Evaluation

I was really worried when initially starting this project as to how I would go about creating something interactive and whether or not it should be Illustration based. It has been really challenging but I am happy with what I have created. There are a few bits that need tweaking, for example some of the waiting time for the buoy to come in is a bit too long, theres one of the animations in the middle which has a slightly un-edited Sir Francis Drake where you can see where hes been roughly cut out and other little things like that.

I have learnt so much and I'm really happy to have actually completed something. I now feel quite confident in Flash and Flash Catalyst, as well as in Illustrator and Photoshop. Before starting this project I could use Illustrator and Photoshop but not very well, I think by having to learn two new programs so quickly, I got used to working with Illustrator and Photoshop and have learnt even more about them. I found using Flash quite difficult to begin with, even infuriating at times! But I think I have got to grips with it quite quickly and feel fairly confident on it to make a basic animation. I also feel more confident to look for help in the right places on the internet such as using Adobe TV and there are some great help links on the Adobe website itself.

I am pleased with my outcome, I think it's quite light hearted and fun, it's quite basic but I think that some of the basic animation adds to the 'cardboard cut out' feel I was trying to create. Drop shadows were also brilliant for creating this effect. There are quite a few things I would do if i had more time, from simple tweaks here and there to changing some of the speech Sir Francis Drake says. I would link each shop on the treasure map to their own websites and probably make the map a bit more detailed. I would also probably add more to look at in the animation with the whale such as some seagulls flying past, maybe change it from day to night and add some sound effects. But now I know the basics I feel as though these are all things I could quite easily do if I had more time.

I feel through doing this project I would be able to use these programs again and go on to create more animations and explore web design a bit more. I would like to learn a bit more about Flash Catalyst, I found it very easy to use so maybe I should explore what other possibilities it has to offer.

I think that in terms of the websites advertising, it keeps it fun but could probably be a bit more directed to promoting Drake Circus from the beginning. I think theres a possibility that users may get bored/ switch off before getting to the end point so featuring the Drake Circus name a little bit more would add to its purpose.

Over all I think I have worked hard, created something I never thought I would realistically be able to do, overcome a lot of Flash hurdles! and I have learnt so much along the way. I plan on using what I have learnt in future projects to create more animation/ interactive work.

Front and back pages

Here are the front and back pages to my website. I originally had another front page but felt as though the type I had designed didn't really fit in with the rest of the website so I changed it to the above. I also added a noise layer to the background image. I linked the first page to the first part of the animation using a transparent button that sits in front of the page, it's only really visible because the hand cursor comes up when you hover over it. The back page is also linked to the Drake Circus website.

The Treasure Map

This treasure map has turned out to be quite a lengthy process! The image above is the treasure map as a whole and my idea was to make each little black dot appear one after the other until it reaches the first little group of shop names, and then carry on for each page. To do this I had to import the image above into photoshop and delete the little black dots and shop names one by one and save the file each time to make the animation work in Flash. All together I have 112 Treasure map photoshop files and my computer really hates me. In Flash I then made a layer for each of these files and gave a 3 frame gap in between each layer so the dots pop up accordingly. And there are 5 separate flash and swf files for 5 different states in Flash Catalyst. This is all confusing stuff but I'm really enjoying it!

Flash...

The 'Mask' layer has saved me! I imported my swf file of the first finished part of my animation in to Flash Catalyst, where I have already began creating the website. When I went to run the project, you could see all the outside edges of the 800x600 frame (which are the parts your not supposed to see) and I tried everything to change it but couldn't work it out! After lots and lots of google searches I found out about the mask layer, which hides everything outside of the object you place in to your file. I used a rectangle and you can align the shape so it fits into the box perfectly. I then saved and re-ran the swf file to update it, put it back in to flash catalyst and now it all works.

Flash...

For the whale bobbing up and down I used one of the motion presets available in Flash which was actually called 'wave' so it was perfect for the movement I wanted the whale to make. For the first motion where the whale enters the page I used the wave motion preset and then to make the whale continually bob up and down i used the same motion preset but in a much smaller area, which seems to work! I have had trouble with making certain parts of the animation stop and loop at the right times so made a new layer and added a 'gotoandplay' at 241 and that works (after trying to figure out which frame it needed to be for a good half an hour). I find that whenever I work out how to do something on Flash it's such a good feeling, like a puzzle I'm trying to work out.