5 weeks old
5 weeks stacking
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- Flash (16)
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- Uncategorized (8)
This is The Guy
I’m getting a Rhodesian Ridgeback. I just came back from the breeder to make sure I got a good vibe and I’m sold.
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Caterpillar Progress Launches
I’ve been working on this one for the last few months. This is my first use of SWFAddress which is pretty slick, though we’re having some issues with URL redirects and frames that we have to use in the live environment. It works great in my testing environment though!
This as a deep and complicated site. Here’s what’s in there along with some of what I learned.
- I created a custom photo gallery/image viewer (in the Great Rivers and Madagascar sections) which loads images, and when they are viewed, compares the dimension ratio of the pic to the viewport to determine how the photo should be resized and animated.
- The video player is a re-skin of the FLVPlayback components. The designers put an empty spot on either side of the seek bar handle which was a trick to figure out. The solution was to use blend modes to erase the necessary area.
- The text is loading via XML because we will be updating the site later with other languages.
- I learned a lot about encoding videos for Flash using Quicktime Pro and On2 Flix Pro to get things done.
Update: Added a few languages
Update 2: Added a few stories and changed the menu navigation. The menu is no longer a global piece that drops from the top. Now you have to return to the menu page.
Technologies used:
- Flash CS3 / AS2
- SWFAddress
- SWFForceSize
- On2 Flix Pro for FLV Encoding
- XML
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My New Gig
I’ve been freelancing at VSA Partners for the last couple months, and today is my first official day on their full-time roster as a Senior Developer. I’m looking forward to putting out some good work here.
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The Peshtigo Home and Banners
Working with Design Kitchen I did the Flash portion of the Peshtigo’s site (a new building in Chicago). The building pop outs are defined in an external XML file. Fuse was used for animations as well as an external drawing class for other effects.
I also did a series of banner ads of different sizes matching the one below for the building.
Technologies Used:
- Flash CS3 / AS2
- Fuse Kit
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Brookfield Zoo Explorer
Here is a nice piece I’ve been working on at DK for the next version of the Brookfield Zoo’s site.
The cool part is the scrolling zoo explorer. Click the “Zoo Explorer” tab at the top left and then play with the scrolling functionality at the bottom left. I had to use a combination of enter frame events, setInterval, and tweening to get the right feel. Notice the elastic bounce when you hit the end of the slider. And notice that the momentum / inertia increases as you hold down the buttons. The animal scroll bar is built dynamically, with paths to each animal’s SWF file, its name, and its link defined in the XML. As each animal loads, the slider is dynamically resized, and animation variables adjusted.
The rotating images under “What’s New” and their respective links are defined in an XML file. Under the “Zoo Explorer” the text and links in the drop down (or up) are defined in another XML file. As the file is parsed, the menu is built dynamically to the correct size.
Technologies Used:
- Flash / AS2
- Fuse Kit
- XML
Update: The new Brookfield Zoo site is up. Here is the live zoo explorer with a Noah’s Arc-boatload of animals. One improvement I could have made would be to have used 9-slice scaling for the roll over background rectangles behind each animal. Oh well.
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Swingline ProFile
Working with Design Kitchen I developed this mini-site for a new Swingline product.
Technologies Used:
- Flash CS3 / AS1
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Fashionably Late?
Or am I just late to the party? Either way, it’s about time I started blogging. I have set a few up for other people so now I can follow my own advice and try to set a good example for them.
We’ll see where this thing goes. I expect this site to end up being equal parts portfolio, web technology discussion, branding/naming/advertising discussion, and personal journal.
Here goes nothing…
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“Snow Chase” Holiday Game
Note: This is old stuff.
At the creative black hole that is MicroTek, the only relevant accomplishment I have to show from four years there is this fun little game which we sent to our business contacts to wish them happy holidays. Use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to chase down the snowflakes and try to catch them on your tongue.
Originally, this talked to an ASP page that grabbed a dynamic high scores list from a database, which the SWF read via XML. This has been disabled.
Technologies Used:
- Flash MX / AS1
- Wacom Tablet (for the stunning artwork)
- Illustrator
Posted in Flash, Portfolio Leave a comment
LED Animation for Dayton Flyers Basketball
I created two animations for the Dayton Flyers Basketball 04-05 and 05-06 season. These animations play during the players’ introduction and warm up on the school’s new LED boards placed under the scorers’ table. I created the animations in Flash and Swift 3D then exported the final file as an AVI.
The animation may appear choppy the first time through as it loads. There is no pre-loader because the final product was an AVI.
Technologies Used:
- Flash MX
- Swift 3D
Posted in Clients, Flash, Portfolio, University of Dayton 1 Comment
First Visit to the Vet
Motown's first visit to the vet.