Duration of the course. Fall 24: 8/26/24 to 12/13/24
Hybrid section #43927
Online section #44232

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 Animate environment to create Rich Media Applications, that can integrate animation, graphics, sound and interactivity.
Although SWFs are not used directly for web anymore, Animate is today one of the best platforms to create Timing in Animation, export Animation as an animated GIF, as a video file or to other programs(After Effects), also to prototype interactive experiences and games.
All animation can be exported to HTML5 Canvas. Adobe is slowly implementing JavaScript for coding, but for now we will still use Action Scripting 3.0 because it shows the full potential of the program and it works as an easy method to comprehend foundation coding elements, towards other type of scripting and coding languages.

Rich media 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. Adobe Animate is moving away from being the ideal platform for websites, because of the "flash player" not being supported on the I-phone and the I-pad but it is the best integrated platform 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 Adobe Animate. We will explore the possible looks and nature of vector-based graphics, practice using and organizing a linear timeline, discover frame-by-frame animation, and specific animation assistants (Tweens) that are used in all digital animation systems.

2. The free-form, dynamic and intuitive experience that the user can get from an Adobe Animate application, requires you, the author, to organize all the content so it can be accessed through 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 the navigation that makes it functional.

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, from a linear to non-linear structure). This change will open your creativity to a whole new world of possibilities and prepare you to understand this field.

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), that will integrate different types 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, watch training videos , practice with the software and deconstruct the sample file, then complete the assignment.

Please allocate 2 to 5 hours beside the strict class time, every week to work on your assignment.

Online students: the time you spend going through help pages, videos and sample files is your "strict class time". Calculate separately those 2 to 5 hours to put the assignment together.
Try to schedule 2 weekly sessions for yourself: 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 when they have more than 4 assignments due. The key to pass this class is working at a constant pace and mantaining good communication with your instructor and your tutor!
You need to become familiar with a good number of techniques and you will need time to assimilate them.

You cannot spend more than 3 days in a row without practicing and hope to learn the software in 15 weeks.

I have 2 magnificent online tutors that will hold sessions with you. They both have excellent skills and can code. Please show up for tutor meetings. They will announce them onm canvas. I will require individual students to show up to tutoring when they are not doing well with their assignments.  After week 9, as we begin to work with ActionScripting, I will give extra credit in their assignment to those students that assist the tutoring meeting, as a proof of strong interest.

Try to do your best on your weekly assignments.

Test the mechanics before on a separate project (where you reconstruct the sample file).
At this stage, come up with a creative idea that will fulfill the assignment requirements.
Work then on the assignment in a new document. Name your assignment file according to instructions. Save your progress as different documents if you have to (safer for big projects, where the file could get corrupted).

The assignments are NOT TESTS to check that you have practiced, they are creative opportunities, where you apply what you have learned and develop your personal voice. 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 Project that will be an equivalent of a Final Exam and will integrate most of the Techniques and routines learned through the course.

Since there is 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, especially if you complete and rework them towards visual Integration and a common theme for the Final project.

You will provide me with a description of your Final project by week 12, describing the creative idea, a wireframe structure or description of the parts, and how you will integrate them. This will evolve into how we perceive the Integration _visual codes_ and how you will organize your Navigation.
Thinking early about your Final project will give you time to get feed-back, find or produce the assets /media files, and to work on your assignments in the direction of your Final Project.
You will get to see previous students examples at the end of the lectures, and we will discuss interesting work in the Animation and Interactive territories.

The class will take place on Canvas. We will be working with ActionScripting 3.0 and Adobe Animate CC (the current year version).

Students will get temporary access to the Adobe Cloud software on their personal computers for the duration of the semester, meanwhile they are enrolled and active in the class. I need to verify who needs access to the software first.
See the page on week one, in your class on Canvas named "Adobe Cloud subscription **" for details on how to prepare for this.

To help you in your learning, I will give you links to specific training videos from the LinkedIN learning Library.
All SBCC students have free access to the complete Linkedin training Library.

Since the new license for LinkedIN runs through an association of Community Colleges, your status as a student has to be verified.
I will provide one of those long links on every module, The link will force you first to sign up in Pipeline (to verify) and then take you to the video inside LinkedIN.
Here you have a long LINK to a volume on Adobe Animate, you can comeback to this one if follwing a normal link does not let you see the video I linked for you. Long link HERE

If you ever encounter a screen on Linkedin that prompts you to subscribe or sign-in, remember that you can use your pipeline credentials to sign in.

MEETINGS & DEMONSTRATION SESSIONS ON ZOOM

The Hybrid section will meet this semester for lab/practice Tuesday mornings in A-171 on Campus, 10:30 to 12:50 pm. Students in the online section are welcome to come to this lab time or to the DAC-LAB in general, to work with the software and to get help.
I have recorded zoom sessions at the bottom of the content page for each week. You should check and review those software demonstrations, where I use the same sample file that you will be using.

I will hold a Zoom session once a week on Thursday afternoons: I will give an overview of the week's content and help students with their assignment. It will Take place at 3pm and it will last for aprox. AN hour and a half. I will decide if it needs to get recorded.

ADOBE SOFTWARE

The students in this class will get a temporal subscription to the Adobe Cloud, associated to your pipeline email, meanwhile you are taking this class. It takes around a week and a half or two weeks for the process to be completed. There is a page on Cavas explaining how to proceed.

I will send you an email asking who already has an Adobe Subscription, so we don't risk the problems of having 2 subscriptions at the same time.

DO YOU LIKE TO HAVE A BOOK FOR CONSULTATION?

If you work better with a book than with training videos, you could get any recent version of "Adobe Animate, classrom in a book".
This will only help you for the first 8 weeks, meanwhile we are learning animation tools with this software. From week 8 on, I will have my own training videos and sample files, where I will deconstruct the sample file for you. We will NOT follow the coding lessons in the book.

Adobe Animate, Classroom in a book, 2024. By Russel Chun.
Adobe Press, 2024. ISBN-13: 978-0138317713, ISBN-10: 0138317712

Adobe Animate, Classroom in a book, 2023. By Russel Chun.
Adobe Press, 2022. ISBN-13: 978-0137982424, ISBN-10: 0137982429

Adobe Animate, Classroom in a book. By Russel Chun.
Adobe Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 978-0136449331.

Adobe Animate, Classroom in a book. By Russel Chun.
Adobe Press, 2019. ISBN-9780135298886.

Books for older versions of the software work fine to learn the drawing and animating tools and they will be cheaper. Try Amazon. Example:
Adobe Animate, Classroom in a book.
Adobe Press, 20017. ISBN-13: 978-0134665238 ISBN-10: 0134665236

On each content page, on Canvas, I will be giving you links to specific videos @ linkedin.com every week. You can also search for other videos or features on the Linkedin library, once you land there, by using the search field above.

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), 1 to 5 points will be discounted from your total score (depending how late it gets turned in).
The assignments will be accepted late for one more week. After that timeframe they will be no longer taken into account for grade (please contact me if that happens, depending on the situation I could give you an extension).
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 my comments in your assignments. I always comment in the assignment's rubric. This feedback is important for your progress.

Each forum/discussion group can give you up to 10 points.
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 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. Please communicate with me and the tutor about your problems and show up in tutor Zoom meetings. I will send you an email if I require that you meet with the tutor for an specific assignment.

Please do not give up. The technical aspect has a learning curve and it takes around a week of DAILY work to understand the code to program a button (week 9).
After that, you will just re-use that code from assignment to assignment with small variations. It takes quite an effort at the very beginning, since you will be using several technical-constructions at once.
Please be very careful on not missing assignments at this crucial moment.

Keep every week's assignment safe in a folder dedicated to the class, in your computer . Find out how to use Google drive and keep a copy of your class folder in there, with all your final files for each assignment.
Do this for reference and to be able to reuse the class and 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