Greetings. This page provides preliminary information about the course, required texts, and software. A more complete and detailed class Web site will appear at this address toward the end of the month. Meanwhile, watch this space for announcements and developments.
Textbooks
The main technical text for the course is Macromedia Flash 5!
Creative Web Animation, by Derek Franklin and Brooks Patton (Macromedia Press, 2001; ISBN 0-201-71969-X).
Do not confuse this book with Franklin and Patton's book on Flash 4.
Be sure you order the correct title.
There have been important changes in the program; the older version will not do.
This book is currently available from Barnes and Noble's on-line store. The cost is $31.99 plus shipping. I suggest you order a copy right away.
Though I ordered the book from Amazon a few weeks ago, my copy shipped late. At present, Amazon does not show the Flash 5 book in its inventory (though beware--they do have the outdated Flash 4 book and unwary buyers could order it by mistake).
You may also be able to find Flash 5 Creative Web Animation in walk-in bookstores (remember those?), such as Barnes and Noble and Borders.
You should also order the two non-technical texts listed below if you have not done so already. These books are also required.
Janet Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck. MIT Press, 1997. About $15.00.
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen. DC Comics, 1987. About $20.00.
These texts will be supplemented at various times by other readings for which you will not be charged.
Course Description
Multimedia and the Internet covers content development and interaction design in multiple media (primarily text, still graphics, sound, and animation) for delivery over the Internet. Like all hypermedia courses in the School of Communications Design, this one has twin agendas, both conceptual and practical. You will be asked to confront serious questions about media design and interactivity, and to approach those questions not simply as matters of theory, but as occasions for creative work.
Specific requirements for the course will be detailed in the final version of this site. They will include several projects to be created using Macromedia Flash 5 for delivery via the World Wide Web. (Server accounts will be provided.) You will also be responsible for peer review of your classmates' work, for attentive reading, and for active engagement in class discussions.
Software
I recommend--but do not require--that you buy a copy of Macromedia Flash 5. Please do not confuse Flash 5 with previous versions. The current release includes crucial improvements--for instance, greatly improved scripting support--that will be essential to your coursework. You may not use an earlier version of Flash for this course.
This program is available at generous discounts through various academic software outlets, including:
You should expect to pay about $100 for Flash 5 alone and about $150 for the Flash 5/Freehand 9 Studio. You'll be asked to provide proof of academic status, such as a tuition bill or copy of your student ID. Freehand and Dreamweaver are not required for this course.
Copies of Flash 5 will be installed on machines in the Graphics Lab and Hypermedia Room. The lab fee you paid for this course entitles you to schedule time on Graphics Lab machines. Use of Hypermedia machines is not presently scheduled, but you will have signup privileges should that become necessary.
Sound processing programs such as SoundForge XP and SoundEdit will be available on selected machines in the Graphics Lab and Hypermedia Room.
