Final Project: Portfolio

Investigate
      At first I was devastated when I was assigned this project. I was still only half way done with the previous project, the year was rapidly drawing to a close, and the teacher had already said he wasn't going to assign a final project. We were given the option of either using Flash or Dreamweaver to make a website cataloging our work in Multimedia throughout the year. I had watched a friend try making a website with Flash earlier, and thought it looked difficult. I also made a vow to never use that accursed program ever again. That being said, I dove right into the entirely new program that was Dreamweaver. The only thing I looked up before starting on the program was the teachers example of how tables could be used to make a website.
 
Plan
      I didn't really need to spend a whole lot of time planning for this project. I figured it was simple enough, and given the limited amount of time I had to complete it, the sooner I began the better off I would be. I decided that I would make a large chart a few columns wide and give each assignment I completed over the year a row to itself. I would then add a bit more to the table to make it more visually appealing and website-esque.
  
Create
      The first thing I did upon opening Dreamweaver was find the insert table button and use it. It asked me how many rows and columns I wanted. I knew that I would be able to edit it later, so I started with 3 rows and 10 columns. Once the table was made, I realized I had mixed up the two, then reversed it. I merged the three segments of the first row to make a small title cell. I then simply started from the beginning of the year and posted up every major tutorial and project that I did over the course of the year. I gave each item a title, a quick description, and then the image itself. I ended up with something like 23 projects. Once the portfolio itself was done, I realized that I still needed to decorate the project and make it appear more like a website. I looked at the Yahoo site and saw that it had a bunch of advertisements on the side. I added another column onto my website, and found a couple of large banners that fit well into the spaces. It was starting to look more like a real website. I added a column on the other side and filled it with text, just to look interesting. I added a title for the website up on top, and finally added color. My portfolio website was finally complete.
    
Evaluate
     All in all, this project was a success. The website looks good and is believable. It is also a good catalog of all of the work that I have done in multimedia throughout the course of this year. This is especially impressive when one considers that I have never used Dreamweaver before and I didnt look at any tutorials for it. Still, I did not think it was a very enjoyable project. By this point in the year, I was pretty burned out, and the teacher made it sound like we weren't going to have to worry about a final, especially since there were only a few class periods left and we had barely started a project the week before. It was also tedious having to hunt down every project from the year and fit into a table. I also hated Dreamweaver. It was really clunky, and miserable in general. If I could have done one thing differently, I might have used a few less projects from throughout the year. A smaller table would have been easier to work with.


Bibliography

- Wegscheid, Shaun. "Multimedia." Technology. Blogger, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://sw-multimedia.blogspot.com/search/label/multimedia>.

- Ace, Murray. "How to Move Tables in Dreamweaver." HighDots Forums. VBulletin, 22 Mar. 2006. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.highdots.com/forums/macromedia-dreamweaver/how-move-tables-dreamweaver-170247.html>.

 -"DREAMWEAVER TABLES." DREAMWEAVER TABLES. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.awdsf.com/courseware/dreamweaver/dreamweaver2_tables.htm>.

 -Yahoo! Yahoo! Inc. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.yahoo.com/>.

Today, we had a sub. Not only was I very respectful and helpful to the sub, but I was also very productive and worked the whole time. I finished working on my project, and even got started on the evaluation. Last time, I made the pyramid, divided it into six sections, and colored them in, as well as labeling what needed to be labeled. Today, I re-did the coloring of the "grains" section, since it was a little sloppy. I then filled each section with 3 representative pictures, creating a total of 18 images used. Evidence is above. Ignore the weird uneven edges: they aren't there.

Final 6 Weeks Project

Investigate

     When I first was assigned this project, I was pretty excited. I had so much freedom, I could choose any topic I wanted to, and use either Illustrator, Photoshop, or Flash. I never even considered using Flash, since that program is an abomination. It was now down to Photoshop and Illustrator: I went with Illustrator because I remember it being pretty versatile, and I had already used Photoshop a lot more than it. It was time for something fresh. I figured that I wouldn't need to review any tutorials over it, since I retained a memory of it for the most part, and could look up anything during the project if I needed to. I decided on confronting the problem of bad diet in youth because my dad had recently mentioned it to me, and because I do believe that it is a pretty big problem.

Plan

     Once I had decided to confront child obesity, I brainstormed up a couple of ways that I could help and that could incorporate Adobe Illustrator. I decided on a food pyramid, since it seemed to be within my skill range and also capable of curbing down on the number of obese children. I looked up an image of a food pyramid to give me an idea of what I should be aiming for, and drafted up a quick sketch myself, which is now on my design specification. I knew that it had to be visually appealing to younger kids, and that younger kids usually like brightly colored things, so I chose to color my pyramid with the colors of my rainbow. I thought of a few pieces of food that I could use to represent each area of food that kids should try to incorporate into their diet, and then got started working on the pyramid.

Create

     At this point, I was finally working in illustrator on the food pyramid. I started with the basic frame of the pyramid. It was simple enough: three bold lines forming a triangle. I then used the line tool again to divide the pyramid into six vertical sections of unequal length, which I adjusted to match the proportions I had come up in my plan. Next, I needed to color in each section (according to the rainbow). I thought this would be very easy, just a few clicks of the paint tool. I soon realized that Illustrator had no paint tool- that was on Photoshop. So I painstakingly began coloring in wit a tiny brush tool. After about 15 minutes of this, I was only half way done with 1 section. I got mad and used the direct selection tool to grab individual corners of the paint I had already put down and stretch them to the corners of the section, filling in the space in between. Using this method, I tidied up a bit, and finishing coloring much faster. I also filled in the background with black. Next step was easy: I just used the text tool, picked a fun font, and labeled the image and each section appropriately. I even went the extra mile and a text color complementary to the color it was being placed on. Next step was the most time consuming. I had to fill each section with foods. I chose 3 per section (except oils) to look the most informative without being to cluttered and distracting. I first tried taking an image from online, saving it onto the desktop, dragging it over the Illustrator icon, and then using a lasso tool to get it onto my image. Sadly, this only really works on Photoshop. By this point, I was wishing I had decided to use Photoshop. I googled my problem and found that I had to use the "Place" function. It basically allows you to pull any saved image onto your Illustrator document. Using this, I hunted down a bunch of images, re-sized them, and placed them on the pyramid. Finally, I was finished.
 
Evaluate


      In the final analysis, the creation part of the project can be viewed as a success. If it were to be made into a sticker and stuck onto the binders of youth, they would be reminded of what constitutes a good diet, and stay healthy. The image turned out quite well. It is neat, colorful, interesting, and informative. Considering the short amount of time I had to work on this project, it is quite good. Overall, this project was pretty enjoyable. It was less artistically intensive, and more technical. A few problems did come up, but I resolved them in creative and innovative ways, making me feel like more of a boss while at the same time advancing the project. If I could have done one thing differently, I would have used Photoshop. It is a bit easier to use, but in the end, it isn't too big of a deal.

Final Product
 
     Here is what I came up with.    

Bibliography

- Alexanderismologic. "The Orange Onion." Flickr. Yahoo!, 01 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/synkroniserad/6889453422/>.

-"Carrots." Simply in Season-Vegetable and Fruit Guide. Mennonite Central Community. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.worldcommunitycookbook.org/season/guide/carrots.html>.

- "Coloured Jelly Beans on Purple Background [996035] Stock Photos | Royalty Free | Royalty Free Photos Visualphotos.com." Coloured Jelly Beans on Purple Background [996035] Stock Photos | Royalty Free | Royalty Free Photos Visualphotos.com. Visualphotos. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.visualphotos.com/image/2x5169439/coloured_jelly_beans_on_purple_background>.

- Demetri, Irene. "Texture Gallery: Food - Smashing Magazine | Smashing Magazine." Texture Gallery: Food - Smashing Magazine | Smashing Magazine. Smashind Media GmbH. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.smashingmagazine.com/texture-gallery-food/>.

- Gaston, Nicole M. "Beans Beans, the Magical Fruit." Quaking Blog. Wordpress, 22 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://quakingblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/beans-beans-the-magical-fruit/>.

- "Image of 'old Ceramic Decanter with Grapes against Yellow Background'" Image of 'old Ceramic Decanter with Grapes against Yellow Background' Colourbox.com. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.colourbox.com/image/old-ceramic-decanter-with-grapes-against-yellow-background-image-1460503>.

- Iodrakon. "Stock Photo - Studio Shot of Oranges over Yellow Background." 123RF Stock Photos. 123RF, 2008. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.123rf.com/photo_4747330_studio-shot-of-oranges-over-yellow-background.html>.

- "Lemon, Lemon Hints and Tips, How To Juice Lemons, How To Zest Lemons, Lemon Equivalents, Lemon Information." Lemon, Lemon Hints and Tips, How To Juice Lemons, How To Zest Lemons, Lemon Equivalents, Lemon Information. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://whatscookingamerica.net/lemons.htm>.

-  McAllister, John. "Stock Photo - Single Slice of Raisin Bread on Red Background." 123RF Stock Photos. 123RF, 2006. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.123rf.com/photo_921375_single-slice-of-raisin-bread-on-red-background.html>.

- "Meat Consumption and Cancer." Exponent. Exponent, Inc. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.exponent.com/meat-consumption-and-cancer/>.

- "Raw Milk Is a Dangerous for Farmers and Consumers." Raw Milk Is a Dangerous for Farmers and Consumers -. HAACEuropa, 7 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.haccpeuropa.com/2012/02/07/raw-milk-is-a-dangerous-for-farmers-and-consumers/>.

- Rollman. "Nutrition for Kids." Nutrition for Kids. 7 Mar. 1999. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/nutrition/nutrition.html>.

- Scoochmaroo. "1-ingredient Ice Cream." 1-ingredient Ice Cream. Instructables. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.instructables.com/id/1-ingredient-Ice-Cream/>.

- "Tomato on Orange Background [955520] Stock Photos | Royalty Free | Royalty Free Photos Visualphotos.com." Tomato on Orange Background [955520] Stock Photos | Royalty Free | Royalty Free Photos Visualphotos.com. Visualphotos. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.visualphotos.com/image/2x3685319/tomato_on_orange_background>.

- "Vector of 'vector Illustration of Ears of Wheat on Red Background'" Vector of 'vector Illustration of Ears of Wheat on Red Background' Colourbox.com. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://www.colourbox.com/vector/vector-illustration-of-ears-of-wheat-on-red-background-vector-1939056>.

- Wegscheid, Shaun. "Multimedia." Technology. Blogger, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 May 2012. <http://sw-multimedia.blogspot.com/search/label/multimedia>.

Plan for Project

Description of Final Product

     As the final product for my project, I plan on making a food pyramid. By this, I mean the newer one with the vertical lines dividing it. It will be made in Illustrator and will be square-shaped in the end. The image itself will compose of a triangle divided into 6 different-sized vertical sections, each a different color, following the order of the rainbow (ROYGBV). Each section represents a different aspect of diet that kids require. The size of each section will correspond to about how much that child should eat of one type of food in relation to the others. Within each section of the pyramid, there will be small images of food representative of that aspect of diet. Each section will also be labeled. The background of the image will be black, with the words "Food Guide Pyramid" in a corner.

Sketch of Final Product 

     The image is backwards, but it shows more or less what the final product will look like. Note: the words black, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet, along with the lines coming out of them, wont actually be in the final product- they are only there in the plan to denote where each color will go.

Design Specification

Requirements and Limitations

- to be used by elementary and middle-school aged students
- successful design will help create an environment that supports good diet
- the final design will be a sticker that is meant to be placed on student's planners and binders
- the final design will be a 3x3 inch square
- the final design will feature a pyramid divided into sections and colored according to the colors of the rainbow from left to right (ROYGBV)
- the background behind the pyramid will be solid black
- the final design will be made of a laminated paper with an adhesive surface on the back
- in order to make the project, I will use Adobe Illustrator to create the design. If I chose to, I could even take the project farther, and might require a printer. I would also need a machine to laminate the paper, and some sticky pads to put on the back.
- I will need a few weeks to finish the design
- once complete, each product will be placed on the agendas and binders of elementary and middle aged students. The goal of this is to remind them each time they access their binders and planners about what exactly constitutes a good diet.
-the design cannot exceed dimensions of 4x4 inches, as it may then have difficulty fitting on school planners.
- the final product, if printed and laminated, would need a cover for the adhesive components that can be removed when it is time for the product to be applied
- must be visually appealing to younger-aged children
- should be made of non-toxic materials

Testing the Product

- the integrity and strength of the adhesive and product itself can be tested by subjecting the product to rough handling and observing whether or not it holds or tears.
- in order to gauge the effectiveness of the product, a test can be run comparing the diets of children who use it and children who don't.
- the safety of the product can be monitored by keeping track of children who use it and making sure they do not get lead-poisoning.

Identifying my Problem

     Everyone in this world either is currently developing physically or was at some point. This is without a doubt the most important stage of a person's life, as how well they develop while young will influence the rest of their life. One crucial factor that affects a person's physical and even mental development is diet and nutrition. A certain balance of different types of foods is needed to achieve the optimal healthiness and conditions required for desirable growth. Today, far too many kids and teens are eating unhealthily, and not getting a good enough nutrition. Whether they don't get enough veggies, or enough carbohydrates, this is a very bad problem. In order to help remind kids of what kind of diet they need to be following, I plan on creating a poster of the food pyramid that they can stick onto the cover of a binder or perhaps a planner at school. That way, every time they use one of these items, which would likely be quite often, they will know what they need to be eating.

Flash Project- Animation

Investigate
     When I was first assigned this project, I was quite confident that it would be easy. After having spent the last couple of weeks learning how to make simple animations on Flash, I was sure one more animation wouldn't be too hard. That is in fact why I chose this project: it was familiar to me, and would require the least amount of additional research/tutorials compared to the other two. I began to brainstorm what my animation would be like. Knowing that I would be needing the skills learned in the various tutorials and assignments we had already done in Flash, I went back through the teacher's blog and some of the saved files on my computer and did a quick review of tweening and actionscript.


Plan
     Once I began brainstorming ideas for what the animation would actually consist of, I almost immediately imagined myself creating a sort of ball of other round object rolling down a hill. I then considered the fact that this was an incredibly basic idea, and a lot of other kids in the class who had elected to create an animation as I did had probably thought of the same thing. I started to search for other ideas more suitable to serve as my final project for the unit. I don't know where the inspiration came from, but I just decided to animate a bird getting hit by a bullet. I went and looked up a few other examples of work that people had done in animation to get a few more ideas, and see what was a common element of simple Flash animations. Satisfied with the idea that I had, I got to work.


Create
     At this stage, I finally began creating the animation. I started with a colorful little bird that I drew in a minute or so. I created a tween to make it fly across the screen about halfway and then sharply plummet downwards while rotating nose-down, as if hit by a bullet. I then created the bullet itself and sent it on a rapid trajectory from the bottom of the screen upwards. I was stuck for quite a long time trying to get the bullet and the bird to line up and intersect at the right moment to look the most realistic. Lastly, I added some blood to appear at the frame where the bullet struck the bird, and fall along tide the bird. This was difficult as well, but I finally figured it out through the use of different layers. Thinking I was finished, I showed it to the teacher, who said something along the lines of "that's it?" He suggested I add more to the animation, such as what happens next. A little reluctantly, I begin work on a new scene, separated a a few frames of "five minutes later," in which the hunter goes to pick up the bird. While visually more complex, this part was simpler because I only had one movie clip, whereas the first scene had three. Lastly, after the hunter walks up to the dead bird, I have one final close-up shot where his hand reaches down towards the bird. In the end, the animation was quite complex, spanning 12 layers. One final detail remained: the play and pause buttons. I tried following the YouTube tutorial put up by the teacher, but by the time the actionscript was done being written, mine would not work, while the tutorial's example did. I tried for about half an hour to find where I messed up, but simply couldn't: I followed the tutorial to the letter. I hypothesized that my animation was too advanced compared to the one-layer one on the tutorial. The teacher referred me to another source, and I adapted it to my project. Finally, it worked, and the project was complete.


Evaluate
      In the end, the project turned out relatively good. Considering that Flash is a difficult program to use, and that the class has only worked with it for a few weeks, the final product is good. It is a complex animation using twelve different layers, and has a set of buttons that can stop and play every layer simultaneously. The story is clear, complex, and interesting. Even though the final product looks good, I did not enjoy this project. I simply do not enjoy all the little steps it takes to make a tween, or even making the drawings to animate. Flash doesn't feel as smooth as any of the other programs we've used this year. I also hated working with the actionscript. It was confusing and didn't really make sense to me. Still, I care about my grade, so I made quite an effort to figure the problem out, and ended up using another source. If I was given more time to do this project, I might have made the animation more smoother at some parts, or added another segment to the end of it, like the hunter taking his kill home and cooking it.

Final Product
     Since I cannot actually upload the animation onto this website, I took a few screenshots of various parts of it.

Bibliography
-"Adobe Flash- How to Create Basic Shape Tweens and Classic Tweens." Basic Tweens in Flash- How to Use Tweens. MattFussel.com. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://thevirtualinstructor.com/basictweens.html>.

 -Cyphlix. "Play Pause Button AS3 Tutorial." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Apr. 2009. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V2gP93dfxs>.

-"Free Flash Animation Tutorial for Flash CS3, CS4, or CS5." CartoonSmart. CartoonSmart. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://www.cartoonsmart.com/classic_motion_tweening_tutorial.php5>.

-McAdams, Mindy. "Flash Basics: ActionScript 3.0." Flash Journalism. Sitemeter. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://flashjournalism.com/tutorials/actionscript/index.html>.

 -Wegscheid, Shaun. "Multimedia." Technology. Blogger, 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://sw-multimedia.blogspot.com/search/label/multimedia>.