I'm currently working on a project using Adobe Director 11.5.
This application is a very powerful application. I have always said Flash is basically a plug in for Director id used correctly.
Director was always the powerhouse in the area of developing Kiosk application or DVD/CD delivery applications. It was also excellent at creating Games that Flash could not do.
11.5 has not been updated in nearly 3 years now and the Director community is puzzled about this.
Either Adobe drops the application in favor for Flash, or they make an effort and continue to develop it. At the moment Adobe are not making any efforts to either confirm or deny they are keeping the application.
Darren: Just wondering how you rate Adobe in terms of making products that are usable. I know that you have mastered all of the CS applications. Where did you get help from when you were learning the intricacies of Flash and DW, for instance?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteA lot of the help was basically research out of neccessity. There was nothing like a deadline to focus you on getting the job done.
My philosophy is simple. I want to create something that fulfills the criteria of the project. I do not want to be limted to what I want to do based on limited availalbe applications.
I still hear people making excuses for a bad project with " I could have done more if I used...." or " It took me longer to figure out how to do something and I had little time then to implement it"
When I am looking at a brief, I am already thinking of "That can be done with that application, and this piece can done with this application...etc". Because I now know what the applications can and cannot do I can have a rough idea of the workflow early on. I also do not want to spend time wondering how to achieve something and what application can do it.
I have been using the Adobe products for a long time now. I also use other applications also.
My main use of Flash for example is exactly what is was designed for....animation. It is unrivalled really for creating and developing animations. It is still the application of choice for the likes of the Nickolodeon cartoons on TV. so if I wanted to work for an animation house in Dublin, I had to not only be familiar with Flash, but I had to be already up to speed on best practises, as they hire to do a job and not really spend time and money teaching you the application.
This also applied to Graphics so Photoshop was the required tool.
For desktop publishing Adobe Indesign overtook Quark Express, so to create brochures and flyers, this was needed.
So how did I learn?
I spent alot of hours working at night at home, using the tools.
I would give myself an "impossible" project and work through it using the neccessary applications.
The most important thing to remember is that they are only tools, they do not do the work for you.
I teach Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and some other tools in my spare time and I always get the same questions.
"I have photoshop, so how come I cannot do what you do?"
Staring at an empty white screen and hoping these tools work the miracles for you do not work.
If you were to buy the best canvas, the best oil paints and the best brushes, will you paint a Rembrandt ? I do not think so.
So you have to have ideas already and use the tools to produce them.
I still use pencil and paper to start all projects. It goes back to my animation days and I still use that method.
I sketch out the plans, for websites for example, I quickly draw the pages roughly, then wireframe each page.
I determine the content required for each page. Once done, I then know what graphics, fonts, images etc I need. I then go and create them.
I use Dreamweaver or Visual Studio to basically put it all together rather than rely on the application do it for me.
I buy books, I have shelves full of Photoshop, Flash, ASP, PHP, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Maya. 3D Max etc and I still refer to them on occasions.
A great source of training is Lynda.com, VTC.com and totaltraining.com.
I have annual subscriptions to these sites so I can quickly get the latest updated training on any application I use. It also helps me to determine if I need to update to the latest version or, if they have not updated with sufficient new options then I will not need to update.
Books I get from FriendsOfEd, Focal Press and the Adobe Bible books.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for the excellent answer. I know we discussed this before, but I think it's great to get it written down like this so that others can read it.
ReplyDeleteYou make a brilliant point with the Rembrandt analogy about realistic expectations. I think that perhaps a lot of these expectations derive from people's experiences with Word. Adobe's products strike me as being more artistic and creative (hence the name - Creative Suite - I suppose!).
I'm not a very artistic person, so I'll probably be in touch with you about those classes you teach!