Well, the end of the semester is approaching and it's now time to reflect on the time that's passed. I enjoyed Digital Media and learned alot from this course.
First, I learned how to use Fireworks and how to edit pictures. I have always wanted to improve my skills in this and I am quite proud with the way things turned out. The CD cover that I made impressed jnot only me, but as well as my friends who were interested in what I was doing at school. I felt very good about the finished result.
When it came to Flash, I did not know what I was doing all the time. I have been using Flash since high school, but I was never inspired to be good with it. In this class, I was determined to make the best Flash project I could make and I was very happy with the result. I did the soundtrack to the drum machine and all of the animation. I liked it at least!
All in all, this course was lots of fun and I enjoyed coming to every class. I learned a lot about the internet, even though the Web test didn't display this. I have always wanted to learn how the internet works and how to make a website, and now I know the basics which I could not be happier about. This course was very informative and I can't wait to learn how to apply Digital Media to video. Thanks!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
They make the internet on computers now?
I use the internet ever day.
We all do.
It's replaced television as our source for entertainment.
The internet is the future.
Oddly enough, how many people actually know how the internet works?
Prior to this class, I had always been intrigued by the internet. I never quite understood how it worked, and the whole concept was actually rather scary. We turn on this fantasy machine an voila!, instant access to a world's worth of information. This whole concept didn't make sense to me! I'd ask my friends how it worked exactly and a common response was, "Well, it's like waves..and they go...actually, I don't really know, man." Clearly, I'm not the only one with who doesn't understand this.
However, thanks to this class, I now understand how the internet works. To be honest, it's a lot easier than I had imagined. Yes, there are still some gray areas in my knowledge to this point, but it's the same thing with television. As a kid growing up, I never understood how it worked, all I cared about was the finish project.
This is the case with many inventions nowadays. Do we really care how computers are made, or do we just care how they work once we get them? We leave the hard work and thinking for the experts, which is what I did for the longest time with the internet up until now. Patton Osawlt, a comedian, put it best in his bit about Geroge Lucas and the the Star Wars prequels. He emphasizes how he doesn't care how Darth Vader turned evil, he just likes the finished package when he's evil and wearing the helmet. He says, "I don't care where the things I love come from! I just love the stuff I love!"
This brings us back to my original point. Yes, I understand the internet now and how it actually works. The internet code is complicated for me, as it is with most people. The idea of binary makes my mind spin, and the fear that the government is spying on us through this invention really just scares the crap out me. Thus, do I really care how the internet works? Sure, but all I really care about is what I see and what I hear. I could really go for a bowl of ice cream right about now.
WARNING! FOUL LANGUAGE!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Flash Idea
For my Flash Assignment, I really would like to make a drum machine. Here's the thing. I'm not very good with Flash. I sucked at it in high school, and to be honest, I think I was done with it. However, a challenge never hurt. In high school, I had to make a 30 second animation with no interactivity whatsoever, and I found that challenging. This time, I have to use interactivity. It might take awhile to learn but I am determined to make this drum machine work.
Ultimately, I would like for it to work by pressing keys on the keyboard. I understand that I'd have to use the code in Flash to make this work. This idea was inspired by the multiple drum sets I've found on the internet but have been difficult to use. This one will be different because it will feature different genres that you can play along to like rock, blues, and country. The songs will be created by me and the drum machine will be lots of fun to play.
Ultimately, I would like for it to work by pressing keys on the keyboard. I understand that I'd have to use the code in Flash to make this work. This idea was inspired by the multiple drum sets I've found on the internet but have been difficult to use. This one will be different because it will feature different genres that you can play along to like rock, blues, and country. The songs will be created by me and the drum machine will be lots of fun to play.
Flash Artist Statement
So I can't post my Flash animation on here, although I am very proud of it. Flash has always been a challenge for me and I was happy with my result. Here is my artist statement to make up for it...
The main objective for my flash assignment was to create a drum simulator that people can have fun and play along with. It features some very simple riffs that are noticeable to the target market’s minds and has an interactive drum set containing real sounds made by actual drum sets. The goal of this project was to create a simulator that will inspire someone to play a real drum set, much like Guitar Hero did for the guitar.
Clearly, the main influence of Drum Hero is the popular videogame Guitar Hero. What Guitar Hero did for the video game industry was provide an interactive experience between the gamer and the game that allows you to feel like a rock star. For many people, the game inspired them to play real guitar and even if it didn’t, they still get to feel like a rock star even if they’re playing on “easy” mode. Drum Hero is obviously a much simpler version of the game and its intention is to entertain the target market during their journeys through the world wide web.
The target market is teenagers between the ages of 11-17. Many of these kids are entertained by some of the simplest things. Hopefully, Drum Hero will entertain them as well. It’s “rock star” text allows for the participant to imagine themselves at a real rock concert, jamming along to an amazing blues riff.
The soundtrack was provided by myself, as I decided to record several different samples of genres. The ones that made the cut were the country, blues, and rock riffs. They are very simple and almost anyone can click along to the beat. The challenge of the game is to master the art of clicking the right drum at the right time. Though it may seem easy at first, it is actually quite hard and requires practice. Therefore, I decided to put a practice level in the game so people could practice playing drums and if they want, play their favourite song through their computer’s speakers and jam along to it.
One of the biggest challenges in creating Drum Hero was to use the keyboard to trigger the different drums. Through much investigation, I could not find a simple way to do this that matched with my knowledge of Flash. There was no clear way and I found this rather difficult.
However, the game is still effective with the mouse and is actually much more challenging. As well, I could no figure out a way to lower the volume of the different songs. Though it is not too much of a problem, it is still something I wish I could have improved.
All in all, I am not that great with using the Flash program. However, as time went on, I slowly became more comfortable with using it. I discovered how to use scenes and hot to jump between them using buttons. Though I may have been stressed at times, Drum Hero’s production allowed me to view Flash in a way I had never seen it. Now I am able to understand the program and when the time comes that I must use it again, I will not be afraid to put my effort in it.
The main objective for my flash assignment was to create a drum simulator that people can have fun and play along with. It features some very simple riffs that are noticeable to the target market’s minds and has an interactive drum set containing real sounds made by actual drum sets. The goal of this project was to create a simulator that will inspire someone to play a real drum set, much like Guitar Hero did for the guitar.
Clearly, the main influence of Drum Hero is the popular videogame Guitar Hero. What Guitar Hero did for the video game industry was provide an interactive experience between the gamer and the game that allows you to feel like a rock star. For many people, the game inspired them to play real guitar and even if it didn’t, they still get to feel like a rock star even if they’re playing on “easy” mode. Drum Hero is obviously a much simpler version of the game and its intention is to entertain the target market during their journeys through the world wide web.
The target market is teenagers between the ages of 11-17. Many of these kids are entertained by some of the simplest things. Hopefully, Drum Hero will entertain them as well. It’s “rock star” text allows for the participant to imagine themselves at a real rock concert, jamming along to an amazing blues riff.
The soundtrack was provided by myself, as I decided to record several different samples of genres. The ones that made the cut were the country, blues, and rock riffs. They are very simple and almost anyone can click along to the beat. The challenge of the game is to master the art of clicking the right drum at the right time. Though it may seem easy at first, it is actually quite hard and requires practice. Therefore, I decided to put a practice level in the game so people could practice playing drums and if they want, play their favourite song through their computer’s speakers and jam along to it.
One of the biggest challenges in creating Drum Hero was to use the keyboard to trigger the different drums. Through much investigation, I could not find a simple way to do this that matched with my knowledge of Flash. There was no clear way and I found this rather difficult.
However, the game is still effective with the mouse and is actually much more challenging. As well, I could no figure out a way to lower the volume of the different songs. Though it is not too much of a problem, it is still something I wish I could have improved.
All in all, I am not that great with using the Flash program. However, as time went on, I slowly became more comfortable with using it. I discovered how to use scenes and hot to jump between them using buttons. Though I may have been stressed at times, Drum Hero’s production allowed me to view Flash in a way I had never seen it. Now I am able to understand the program and when the time comes that I must use it again, I will not be afraid to put my effort in it.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Twitter This!
I couldn't tell you why, but perhaps the biggest discussion the Class of RTA 2012 has had was when the topic of Twitter came up in a recent class. This idea that having your friends update you on the fun and irrelevant facts of their lives disgusted many people in the class, and I am not using the word disgusted loosely. Yes, it may seem a bit weird. Maybe I don't want to know what my friends are doing all the time. I decided that my opinion was useless unless I actually got a Twitter account.
The idea does seem a bit strange. It's basically a Facebook status update without the "is" that seems to be ignored anyways. I only have two friends that Twitter. One of which is my brother, who's Twitter actually tells me more about his life than he does personally. The other is a friend from Montreal who's Twitter fills me in on some of the important parts of her day that she feels she should post about. How could it be that having only 2 Twitter friends could get me so excited about the website? I feel like I am connected to my friends and family in a different way. I know that if more people that I know use Twitter, I will have more fun with it. Twitter entertains me.
Therefore, for anyone that feels that Twitter is just showing the downward spiral that our society is then I dare them to get a Twitter account. All it is doing is brining the world together. It is not a subsitute for physical communication as you can only post 140 characters at a time.
If you're reading this, add me on Twitter.
The idea does seem a bit strange. It's basically a Facebook status update without the "is" that seems to be ignored anyways. I only have two friends that Twitter. One of which is my brother, who's Twitter actually tells me more about his life than he does personally. The other is a friend from Montreal who's Twitter fills me in on some of the important parts of her day that she feels she should post about. How could it be that having only 2 Twitter friends could get me so excited about the website? I feel like I am connected to my friends and family in a different way. I know that if more people that I know use Twitter, I will have more fun with it. Twitter entertains me.
Therefore, for anyone that feels that Twitter is just showing the downward spiral that our society is then I dare them to get a Twitter account. All it is doing is brining the world together. It is not a subsitute for physical communication as you can only post 140 characters at a time.
If you're reading this, add me on Twitter.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
5 Characteristics of Web 2.0
1) Dynamic Content - Bloglines
Bloglines is a website that lets you keep track of blogs on one website. It is very similar to an RSS feed. It lets you views the internet on one simple page, as your favourite websites and blogs will be posted on your personal site.
2) User Contribution: www.absolutepunk.net
AP.net is a punk rock news website that features up to the minute postings about music news and important issues. It features a community of users that submit news as soon as they find about it, and if the moderators find that it's true, they will post it on the website. AP.net has become famous for its users being honest about the music they post about. If they don't like a band, the will say so, and this will be open for discussion.
3) Social Media: Avatars United
Avatars United is an online community for gamers to meet people who have similar game interests (ex. Warcraft, Age of Conan). The site connects people in a unique way as it's through their gaming interests and techincally, their online identity.
4) Online Applications: Google Docs
Google Docs features free online software such as a word processor and spreadsheet. This is very convenient for people who want to post these types of things online. For example, a spreadsheet may convenient for a vinyl collector to keep track of what they have and show people online who have similar interests.
5) Harnessing Collective Intelligence: Vinyl Collective
Vinyl Collective is an online store run by Suburban Home Records owner Virgil Dickenson. On top of his record company, Virgil runs an online store and keeps track of a message board for the vinyl community he gathered. Virgil often puts out exclusive vinyl that you can only get from his website. The main page before you enter features news updated daily about the website and uses tags such as "news" and "preorders" to keep it organized.
Bloglines is a website that lets you keep track of blogs on one website. It is very similar to an RSS feed. It lets you views the internet on one simple page, as your favourite websites and blogs will be posted on your personal site.
2) User Contribution: www.absolutepunk.net
AP.net is a punk rock news website that features up to the minute postings about music news and important issues. It features a community of users that submit news as soon as they find about it, and if the moderators find that it's true, they will post it on the website. AP.net has become famous for its users being honest about the music they post about. If they don't like a band, the will say so, and this will be open for discussion.
3) Social Media: Avatars United
Avatars United is an online community for gamers to meet people who have similar game interests (ex. Warcraft, Age of Conan). The site connects people in a unique way as it's through their gaming interests and techincally, their online identity.
4) Online Applications: Google Docs
Google Docs features free online software such as a word processor and spreadsheet. This is very convenient for people who want to post these types of things online. For example, a spreadsheet may convenient for a vinyl collector to keep track of what they have and show people online who have similar interests.
5) Harnessing Collective Intelligence: Vinyl Collective
Vinyl Collective is an online store run by Suburban Home Records owner Virgil Dickenson. On top of his record company, Virgil runs an online store and keeps track of a message board for the vinyl community he gathered. Virgil often puts out exclusive vinyl that you can only get from his website. The main page before you enter features news updated daily about the website and uses tags such as "news" and "preorders" to keep it organized.
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