.

Here’s a good reference for advanced PowerPoint stuff.

Handing in your Lab:
The lab is due next Friday at midnight. To hand it in:

• log in to myPlymouth
• click on the myCourses tab
• click on the Multimedia course
• go into the Assignments section
• click on Lab 1
• Browse to your powerpoint file in the form
• Submit it

Reminder: We have lab on Thursday, so we meet in Memorial. I will be posting the lab assignment on this blog before lab.

As technology has progressed we have seen a convergence of both the presentation and study of Multimedia. Multimedia Lecture #1 will discuss this convergence and further continue the introduction with the discussion Multimedia Navigation and Usability.

Get the Class Slides here.

Check out this great resources:

• IBM Research…details various multimedia uses and applications.
• Definition of Multimedia

Read this paper in preparation for our next class: Reducing Cognitive Load in Multimedia Navigation.

Class: Multimedia (CS 3440)

Instructor: Matthew Batchelder
Office: Hyde 3rd Floor, ITS Offices
Phone: 535-2086
Office Hours: I am in my office most of the time between 8AM and 5PM. However, I will make sure I’m there if you call or email me ahead of time.
Email: mtbatchelder (AT) plymouth (DOT) edu
Required Text Book: Fundamentals of Multimedia, Ze-Nian Li, Mark S. Drew (publisher: Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0-13-061872-1)

Meeting Times and Places:
Tuesday: Rounds 207, 12:30-1:45.
Thursday: Memorial 213, 12:30-1:45 Lab.

Course Description:
Use and development of multimedia – combining text, graphics, sound, still and video images and animation into a unified, seamless document. Examines the nature of the various media, the capture or creation, digitalization and modification of each media type, the architecture and technology of multimedia systems, the principles behind effective multimedia presentations, analysis and design of GUI systems and multimedia development through the use of common software packages. Treats both the fundamental concepts and current and emerging technologies.

Course Goals and Objectives:

1. Learn about the nature of text, image, audio, video, graphic and animation files.
2. Learn about capturing the various media.
3. Learn about creating, editing and storing the various media.
4. Learn about digitization and compression and the role they play in multimedia.
5. Learn about authoring tools for packaging multimedia systems.
6. Learn about web-based multimedia and the special problems involved in delivering media over the WWW.
7. Learn about effective graphical user interfaces.
8. Learn to use a variety of common software packages to complete the above objectives.

Evaluation:
40% – Labs
30% – Quizzes
30% – Final Project

Grade Scale:
Grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
93-100 – A
90-92 – A-
88-89 – B+
83-87 – B
80-82 – B-
78-79 – C+
73-77 – C
70-72 – C-
68-69 – D+
63-67 – D
60-62 – D-
below 60 – F

Evaluation Items

• Final Project: Every student will be expected to complete a semester project. The project will be presented to the rest of the class during the last week of classes and during the final exam period (which is Tuesday, May 16, 11am – 1:30pm). The project will comprise 30% of the semester grade.
• Quizzes: There will be 4 hour-long quizzes. Of the four quizzes, only 3 will count toward the semester grade, with the lowest score of the four being dropped. These three quizzes and a final exam will comprise 30% of the semester grade (6% each). NO makeup quizzes will be given for any reason. If for some reason a student misses an quiz, that quiz will be his or her dropped quiz. The first section (11-11:50) of the final exam period will be used for project presentations. The quiz schedule is as follows:
  1. Quiz 1: Tuesday, February 21
  2. Quiz 2: Tuesday, March 28
  3. Quiz 3: Tuesday, April 18
  4. Quiz 4: Thursday, April 27
  5. Final Exam: Tuesday, May 16, 11am-1:30am (11-11:50 will be used for project presentations)
• Labs: There will be a number of lab sesions throughout the semester. During the lab, we will meet in Memorial 213. During some of these lab periods, students will be expected to complete an exercise. These lab assignments will comprise 40% of the semester grade, with the lowest lab assignment grade being dropped. NO late labs will be accepted. If for some reason a student misses a lab, that lab will be his or her dropped lab.

Attendance Policy:
Attendance will not be taken in class or lab. However, every student is responsible for everything covered, even if it is not in the text.

Academic Honesty:
Issues of copyright and attributing original sources are particularly important in this course. These topics will be covered in this course, but it is important to realize from the first day of this course that you must accurately represent work that you have created originally versus work that consists of elements from other authors/creators. A safe guideline is to very clearly attribute the work of others, and use content from other people sparingly in your own work. I reserve the right to individually question students about their homework assignments and labs to have the student explain his or her answers to me. If you are unable to explain your answers when I ask, you will not be given credit for the assignment or lab. Such a situation constitutes plagiarism and you are referred to the Student Handbook for a description of the possible consequences of such academic dishonesty.

Tentative Schedule:

Here’s a sweet quote from the article:

Media is a corporate possession…You cannot participate in the media. Bringing that into the foreground is the first step. The second step is to define the difference between public and audience. An audience is passive; a public is participatory. We need a definition of media that is public in its orientation.

Something else to note:

The original weblogs were link-driven sites. Each was a mixture in unique proportions of links, commentary, and personal thoughts and essays. Weblogs could only be created by people who already knew how to make a website. A weblog editor had either taught herself to code HTML for fun, or, after working all day creating commercial websites, spent several off-work hours every day surfing the web and posting to her site. These were web enthusiasts.

Also: :)

By highlighting articles that may easily be passed over by the typical web user too busy to do more than scan corporate news sites, by searching out articles from lesser-known sources, and by providing additional facts, alternative views, and thoughtful commentary, weblog editors participate in the dissemination and interpretation of the news that is fed to us every day. Their sarcasm and fearless commentary reminds us to question the vested interests of our sources of information and the expertise of individual reporters as they file news stories about subjects they may not fully understand.

And:

The blogger, by virtue of simply writing down whatever is on his mind, will be confronted with his own thoughts and opinions. Blogging every day, he will become a more confident writer. A community of 100 or 20 or 3 people may spring up around the public record of his thoughts. Being met with friendly voices, he may gain more confidence in his view of the world; he may begin to experiment with longer forms of writing, to play with haiku, or to begin a creative project–one that he would have dismissed as being inconsequential or doubted he could complete only a few months before.

Another article that I would urge you to read (or simply skim) is: Educational Blogging

The quote I like from this is:

“The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents. Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment.”

And:

Many writers assert that blogs came into their own only after the events of September 11, 2001. As Charles Cooper writes, “If you were scouring the Internet for news and context during those first terrible hours, you could have done a lot worse than eavesdropping on the free-wheeling mini-universe of Web logs chockablock with first-hand info and spirited commentary about what was going on. . . . For my money, some of the best stuff was being served up in this most unlikely venue.”

And also:

Whether you’re a warblogger who works by day as a professional journalist or you’re a teenage high school student worried about your final exams, you do the same thing: you use your blog to link to your friends and rivals and comment on what they’re doing. Blog posts are short, informal, sometimes controversial, and sometimes deeply personal, no matter what topic they approach.

So what are blogs?
I want you to answer this more in depth on your blogs before next class. We’ll be looking them over on Monday. Dig deep. Don’t just tell me “its a place to post stuff on the web.” Put some thought and feeling into your answer. What are blogs? What do you think they mean to you? To other people? How are they changing the media? What kind of impact are they having on everyday life? That kind of thing.

So…assignments for the weekend:

• Prepare for Monday’s Quiz!
• Do the blog entry I mentioned above.
• Start thinking about what you will be posting throughout the week.
• Next week we will be talking about e-mail, mailing lists, search engines, encryption, online shopping, phishing, netiquette, spyware, cookies, etc. Head on over to http://www.learnthenet.com/english/animate/animate.htm and read bullets 1-9.

Today we meet in Memorial 213 and we’ll be:

• Going over the above documentation
• Setting up our Blogs
• Posting a Blog Entry
• Commenting on someone else’s Blog
• Giving the instructor $2,000 just for fun.

The use of Blogs in our class:
I have discussed this a couple of times but have not yet been clear on exactly how we will be using your blogs this semester. Starting 9/12/2005 you will be required to make a minimum of 2 non-assignment related posts a week. You can post as many posts as you want every week but here’s the deal:

• If you post diary-like posts, it must convey an issue you have encountered and dealt with; and/or it must contain your opinions on topics you have encountered.
• In addition to your own blog posts, you will also be required to post your answers to assignments throughout the semester. These do not apply towards your 2 posts per week.
• I will be grading your posts. Here are the grading specifics for your semester of blogging (I will grade your blogging over the semester, not each one individually):
  

  Points	Subject
  20	Regular postings (at least two/week)
  10	Postings address clear topic and fit in the theme of the blog or (for journal blogs) are particularly insightful.
  10	Postings are well-written and organized
  10	Postings contain adequate links to supporting/clarifying websites.
  10	Initiative and Originality
  10	Blog entries are of potential interest to outside reader.
  10	Response to comments: Author has responded to comments adequately.
  10	Effective use of images and text formatting to create a visually appealing blog.
  10	EXTRA CREDIT: Blog has off-campus commenter. (non-friend or family member )
  Forfeit all points if in violation.	Netiquette: postings do not violate any rules of good Internet conduct. See notes addressing netiquette. (Violations must be immediately cleared up to prevent blog account from being switched off)
  100	TOTAL (110 with extra credit)

Blog Topics:
Blogging may not come easy to everyone. It took a while for me to get the swing of things, but once I started going I keep finding odd things to post :) If you run into a mindblock and can’t think of anything, maybe this will start your mind thinking in the right direction:

Maybe try a PSU centered blog

• PSU events: music, films, plays, speakers, plays
• PSU sports: how did the(fill-in specific sport) team do?
  How can team x improve? Etc.
• PSU politics: what issues are ranging on campus.
• PSU life: what is like to be a PSU student?

Aim for a special interest blog

• Gaming
• Poetry
• Art work
• Crafts
• Cooking
• Photography
• Literature
• Horticulture
• Outdoor pursuits (hiking, skiing, biking, etc)
• Bird watching
• Editorial blogs: reacting to issues in the media.
• Place blog: What is life like in … Plymouth, NH, your home town?
• Informational blog: how to do something (configure a firewall, build a canoe, fix a car, etc, travel for $25/day, etc)

(grading scale provided by Dr. Evelyn Stiller, Plymouth State University)

1. When are you the most creative?
2. What are the necessary conditions for creativity?

I received an e-mail from someone asking me to clarify what I was asking you to do. Here’s my reply: (I made some edits so the e-mail looks prettier on my blog)

This assignment is pretty free-form…and should be answered however you can think to answer it. This class is a combination of web-centered topics AND creativity…which is what makes it so cool. (in my opinion) The article I had you read delves into a creative process and explains how it isn’t always as easy as one might think at first glance. It takes practice. As the article states, art is a mixture of ideas, logic, order, harmony, drawing, line, form, passion, romantic ideas, feelings, and masses of color.

With the questions I’m asking, I’m not assuming that everyone is an artist, but people can be creative. Art and creativity spans from painting to doodling, from music to planning an activity with friends, etc. The two questions that have been asked aren’t necessarily separate questions and can be answered as one. I want you to think outside the box. There is no right answer, so think deeply :)

So:

When are you most creative? What are the necessary conditions for creativity? (i.e. what environment do you like to be in? What mood? What time of day? What events need to happen? Can you only be creative while wearing a bear suit and standing on one foot? That type of stuff)

If you haven’t been introduced to the wonderful power of Wikipedia, now’s your chance. Check out Wikipedia’s entry on Creativity. Its got some decent info that you may find interesting and helpful in answering your questions (if you have reached a stumbling block).

You may be wondering…”Why are we even discussing creativity?”
Well, thats a good question. If you see this prior to class, give it some thought. I’ll be asking you to answer this on Friday. (a.k.a. class participation)

If you have anything to add to this blog entry or would like to spur a discussion, by all means use the comment feature on this blog. (a.k.a. class participation)

To make comments: There is a link on the top line beneath the title of this article that says “Comments.” Click that then scroll to the bottom of the page where you will see a place to enter your name, e-mail, website, and your comment.

UPDATE:
Oh, and here is the agenda for tomorrow’s class:

• Creativity Discussion
• Creativity Activity
• More on Blogs
• Moron Blogs