PLE6_Flash

The following is an animation that I created using Adobe Flash. I imported to the stage some clip art that I received from www.clipart.com. From there, I simply used the timeline and motion editor to add the “bounce in” ease to the soccer ball as it bounces across the animation. This is my first animation, which was rather simple.

PLE5_Flash

One of the great features of Flash includes being able to edit and manipulate bitmap images. I will demonstrate this by using the flower jpeg from the exercise files included as part of the membership on www.lynda.com. I began by importing the jpeg onto the stage and then selecting modify-break apart. Afterwards, I was free to edit the photo using the lasso tools.

This first photo demonstrates the magic wand tool. The magic wand tool selects any color that is continuous and highlights the selection for edit. I simply waited moved the pedals just a little off their original position. This tool is probably the most efficient if solid colors are continuous throughout the image.

This second photo shows me using the polygon tool. This tool allows you to “lasso” the particular part of the image that you want to highlight by creating small segments. This tool provides you with quite a bit of control; although obviously, the smaller the segments the more accurate the selection.

This third photo illustrates how the lasso tool itself works. This tool is perhaps the least effective if you are wanting an exact selection simply because it is one continuous “lasso” and is based off of how steady your movement is on the mouse pad. Regardless, this tool is effective for a quick “lasso” or selection. By watching the tutorials on www.lynda.com, I have learned extensively how to use these three tools and I know have a good understanding of how they work in Flash.

PLE4_Flash

This week, I decided to tackle Flash, or at least the beginning portion of the tutorials on www.lynda.com. I focused on Google docs for my first practical learning experience last week based on the fact that we will be using this platform extensively for next month’s course. In the same manner, I wanted to become familiar with Flash because we will be using it in month six.

At this point, I have worked through the first few chapters of the tutorials understanding how to create and draw basic shapes, utilize all of the features on the properties toolbar and tools toolbar, and how layers work and can be grouped and renamed. Here are a few pictures of the tutorials I have watched and a screenshot of me working with the exercise files.

This tutorial showcased how to use the eyedropper tool.

This exercise was focused on the using the free transform tool and the color swatches.

The exercise and tutorial showed me how to use the alignment features.