4 years and finished....

Its fitting that the 60th post will most likely be my last one. Just to keep everyone up to date, the fyp is handed it up, the presentation is done... 9 months of working hard and i still can't relax properly, feeling as if there is something i need to do on the fyp... Crazy but its a routine that has built over the past 9 months and it just suddenly stops... hard to get out of it to be honest.

Exams are around the corner, well more like just on the doorstop really, and I'm not being terribly successful when it comes to study... Wishing everyone luck in their study and with the exams. 4 years.... finished...



When we were in 1st Year and worry free...

RIP - Report.

The report is finally finished and printed...

woo

^_^

Snake what happened?? SNNNAAAAKKKKEEEE!!!!

So i'm over half way past the report... i think... its standing at a very respectable 6500 words... give or take.

I have most of my footage shot for gaming, my script is also written. Now I just have to record some of the actual voice overs and as a little treat i decided to upload a video that might bring back memories from the 90's! Enjoy!!!

Ok. this was a labour of love. Working from scratch this took the better half of  braveheart to complete. Was looking all day for an easy way out to do this but the only one i could find cost $3.00 and in the end i was happier to do my own.

This was about 15 layers, 100 frames and ALOT of tweens. also 30 frames of triangles working their way around the scene! but its done. And how long will this be in my site? about 3 seconds and only under one section!! Ah the things we do for perfection!!

The quality in this video is really low so its jumpery than the original file so excuse the extra 'oldness' of it! 

^_^

new design, new ideas... new... shoes...?

Did my presentation (which went ok... not too good but you know... not bad either...) Happy enough with the amount of coding that i have got done, but i knew my self that there was something wrong with my design so i came  up with this! 

Ok so here is the rough new interface. i'll give a quick explanation of the design.

Light switch: Coming to the site the room will be in darkness, the light switch works as an enter site button. 

Television: All the information and video based on the television can be access through selecting this button.

Projector screen: All the information and video based on film can be accessed through selecting this button.

Laptop: all the information and video based on games can be accessed through selecting this button.

Telephone: Contact us page.

the picture frames on the wall with the (really badly draw) pictures are everything the user can do. - login, register, vote on poll, quiz, news and forums. each colour in the picture will represent the colour of the page on selected topic.

the chair in the corner: Feeling lazy huh? Then this will be almost like a sitemap. if you don't fancy going through each button to find what you're looking for then select on this chair and it will tell you exactly where to go! 

The image isn't complete yet but its looking really positive. All the buttons will be animated in flash aswell but i can't put flash up on my blog so you'll just have to trust me when i say i know what i'm talking about! 

^_^

p.s 

was told to cut back on the amount of documentaries i was doing from 6 to 3 so that is why TV, Film and Gaming are the only topics in this design. 

Also i didn't get new shoes but it just seemed to fit in the header!! 

Coding and the likes!

Ok did a major crack down on my coding. 

Finally got some code working for my FYP. 

I have:

(a) A poll working - Pick your favourite topic

(b) Login working

(c) Registration is nearly working ( nearly being the key word)

(d) been looking up RSS feeds for updates to be sent to subscribers!

(e) been looking up Forums where topics can be discussed

(f) Also working on some uploading and downloading code Liz gave the class.

So have at least some programming for the presentation done! LOL

Now all i have to do is try and integrate it into the design! 

^_^

illustrated images for each topic.

These are the minimalistic images i created from scratch in illustrator

Illustrations and illness

In the middle of getting over my terrible illness (see dramatic when stressed) and have not be able to get to laptop for a few days... (the travel sickness i feel while sitting down is a major hassle when starring at bright, electronic screens) so this is just a teaser of something i've come up with in a moment of clarity brought on by a dose of insomnia and illness.

the image isn't the easiest to see but if you click on it, you should get a bigger, better version! Basically i'm doing illustrations of each topic to spice up my pages a bit (give it a bit of personality). i'm going to make them alternative forms of navigation through the site. so this is the example of the music one. 

each illustration is going to have some text to go with it that is relevant to the topic. the text in this one is the lyrics to Weezers 'Heart Songs'.  They will also have a particular colour coding. Books will be greens, music - violets, gaming - orange, film - silvers, greys etc., tv - reds.

sickly sickness and the such

Went to the doctor today and was put out of college for the rest of the week. Which means i'll be doing my presentation next thursday instead of tomorrow... which is good cause i feel if i stand up i'll just fall back down again... that or i'll just sneeze over the computer and i don't care what any one says that is not good in a presentation....

always in february/march i get sick.... never during the winter... always the spring... 

>sigh< 

going to spend the next few days getting better so I'm healthy for next week... 

i hate being sick...

RSS feeds and Pancake tuesday

Was talking to Pat yesterday. She's been really helpful with some ideas and being generally positive about the FYP. She reckons i should try out doing RSS feeds for my site. To have news that is related to the topic be refreshed every day is a great idea... So I've been looking into and i'm going to ask Seamus or Liz about it aswell.

On another note: really sick at the moment so I'm trying to do work at home but I can't stare too long at the computer screen without wanting to throw up so i'll do a bit at at time... 

plus its pancake tuesday... possibly the greatest tuesday of the entire year and i'm sick as a dog... oh woe is me! 

^_^

What happens next?

Ok so here is a small animation of the info page for televisions (To get to this page you click on the television in the background of the home page - see post from 2 days ago. Also i don't have the info in yet but that won't take me long.) This is showing how users can scroll through the various bits of information that the site will have on television (i will use the same system for all the topics).

As i said the video isn't the greatest but the actual flash for the site is very similar to this but of higher quality. The coding is done for all this so now its just a matter of putting the information in! 

I quite like this to be honest!! 

^_^

It's a lesson i just have to learn....

OH MY HOLY MARY MOTHER OF GOD!! 

Ok... i just lost a load of work i did... don't ask me what happened except that flash decided to crash like the titanic and i just lost everything... so... i'm gonna go cry now and in 10 mins i'll be right as rain and start again...

>after quick angry cry and various swear words<

ok... didn't lose "everything" (i lean toward dramatics when stressed) but lost enough to warrant a kick up the you-know-where for not saving more frequently...

So not to panic... i know what i have to do so i'll just do it again. might take me all day tomorrow but thats ok... i can live with that....

damn it.... i'm going to bed....

:-(

Home page flash... more than meets the eye?

Ok here is a video i exported from flash to explain how the home page is going to work (since i can't upload flash to the blog)

The animation above is the homepage (minus the arrow that exits out of the white panel. thats just to demonstrate the workings of the home page!) once the white panel is gone the user can then click on one of the items of interest to find out the information on each one and to also see the documentary made on it. 

The quality isn't the greatest... but thats not the actual quality of the site... just the exported video!

enjoy!

^_^

FLASH!!! AHH AHHH!!! Saviour of the universe!

I've been doing flash recently so i havent' really updated my blog cause i can't upload flash onto it!! Anyway its going well so far. I've also be playing around with dreamweaver so its just a matter of merging them together to make sure its all working together.

I think(since i've been avoiding it) i should talk about my documentaries. To be honest they are not going the best but i'm going to use all of MARCH to do them. (this will also entice me to get of my bum and finish the site by then!) I have some footage taken already but i'll give you a brief run-down of the various documentaries.

Books and Television:These are the ones i'm the most worried about since they both have a huge history(especially books.) but i'm sure i'll be ok!

Gaming: This is the one i'm the least worried about simply because i have a contact that has every single console since the nes (except the sega mega drive cause he can't find one and the xbox series cause he's such a playstation fan boy) So i'm pretty sorted for that.

Music: I have a fair bit of footage taken of live bands and i plan to take footage of a busker on the street. i also plan on taking footage of my mates playing guitar hero world tour to explain how techology and music has evolved to such an extent that you don't even need talent to feel like a musician!

Film: this is another one i'm kinda worried about but i have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Radio: This one is also one i'm not TOO worried about. i know loads of people who have old radios and record players so i can get some footage of those and i have a fairly recent radio (an alarm clock radio that plays your iPod) so that will go well i hope!

So i know i've had some set backs but i'm still confident in my project none-the-less!
^_^

Dreamweaver?? you mean nightmare-weaver!!

I've decided to use both Flash and Dreamweaver in my site. my header will be HTML and my Login will be html. also user stuff will be html. The rest of the site will be flash. So since i've decided to do it this way i need to start working on Dreamweaver. 

>some time later<

Been working in Dreamweaver to try and sort out my login page. I kind of forgot how to use it... so i'm just trying to re-learn everything again!! Bah! but other wise not going too bad. i do have the code working in theory but now i have to put it to practice!! So a few more trial runs on dreamweaver and i'll be sorted... i'm sure.

designs and coding

This is a variation of the last design i uploaded. I like the attic styled room and i've decided to go with that. The last design was a nice one but the pink was very girly looking so i decided to go for a more neutral colour. i also changed the size from 1000 x 600 to 1000 x 750. hopefully it will still look ok. so trying out different types of designs at the moment and this is one of them. 

I am also trying to sort out the flash for the dock menu but i'm still having trouble with it but i'll get it sorted i'm sure! 

design

 

This will be the layout for the site that I'm doing. The background image of the room will most likely change to find a more suited but this is just the rough idea of how the site will look. The menu on the bottom (images) will be like the mac os dock. I have code on how to do but i'm finding it rather difficult at the moment but at least its something! 

The white see-through panel will just be there for the beginning of the site. It will be an introduction to the site and you will be able to 'x' out of the panel by - you've got it! clicking the 'x' on the top left hand corner. I'm using the left hand corner to tie in with the dock style menu since the x button is on the left hand corner on a mac! i have a few other ideas but this incorporates the majority of my ideas into one!

The white background is also up for discussion. I have done similar designs with black and grey as the entire background of the site but i'm not sure which to use yet! Anyway thats all for now folks!

Navigational Dock

i'm still working on my final design on my fyp. But this post isn't about that. I have decided on the navigation for the site. I'm going to do something similar to the mac os doc. i really like the look of it and hopefully i'll be able to do it with little hassle!!

Modern vs. Antique - Gladiators! Fffiggghhtt!!

The interface has been decided. Its only a rough one so far and i'll be making it more modern but the design seems to be there. I am going to have a modern and antique style working on the page. 

I will most likely be using iStock images for the room (the background design of the site) but i'll be able to take some of my own images for modern appliances (PS3, Ipod docking station, television etc.) So i'll have a rough work one up probably tomorrow and we'll see how it goes down! 

I also got some live band footage which i took this weekend. I'll be editing it (its a metal band and i realise that metal has a very selective fan base but the music will be mostly overdubbed with a script). I have more footage that i need to get (buskers and pub bands etc.) I also want to get different styles of music, to show that not only the social aspects of music has changes but the styles!

Design and documentaries

Ok the idea of using a room seems to have got the go ahead. I will use a modern room that will have information on each topic from present day to the 80's... roughly. i will have icons that are antique looking that will be the buttons to the information of each topic from their beginnings to the 80's... roughly. I'm going out this weekend to get some video footage so i can soon start the editing of the documentaries. The programming is going ok... the login isn't finished yet but its getting there... slowly but surely! And so far i'm not have a nervous breakdown and in the last few months before the end of year that is great news!

out of the fire and into the frying pan!

ok! so first off 'happy new year!' the title of my post will have more to do with my 'lord of the rings' marathon which i did on new years day, rather than coming back to college... although it does kinda apply to it!! LOL

Firstly! i have started some coding... nothing major but what i feel to be important none the less. I had an epiphany over my design... which is going swimmingly!! now all i need to do is the documentaries, which i have intended to have completed by the end of january. 

The image above is a rough work of my user page. It ISN'T the entire website, just one part. The quality of the image isn't the greatest (had to use my web-cam, which is why it is crudely photoshopped!) but i'll have a better one by tomorrow.

My website will be the design of a real life sitting room (since all my topics seem to hang out there) I'm going for a video based site, but i'll have to check out all the ins and outs of space, loading time etc. when i get back to college. If the video based idea doesn't pan out i will make the main areas dynamic but with the documentaries, but right now i'm reaching high!! fingers crossed!! 

There will be a cork board on the wall of the sitting room which will be the navigation of the site that has to do with the user e.g. Login, Sign up, Contact us, Interesting Links, polls, quizzes and a nifty little thing called a praxinoscope that will allow users to add their own pic to the animation. These will be on postit notes. the information for each postit will be displayed on the white board. There will be default page on the whiteboard - either the login page or the latest news page. 

It will also have one or two quirky things pinned to it... like a funny postcard (that will change from week to week) etc. 

^_^