Mask Project

In this project, we learned how to use "Masking" which hides a piece of the image or stage. To do this, we had to import an image then create another layer containing a rectangle which you overlay with the image. On the layer with the rectangle, we had to right click on it and choose "Mask". The underlying layer then was masked and when you pressed CTRL + ENTER, you could see that the part the rectangle covered is invisible. Upon learning this, we went even further and made it interactive by using Script. We went to File>Publish Settings>Flash then change the Script to "2.0". After you turned the rectangle into a "Movie Clip", you right click it and go to "Actions". From there you then go to ActionScript 2.0 Classes>Movie>Movie Clip>Methods>startDrag. I forgot that we had to turn the "Script Assist" on. From there we put "this" in the Object box and "True" in the [Lock Center] box. Then when you pressed CTRL + ENTER and hover your mouse over the image, the rectangle should mask and make that space disappear. I actually enjoyed this project. It was simple and very fun to learn. I may want to make more of these.


Classic Motion Guides

In this project, we learned how to use "Classic Motion Guides". When using this layer, you set a specific motion path for an object to follow. I'm not sure if we had to create something specific, but I decided to use stars. The one below was just for fun. I figured Pac-Man would be perfect for this type of project and tool. I'll get around to finishing the Pac-Man one later, but this was a fairly easy project to start and finish.

3:4 Moving Clouds

We worked with layers in Adobe Fireworks doing this project. It was very similar to using layers with Photoshop, but more convient for using Adobe Flash. When importing the image after saving is as a .PNG, you can import the layers separately onto the stage. After doing that, we converted each picture into symbols so they can be animated. We then created a Keyframe and then Classic Tween to create the illusion that the sky was moving. At the end keyframe, you just skew the image slightly in either direction so that when you watch it from beginnning to end, the clouds are stretching out. I might redo this one because I did not like how the cloud movements came out.

Magic Wand Tool 3:3 Project

Our assignment was to create a slide show with a consistant logo in Adobe Flash CS4. First, we took an image that was easy to edit in Adobe Fireworks. The next step was to delete the background and then clean it up. When placed over another image, the background of the edited image is transparent. This project was really simple because it was similar to the editing of "Intro to Fireworks". The timing and alpha was the same. After editing the selected logo, all you really had to do was import images onto different layers and create the alpha effect in the right timing.

Moving car

I realized this was the only thing I didn't upload to my blog. It was one of the first projects that involved animating objects. I redid it because the first one was absolutely terrible. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. This had the use of Classic Tweens and converting objects into symbols. The wheels had to be pasted into a new symbol so that you could have the motion into one symbol. That made it easier to move it across the stage.

Intro to Fireworks

This was a really quick and easy project that involved using Adobe Fireworks CS4. The editing itself was easy if you ever used Adobe Photoshop CS4. They are very similar in tools and where the tool bar is placed. When importing the images into flash, the timing was the hardest part for me. After figuring out the timing, it was easy to add the Alpha effect which is how they fade in and out into each other. The text was the same way. I added that last thinking it was going to be easy. Unfortunately, I had to determine the best placement for them due to the Motion Tweens and Alpha. So all in all, this was pretty simple and kind of fun in a way. The transitions of the edits is a pretty neat thing.

Bitmap Thingy

We were taught how to import pictures. A lot of what we did was just edit them after converting them into symbols. This was fairly simple considering you had to time everything just right. I don't think I followed directions well because I made something completely different from what his example looked like. Although I'm not sure that's ok, I had fun with it.

Flipping Kirby

Although I found this to be difficult, I don't think it came out that bad. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't make it run smoother, but it's the best I could do for now. I would really love to work on this again and make it better, but that could take me a while. We keep starting on new projects, so it's a bit hard to perfect it. We used a lot of "Motion Tweens" and quite a few frames. I didn't create it exactly like the tutorial one because I wanted to make it my own. It's kind of personal that way. I wanted to make Kirby grabbibng a star rather than a flower because I thought it fit better, but I don't know. The random Weegee is just me showing my fondness for that meme. I'm not sure what else to add, but I'll probably repost this after I create a decent background.