These are the instructions for the Fifteenth Module of this course:

Modules fifteen and sixteen are the last 2 modules of the semester.
In this module We will learn how to Create a Pre-Loader for a project and how to place a project on a sever, so you can provide a link tht shows it on the web.
In the module 16 you will have to upload your Final Project to a server, so think of this as a dress rehearsal.


Your final project is the equivalent of a Final exam, and its worth 800 points when working from a server.
Check the discussion board for the final due date.
This will be at some time on the "Finals week", coinciding with the deadline for the face to face class.
If you manage to finish your work BEFORE the deadline, please send me an email communicating that you have completed your work.

Your final project is going to be delivered online, that means that you will have to export it for the web (html page included) and copy your files to the Server.
You have space in the School server, but you are welcome to use your own, just make sure that you give me a good link to it.


THIS WEEK you are going to learn how to upload your files to Google Drive, the current student-server.
This is a very important part of constructing a site:
You need to log into the server,
To have your html and swf file/files, and script-file ready,
To transfer the files to your folder of choice (we will make a NEW one) in the server.

We will also practice making a Pre-loader animation and a loading script in your flash project .
THE LOADING script holds the user at the beginning of the file, until all the file's content has been loaded in cash memory, ensuring a smooth play of the project afterwards.

We are going to be talking about PRELOADERS (the combination of a pre-loader animated screen and a pre-Loader script) as a “possible Implementation for your Final Project”.
It is not mandatory to use them but we are going to be seeing your project streaming from the server, so if you use big files, with high amounts of data loaded in one specific keyframe, you might need it in place.
This is a very interesting thing to know your future as a Flash Designer.

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WHAT IS A PRE-LOADER

Many of you might have observed that flash-sites over the Internet tend to have little animations (sometimes “Loading bar” animations) at the head of the project.
Sometimes they even have several Loading animations, as different external movies get called into the main one.
Those animations don’t help the LOADING PROCESS at all, but they call the attention of the Audience until all the elements used by the movie are ready to play.
  (Loading is the natural process of calling and putting into local cache-memory all the bits and pieces used by the Flash file:
the bitmaps, sound files, digital movies, flash vector based animations and even the text.
Every file does this naturally; it just will take more or less time depending on the size of the file being called.
it is also very important to consider how much media are you assigning to a certain frame: the whole Interface showing up on frame 1 of a project is never a good idea).		  
SIMULATING HOW A FILE PLAYS FROM A SERVER


Flash CS6 (only: the feature is not included in CC) lets you "simulate" the loading process with different bandwidth data-rates in the AUTHORING ENVIRONMENT.

You do this by requesting the simulation when you are watching your file in the FLASH PLAYER (when you test the movie, This is not the Flash program!)

In the player,
VIEW> Download settings.
Then,
VIEW> Simulating Download.

It is a good idea to keep the "Bandwidth profiler" window checked on through this process in Flash Player.
The Bandwidth profiler appears on top of your swf when checked on, and it can be activated through the same menu than the Simulating Download:

ViEW> Bandwidth profiler.

This whole Process of TESTING THE DOWNLOAD of your project and making changes, is a new step in the Production process called File-optimization.
  Designers tend to completely obliterate file-optimization, being only preoccupied with the visual result of the product.
Your goal is to have a flash movie playing as smooth as possible, and for that you cannot allow huge demands of memory for any one given frame in your movie
(several pieces of media entering on the exact same frame).

 


Complete the assignment by submitting any part of your Final project, with a pre-Loader animation and script.

The maximum score (100 points), will be assigned to 2 completed tasks:

1> Attached zip file/files with the file containing the preloader animation and script (50 points)
2>The URL of the location of your html file in the server (50 points).
If you want to upload your assignment to some other server that you work with, just give me the link to the page wherever is located.
Please make sure that the link works.

 

Post your comments, problems you think the rest of the group can share and advice ideas on the fifteenth discussion group.