CFTCIT 2170

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CFT/CIT 2170

• Introduction to Authoring

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Who and Where

• Marcus Holder
• m.e.holder_at_hud.ac.uk
• Room 5/06 on 5th floor
• Module material will be accessed from blackboard
• Keep an eye on blackboard for announcements

3
Authoring?

• What is Authoring and why are you studying it?
• Creation of interactive artefacts
• This can be games, websites, animations,
  interactive CDs, DVDs etc
• Many different authoring tools
• Adobe Encore for DVDs
• Dreamweaver for web pages
• Director for CDs and some web content
• Flash our chosen tool

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Authoring?

• Director example
• http//www.forgefx.com/casestudies/prenticehall/ph
  /catapult/catapult.htm
• Dreamweaver example
• http//compeng.hud.ac.uk/external/

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Authoring?

• Flash CS3 Professional
• A vector-based application
• Used for vector animations and interactive
  artefacts
• Originally for web
• Now CDs, portable devices, broadcast etc.
• Can incorporate bitmaps, video, audio
• Interactivity through built-in scripting language

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Module Structure

• Weekly lecture to give theoretical content
• Weekly tutorial/practical to learn how to use an
  authoring tool
• Module Specification
• Lectures 24 Hrs
• Tutorials 24 Hrs
• Unsupervised Learning/study 152 Hrs
• 152/246.33
• 6.33 1 hr lecture 1 hr practical
• Thats 8 and a third hours of your time devoted
  to this module every week
• If you only study for the module during the 1hr
  practical session then you will fall behind..

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Module Structure

• Reference Support
• Online reference available from online e-books
• Access through computing and library services
  Metalib service
• http//metalib.hud.ac.uk/

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Module Structure
Reference Support - ebooks
Uses your normal university logon
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Module Structure
Reference Support - ebooks
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Module Structure
Reference Support - ebooks
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Module Structure
Reference Support - ebooks
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Module Structure
Reference Support library books
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Module Content

• Exploring the interface and functionality of a
  timeline-based authoring environment
• Vector creation skills
• Vector animation
• Incorporating other assets
• Audio
• Video
• Bitmaps
• Text
• Etc.

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Module Content

• Scripting language
• in Flash CS3 is ActionScript 2.0 (AS2) and
  Actionscript 3.0
• In previous versions is retrospectively called
  ActionScript 1.0 (AS1)
• When looking for reference material, online
  tutorials etc. need to make sure you are looking
  for ActionScript 2.0 (AS2)

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Module Content

• AS2 based on Object Oriented Programming
  principles
• Will explore the meaning of this Same principles
  as C and Java
• Basically, there are 2 major coding methods
  (paradigms) used at present
• Procedural
• Object Oriented (OOP)

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Module Content

• Will explore coding fundamentals in a procedural
  way at first
• Placing script
• Basic debugging
• The Building Blocks
• Variables
• Syntax
• Conditionals
• Loops
• Arrays
• Into OOP

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Assessment

• Series of mini tasks
• Objectives to show understanding of interface
  and coding fundamentals
• Animations
• Increasingly complex interactive artefacts
• Complex interactive environment
• Objectives to show understanding of and ability
  to apply Object Oriented scripting methods

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Flash Its Uses

• Quick tour of online flash artefacts
• Advert/justification
• June 2008 - 99 of Web users have the flash
  player plug-in
• Yesterday Google search
• 239,000,000 pages with .swf
• This time last year
• 123,000,000 pages with .swf
• .swf (pronounced swiff) is the published version
  of a Flash movie embedded in a web page

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Flash Its Uses

• Demonstration/educational purposes
• Nasa
• http//solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/interactive
  .cfm

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Flash Its Uses

• Non-standard/innovative Navigation
• http//www.trollback.com/
• http//www.blackmonday.co.uk/index2.php

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Flash Its Uses

• Experimental
• Subservient Chicken
• http//www.subservientchicken.com/

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Flash Its Uses

• Audio
• http//www.whalesounds.com/home/index.html

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Flash Its Uses

• Video
• http//www.elevatormoods.com/

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Flash Its Uses

• Corporations/e-commerce
• http//www.nikonsportoptics.com/home.html

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Flash Its Uses

• Exhibitions and Museums
• http//www.curatingthecity.org/map.jsp

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Flash Its Uses

• Games
• General games link
• http//www.miniclip.com/ 
• vector
• http//www.kongregate.com/games/lostvector/bowmast
  er-prelude

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Authoring How it works

• Authoring
• Create or import assets into authoring
  environment
• Video
• Audio
• Bitmaps
• Buttons
• etc
• Assets are stored in the authoring environment
• in Flash this is known as the library objects
  in the library are called symbols
• Can reuse them from the library
• Reuse makes file sizes smaller and applications
  run faster
• In order to reuse you need to have planned the
  artefact before you start to make it
• Arrange symbols in layers and across frames
• Apply time-based effects that change the assets
  across frames
• Masking
• Tweening
• Fading
• etc
• example

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Authoring How it works

• Interactivity
• Has to be designed just as the visual aspect has
  to be designed
• Need a thorough understanding of what you want
  the artefact to do before you start making it
• This means you have to plan
• Usually done through storyboarding
• Need to consider 2 main elements
• Navigation how the user moves from one section
  of the artefact to another
• Functionality what the user can do once they
  get to a particular section