Project work tonight, Q&A and other items, as needed. Most importantly we have to work on projects and those assignments that you have not yet submitted, i.e. the slideshow, random image and day/date/time coding assignments. Which ones haven't you done yet?
Another question... where was everybody last class on the 15th. Only three people came to class???
No class. Thanksgiving recess
Tonight, some mini-tutorials on CSS and on PHP (for those working on it)
If you want to continue working with CSS, we'll do this exercise in class. It goes a little deeper into CSS, specifically the different selector types and how to create them in Dreamweaver MX. (Other versions of Dreamweaver will have similar setups.)
Speaking of CSS and Dreamweaver, here's a "instructional video" done for a Fall 2004 Web Design class which covers working in Dreamweaver with both HTML and CSS styles -- the old-fashioned and the new, preferred way to style text on a Web page.
The video runs around 12:48 and it should give you a quick review of working with styles in Dreamweaver. (Then again, it may give you a good excuse to take a nap.)
By the way, there are a few references to things discussed during that Fall 2004 class, but overall the video should still be general enough to help you.
[Added 11/15/06] Last week we worked on projects. (Where was everybody!???)
[Post class follow-up]
I have fixed the ActionScript code on the Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening Coding Assignment page and corrected some spelling mistakes on the Project Suggestions page.
A confession. I should be commenting the various code examples to explain what is being done in the code, and I will... soon... Right now, I want you to study the code and figure out what is being done yourself. If this means you have to go and look things up in a PHP, JavaScript or ActionScript reference book, so be it.
A couple of things for tonight...
First, some suggested project ideas if you're looking for something to do.
We'll go over the code for these, especially on how to enable/disable buttons and change color. (Actually it's an alpha change.)
Last time I mentioned when linked directly, a Flash movie will normally resize to fill the browser window. However, there are some times when you don't want this to happen.
The photos in the above movies are not very good quality. Take a look
So, to make sure that the movie does not playback at a larger size (where the low quality images would be more obvious), I placed the code Stage.scaleMode="noscale" in a frame action in the first frame. This way, the movie does not resize itself and plays at its original size.
Here's more on the subject from Adobe. (It's still strange linking to Adobe when talking about Flash.)
Here are some possible solutions in PHP, JavaScript and ActionScript.
Now it's your turn... See what you can do with the assignment!
Check here for some information about the ActionScript Date class.
(Also, don't forget the Random picture assignment.)
Individual project work is planned for tonight and maybe, just maybe, I'll do the CSS mini-tutorial I keep planning (and never doing.)
Also, isn't it about time we finish the random pictures / "Good morning, Good Afternoon or Good Evening" coding exercise? We'll talk about it tonight.
(Also, did you do and or finish your Flash slideshow exercise?)
Here's a follow-up to our discussion on Audio a few weeks back. (The Flash movie contained on that page is also a good example of some ActionScript coding techniques you should know. We'll take a look at the code during class.)
[Added 10/25/06] Didn't get a chance to put up an entry for Oct. 18th last week, so this entry is more of a review of what we did last class, i.e. primarily individual project work and some Dave Raggett's Introduction to CSS "introductory CSS work" for those interested in that topic
Just a few things planned for tonight's class.
Besides the coding assignment from last week, we'll take a quick look at audio, i.e. sample rate, sample resolution, etc., as a follow-up to items mentioned in a few of our first classes.
In addition, I'm planning to do a little mini-tutorial / introduction to CSS for those interested in working in that area.
Also, we'll spend about half tonight's session working on projects.
For those interested in CSS, here are a few places to visit on the Web:
The first three links should give you some basics about CSS if you're new to the subject, or help you get reacquainted if you've studied it before.
The last link is to CSS Zen Garden, which we've visited a few times in previous classes. To be honest, doing a "Zen" Web page may be beyond your ability right now, but if you want, we'll work on getting your CSS knowledge and skills up to a level where you may want to try your hand at a Zen-type page for a project.
P.S. There are a lot of pages about CSS on the Web, ranging from very basic to highly advanced. If you're new to the subject, go slowly and stick to the basics. Be careful you don't get discouraged by pages/tutorials that you don't understand now, simply because they're beyond your current skill level. You'll get there... (I did.)
In the first few classes we touched on many different things: scripting / programming, CSS, multimedia delivery systems, Firefox, audio. Here are some links to either the pages we viewed in class or to follow-up information:
A Life Revealed -- the Flash featured in class. If you want to work on Flash this semester, something similar to this would be a good project for you to do
Audio on the Web -- some very basic information on audio. (Sample rate, bit rate, etc.) We'll cover more about audio later on
Multimedia Delivery Systems -- If you're interested in doing some multimedia authoring for the Web, you should know the delivery systems that are commonly used on the Web -- Flash, QuickTime, Real, etc.
PHP Manual -- look at the Language Reference section for some ideas on how to approach a new scripting / programming language
The Audacity Tutorial presented Sept. 27 as an example "slideshow" done in PHP. When we looked at it last week, we were just looking at the logic of programming. (Remember -- no Previous button on the first "slide", no Next button on the last slide. So, the script is using "If... then" testing to determine what appears on the screen)
The Basic program we looked at on Sept. 27. Scroll down to the Classic BASIC listing
You can get Firefox here. Extensions can be downloaded here. To get the Web Developer extension featured last week, click on Top Rated on the Extensions page and search for Web Developer
CSS Zen Garden is that terrific site shown last class during the Firefox demo that demonstrates what can be done visually with CSS. If you're interested in working on CSS this semester, doing something based on this project would be a good idea
Example Flash based "slide-shows": Sight Reading Exercises, Common Page Layouts
The Random Elements page -- a Web page with various random elements done in different scripting languages (PHP, Javascript, Flash)
Multimedia Lab II
Instructor: John Meschi
E-mail: jmeschi@liu.edu
Office: 204 Fine Arts
Telephone: 516-299-2105