Currently in the making - My site for Julian's assignment has finished the planning stage and is finally in the making after many design ideas! I will be updating this blog on where I currently am in terms of the site creation. At the moment I have only created a drop down style function menu bar and have till the end of the month to complete this project.
Also we have finished Ross's assignment which we definitely worked hard on! Hopefully we come out with a good grade after that.
-AJM
My blog to show what I have learned and my work on the Interactive Media Level 3 course at Weymouth College.(http://www.weymouthcollege.ac.uk/)
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Ideas?
The website we have been asked to create for Julian's assignment has me somewhat stumped. I have an idea although it looks much like my last project. (With a drop down menu.) I was thinking maybe having a menu come in from the left of the screen, or fade in. A few ideas are buzzing around in my head so I will try a few and keep working on the site. Obviously it has to fit what a rom com sort of film would be like, for example I'm not going for massive effects or explosions on screen!
-AJM
-AJM
Thursday, 10 February 2011
New, new assignments
Well, we have 2 new assignments by different lecturers. Julian has set us one to make a website for a film released in 2010 or 11. I have decided to go with Dear John and I know it's a rom com but i seem to enjoy generating ideas for that! And Ross shas set us assignment to be done in pairs of which is to create an event with your own brand, that links to an existing brand. Me and Dave Bain are doing 'LiveTube', branching off of YouTube where we are making a fictional event where the most famous YouTube acts perform live and the event is streamed live to YouTube which we have already begun a lot of work on.
Stay tuned for updates
-AJM
Stay tuned for updates
-AJM
Monday, 7 February 2011
Stop/starting movies in flash.
An overview
Go to File - Import - Import to stage and select the video file you will be using which ever that may be.
Then just place on your stage, if you need to re size it remember to use shift whilst free transforming as stretching videos and images is a big no no.
Right click on your movie clip, go to convert to symbol, then from the drop - down menu select movie clip. Go to the properties window where it will say '<instance name>' and call it something like 'backmovie'.
After this you may have to go inside the layer (By double clicking on it.) and naming it backmovie instead of <FLV playback.> which it may of automatically created.
Next, create another layer called 'content' and place a box or shape that could resemble a button. Convert this shape to a movie clip like before and in the properties window, name it something like content.
(This will act as a button that will go to a new page called content.)
Save this file as something like background.fla.
Stage 2
Next, you will need open up a new flash 2.0 document which will be the content page. Just make a page with a box or something on it and on it's own layer, an image which could be used as a 'close' button. This means it will close that layer and take you back to your .swf from stage 1. This is what I did, but just make something simple to get to grips with it if you are not very familiar with this process. Also, like before create a blank layer which will contain all the code.
Convert your 'close' item to a movie clip and give it an instance name of 'closecontent' or something just as before.
To clarify, your background page in stage 1 as we have not specified will load on layer 0. At a later stage we will specify this content page to load on layer 1 so it will be in essence on top of the previous layer.
Okay now go to your background page and open up the action script layer which you created earlier and type this code into it. -
content.onPress = function() {
loadMovieNum('content.swf', 1);
_root.backmovie.backmovie.pause()
};
If this makes no sense to you or is not working make sure if you have called your button something else rather than content you will need to change this where content is, likewise if you named your content page something else, or your movie clip.
You know if this is working because when you click your button it will load your content, or second page and will pause the movie. Alternatively if you wish to completely stop the video when you go to a new layer instead of putting pause(), type stop().
Open up your content page for the next part.
After this it is simply a matter of making the movie play again when you back to the original layer. Now, to do this we will have to specify which layer the movie is on because as there is not an instance of the movie on this layer
All you need to do to specify is type _layern
Insert blank key frames on frame 2 for every layer of your content document.
As the movie is on layer 0, type this on to your action script layer:
stop()
closecontent.onPress = function () {
gotoAndPlay(2)
_level0.backmovie.backmovie.play()
};
This tutorial is on how you can have a movie file on one layer which will automatically pause when you go to another layer of the site or file, and then when you come back to it the video will continue to play from the same place.
For those of you who do not know what I mean by layers it is simply using a technique called the 'multi swf' approach. This basically means instead of having loads of data in one flash file, you can load different flash documents by linking them.
I thought it would be a good idea to post on this seen as for my college work I spent a while researching this on the web, with nothing covering the whole topic.
Those who just want the code from this tutorial, try this -
movie.play()
movie.pause()
movie.stop()
(This is the very basic principle for this task, put the code inside an area of which will pause or play your movie when you go to a different layer.)
Tutorial
Stage 1
Okay, so you will need to open up a new action script 2.0 document in Flash and have a video file ready. (Remember it's always a good idea to save your project data in the same place.) To keep this simple and give you the best understanding there is no need to worry about fancy graphics or the size of the stage.
Create a layer called action script or as for short. (This is where all the code is going to go.) Leave this blank.
Create a new layer and name it something like 'backmovie'.
Then just place on your stage, if you need to re size it remember to use shift whilst free transforming as stretching videos and images is a big no no.
Right click on your movie clip, go to convert to symbol, then from the drop - down menu select movie clip. Go to the properties window where it will say '<instance name>' and call it something like 'backmovie'.
Next, create another layer called 'content' and place a box or shape that could resemble a button. Convert this shape to a movie clip like before and in the properties window, name it something like content.
(This will act as a button that will go to a new page called content.)
After this, to publish the file as a .swf file, hold down the Ctrl and Enter buttons. This will then save it as a .swf as well as your original .fla file.
Okay that's pretty much it for stage 1, next will be creating a page called content so we can test if our movie stops when you go to it, then if it plays again when you return to the original page. More about this in a bit!
Stage 2
Convert your 'close' item to a movie clip and give it an instance name of 'closecontent' or something just as before.
To clarify, your background page in stage 1 as we have not specified will load on layer 0. At a later stage we will specify this content page to load on layer 1 so it will be in essence on top of the previous layer.
Okay now go to your background page and open up the action script layer which you created earlier and type this code into it. -
content.onPress = function() {
loadMovieNum('content.swf', 1);
_root.backmovie.backmovie.pause()
};
If this makes no sense to you or is not working make sure if you have called your button something else rather than content you will need to change this where content is, likewise if you named your content page something else, or your movie clip.
You know if this is working because when you click your button it will load your content, or second page and will pause the movie. Alternatively if you wish to completely stop the video when you go to a new layer instead of putting pause(), type stop().
Open up your content page for the next part.
After this it is simply a matter of making the movie play again when you back to the original layer. Now, to do this we will have to specify which layer the movie is on because as there is not an instance of the movie on this layer
All you need to do to specify is type _layern
Insert blank key frames on frame 2 for every layer of your content document.
As the movie is on layer 0, type this on to your action script layer:
stop()
closecontent.onPress = function () {
gotoAndPlay(2)
_level0.backmovie.backmovie.play()
};
Again if this does not work you may need to change some of it to fit what names you have chosen. Remember this is on the action script layer of your content page, not the background. If this still does'nt work, remember that you have to publish the file as a .swf anytime you make a single change to the .fla file.
If this does work, this means that when you publish your background document your movie will stop or pause when you go to your content page, then when you press your close button it will take you back to your background file with the video playing.
You can download what I have done here if I have'nt made it too clear! - http://ge.tt/37ndjDR
Summary
I hope this tutorial has helped anyone who has had trouble with this, or need to use it for a project. A good use of this would be to have a trailer or other movie playing in the background which fills up the whole screen and when the user clicks on different pages those pages come out and pause the background film. Although there are probably many uses for this which you could explore.
Thanks for reading,
-AJM
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
FLASH..... reviews.
Line Rider
Line rider is an interactive experience (made in Flash) which lets you create lines for your character or player to ride along. It uses basic physics to enhance the games appeal to the player. Gravity is the main factor in the game as you design your track or level so that it works with gravity.
You have an unlimited space for creation as I haven't been able to find out any barriers of the level so far. You can add different track pieces that can slow or speed up your character when he rides along them. There are many good examples of game play on YouTube, people have made masterpieces of the level!
All in all, line rider is a fun experience and relatively addicting also! A few downsides are the navigation of the level as it is difficult and takes a while to play through your level if it is large enough and there are limited tools to assist this. Some may moan that the game looks simple, but this saves loading times and the game mechanics ensure you have an enjoyable experience once you get to grips with the controls!
http://www.linerider.com/
-AJM
Monday, 31 January 2011
Up and coming.
I will be posting a tutorial on how you can pause a video playing automatically when you use a button on flash (Using a multi swf. approach.) that possibly takes you to a pop out or just another web page, and then how to resume the video automatically in the same place when you return as I have not seen any comprehensive explanations of this on the web. I simply know this from much trial and error on my current project!
-AJM
-AJM
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Unit 62 work.
Unit 62 – Criteria 1
Understand the principles of digital video in interactive media
Designers working in the interactive media industry keep coming up with new innovative ideas on more interactive platforms. Because the internet is so widely available and more and more people are now connected many ideas are uploaded here for our responses. Ideas such as interactive advertisement which involves digital video becoming somewhat interactive, the user can view parts of the video and sometimes even choose the outcome of the idea. Also, on other platforms such as games consoles, there are many ‘cut – scenes’ in which you play for a section of the game, then a small digital video piece is played to accompany, or illustrate a part of the story or game play. But this is just a small sample of what ideas designers are coming up with to incorporate digital video to interactive products, or taking the original digital video and making it interactive in some way. It can entertain the user more, and make the experience more memorable which in advertising cases is very important. According to www.business-innovative.com ‘interactive video improves the experience.’ (See, http://www.business-innovative.com/innovation-in-advertising-%E2%80%93-interactive-video-improves-the-experience )
One way of incorporating basic interactivity in terms of digital video is using short films (A smaller file size means they can be uploaded easier.) is to link a video with a webpage. For example a video when clicked on will go to a previously specified site that is in some way relevant to the video. But designers can also create short videos of which you can choose the outcome, short videos that have buttons or links to another short video to show the next part of the story. These videos can have different buttons so that each one will link to a different video and changing the storyline. By letting people choose the outcome of a storyline, digital video has gone beyond a passive experience; you are no longer just watching and accepting the story but interacting with it and the choices you make change the story. Examples of interactive digital video can be found and can be very popular on websites like YouTube. YouTube is simply a website created so people can create an account and easily upload their own videos. This is one example of an interactive digital video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ba1BqJ4S2M. In this case it also acts as a type of advertising. It has become a viral video (Spread rapidly throughout the web to many users.)having over 14 million views to date and you can decide to either shoot, or not shoot a bear which is supposedly going to attack the main characters in the video. The advert goes on to create the experience even more interactive by actually letting the user type in a word of which then they act out in the video. Key words link to different videos, and the characters even interact with the ‘tippex’ advertisement in the side bar to connect the video with the advertisement. Short video’s are also good for advertising other types of media such as bands. Because videos are quick and easy to upload to the web, a band could advertise their music for free.
To upload a video to the web, after the editing stage the video must be compressed in order to have a smaller file size which means easier loading but less picture quality in the long run. If a file is more compressed it will have a lower bit rate, while this is good for lowering download speeds it also lowers the quality ( A bit rate is how much information is streamed each second.) although, there are different types of digital video compression. For a band it would be essential to keep some quality for audio purposes. Lossless compression means that none of the original file is lost; it is simply put into a smaller area. A good example of this would be a zip file; it is a smaller file yet still contains all of the data. Another type of video compression is called lossy compression in which some of the original data will be lost as the video quality gets lower because of the compression. Compression is essential when uploading videos to websites such as YouTube because if the file size is too large, the video simply will be too large to load! www.microsoft.com says that ‘Digital video is compressed because it takes up a staggering amount of room in its original form. (See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/expert/digitalvideo.mspx) But even before the editing stage, designers and editors must capture the video footage if they wish to edit this later. This means that the recorded footage is uploaded to a computer from the video recording device probably in a editing program such as Adobe Premiere. Users can choose when to stop capturing film so this means the film being captured can be taken in smaller clips to upload easier and to edit easier. Then after the film has been edited it is rendered and compressed. A video file can be converted into a variety of different formats. There are different types of containers which hold movie files, the most popular of these include AVI, MPEG/MPEG- 4, MOV, FLV and WMV. Whilst converting and compressing video files is good to keep its size down, the bit rate will usually become lower. After production it is not always essential to change the bit rate at all but more experienced users may do so. Video uploading is free, with the most popular site being YouTube as it continues to grow with many videos uploaded daily.
To play any video, you need some sort of media player which will recognize the type of file of which you want to play. The most common media players are currently Adobe Flash Player, Windows Media Player and QuickTime. These are generally good for playing a range of digital videos with different file sizes, also easy to use and are widely available. Designers will create videos in formats to suit these media players so that more people can view them, making them more popular.
Games such as ‘Gears of War 2’ have good examples of how digital video can be incorporated into interactive game play. The player starts the game by watching a video clip and then following the story on from the clip. The cut scenes of the game will enhance the players experience as it explains the storyline better, on top of game play. Killing enemies for hours without reason would seem to make the game tackier and even though during game play the story does unfold and evolve, this is enhanced but the cut scenes. Here is a good example of a cut scene during the ‘Gears of War 2’ console game - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN-JKSM3b5A. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN-JKSM3b5A for more of the game information.) Also, having cut scenes in video games is now very common as it can help to give a feel of professionalism in the game, designers who have animated the characters to create cut scenes give users the impression of what may come up next in game play. For example if there is tension with building music there will most probably be more action in the next section of game play.
In terms of larger video files such as DVD’s and presentations the file size will be larger so will need more buffer time in many cases. This means the video needs to load on a program or device before viewing. For a basic example, DVD’s can be played easily on a computer with a media player such as windows media player or obviously on a different media platform such as a DVD player. As film size progresses we can see that designers face problems with interactivity if they wish to make the user more involved with the film. In terms of cinema viewings, this is difficult to make interactive. Effects such as adding 3D to the movie may add extra viewing pleasure elements but still is not interactive. By letting the user decide what happens next in the storyline and ultimately causing the outcome whatever that may be is a good way to add interactivity to a movie. Some may argue that some video games are a type of interactive movie but the prime idea for a video game is just that, interacting with the game, not the film. (See - http://www.interactivemovies.org/ ) Also, interactive DVD’s have also come out. These can sometimes replicate game shows and have many video sequences in between the basic playing parts of the feature or choosing where to go to explore different areas of the DVD. Also because of online video viewing it is easier to create an interactive feature within online film playing. Advertisements are becoming more interactive for online viewers too. Before popular or branded videos designers sometimes run small advertisements before the video starts, in some of these it is possible to click a ‘skip’ button or other buttons that are actually links to that particular company’s website.
To design an interactive feature that includes digital video is to make the user enjoy the experience of the film, whilst still having some input into the feature which could determine the outcome of the experience. (This is where it changes from a film into an interactive product.) At the other end of the scale are video games which are nearly all interactive with digital video on some occasions. In between is where we are seeing more ideas which grab the user’s attention and makes the experience memorable for them. In the long run, generating more profit for the producing companies. As YouTube is such a highly viewed website a good search for interactive films will definitely come up with some interesting results, and can be used on many devices such as mobile devices.
(1,638 words.)
Alex Mold.
Understand the principles of digital video in interactive media
Designers working in the interactive media industry keep coming up with new innovative ideas on more interactive platforms. Because the internet is so widely available and more and more people are now connected many ideas are uploaded here for our responses. Ideas such as interactive advertisement which involves digital video becoming somewhat interactive, the user can view parts of the video and sometimes even choose the outcome of the idea. Also, on other platforms such as games consoles, there are many ‘cut – scenes’ in which you play for a section of the game, then a small digital video piece is played to accompany, or illustrate a part of the story or game play. But this is just a small sample of what ideas designers are coming up with to incorporate digital video to interactive products, or taking the original digital video and making it interactive in some way. It can entertain the user more, and make the experience more memorable which in advertising cases is very important. According to www.business-innovative.com ‘interactive video improves the experience.’ (See, http://www.business-innovative.com/innovation-in-advertising-%E2%80%93-interactive-video-improves-the-experience )
One way of incorporating basic interactivity in terms of digital video is using short films (A smaller file size means they can be uploaded easier.) is to link a video with a webpage. For example a video when clicked on will go to a previously specified site that is in some way relevant to the video. But designers can also create short videos of which you can choose the outcome, short videos that have buttons or links to another short video to show the next part of the story. These videos can have different buttons so that each one will link to a different video and changing the storyline. By letting people choose the outcome of a storyline, digital video has gone beyond a passive experience; you are no longer just watching and accepting the story but interacting with it and the choices you make change the story. Examples of interactive digital video can be found and can be very popular on websites like YouTube. YouTube is simply a website created so people can create an account and easily upload their own videos. This is one example of an interactive digital video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ba1BqJ4S2M. In this case it also acts as a type of advertising. It has become a viral video (Spread rapidly throughout the web to many users.)having over 14 million views to date and you can decide to either shoot, or not shoot a bear which is supposedly going to attack the main characters in the video. The advert goes on to create the experience even more interactive by actually letting the user type in a word of which then they act out in the video. Key words link to different videos, and the characters even interact with the ‘tippex’ advertisement in the side bar to connect the video with the advertisement. Short video’s are also good for advertising other types of media such as bands. Because videos are quick and easy to upload to the web, a band could advertise their music for free.
To upload a video to the web, after the editing stage the video must be compressed in order to have a smaller file size which means easier loading but less picture quality in the long run. If a file is more compressed it will have a lower bit rate, while this is good for lowering download speeds it also lowers the quality ( A bit rate is how much information is streamed each second.) although, there are different types of digital video compression. For a band it would be essential to keep some quality for audio purposes. Lossless compression means that none of the original file is lost; it is simply put into a smaller area. A good example of this would be a zip file; it is a smaller file yet still contains all of the data. Another type of video compression is called lossy compression in which some of the original data will be lost as the video quality gets lower because of the compression. Compression is essential when uploading videos to websites such as YouTube because if the file size is too large, the video simply will be too large to load! www.microsoft.com says that ‘Digital video is compressed because it takes up a staggering amount of room in its original form. (See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/expert/digitalvideo.mspx) But even before the editing stage, designers and editors must capture the video footage if they wish to edit this later. This means that the recorded footage is uploaded to a computer from the video recording device probably in a editing program such as Adobe Premiere. Users can choose when to stop capturing film so this means the film being captured can be taken in smaller clips to upload easier and to edit easier. Then after the film has been edited it is rendered and compressed. A video file can be converted into a variety of different formats. There are different types of containers which hold movie files, the most popular of these include AVI, MPEG/MPEG- 4, MOV, FLV and WMV. Whilst converting and compressing video files is good to keep its size down, the bit rate will usually become lower. After production it is not always essential to change the bit rate at all but more experienced users may do so. Video uploading is free, with the most popular site being YouTube as it continues to grow with many videos uploaded daily.
To play any video, you need some sort of media player which will recognize the type of file of which you want to play. The most common media players are currently Adobe Flash Player, Windows Media Player and QuickTime. These are generally good for playing a range of digital videos with different file sizes, also easy to use and are widely available. Designers will create videos in formats to suit these media players so that more people can view them, making them more popular.
Games such as ‘Gears of War 2’ have good examples of how digital video can be incorporated into interactive game play. The player starts the game by watching a video clip and then following the story on from the clip. The cut scenes of the game will enhance the players experience as it explains the storyline better, on top of game play. Killing enemies for hours without reason would seem to make the game tackier and even though during game play the story does unfold and evolve, this is enhanced but the cut scenes. Here is a good example of a cut scene during the ‘Gears of War 2’ console game - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN-JKSM3b5A. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN-JKSM3b5A for more of the game information.) Also, having cut scenes in video games is now very common as it can help to give a feel of professionalism in the game, designers who have animated the characters to create cut scenes give users the impression of what may come up next in game play. For example if there is tension with building music there will most probably be more action in the next section of game play.
In terms of larger video files such as DVD’s and presentations the file size will be larger so will need more buffer time in many cases. This means the video needs to load on a program or device before viewing. For a basic example, DVD’s can be played easily on a computer with a media player such as windows media player or obviously on a different media platform such as a DVD player. As film size progresses we can see that designers face problems with interactivity if they wish to make the user more involved with the film. In terms of cinema viewings, this is difficult to make interactive. Effects such as adding 3D to the movie may add extra viewing pleasure elements but still is not interactive. By letting the user decide what happens next in the storyline and ultimately causing the outcome whatever that may be is a good way to add interactivity to a movie. Some may argue that some video games are a type of interactive movie but the prime idea for a video game is just that, interacting with the game, not the film. (See - http://www.interactivemovies.org/ ) Also, interactive DVD’s have also come out. These can sometimes replicate game shows and have many video sequences in between the basic playing parts of the feature or choosing where to go to explore different areas of the DVD. Also because of online video viewing it is easier to create an interactive feature within online film playing. Advertisements are becoming more interactive for online viewers too. Before popular or branded videos designers sometimes run small advertisements before the video starts, in some of these it is possible to click a ‘skip’ button or other buttons that are actually links to that particular company’s website.
To design an interactive feature that includes digital video is to make the user enjoy the experience of the film, whilst still having some input into the feature which could determine the outcome of the experience. (This is where it changes from a film into an interactive product.) At the other end of the scale are video games which are nearly all interactive with digital video on some occasions. In between is where we are seeing more ideas which grab the user’s attention and makes the experience memorable for them. In the long run, generating more profit for the producing companies. As YouTube is such a highly viewed website a good search for interactive films will definitely come up with some interesting results, and can be used on many devices such as mobile devices.
(1,638 words.)
Alex Mold.
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