TC 310 The Computer in Technical Communication Dr. Jennifer Turns Week 9, Day 1 (6/2)

Looking back / Looking forward Day Emphasis Monday Definition, examples, analysis Wednesday Audience analysis, more examples Holiday Preliminary designs, formative eval Flash / Learning Portfolio /Course eval Open House, Due date!

Day 19 By the end of class, students should be able to: What we’ll do… Answer questions about professional portfolio Begin assignment 10 (learning portfolio) with confidence Use Flash to create simple animations What we’ll do… Revisit professional portfolio Discuss learning portfolio assignment PLAY with FLASH Complete course evaluations

Taking Stock of Learning Use Software Tools. Use modern software tools to accomplish common TC activities including presentation management, word processing, graphics design, diagram design, page layout, web development, online help development, and animation. Learn New Software Tools. Use skills developed throughout the course (particularly an understanding of tool functionality and strategies to get oriented in a new software program) to quickly come up to speed on new software tools. Identify Effective TC Solutions. Identify criteria for judging the effectiveness of TC solutions (e.g., document, diagram, etc.) and use these criteria to evaluate TC solutions. Describe Personal Design Processes. Describe and use design processes that lead to effective solutions for a wide range of TC professional activities. Create Effective TC Solutions. Create effective TC solutions by using the software skills learned in the course as well as the knowledge of what makes TC solutions effective and a personal awareness of design process issues.

Taking Stock of Learning Publish Publish your “submission portfolio” in E-portfolio. Explore Explore your own submission portfolio Explore the submission portfolios of others Brainstorm What progress relative to the course learning objectives?

Taking Stock of Learning Learning Portfolio - Key Requirements Develop in E-portfolio Six pages – one devoted to each learning objective, and one wildcard page Each page has attached artifacts and approximately 300 words The portfolio has overview text

Computer Animation - Warmup The process of computer animation shares much in common with the manual animation process. How does the manual animation process work? What do you expect to find in a tool for computer animation? Manual animation Cells Backgrounds and foregrounds Cycling through cells Continuous What are some things that computer animation could do for you that may be difficult with more manual animation? Manipulating more layers Interpolating behavior between cells – rather than having to hand create each of the between images Permitting jumping back and forth in sequence of events – rather than linear, could indicate that someone could replay a part of the animation. Interactivity – permitting user/audience to control the playback of the animation. Expect to find Something akin to cells – frames Layers Play back

Flash Tutorials (within Flash) Lessons 1 – Overview 2 – Drawing 3 – Symbols 4 – Layers 5 – Type 6 – Button 7 – Sounds 8 – Animation Flash for Director users Photoshop and Fireworks Users Freehand and Illustrator Users Compare this with other tools we have used: What similarities? What unique features?

Flash Tutorials (within Flash) Lessons 1 – Overview 2 – Drawing 3 – Symbols 4 – Layers 5 – Type 6 – Button 7 – Sounds 8 – Animation Flash for Director users Photoshop and Fireworks Users Freehand and Illustrator Users PLAN: Today: Focus on these tutorials Thursday: Other tutorials

Lesson 1 - Basics Topics Toolbar Screen Timeline “Assets” area Panels Application Create a new flash file, in preparation for play…

Lesson 2 - Drawing Application Topics Lines, rectangles, ovals Stroke and fill Modifiers Pencil tool Paint, fill, bucket, gradient Line properties Erasing Selecting – lasso, polygon Reshaping Scaling, rotating, transforming Application Using a combination of drawing tools (and imported images), create a background for an animation.

Layer 8 – Animation & Tweens Topics Running the animation Keyframes Tweens Motion Size Rotation Motion along a path Color Shape Application Use a layer other than your background layer to create an animated sequence. Play your animated sequence. Note: The online help discussion of animation provides another entry point for understanding animation, keyframes, and tweens.

Flash – Design Challenge Create a playful “demo” using Flash. Be prepared to share your creation.

Looking back / Looking forward Day Emphasis Monday Definition, examples, analysis Wednesday Audience analysis, more examples Holiday Preliminary designs, formative eval Flash / Learning Portfolio /Course eval Open House, Due date!