User:Kjarmul
From AUFlashWiki
- Name: Katharine Jarmul
* Meaning of your name: Named after Katharine Hepburn * Department: Masters in Journalism * Your experience with computer graphics, programming and/or animation: Confident in Photoshop, Dreamweaver, XHTML, CSS; Alright in InDesign, PHP * What do you hope to accomplish with this class? I want to be able to create news-based flash interactives. * Hometown: LA, NYC, Dallas, TX. * Favorite music: Hip hop, reggae, some independent rock * Hobbies and things you like to do outside of school: Photography, travel, fashion critique * Educational or Social issue(s) you are passionate about: youth, juvenile justice, literacy, urban education
| Date | Activity | Time Spent |
|---|---|---|
| 01.15.08 | I Created a Wiki profile and read the Introduction Topic. | 15 min |
| 01.15.08 | I added a new flash file based on what we learned in class. | 30 min |
| 01.21.08 | I updated my profile with a description of my dream project. | 80 min |
| 01.28.08 | I updated my profile with my graphics. | 80 min |
| 02.03.08 | I updated my profile with my interface. | 80 min |
| 02.11.08 | I updated my profile with my buttons. | 80 min |
| 02.18.08 | I updated my profile with my animated graphics. | 80 min |
| 02.25.08 | I updated my profile with my final project. | 210 min |
| 03.19.08 | I updated my profile with my immigration flash project. | 300 min |
| 04.01.08 | I updated my profile with my project description. | 90 min |
| 04.08.08 | I updated my profile with my updated project. | 200 min |
| 05.05.08 | I updated my profile with my final game. | 600 min |
Contents |
Final Game
Media:KJarmul_finalgame.flaObjectives
- Allow users to create an interactive representative based on myriad issues of import.
- Create a political profile based on user's submissions of political platform issues.
- Second Chapter: Correlate political affiliation (finalscore variable) with fundraising choices -- although I was unable to complete this for this presentation due to time limitations and troubleshooting, I feel capable of moving forward this thanks to all the coding I've learned.
Challenges
- I had a hard time originally positioning my dragger bar and the circle the user drags. It took a lot of trial and error (hence the post in the Sandbox, to try and help others).
- Another thing I had difficulty with in the beginning is trying to think of how to NOT update a score if the user canceled the interface or if they changed their mind a bunch of times while the interface was open (because I was recording the X location every time they 'dropped' the dragger). So, I created a tempscore that I could flush every time they decided to change the position of the dragger or cancel the score.
- I decided to use dynamic text after it became evident that making 8 boxes was not feasible, but I did create individualized commands for each to help bring up the text.
- I had some text length issues in my first couple of trials, but I expanded the boxes and it was fine.
- I originally had a hard time figuring out how to calculate a final score, until I developed a "choices" variable that watched how many times the person made choices. It is foolproof, since it counts the choice even if the person clicks on the same issue twice--although I can't say this would provide the most accurate results.
- I thought I would show the choice in a different color or make a true/false variable that turned buttons on and off to show users that they have already selected that choice, but after showing it to a couple of friends, one said, "Why don't you just put a check next to it?" Brilliant! User testing does work!
Proof of Concept
Media:KJarmul_flashproject_platform.flaProject Development
Design Document: Media:Kjarmul-projectdesign.doc
Katherine, very good design document. For some reason the link doesn't work. It maybe the dash in the file name. Anyway, you covered all the bases, but you could use a little more detail about interface buttons and graphics. Also, the intelligence behind this game will be a key component so you want to start describing how that will work as well as provide screen shots of your paper prototype. Feel free to add it, and any other comments to your wiki. You're on the right track.-Brian
Hey I just wanted to know how you worked your slider and what different things happen should you select different spots on the line. -Kyle
FINAL PROJECT:
Media:KJarmul-flashproject.flaOther Work
Immigration Package Interactive for http://www.americanobserver.net.
Media:Jarmul_immigration.flaMedia:kjarmul-dreamproject.fla
- Katharine, your interaction idea could help people learn about politics. You are right, it sounds like a large project and you would probably need several people or a lot of your time. Picking a piece of it for this class is a good plan.
- The layout of your description was clear and readable, but the filters you were experimenting with seem to have corrupted the layout. Using special effects can sometime be more trouble than they're worth. Also, I wouldn't use too much animation when you want people to read. Too distracting.
- Also, please upload and include a link to your .fla file with each swf so we can all see how you did it. -Brian
Katherine, a fascinating sounding project, but as you said is way too large for a semester project. For the Intro to Flash class I'd narrow it down to maybe the first 4 or 5 items in your Interactions list. Then as we continue into the second half you may want to think about the logic of the game engine. How will a winner or loser be determined? Also, you need to estimate time to complete the tasks as well as you can. -Brian Media:KJarmul-george.fla
Katherine, I love this animation of George! It's really funny. I think that it would be great if you could attach some sort of audio clip to it to make him speak at some point as the numbers go up or down.KD Media:KJarmul-elephant.fla Media:KJarmul-donkey.fla
