Week 14...Dreamweaver

Last week during class we were introduced to Dreamweaver, an Adobe program used for webdesign. We will be using Dreamweaver to create websites displaying the works of art that we created in class this semester. I think that I am also going to include images of my artwork from high school as well as some of the pieces that I did in my art class last semester. I am excited to learn how to use Dreamweaver because the program will allow me to share my portfolio in an organized and coherent manner. It's great to think that I can create a website that my family can easily access to see my artwork. I'll no longer have to lug my portfolio back home every time they want to see my work.

The last time that I created my own website was probably when I was in third grade. My older brother got a webdesign program for my family's Windows '95. He let me play around with it, and helped me launch a cute website with pictures of Beanie Babies if I recall correctly. As an eight year old, I thought it was the best thing in the world.

Now, I am eager to create a website that is sophisticatedly simple. I have always loved designing layouts on the computer, especially in Microsoft Publisher. I know that Dreamweaver is a more difficult program to use because of the need to create page links and the limits of HTML language, but I am willing to learn.

Week 13...Getting to Work!

Last week during class we learned how to incorporate movie clips into our Flash animations. We created an animated butterfly, and then we attached our animated butterfly to a path. After connecting our butterfly to a guided path we were given time to incorporate additional scenery into our newly created animation. I choose to add a sky background and clouds.

Last week we also learned how to make a frame by frame animation. Frame by frame animations are extremely tedious. They require a lot of drawings as well as the use of onion skins. The frame by frame example that we looked at in class a week or two ago had a very different style then those animations created using only shape and classic tweens. The example we looked at showed a lot of movement and fluidity. I could tell that it required an extreme amount of time and lots of thought. Frame by frame animation is definitely the way to go if you want to create a walking sequence or show how parts of an object move.

I spent a lot of time in the Steel Plant this past weekend working on my animation. I created a monkey character and scenery in Illustrator. I am pleased with how my animation is coming along so far; however, I want to take it further by incorporating movie clips and possibly frame by frame animation. I think that my animation will prove more successful if I am able to figure out how to make my monkey character appear as if he is jumping by making his legs move. I also want to add more to the storyline that I created and possibly add a few more monkey characters.

Week 12...Flash Continued

This past week we spent our time in class creating two bouncing ball animations. On Monday we were introduced to the basics of Flash. I knew that Flash would be a challenging program to work with; however, I did not realize how tedious it can be. It is very important to get everything done in an orderly manner when working with Flash. I had a very hard time remembering all of the steps, for example when adding key frames or adjusting how fast objects move. This resulted in lots of mistakes and frustration, but in the end I was happy with my final bouncing ball animation.

On Monday, when we created our first animation, I was not pleased with the path that my ball was following. It appeared unrealistic in my opinion minus the addition of the squash and stretch motion. On Thursday we learned that we can draw actual paths that an object will follow. Using that technique was much easier and created a much more realistic motion.

Week 11...Intro to Adobe Flash

We spent our class time Monday working with Adobe Flash. I have never used Flash in the past, and I am a bit reluctant to learn about it sheerly due to how complicated it seems. We looked at a few of the tools that the program has to offer, and we spent a good amount of time going over formatting our Flash files. I learned that it is very important to get your file size and format correct before you do anything else, because if you wait to make your canvas larger it will result in a big blank space rather than an animation that has expanded to the confines of your canvas.

On Thursday we looked at various examples of Flash animations. I was really surprised how well many of them turned out. I particular enjoyed the one that showed a creature almost like a dragon turning red and the way that the leaves of the trees in the animation turned pink. This example played with movement and it had a impressive hand drawn quality. The artist took an approach that set his work apart. Another work that was really impressive reminded me of a pinball machine. I was amazed by the amount of planning that the project required. Every aspect of the animation fit together seamlessly, and it kept the audience interested. I really loved how it felt like the viewer was panning the scene with a camera.

In addition, I also enjoyed the fact that many people included text in there animations. I recognized, however, that sometimes the exclusion of words made for a more interesting animation. The example that we looked at in class have got me thinking about my own design. I didn't realize that creating a story line was the way to go with this assignment until I saw the projects we looked at in class. I think that I am going to exclude words and leave it up to the audience to interpret my narrative as they wish.