Coding Drag and drop puzzle

The development work that I have covered during the lesson:

During this lesson I started and finished coding my drag and drop puzzle into my front end. To do this I had to open a pre-coded document, i then had to edit the design of the puzzle so that it would relate to my topic and that i could have my own images in the front end. To do this I had to delete the images that were previously stored in the flash project, i then had to replace the image with my own image. Before I did this I had to import a picture that i wanted to use in my puzzle into Photoshop, i did this so that i could then separate the image into 4 separate sections, i then had to save each of these images as a separate file. I then had to open up the flash project again and then import the indivudal files into the flash libary, i then dragged the images into a section the same size as the images, however i had to jumble the order of the images so that the user could then arrange them in the right order to complete the puzzle.I then tested the puzzle to see if it worked correctly, I then had to save this document in the same folder as the rest of my flash work. I then had to go into my front end document and then insert a declaration that was coded in the pre-coded document. I had to modify the declaration so that I when i clicked on the 'Puzzle' button on the extras section the 'drag and drop puzzle' would then load. I then had to enter a declaration and a subroutine piece of code, this is where I entered the SWF. name of the quiz into the speech marks of the code. I then tested to see if the puzzle loaded properly and everything worked fine which it did.

The small piece of code below is the declaration piece of code. This piece of code is telling the program that from screen3, when the puzzle button ( or btnpuzzle) is clicked, the program should load the Drag and drop puzzle.

frmScreen3.btnpuzzle.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, opendd);

The second piece of code shown below is the subroutine that i entered into my flash project. This piece of code is asking the program to run an event, the event it is asking it to run is to open the drag and drop file 'opendd(evt:Event). The next line of code is then asking the program to locate the file that is trying to be opened, in this case this is the ("dd.swf"); the swf that the file is trying to open is the puzzle that i have created in a separate flash project and is trying to link the two projects together so that when thePuzzle button is pressed the Puzzle is then loaded on the front end flash project. )

function opendd(evt:Event)
{
//channel.stop();

var urlReq:URLRequest = new URLRequest("dd.swf");
var myLoader:Loader = new Loader();

myLoader.x = 120 ; myLoader.y= 60 ;
myLoader.load(urlReq); // passed to the ldr
try { removeChildAt(4); }

}
How this met the client brief:

This met the client brief as the client brief states that I must have interactive features in my front end such as a quiz. By adding the quiz to my front end I have met some of the client brief. requirements as i have added an interactive feature being the quiz.

Skill Number: 19

Coding Web links

The development work that i have covered during the lesson:

During this lesson i have coded all of my web links into my front end. To do this i had to create two buttons for each individual web link. I then had to open up my code layer on my front end and then enter the declaration piece of code. I then had to insert the subroutine for each weblink and had to make sure that all of the instance names where entered correctly.

How this met the client brief:

This met the client brief in many ways. Firstly, the client brief states that the front end must have interactive features such as weblinks. By adding weblinks to my front end i have met this requirement.

Skill Number:

20

Coding my quiz into Flash

The development work that I have covered during the lesson:
During this lesson I started and finished coding my quiz in flash. To do this I had to open a pre-coded document, i then had to edit the code so that the quiz would display my questions and my answers. To do this I had to delete the text that was stored in the speech marks, i then had to replace this text with my questions and answers. I then tested the quiz to see if it worked correctly, I then had to save this document in the same folder as the rest of my flash work. I then had to go into my front end document and then insert a declaration that was coded in the pre-coded document. I had to modify the declaration so that I when i clicked on the 'Quiz' button on the extras section the quiz would then load. I then had to enter a function and event piece of code, this is where I entered the SWF. name of the quiz into the speech marks of the code. I then tested to see if the quiz loaded properly and everything worked fine which it did.

The small piece of code below is the declaration piece of code. This piece of code is telling the program that from screen3, when the quiz button ( or btnquiz) is clicked, the program should load the Quiz..

frmScreen3.btnquiz.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,openQuiz);

The second piece of code shown below is the subroutine that i entered into my flash project. This piece of code is asking the program to run an event, the event it is asking it to run is to open the quiz file 'openQuiz(evt:Event). The next line of code is then asking the program to locate the file that is trying to be opened, in this case this is the ("Quiz.swf"); the swf that the file is trying to open is the quiz that i have created in a separate flash project and is trying to link he two projects together so that when the Quiz button is pressed the Quiz is then loaded on the front end flash project.

function openQuiz(evt:Event)

{

var urlReq:URLRequest=newURLRequest("Quiz.swf");

var myLoader:Loader = newLoader ();

myLoader.x=120; myLoader.y=60;

try{ removeChildAt(4);}

catch(e:Error){}

addChild(myLoader);

}

How this met the client brief:
This met the client brief as the client brief states that I must have interactive features in my front end such as a quiz. By adding the quiz to my front end I have met some of the client brief. requirements as i have added an interactive feature being the quiz.

Skill Number:
19

Coding Films into Flash

The development work I have covered during lesson:

During this lesson I coded my films into flash. To do this I opened a pre-coded document that had the majority of the code that i needed to make my films load in my front end. I opened the pre-coded document and I then copied sections of the code into my front end. The sections that I copied were the declaration and the function and event code. After I copied the code into my front end I had to check the names of my SWF film files, I then copied the name of the files into the brackets in the code and changed some areas of the declaration so that it would work with my buttons and forms. I then tested my front end to see if the videos loaded when each individual button was clicked.

This is the code that i had to enter into my Flash porject so that when the button was clicked the file files would load. The code below is asking the program to run a process, when btnscene1 is clicked on Screen2, it is asking the program to open the scene 1 swf file. The next piece of code is asking the program to locate and open the video file what is wanting to be loaded, this is displayed in the brackets and speech marks, the file itself has to be located in the same place as where the flash project is saved.

frmScreen2.btnscene1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, openscene1);

function openscene1(evt:Event)

{ //channel.stop();

var urlReq:URLRequest = new URLRequest("scene1.swf");

var myLoader:Loader = new Loader();

myLoader.x = 120 ; myLoader.y= 60 ; myLoader.load(urlReq);

// passed to the ldr
try { removeChildAt(4); } //One bigger than the number of forms, starts from 0 catch (e:Error) { }
addChild(myLoader); // display object container}

How this fitted in with the client brief:

This fitted in with the client brief because the client breif stated that my front end must have at least 4 scenes included. By importing the idividual files into the Flash project i was able to meet this requirement.

Skill Number:

18

Building my front end

The development work that I have covered during lesson:
This lesson I had to start building my actual front end. To do this, I had to open a blank document in Flash, I then had to create 4 layers, each layer designed for a different screen, IE scene selection or extras. I then had to create 4 basic square shapes each on the separate layers, this is because if I didn't create the shapes on separate layers if i try to move a shape it will move every shape on the screen. I then had to change the instance names of the forms so that i could then code these forms. Once I had made these shapes, I then had to import any images that I wanted to use in the front end in into the library, i then dragged each of the images that i wanted to use onto the correct layer. I then had to insert the buttons that I wanted to use on the screens, to do this I had to click on the window tool at the top of the page, and then scroll down to the common library section, I then clicked on 'buttons' this brought up several categories of buttons that were available for me to use. Once I had inserted the buttons onto the correct forms i then had to code these buttons, I did this so that I could then start to link up the buttons on each form so that I could load each form from another form such as 'scene selection' to 'options'. I then had to change the instance names of my buttons, this is because to start coding the buttons each button must have its own instance name, for example btnToScreen2.

The code shown below is the code that i had to enter into my code layer so that i could start to link buttons and screens together. Firstly, i had to make sure that all of the instance names of the buttons on screen 1 was correct, for example btnToScreen3 (screen3 is the 'Extras' screen). This line of code that is displayed below is the declaration. The line of code itself is telling the program that from screen 1, when the button is clicked, it will take the user to either screen 2,3 or 4.

frmScreen1.btnToScreen2.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, openScreen2From1);

funcion openScreen2from1(evt:Event)

{

if (frmScreen1.visible==true)

{

frmScreen1.visible = false;frmScreen2.visible=true

frmScreen2.x=1

frmScreen2.y=1

}

}

The piece of code above is the subroutine piece of code. This piece of code is asking the program to perform an action, the code is asking the program to load Screen 2 from Screen 1 when the button is pressed. The piece of code also tells the program what dimensions to load the screen at when the screen is loaded.

How this met the client brief:

This met the client brief because the client brief states that my front end must be interactive, by adding buttons to my screens the user can switch between the screens making the front end more interactive.

Skill Number:

14, 15, 16 and 17

Converting FLV’s to SWF’s

The Development work that I have covered during lesson:

This lesson I converted my FLV's to SWF files, I found this to be a very easy process. To do this I had to reopen the files that I created in Windows Movie Maker. I then had to click file, then publish, this then saved a the file as a separate file that was formatted as a SWF. I converted my films to SWF format because when I am ready to link my buttons to the videos that I want the buttons to load I will already have the files ready to use.

How this met the client brief:

This met the client brief because it states that my front end must have buttons linked to videos on it. By adding buttons that load the films on separate screens makes the front end look much more professional and makes the navigation of the front end much simpler.

Skill Number:

13

Importing FLV's to Flash

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:
This lesson I imported my FLV. files into Adobe Flash. To do this I had to open up Adobe Flash, I then had to select 'Create New' and then select 'Flash File (ActionScript 3.0). This then brought up a new empty file. i then clicked on file, then import, then import to library. This then brought up an option asking me to select a file that I wanted to import into Flash, I then opened up the folder that i had stored all of my film files in and then selected them one by one. This then brought each of the film files up in the library.
How this met the Client Brief:
This met the client brief because the brief states that I must build a front end for my film that includes scenes, outtakes and subtitles. by uploading these files i have met the client brief as i have film files that are the scenes, outtakes and subtitles of the film.
Skill Number:

12

Converting WMV to FLV

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:

This lesson I had to convert my finished film that was saved as a WMV. file, to a FLV. file, this is because by converting the film to FLV. I could then import my video files into Adobe Flash. To convert my video files I had to open Adobe Media Encoder CS4. After the program had loaded i had to click on the 'Add' button on the top left of the program. This then brought up a screen that asked me to locate the file that I wanted to convert. After I had selected the file that I wanted to convert, I then had to chose what format that I wanted to convert the film files to, which was FLV. This then added all of the film files to a queue ready for conversion, I then had to click 'Start Queue' this then started the conversion of the files. I then had to wait approximately 1 minute per files to be converted. This was the final step in the conversion of the WMV. to FLV. process.

How this met the Client Brief:

This met the client brief because it says that i must use Adobe Flash to produce my front end, and by converting these files to the correct format that Adobe Flash can open I can now start to produce my front end on Adobe Flash.
Skill Number:

11

Saving film in correct format

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:

This lesson I completed my fully edited film, I then had to save my film. I had to make sure that i saved my film in the correct format so that I could then convert my films in Adobe Media Encoder. To save my film in the correct format I had to click on file, then save as a WMV. file. This is because if I saved my film in a different format Adobe Media Encoder would not be able to convert my film files. I then had to chose which folder i wanted to save my film in, I created a special folder in the Student Shared drive so that I could save all of my film files in the same location.
How this met the Client Brief:

This met the client brief because it says that I have to produce my film in Adobe Flash, by saving my files in this correct format it allows me to convert my film in Adobe Media Encoder so that I could then import the files into Adobe Flash.
Skill Number:

10

Special Effects

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:

This lesson I added special effects to my film using Windows Movie Maker. To do this I had to click on the left side of the page, and then i had to click on the add special effects option. This then brought down a drop down box, I then clicked on the 'Add Transitions' option, this then brought up a different screen, this screen gave me the option to select what transition that i wanted to use between each scene. Once i had chosen what transition I wanted I then clicked complete. After i clicked complete the screen closed and the it took me back to where I edited my film. In the centre of the screen was the transition that I chose previously. I then had to click on the story board at the bottom of the page, this showed the film clips and then separating these clips was a small box. I then clicked on this small box and then i dragged the transition into the box, this then added the transition between two scenes that I wanted to separate.
How this met the Client Brief:

This met the client brief because in the client brief i stated that I was going to produce a fully edited film and addind transitions into a film is part of the editing process.
Skill Number:

9

Adding Open/Close Credits

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:

This lesson I had to add Opening and Closing credits to my film. I did this because i thought it would make the film flow more than if I just started the film straight away and then ended it sharply. To add the Opening/Closing credits I had to click on the left side of Windows Movie Maker on the option that said 'Edit' after clicking this 5 drop downs appeared, one of these drop downs was the option to add Open/Close credits to the film. I then clicked on this option, this then brought up a screen asking me to input the text that I wanted to be displayed on the Opening/Closing credits, I then had the option to change the font style, the font colour and the font size. I then had to click the 'Complete' button at the bottom of the page, this then added the Opening credits to the beginning of the film and the closing credits to the end of the film.

How this met the Client Brief:

This met the client brief because the brief states that I must include a opening and closing credits section to my film, this step has ensured that i have met a part of the client brief criteria.

Skill Number:
7

Adding Subtitles

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:

During this lesson I had to add subtitles to my film. I decided that to make my film more professional and to meet the client brief I would produce subtitles for my short film. I have done this because I feel that it will make my short film more accessible to people who may have hearing difficulties, this is because it will allow them to enjoy the film as a person you had good hearing would. My short film has quite a lot of speech in it, this meant that i had to add lots of subtitles to my film.
To add subtitles to my film I had to create I had to save a second copy of my completed film as Movie with Subtitles, this is because it would allow the user to view the film with or without subtitles. To add the subtitles to the film, I had to click on the scene that I wanted to add subtitles to, and then click on 'Make Titles or Credits', this then gave me the option to add a title at the beginning of the movie, at the end of the movie and on a selected clip etc. I chose to add a title on the selected clip. I then had to type in what i wanted to be displayed at the bottom of each seen, so in this instance it would be the characters speech. I then had to change the title animation, this is because currently the text was not being displayed. I changed the title animation to 'Subtitle' which allows the text to overlay the background so that the text can be viewed. This skill that I have learnt fits in with the client brief as I have made a subtitled or a directer commentary version of the film. I therefore will have to make an area on the front end of my film where the user can select to play the film with subtitles and this is a key feature to the film.

How this met the Client Brief:

This met the client brief because the client brief says that i must include either Subtitles or Directors Commentary to my film. This is because by adding subtitles to my film it will make the film more accessible to people who may have a hearing impediment.

Skill Number:

8

Splitting Scenes

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:

This lesson I had to split the scenes that I had imported into Windows Movie Maker. I did this so that I could make my film flow well and have a logical order I had to split and edit each of the scenes to produce a final film. After I had imported my movie clips I had to decide where I wanted the film to start and end because there was some parts on the clips that I did not want and need.
To edit the scenes I had to first import all of the movie clips into Movie Maker, I then had to go to the show timeline option, this then showed me the film in a different way which enabled me section where I wanted the clip to start and finish, or any parts in the middle of the clips that I did not need anymore. After I had cropped the scenes I could then add things such as transitions where the scenes would fade in and out, this made my film look much more professional and added more of a story line to the film.
This allowed me to make my film much more flowing and allowed me to start bringing my film together as a whole. This activity fits in with the client brief as it allowed to cut out unnecessary sections of the clips that i have filmed. This process also made me stick to the 3 minute maximum time limit on the film.

How this met the Client Brief:

This met the client brief because it states that I must ensure that my film does not run over 3 minutes and that the film must have 4 or more scenes to it. By using Windows Movie Maker i can split scenes in half so that i can create extra scenes and make sure that the film has more than 4 scenes.

Skill Number:

6

Importing film into Windows Movie Maker

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:

This lesson I had to import my video files into Windows Movie Maker so that I could start to edit my film. To do this I had to open windows movie maker, I then had to click on file, then import files. I then had to find the folder than I wanted to import the files from. I then had to select the files that I wanted to import into Windows Movie Maker. After i had selected what files i wanted to import into Movie maker, they then appeared at the top of Movie Maker in a type of library, i then had to drag the files into the timeline at the bottom of the page.

How this met the Client Brief:

This met the client brief because it states that i must use either Adobe Premier Pro or Windows Movie Maker to edit my film. Also, it also says that my film must be at least 1 minute 30 and a maximum of 3 minutes, by importing the files into Movie Maker i can edit the film to make sure that it is no more than 3 minutes long.

Skill Number:

5

Converting WMV files to FLV/F4V

To make my film files the correct format so that I could put my files into Flash I had to convert the files from WMV to FLV/F4V using Adobe Media Encoder CS4. This was a very good piece of software to use to convert the files as it is very easy to use and navigate.
To start the process of converting I had to open up Adobe Converter, I then had to locate the files that I wanted to convert. I then had to import the files from the folder inot the converter. I then had to select which new format I wanted the files to be converted to, which was FLV/F4V. I then had to select 'Start Queue' which started the process of converting, i then had to wait several minutes for it to convert and then the process was over.

Converting FIles from .MOD to .AVI

The Development work I have covered during the lesson:

This lesson I had to convert the files that I had uploaded from the camera to the pc. I had to convert these files because the format of the files was MOD, this is the standard format the files from the camera are produced in. Whilst the file format was .MOD I could not import the files into movie maker as the program did not run .MOD files and only runs .AVI files. This meant that I had to use CS4 Adobe Media Encoder, this program allowed me to convert my files from the .MOD format to .AVI. I found the process of converting the files extremely easy, this is because the program is extremely easy to use as all of the options are easy to find and use.

How this met the Client Brief:

This met the client brief because now that I have converted my files to the correct format I can make a start on producing the actual film using Windows Movie Maker.

Skill Number:

4

Transferring footage from camera to PC

The Development work that I covered during the lesson:

During this lesson I uploaded my film from the camera onto the Computer. The downloading of the film was actually a very quick process. I found this part of the task extremely easy, this is because it only involved plugging a USB into the camera and computer and then finding the folder the film was stored in and then dragging and dropping the files wanted into another named folder on my H Drive. In total there was 7 files that i had to transfer from the recording device onto the computer.

However, during this process I did encounter a few problems. Firstly, when accessing the files stored on the camera, there was already multiple files stored on the camera because it had been used previously by other students, this made it very difficult for me to locate where my film was stored. Also whilst uploading my film I encountered a problem with storing my work onto the computer, this is because my H Drive only has a limited amount of space which was already nearly full up, which meant that i had problems uploading the files because they were large files, this meant that I had to delete some files stored on the computer in order to provide space for the new files.

How this development fitted in with the Client Brief:

This development fitted in with the client brief very well, this is because the client brief stated that I had to produce at least 4 scenes which were atleast 10 seconds long, each of the scenes that I filmed were way over 10 seconds long which meant I had met a requirement in the client brief.

Skill Number:

3

Filming

The Development work I have covered during the lesson

During this lesson I started and finished the product of the film. I found the actual filming very hard to produce, this is because I have never used a camera to make a film before this task, this made it difficult for me to use all of the correct camera angles and to make the hand held camera shots steady and not jumpy and blurry. I had problems starting my film because the actors that i planned to use in the film were absent from college on separate days which made it hard to get the whole group together. During the lesson I also learnt how to use the zoom button on the camera, this allowed me to get a much better view of objects on my camera, such as the E Block sign at the beginning of the film.

How did it fit in with the Client Brief

The film that I produced fits in with the client brief very well. This is because each of the scenes in the film were at least 10 seconds long, which is a requirement in the client brief. Also in my film there was more than 4 scenes, which was also a requirement in the client brief.
I encountered many problems whilst filming. Firstly, I found it very hard to separate each of the scenes in my film whilst filming, this is because each of my scenes flowed into each other which made it appear like there was only a couple of scenes in the film, however it is actually made up of several scenes just they flow into each other.

Skill Number:

1 and 2