THE COURSE: 1-17-17 to 5-12-17
Sections:
Online class #63537
Face to face class.#63538

This class is an introduction to the basics of Interactive Multimedia.  Through practical exercises and creative projects, we will learn how to use the Adobe Flash/Animate® environment to create Rich Media Applications, that integrate Animation, graphics, sound and interactivity. Although SWFs are not used directly for web anymore, Flash is a great platform to create Timing in Animation, export Animation, and prototype intercative experiences and games.

This means a combination of sophisticated Graphics, high quality Typography, Audio and Video files, integrated into a single application that is prepared to load and run smoothly over the web. Flash is moving away from being the ideal platform for websites, because of not being suported on the I-phone and the I-pad but it is the best integrated platfrom to create complex interactivity and an ideal format to test simple games and apps, even if they later need to be reprogrammed in objective-C or other programming language.

1. We will begin the course by discovering the native graphic and Animation tools in Flash/Animate. The use of vector graphics, the use of a linear timeline, frame-by-frame animation, and specific animation assistants.

2. The free-form, dynamic and intuitive experience that the user can get from a Flash application, requires you, the author, to organize all the content so it can be accessed though a process that we call Interactive Navigation. We will dedicate a good portion of the class to understand the Idea, possibilities and technical production of an Interactive interface and navigation.

3. This will be, for many of you your first experience in the field of Interactive Applications. It will be an intense one and require a good deal of concentration, (you are going to change, in a sense, the way in which you think) but it will open your creativity to a whole new world of possibilities.

SLO 1 - Animation - Upon successfully completing this class, a student will be able to use key-framed animation over a Timeline.

SLO 2 - Symbols Media - Upon successfully completing this class, a student will be able to organize their projects through symbols (using Graphic, Movie-clip and Button symbols), integrating in them a different type of media (bitmap- graphics, native animations, sound clips and digital video files).

SLO 3 - Interactive - Upon successfully completing this class, a student will be able to create an Interactive timeline, using frame-labels and Action Scripting commands that would facilitate a user-driven Timeline Navigation.

COURSE STRUCTURE

This is NOT a self-paced course. Each week you will complete a module. Each module builds on the experience acquired in the previous one.
You will be required to read or search on a topic, practice with the software and deconstruct the sample file, then complete the assignment.
Please allocate 3 to 5 hours beside the class time every week to work on your assignment.
Online students: you need time to go through the help pages and the sample files besides those 3 to 5 hours to put the assignment together.
Please assign 2 to 3 hours to understand the week's technical issues before you attempt to build your assignment. Try working in 2 sessions: one to understand the material, another one to work on the assignment. Don't leave problems for Sunday afternoon or you will not have time to rectify or get feedback on your process.

Every semester we find students that figure out they have problems working with the software's structure when they have more than 4 assignments due.
The key to pass this class is working at a constant pace!
You need to become familiar with a good number of techniques and you need time to assimilate them.
You cannot spend more than 3 days on a row without practicing and hope to learn the software in 15 weeks.

Try to do your best on your weekly assignments.
Test the mechanics before in a test project (were you reconstruct the sample file). Try at that stage to come up with a creative idea that will fulfill the assignment. Work the assignment on a new document. Save stages as different documents if you have to.

The assignments are not tests to check that you have practiced, they are creative opportunities to apply what you have learned. There should be a creative IDEA behind them.
If you take time to think of something that you would like to work on , and then put it together using the concepts introduced in the module, you will be working towards a tangible goal and advancing territory towards a Final Project. This will make the process more exciting and you will get more out of your work. It might seem harder to apply an idea to the project, but it is the way to go if you want to produce good work to use in your portfolio.

We will complete a Final Interactive Flash Project that will be an equivalent of a Final Exam and will integrate most of the Techniques and routines learned through the course.

The Final project will be delivered online, so we can see it streaming from a server.
You can work with Xythos, the school server, or use any server you have access to.

Since there are only going to be a week and a half fully dedicated to the completion of this Interactive piece or Rich Media application, it is a good idea to begin testing out creative ideas early on.
It is an acceptable practice to Use or Recycle past weekly assignments, specially if you complete and rework them towards visual Integration in the Final project.

You will provide me with a description of your Final project by mid-semester, describing the creative idea, wireframe structure or description of the parts, and methods of Integration.
(How the parts integrate conceptually, how we perceive the Integration _visual codes_ and how you will organize your Navigation).
This will give you time to get feed-back about your project, find or produce the media files, and work your assignments in the direction of your Project.
You will get to see previous examples in our Help-site for the class, and we will discuss websites with interesting Flash work in the Animation or Interactive territories.
Link to the rubric for the Final Project:

http://soma.sbcc.edu/users/ajarabo/F_online/final_project.html

The class will take place in Canvas. We will be working with ActionScripting 3.0 and Flash CC (Whatever version you have on the Creative Cloud), Flash CS6 and the new version in the Cloud, called Animate.
As an aid, you should choose what works better for your learning style: the book or the Lynda.com training online library (We have free access to all the vieos now!)
The page reference has been updated to the CS6 book but you can easily find the same content in the other books.

CLASS BOOK (optional, for software reference only)

Adobe Flash CC Professional, Classroom in a book.
Adobe Press. June 17, 2013.
ISBN-13: 978-0321927859 ISBN-10: 0321927850

Adobe Flash CS6 Professional, Classroom in a book.
Adobe Press. Jan 1, 2012.
ISBN:0-321-82251-X
You can buy the book new or used, or order it at Amazon.com or your favorite online store.

As a new resource, all SBCC students have access to the complete Lynda.com Online training library
The training videos are excellent and you can check ANY software-training library.
Youtube video on How to access lynda.com from pipeline

In the past I gave students links to free videos in the Online Training Library. Now you can acess every volume on Flash (look under products or search for "flash and the feature you need").
I am implementing pages with links to specific videos and movies in Canvas
From module 8 on look for the link to my video-tutorials in the reading page of the module. We will NOT follow the book in ActionScripting so I have made some videos explaining the sample files.
Video is MUCH more simple than print when it comes to follow the use of a complex software.

I have also put together a help site, with reference to assignments, terminology and software use. I will give you links to the different pages through the course.
http://soma.sbcc.edu/users/ajarabo

GRADING

I have portrayed as a graphic so you can see the numeral value of our weekly activities.
This also gives you an overview on the structure of the course.
The maximum personal score is what is listed here.

Weekly assignments can add up to 50 points. If you turn an assignment late (after the Sunday deadline), five points will be discounted from your total score.
The assignments will be accepted late for 2 more week. After that timeframe they will be no longer taken into account for grade.
First assignments to arrive are also the first ones to be reviewed. If you submit late it will be your job to remind me to go back and find your late assignment.

In the assignment description you will see the rubric/grading table that specifies what exactly will be graded.
Please check our comments on your assignments. The feedback is important.

Each forum (or discussion group) can give you up to 10 points.
The first modules ask specific questions, later on it will be mostly used to present common problems and possible solutions.
Answering to somebody else's post show good indications of participation, it is a great way to interact with other people, test yourself on what you already know and get a better grade!

From the eighth module on we will work producing interactive short projects. This involves working with "Action scripting".

If you are not familiar with any programming language (and I am expecting most of you to be in that case), you are going to work very hard in modules 8, 9, 10,11 and 12.
Do not give up. The technical aspect has a learning curve and it takes around a week of daily work to understand the code for how to program a button. Afterwards, you will just re-use that code from assignment to assignment. It takes quite an effort at the very beginning, since you will be using several technical-constructions at once.

We will work with timeline navigation to produce fully dynamic and interactive projects.
Please be very careful on not missing assignments at this crucial moment.
What you learn, and even what you make for those assignments will be used to create your final interactive project.
Please keep every week's assignment safe in the class folder in your computer. For reference and to be able to reuse your own material.

Finally, try to not concentrate on numbers. The final goal of the class is to help you learn, and it has been structured around that goal.
Behind your scores, through your work and participation, I can see your effort and I will try to reflect it on your final score.

Good luck to you all and may you have a constructive experience.

Alejandra