Flash presentation . . . suggestions?

[lunatic]

Hey all,

Just found out that at the end of November I have to give a presentation/workshop on how to integrate Flash into a website. I will be speaking at a conference for federal govt employees that do web stuff for their office. Other topics at the conference include an Intro to ColdFusion, Intro to JavaScript, Intermediate Fireworks, Creating Library Items in Dreamweaver, Managing Image Libraries, blah blah blah.

I have no idea what the level of flash experience will be. I imagine I'll get the whole gambit from those who have played with it to those who have never opened the program. I have 2.5 hours to give a run down on flash, why its useful and should even be considered (we're trying to promote the program as more than just a glitzy cutesy widget you can add), AND they would prefer if I could teach them to create something USEFUL they can take home and add to their website. :sigh:

So I am pleading with you all, my brilliant kirupian brothers and sisters, for some suggestions on what I can demo in such a short period of time that is USEFUL and interesting to govt employees for a govt website.

Right now I'm tentatively thinking an animated org chart might do it. Fed sites require an org chart and usually they are very boring. Use a bunch of rollovers to highlight and connect (appear on rollover) offices and branches and maybe have a dynamic text box describing what each branch does, maybe some animated arrows for flow.

Bah, I'm all ears for other suggestions! :ear:

[Digitalosophy]

2.5 hours is a lot of time to yap about Flash, but of course since, there are so many things you can do with Flash it's really not.

I'd prolly try to hit all apsects of Flash, from motion tweens to RIA's. Talk about Flash is being used to generate and pass data to other languages etc.

Maybe show some cool sites too. I wouldn't worry about them being Flash guru's or anything. In my experience people who I meet in real life don't know a thing about Flash, when they say they do.

Good luck!

[lunatic]

Thanks digital!

Uh . . . what's an RIA? :blush:

I will only be talking about flash for maybe a half hour. They want me to actually come up with an exercise the class can do where they actually make something to take home. That's the hard part. ;)

[Digitalosophy]

Thanks digital!

Uh . . . what's an RIA? :blush:

I will only be talking about flash for maybe a half hour. They want me to actually come up with an exercise the class can do where they actually make something to take home. That's the hard part. ;)

RIA - Rich Intenet Application's:
http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/flash/rich_internet_apps.html

To be honest I'd say why not teach them the something similar to the Kirupa Full Site tutorial? Although that may to difficult depending on what they know (if anything).

Otherwise I'd say maybe have them make some dropdown menu's, maybe introduce a mini mp3 player(basic), or hmm I can't think right now :lol:

[grimdeath]

As for an excersize lun i suggest you teach them how to make a graphic and then just show them how to make tweens once they see how simeple it is to make things move in flash theyll want to find out more, just make sure you say for all the help you need you can always go to www.kirupa.com ;)

Seriously though once you teach them how to make tweens theyll just want to have a crack at the program it worked for me lol :crazy:

[lunatic]

lol, I'm planning on wearing my kirupa t-shirt while teaching ;)

thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely have a handout with some links and the full site tutorial will be at the top of the list.

mp3 player! :lol: but hey, maybe a random image generator would be good. The ones I've seen on the web are javascript and coldfusion and I think flash would be easier (javascript scares me). :D

[lunatic]

Thanks Adam! :thumb:

The drop down idea is cool but I think they are less interested in a full flash site and more interested in having a flash component added to the site - so a tween would be good. But a menu system would probably be built in Fireworks/Dreamweaver :(

Still, I'll include that in the "what's possible with flash" part of the talk. :)

[wizard]

"But Ms. Lunatic, Ms. Lunatic I don't understand!!!"

I'd go with some hardcore ActionScript effects... you know, stuff that has no real use but is fun to look at. <---- This of course is not something you would teach them but something you could have them look at as one of Flash's capabilities.


Anyway, I like the Motion Tweens idea and maye even some Shape Tweens.

Good luck to you.

[lunatic]

Yeah, maybe what I should do is spend 2.5 hours browsing through 'Kool Sites' and 'Site of the Week' and then as an assignment we can critique some of the sites in 'Showcase & Critique'. :P

Thanks Wiz! ;)

[Laslett]

Start with the basics as an overview

You could give a little history of Flash
Why Flash as opposed to animated gifs java etc
The basics of flash i.e. tweens vector concept (scaleability)
move on to basic actions stop() play()
the whole wow factor and rich internet apps
then launch into the interactivity aspect of it
using actionscript over tweening
then if you want to fry some brains do some data driven stuff

[lunatic]

then if you want to fry some brains do some data driven stuff


HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA! Oh Laslett you sweet thing you. :love: I guess you've never seen my work. :lol:

Everything else sounds like a dang good outline :thumb:

Keep 'em coming folks! =)

[kirupa]

During intermissions, you can show them the other cool stuff Flash can do like using onEnterFrame to continuously open new windows. If the audience is really getting tired, you can show them the animation of the cute seal that is mumbling, and after you turn the volume up....BLAM!!!!....one of those loud scream noises followed by a freaky picture.

I'm not really helping with this post, but I think others covered it nicely :)

[Ordinathorreur]

Isn't the use of Flash on government/federal sites frowned upon (or even illegal) because not everyone can access them (e.g. blind people that need reading programs to "listen" to websites.) I think I remember Holland having some kind of law in place concerning this issue. Maybe something to research before some smart alec asks a difficult question during your presentation?

[lunatic]

I believe that all Flash players since version . . . 6? are now 508 compliant. MX2004 also has some built in functionality to address Section 508 requirements. There are also some components you can download that check your site for accessibility. And yes you are right, it is a VERY big deal on fed sites!

thanks for the reminder ;)

[Digitalosophy]

Isn't the use of Flash on government/federal sites frowned upon (or even illegal) because not everyone can access them (e.g. blind people that need reading programs to "listen" to websites.) I think I remember Holland having some kind of law in place concerning this issue. Maybe something to research before some smart alec asks a difficult question during your presentation?

It actually is frowned upon on internet websites. Like you say certain sections need to be accessed by all. Also the site has to have as less graphics as possible for faster loading, flash would slow it down for really slow computers.

Intranet's is a different story. We did a Training course in Flash and Director and a bunch of other stuff with flash. Primarly because everyone in the building uses the same pc specs, same browser, and same monitor size.

[amitgeorge]

I would say what i love about flash is
1) file sizes
you can make a sample animation in flash and in gif and then compare the sizes...

2) Interactivity
there is a flash app in which a face is shown which talks to you... show them that....

3) security.
any user input can be manipulated since you can see the source code and all... but flash you cant see the source code and therefore is more secure....


but all that is geeky stuff.... how would you use it in a presentation ..... i dont know....

[Laslett]

HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA! Oh Laslett you sweet thing you. :love: I guess you've never seen my work. :lol:

Everything else sounds like a dang good outline :thumb:

Keep 'em coming folks! =)

Nope I guess not, so could you explain why the hilarity in the last section?

You can either include it or not

[lunatic]

The hilarity comes from me trying to imagine myself building a data-driven flash file to show off. I'm a bit of a moron when it comes to integrating data into flash. When I wrote that post it didn't occur to me yet that I could show an example of a data-driven site that was built by someone else . . . :sure:

:trout:

[Laslett]

The hilarity comes from me trying to imagine myself building a data-driven flash file to show off. I'm a bit of a moron when it comes to integrating data into flash. When I wrote that post it didn't occur to me yet that I could show an example of a data-driven site that was built by someone else . . . :sure:

:trout:

But for the purpose of a presentation you show the concept of data driven flash without actually showing one , that is what I was aiming at

[Digitalosophy]

Just tell them to go to http://digitalosophy.com and buy stuff =)

[lunatic]

But for the purpose of a presentation you show the concept of data driven flash without actually showing one , that is what I was aiming at

And I would do that, um, how? :huh: Told you I was a data driven doorknob! :P

:lol: @ digital!