Screen shots

What I like most in digital media project like this is learning new clever things. Everyday I find something interesting in my own Mac that I did not know earlier. Today I've learned how to use screen shot. It's a pity I couldn't do that before so I could show my work in progress. Well, I will start now....

All the pages so far have been created in Flash and, with addition of header and menu bar, embedded into Dreamweaver.

This is a gallery page I've done before Christmas. By clicking on the

 thumbnail images on the top of the screen the user can see the large image. Under every big image there is a line of text which reads: (1) Self-portrait ... because everyone has a second countenance, (2) Being different means being unique, (3) And the sky is the limit, isn't it?, (4) So if you hold your head high and stand up to the challenge, (5) ... all your dreams will fall to your feet, (6) You just have to believe that everything is within your arms' reach! It is like a little motivational talk... 

The second shot is of a news page. I really regret I cannot show how much it improved since I started working on it in December.  It looks much more professional now, less boxy I mean. 

This is a shot of a features page. It is more colorful and funky than the news page but it is supposed to be more magaziny... I had a lot of fun with this one.

And this is my favorite one! It is the most funky contact page you have ever seen!!! When you type something on your keyboard the letters that you see on the bottom jump up straight into the boxes. Unfortunately, I don't take a full credit for that. I downloaded it from FlashDen just like the menu bar before. But I did customized it myself. I added the drawing... cool!

Free Fonts Downloads

Whatever your design needs are, you're sure to find plenty of funky fonts for free on 1001freefonts.com

Use Akvis Sketch to convert a photograph into a full-colour drawing

For those of you who spend hours trying to convert a photograph into a full-colour drawing - just simply download Akvis Sketch application and do the conversion in just a few easy clicks. It's fun and it's free!!! 

Download Flash Elements

Driven by ambition of having professionally looking website and a chronic lack of time I decided to use a navigation bar downloaded from a FlashDen.net website. And it is not to say that I cannot create one by myself but to hint towards the fact that professional web developers often use this type of services to save time for other things. Why would one want to invent a wheel again?

I have paid to download a two level navigation bar but I found it difficult to understand the way it can be edited (fonts, colour, etc.) and actually used on my flash stage. And well, after hours wasted trying to solve the problem independently and another couple of hours with the tutor's (Maria) help the bar was fixed and ready to use. Well done to all involved...

To see the original navigation bar preview click here.

Watch out: Flash CS4 only for the courageous!

After I bought my new Macbook and decided to equip it with Adobe software and this was the time when  I realized that Adobe has already launched a new version - CS4. I thought: 'Well..., this is an investment in future. Sooner or later everybody will update to the newer version and I will be already familiar with it. And, how much difference working on a newer version of Flash will make to me - I am nearly an expert anyway'. I could not be more mistaken!

Making the simplest animation such as a shape moving from left to the right, fading in or out did not work. Why??? Why??? Why??? - I kept banging my head against the wall.

For those of you who are ever going to upgrade to Flash CS4: do not create a new keyframe for animations, Flash will make it for you. Look up at these Kirupa tutorials.

Conclusion

This tutorial was a broad overview of some of the animation features you have in Flash CS4. If you are familiar with previous versions of Flash, none of the terminology in here was particularly new. What was new is how you actually created your animation.

In the past, you had an instance of your object at your starting point and another instance of your object at the end point. You also inserted two keyframes to represent that. The tweening system calculated the differences between those two objects and presented them to you.

By default, animations you now create in Flash CS4 are property-based where the properties of your object are modified over a period of time. You have the same object throughout the lifespan of your tween, and at various points in time, the properties that make up your object are altered instead of the actual object itself. In our example, it was our image's X and Alpha properties that were changed over a period of time. That seems trivial and the end result doesn't look dramatically different, but this is a major change that this tutorial does not even attempt to address.

Future tutorials will focus on that change and other parts of the animation functionality in CS4, so with that, here is the source file for the animation you just created:

Free photo library

  

I just found an amazing site with fantastic images in print quality. All free and available for all sort of publications. No fees, no copyright!!! You even find photo-tips and Photoshop tutorials. All you need to do is register.  Highly recommended!

Business Card Design

Last night I have come up with a business card design. It is rather simple - I know - but than I want to use this card in real world. After graduation I might be doing some journalism freelancing and I will need a business card so I plan to use this one. It is simple but simple does not mean bad, does it? I think it looks quite professional. 

There is another, slightly different version. It is still subject to change. Feedback and suggestions appreciated.