Online Animation Training Course
Flash Web Site Design

Looking to create Web sites with punch and panache? Look no farther than Adobe Flash, the top technology for designing and presenting multimedia on the Web. Once just an animation program, Flash has evolved into a tool for building entire Web sites with visual, highly interactive features that HTML simply can't match.

If you're familiar with basic Flash animation techniques, learning to create sites in Flash is the perfect next step. Flash Web sites don't just engage Web visitors with motion, sound, and visual intensity. They also provide strong functionality and interactivity, unprecedented browser and platform compatibility, and a higher level of usability than you might expect.

In this challenging, project-based course, you'll learn to create compelling, well-designed Flash sites, avoiding common pitfalls and "Flash abuse." You'll build on the basic Flash skills you already possess to learn a step-by-step approach to Flash web design you can apply to your professional projects.

Instructor:
Margaret Penney is a teacher, designer, writer and media artist...get bio

Course Developer:
David Witt is a Brooklyn NYC based new media artist and multimedia designer...get bio

Select appropriate applications for Flash Web site design and explain the advantages and disadvantages of developing a Flash site.

Analyze Flash Web interfaces and modify the properties of existing Flash files.

Maximize work efficiency and Flash site quality using important settings and "single-frame movie" set-ups.

Design a Flash-based home page with consistent, attractive visuals, navigation, and typography.

Plan and implement large and small Flash-based navigation schemes with a focus on user functionality.

Communicate site content and navigation using an experimental design concept that challenges standard rules and conventions.

Create a series of Flash Web page transitions using tweened animation, frame-by-frame animation, and programmatic (ActionScript-based) animation.

Improve the usability and size of a Flash-based Web site, specifically considering Flash detectors/preloaders, screen area, and typography.

Apply and adjust Flash publishing settings for optimal site viewing and contain a Flash movie in a customized HTML page.

Create and implement a preloader animation that is consistent with a Flash site design and presents the full site when loading is complete.

Outline:

LESSON 1 The New Paradigm The course starts with a look at Flash's humble beginnings as an animation tool and how it's evolved to be the multimedia powerhouse it is today. You'll learn the key advantages of designing websites in Flash and look at existing sites that rely on Flash for motion and interaction. In your first exercise, you'll compare and contrast a Flash site with an HTML site and experiment with a high-level Flash design.

LESSON 2 Design and Construction In Lesson Two, you'll learn the best ways to work in the Flash environment and important authoring tips to keep your layers and frames organized. The concept and file structure of the Flash Web site is broken down into its main components in this lesson so you can explore specific elements and how best to construct them. In the exercise, you'll begin work on creating a Flash site that will occupy you for rest of the course. Here, you'll plan your site's content and build the framework and initial design of the main page in Flash.

LESSON 3 Interface, Navigation, and Structure A site's interface is its door to usability -- without it, your users won't know where to find your all-important content. This lesson covers the design of the overall interface with specific attention to navigation systems, button design, and wayfinding methods. You'll also delve into the world of high-level, experimental interfaces that can offer a new level of intensity and exploration to your site. In the exercise, you'll map out a Flash-based navigation, taking your inspiration from modern art and the principles of abstraction.

LESSON 4 The Stage, Transitions, and Behaviors "All the world's a stage..." and your content is the player. Like an actor, your content comes and goes when the "script" dictates. In this lesson, you'll learn the best techniques for transitioning your content in and out of your main interface, drawing attention to important information and features with quick, tasteful animations. Implement these techniques in the exercise as you add remaining content to your main Flash site and create its transitions.

LESSON 5 Framing and Usability HTML can't be completely avoided when designing with Flash -- every Flash site "lives" in an HTML document. In Lesson Five you'll explore methods of embedding your Flash site in an HTML page for optimal viewing. As you prepare at this stage to publish your site, more usability concerns come up as well, so you'll take a look at both sides of the Flash usability debate. In the exercise, you'll assess and correct usability issues on your site, frame it in HTML for a seamless experience, and publish it to the Web.

LESSON 6 The Future of Flash Site Design Flash Web Site Design wraps up with a look at some exceptional Flash artistry through case studies and a peek into the future of the Flash medium. Finally, you'll explore your place in the future of Flash. In the final exercise, you'll add the finishing touches to your Flash Web site with a splash preloader page that occupies your users' interest as you main site loads, and learn coding features that detect a user's Flash plug-in and get your site noticed by search engines.

Tuition: $829 US