COAP:COAP-2110

<pageby nominor="false" comments="false"/>

Introduction

This is a revised sample template for a introductory Flash course. It is based on my Webanimation (Flash) COAP 2110 courses at Webster University, Geneva. The actual syllabi were different.

Course level learning outcomes (roughly)

1. Know the organization and tools of the Macromedia CS3 Flash Desktop
2. Create simple drawings
3. Manipulation of graphics (e.g. envelope transforms, color gradients)
4. Creating and using layers
5. Frame-by-frame, motion and shape animations
6. Use of embedded movie clips
7. Incorporating non-Flash media files (graphics, sound and video)
8. Simple interactivity in Flash, e.g. use of buttons, button components and some action script

Teaching materials

• Flash tutorials in this wiki (lecture notes)
• Veer, E.A. Vander and Chris Grover (2007). Flash CS3: The Missing Manual. ISBN 0596510446 - 527 pages.
  • O'Reilly page for the book
  • Missing CD-ROM, materials used in the book.
• Flash Tutorials on the Internet

Reference and overviews

• Flash tutorials (a list of Flash tutorials in this wiki, not all are used here)
• Flash CS3 keyboard shortcuts
• Flash formats and objects overview

Program

We shall introduce 1-2 new topics per week. For the first 6 weeks we will assign mini-projects that will help you to learn the most important techniques.

Week 1

Theme: Simple drawing and frame-by-frame animation

Elements of the Flash Desktop

• Handout: Flash CS3 desktop tutorial
• Handout: Flash CS3 keyboard shortcuts

Creating simple Drawings

Topics: Stage size, Drawing modes, Selecting objects, Drawing and painting tools, Erasing and alignment, Colors, Adding text

• Handout: Flash drawing tutorial

Simple use of Layers

• Handout: Flash layers tutorial

Importing clipart and textures

• Resource: Clipart and texture

Frame-by-frame animation

• Previews: Shakin hello, Rocket
• Handout: Flash frame-by-frame animation tutorial

Week 2

Theme: Motion animation and embedded movie clips

Introduction to motion animation

• Previews: Moving cat, Moving, changing cat,
• Handout: Flash motion tweening tutorial
• Summary: Flash animation summary (optional)

Symbols and embedded movie clips

• Previews: Flying Rocket
• Handout: Flash embedded movie clip tutorial (only the first 4 sections, i.e. skip the ActionScript parts)

Week 3

Theme: Transformation of graphics and morphing

Layers (again)

• Topics: Being organized
• Handout: Flash layers tutorial

Transformation of objects

• Topics: Simple transformation (scaling, rotating, skewing, distorting), envelope transformation of a shape with either the select tool, envelope transforms or the sub-selection tool.
• Handout: Flash object transform tutorial

Arranging objects

• Topics: align, stack, combine, break objects
• Handout: Flash arranging objects tutorial

Colors and gradients

• Previews: Colors
• Handout: Flash colors tutorial

Shape tweening

• Previews: Simple shape morph, Simple shape and motion morph, traced bitmaps morph, Shape tweening in motion
• Handout: Flash shape tweening tutorial

Week 4

Theme: Basic interactiviy

Introduction to buttons and some ActionScript

• Topics: Button frame-by-frame animation, creating slide shows (timeline navigation) with buttons
• Previews: Simple slide show, Rocket launcher, Menus with buttons, Image maps with pictures.
• Handout: Flash button tutorial

Week 5

Theme: Using sound and the button component

Discussion

• Some past homework
• mid-term exam and term projects
• planning of term projects, the design process
• What do we mean by "quality?"
• The Term project

Flash components, in particular the button component

• Previews: Slide show with component button menu,
• Handout: Flash component button tutorial

Sounds

• Previews: Cloud animation with sound, (Drag and drop edutainment
• Handout: Flash sound tutorial (adding sound to Frames)

Term projects

• Objectives must be defined

Week 6

Theme: Importing and augmenting videos

Flash Video topics

• The FLV Video playback component
• The captioning component
• Dealing with cue points (jumping to cue points, using events generated by cue points)
• Previews:
  • Simple use of the FLVPLayback component
  • flash-cs3-video-simple-server-caption.html (captions)
  • flash-cs3-video-simple-server-caption2.html (captions)
  • flash-cs3-video-simple-embedd.html (simple embedding)
  • flash-cs3-video-timeline-embedd.html (embedding with animation)
  • flash-cs3-video-cue-events.html (use cue points to trigger animations)
• Handout: Flash Video component tutorial

Week 7

Theme: Special effects, masks and more interactivity

Special effects

• Timeline special effects (short summary)
• Previews: flash-cs3-special-timeline-effects.html

Mask and masked layers

• Previews: flash-cs3-mask.html.
• Handout: Flash special effects tutorial (not handed out, print it or see chapter 6 of the textbook)

Interactivity

• Previews: Cat manipulation - Remote cat manipulation - Drag and drop edutainment
• Handout: ActionScript 3 interactive objects tutorial
• Handout: Flash drag and drop tutorial (not distributed, contains longer AS code)
• Handout: Flash games tutorial (not distributed, only contains an example)

Publishing on a web site (Wednesday)

• Copy all the files *.swf *.js *.html and resources (e.g. sound or video)
• Fix the generated HTML
• You also may modify some publish settings

Term projects

• Final advice

Week 8

Presentation of term projects

Each student will present his/her term project (unless the class is too big) You will have to show the application on the teacher's machine and the projector. There is no need to prepare slides but be prepared to answer questions !

Final exam COAP 2110

The final exam will focus on interactivity and animation. You will receive a *.fla file to complete/repair. It will be similar in spirit to the mid-term exam.

Handouts

• Flash tutorials (the full list of tutorials, more than you want)
• Flash First Steps (smaller list than above, also available in PDF)

Prepare for the following subjects

(1) Mid-term exam requirements

• See COAP:COAP-2110/mid-term

(2) Buttons

• Using library *.fla buttons (just change the label)
• Making your own buttons from simple (!) drawings (including drawings for the different button states)
• Using button components (label, change of width)

(3) Videos and Sound

• Sound embedded into the timeline
• Videos embedded into the timeline
• Simple use of the video component

(4) ActionScript

• Simple event handling functions and registration of mouse click events

Example code:

// timeline moving
forward_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,forward);
function forward(event:MouseEvent) { gotoAndStop(2); }

// Play an embedded movie clip
start_button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,start_kite);
function start_kite(event:MouseEvent) {
	kite.play();
}

You then should be able to master following simple ActionScript "instructions":

• Change the visibility of an object on the stage
• Move an object
• Play and stop an embedded movie clip
• play and stop the animation in the timeline
• Move the user around in the timeline

Example code for object manipulation

cat.visible = true;
cat.visible = false;

cat.x = 100;
cat.y += 50;

movie_clip.stop();
movie_clip.play();

Example code for timeline animations

gotoAndPlay(12);
gotoAndPlay("robot");
gotoAndStop(12);
gotoAndStop("cat_anim");

stop();
start();

(5) Basic inverse kinematics

• (to be confirmed)

Do not forget to revise the subjects from the previous exam (basic drawing and animation principles) !

Not covered in the exam

• ActionScript program flow (e.g. complicated if and switch statements, loops, etc.)
• Special effects
• Classic motion tweens
• Video captions and Video cue points
• Loading of external sources other than video.
• Keypress events

Preparation examples

Warning: The final will be similar in spirit, however we will not test classic motion tweens !

Preparation example 2007

You can try to solve the 2007 exam, i.e. solve the following problems:

• Frame 1 (home): Buttons should not lead you to frame 1 (home), but to the various other keyframes. Also add your name.
• Frame 2 (Sailing): (a) Play the tween animation of boat with the 'what's going on here' button. (b) BONUS Point: Create and play a motion animation of a plane.
• Frame 3 (Driving): (a) Create an animation that will start moving the car from right to left and slightly forward too (i.e. keep it on the road). To animate the car edit the 'old car' symbol and make it a motion tween. Then link it to the what's going on here button (b) BONUS Point: Do something with the yellow car.
• Frame 4 (Island): (a) Make the trees visible when the user clicks on the what's going on button. (b) BONUS point: Improve the frame-by-frame animation of the big tree.
• Frame 5 (Rocket): (a) Write code that will launch the rocket. (b) BONUS: Do something with the snakes

Tip: For starters, you can navigate with the little button on top right. Do not edit layer one !

Now get the *.fla source file from here:

action-script-button-anim-problem.fla

Instructions are also inside the *.fla file (play it):

action-script-button-anim-problem.html

A good enough solution is also available:

Source *.fla: action-script-button-anim-solution.fla

HTML+SWF: action-script-button-anim-solution.html

Directory: http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/flash/ex/action-script-3-intro/

Preparation example 2008

This work through example has instructions embedded inside the fla file. Better and alternatively also may read the series of screen copies and that include the instructions http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/flash/ex/exams2008/final-coap2110-2008-handout.pdf

• Get final-coap2110-2008.fla
• Look at a possible solution:

http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/flash/ex/exams2008/final-coap2110-2008-SOLUTION.swf

Solution:

http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/flash/ex/exams2008/ (directory)

final-coap2110-2008-SOLUTION.fla

Preparation example 2010

• This examples includes instructions within the *.fla, also avaliable in PDF
• Get the fla: final-coap2110-2010.fla

Solution:

• final-coap2110-2010-SOLUTION.html
• final-coap2110-2010-SOLUTION.fla

Other information

• All materials are allowed (e.g. books, handouts, web pages)
• Use of communication tools is strictly forbidden (no chat, no mail, etc.). No talking between students. Offenders may get an F.

Index of Homework and templates

(individual files)

Templates:

• Grading form
• homework template (to paste into the Flash file documentation: Modify->Document or hit CTRL-J)

New series (2008):

• Homework 1
• Homework 2
• Homework 3
• Mid term exam
• Homework 4
• Homework 5
• Homework 6
• Homework 7
• Term project
• final exam

Old series (2007):

• Homework 1
• Homework 2
• Homework 3
• Homework 4
• Homework 5
• Homework 6