The Phillip Newsletter (Early 2001)
Semi-annual report to Clients, Colleagues, and Prospects of Phillip Kerman

www.teleport.com/~phillip/ phillip@teleport.com Volume 4 Issue 2

Classic 8½" x 11" format is back!

Projects: You'll find that covered in my book...____________________

Now that my book "Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 5 in 24 Hours" is finally out in the stores, you'll probably hear me mention it less and less. The 587 pages full of tutorials and discussion are actually quite advanced compared to other books in the Sams series. But with only one chapter dedicated to advanced ActionScripting the book is really pretty basic. (See: www.teleport.com/~phillip/sty_flash)
Just so that I'll have something else to talk about, I started writing "ActionScripting with Flash" (which will be out by April). Although I'm happy with the first book, this scripting book will definitely be advanced. Plus, I'm free to organize it how I want-as it doesn't follow an existing book series (like the "teach yourself" series).

Paris France (www.parisfranceinc.com) has overhauled the M3 site: www.m3snowboards.com. This time I only helped by consulting and programming one section. The resulting site is pretty cool. In London, it won FlashForward Film Festival's navigation category. The site has an entirely different feel than last year's site (which, by the way, is still available from the splash screen).

Oswego Group (www.oswegogroup.com) is still cranking out the "Product Presenters"... now with less and less help from me. It made sense to make a template which could be modified for each client. They've done just that by using the half-dozen completed projects as models. One thing I did help add was an "online update" feature which keeps the CDROMs up to date by checking for updates on their server every time the program runs.

I'm not exactly sure how I managed to get an article in the February 2001 issue of Macworld (printed just in time for their big conference in San Francisco)... but I wrote the 7-page "Flash 5 Expert Guide" that's mentioned on the cover. It's not quite a review but more of a "how you can start making Flash 5 work for you" theme. Unlike my book where I could walk the reader through increasingly difficult concepts (over hundreds of pages), this super condensed article had to be fun and easy to understand. The hardest part was deciding what to leave out of the article as I couldn't say everything.

Besides writing, presenting, and just a couple consulting programming jobs, the rest of my work involved training-and lots of it. (Naturally, all for Flash)

Whitehorse Studios (www.whitehorse.com) had me in for a couple half-days of intermediate/advanced Flash 5.

Eyescream Interactive (www.eyescream.com and purveyors of www.zthing.com) had me in for a half-day of advanced Flash 4.

Via Training (www.viatraining.com) and ID Inc (www.id-inc.com) got a large group together for a couple sessions of me trying to tell them everything about Flash 5.

I jetted down to Phoenix Arizona to do 32 hours of advanced Flash 4 training for a group of contractors at Cisco. Naturally, it was so hot that I was outside as little as possible.

Elvis and Bonaparte (www.elvisbonaparte.com) had me back to tell them what's new in Flash 5 (and, consequently, what to forget about Flash 4).

Planet Productions (www.planetproductions.com) hasn't had me in for years, but they wanted some Flash 5 training, so I could help.

The Pacific Northwest College of Art keeps filling the Flash classes, though I've decided to only teach the Advanced Scripting class. It's kind of a shame because I can't require students to purchase my first book-though I've wanted to do that ever since college (when professors did the same to me).

Perhaps the most challenging "jobs" I've had in a while are my two non-paid jobs. I walk down to a computer class at Cleveland High School to show them Flash and I mentor at the Intel Computer Clubhouse (in North Portland's Salvation Army). The clubhouse is just getting rolling, but they have some great software/equipment and a mandate to provide a positive alternative to other after-school activities. Call Ben Nunes (503) 493-3925 x17 if you want to help.

Presentations____________________

FlashForward2000 New York www.flashforward2000.com
Only minutes after Macromedia announced Flash 5 I was ready with a Flash 5 version of my "Scripting in Flash" presentation. While "working the crowd" before my session (that is, handing out newsletters) someone asked "This isn't going to cover Flash 5 is it?" What a downer. Of course!... I couldn't wait to show people the amazing power of Flash 5-and how it's actually easier to program despite its complexity. Anyway, with Joe Cartoon presenting simultaneously in the other auditorium, I was relieved to see more than 1000 people fill my room. The session and notes are available online at: www.teleport.com/~phillip/ff2k/
Coming in February: FlashForward2001 (San Francisco) www.flashforward2001.com where I'll present "Smart Clips Made Easy"

ThunderLizard's Web Design World and Web Design 2000 www.thunderlizard.com
I can't say I remember which conference was which, but I know one was in Seattle and the other in Denver. Oh, and one presentation was on Flash 4 and the other Flash 5. One thing about the Thunder Lizard conferences-they know how to put on a show. Very professional and well run. The audience seemed to be more "corporate" than some other conferences but that could just be my impression. Presentation: www.teleport.com/~phillip/wdw/

A couple local presentations with which I was involved:
Society of Technical Communicators: "Web Development Tools"
See: www.teleport.com/~phillip/stc_handout.pdf
Multimedia | Internet Developers Group: "Flash 5 Unveiled"
See: www.teleport.com/~phillip/flash5.pdf
Macromedia Daze: "Examples from Real Director Projects"
See: www.macrodaze.pdx.edu

Editorial: Usability's comeback____________________

Perhaps usability was never out of style, but it seems all of a sudden people have noticed that there are some crappy websites out there. Some of them use Flash and therefore Flash tends to make unusable sites. So goes the "logic" from such influential (and sometimes correct) people as Jacob Nielson (www.useit.com). Obviously this is a fallacy but it doesn't discount the fact that people should make their websites usable. Does this mean you must adhere to old-fogy rules instead of coming up with creative solutions? Of course not. But standards and rules of interface design should be studied so that you know when you're breaking the rules and you can justify your actions. I'm not going to break into my list of interface design tips but I find it amazing when producers who misinterpret their own interfaces during development don't take it as a sign something needs to be fixed.

For me, the best reason to make good interfaces with Flash is that bad ones reflect poorly on the technology. Attacks on Flash may be stupid, but lots of people fall for stupid arguments. Fighting it doesn't make sense. Embracing it so you can make it better, does. Take Macromedia's response to such gripes against Flash. They've been pushing Flash developers to teach themselves about design since Flash 2. Now they've launched a "usability initiative" (a PR person's words no doubt): www.macromedia.com/go/usability.Another subject (perhaps best explored in a future editorial) is accessibility. If making your sites accessible to all isn't a priority now, it will be. Macromedia has also embraced this issue, albeit mainly for future product revisions (www.macromedia.com/accessibility/). I guess my point is: don't fight fallacies with logic. Those spouting dumb ideas won't readily accept arguments that make sense. Plus, sometimes the core "dumb idea" actually has some merit.

Reviews: Yes, there's other software besides Flash____________________

Dreamweaver 4: (www.dreamweaver.com)
This is a great upgrade. While I pooh-poohed Dreamweaver 3 (and I still can't see much that was added) Dreamweaver 4 is major. The most exciting feature is the JavaScript debugger. If there's another product that does this, I've never seen it. The HTML and JavaScript syntax coloring is just icing on the cake. Probably the most usable feature is the new table-view. This allows you to draw HTML tables and move cells around in a natural and intuitive manner. Almost like how you can slice objects in Fireworks. This feature alone justifies the upgrade. Another notable improvement is the inclusion of online help extracted from O'Reilly's HTML, CSS, and JavaScript books. It's kind of annoying that you can't search, select, or copy any of the information-but it sure beats opening the books to make a quick look up.
Authorware 5.2 (www.macromedia.com/software/authorware)
This free upgrade is deceptively valuable. (I guess the fact it's free makes one expect less.) First, they've overhauled the calculation (scripting) icon to include auto-tabbing and syntax coloring like you expect from any programming tool. Second, Authorware now supports Flash 5! (What a novel idea, maybe someday Director will too!) Lastly, the new "Windows Controls" U32 gives you the ability to incorporate true Windows widgets inside Authorware. List boxes, drive selection, combo boxes, spinner buttons-you name it. If you didn't know any better you'd think these Windows controls were only available through the new Knowledge Objects they've provided. But it's certainly worth taking the time to learn how to control these by hand (explained below in "Tech Tips"). How ever you incorporate these controls, it means you can now have true Windows interface elements right inside your Authorware application.

Fireworks 4 (www.macromedia.com/software/fireworks)
The first feature I looked for upon reviewing Fireworks 4 was the ability to apply JPEG compression selectively to different parts of an image (like Photoshop 6). Yes-that feature is here. I'm sure there's more to the Fireworks upgrade, but this seems like all you need. Now, if they could just use a slider control for both the selected compression and non-selected compression (currently you have to type in the compression value). Oh, here's something that might save you some time. They've moved the marquee modification controls (feather, expand, etc.) to the Modify>Marquee menu.

Live Stage Professional (www.totallyhip.com)
I'm not sure why I haven't seen many examples of "wired sprites" in QuickTime-but it's really impressive what you can do. Live Stage (Windows) and Live Stage Professional (Mac) give you access to a complete programming language that make your QuickTime videos very interactive. Although "Totally Hip" seems to think someone would actually embed a QuickTime as a web page navigation bar... there are other amazing things you can do with QuickTime. Check out their web page (above) for a few examples-and check out the product if you're into programming (it's not exactly a good choice for novice multimedia designers but any geek would love it).

Tech Tips: The section of my newsletter that can't be called self-promotion____________________

Authorware 5.2
-To use WinCtrls.u32 (which needs to be delivered with your EXE), first load all the functions (functions window, category <filename>, "Load", point to the WinCtrls.u32 file). Then dump the entire list of controls available into a variable (like all:=wcGetControlList()). (View {all} in a display icon.) To instantiate a control use wcDisplayControl() but dump it into a variable so you can modify it later: id=wcDisplayControl(l,t,w,h,"ctrl","var") Replace l,t,w,h with values for position but use strings to replace "ctrl" (with one of the control names listed in all) and "var" (with a variable that you'll use to monitor changes). To initialize properties, first learn what properties are available allProps:=wcGetPropertyList(id) then set one using wcSetPropertyValue(id, "propName", value).Finally, if you want to respond to the user changing the control, use a conditional response (with Automatic: False to True) for the condition: var (or whatever you used in the wcDisplayControl statement). Once in the response (that is, after the condition is met) sort things out with wcGetPropertyValue(id,"propName").

Flash 5
-Smart Clips are a great new feature beyond the scope of this newsletter. However, Define Clip Parameters (in addition to letting you specify your own properties) allows you to override the initial values for built-in properties. For example, you can automatically name clip instances by establishing that the _name property is set through the clip parameters (and defaulted to any value you want). This forces a particular instance name on every instance dragged from the Library.
-If you click and drag when using the paint bucket to fill with a gradient you'll get the same control familiar to other gradient tools like Photoshop's.
-When placing a script on a button or clip instance stay in Normal Mode and press (and release) consecutively Esc-e-v. This inserts an evaluate Action (basically, a blank line). The advantage is that it also wraps your blank line inside a mouse event or clip event. Since you're in Normal mode you'll be able to quickly (and accurately) select an appropriate event-then you can go to Expert Mode if you want. This way you'll never need to remember the syntax and spelling of "on press" or "onClipEvent mouseDown".
-Since (now in Flash 5) selecting a span of frames and pressing F6 (to insert Keyframe) only inserts one keyframe at the end, learn about the menu item: Modify>Frames>Convert to Keyframes.

The Phillip Newsletter: published twice a year by Phillip Kerman with editing by Diana L. Kerman. Phillip rewrites his biography regularly. In addition he conducts training for, does programming in, and writes about Flash, Director, and Authorware.
Subscribe: Subscriptions are free for the asking! Also, if you prefer an email version just tell me.

phillip@teleport.com www.teleport.com/~phillip/ +1 (503) 236-7721

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Last update: 21 April 2001