Help with Flash needed!

[aquila]

Hi REcommers,

I will be travelling to Tanzania this June to promote education about trachoma, vitamin A deficiency, river blindness, cataract and glaucoma. Since my audience will primarily be students, I'm hoping to be able to come up with a creative video to spread my message.

Unfortunately, I'm also a Flash dummy. So if you're interested in helping me out with the computer aspects of the project, please email me at sallyong_84@<hidden>.

Can we transfer the work from computer to a VHS or something at the end? Coz I'm not sure if schools in Tanzania have sufficient facilities for a computer presentation.

Basically, trachoma is caused by flies and poor personal hygiene. Glaucoma affects the optic nerve. RIver blindness is caused by the worm larvae of a fly that breeds in flowing rivers. We are trying to design creative and interactive activites in the classroom so your input is most appreciated!

Thanks.

[chenchow]

aquila, I know basic Flash... So, I will be able to help you as much as I could. It is not that difficult to learn. Go to the program and go through the tutorial, or just go to library and get a book... i know littlebigone knows about it too.

[masterof_none]

hi aquila, you project sounds really interesting!.

If I were you, I would edit some video and pictures on my mac's imovie, bring the laptop and present it to the class.

If you use windows , then , adobe premier is for you.
But I think imovie is pretty easy, it takes less than one nanosecond (well, I know, I'm getting too excited with this product), to learn it.
If you have it at your comp. lab, that's a good software to start with.

I think if your school could provide laptop projector (http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/AnchorDesk/4520-7296_16-4208144.html), it would be great. It's a little bit pricey. The price ranges from $800+ to $1000+. But I think if you get one (and you know you're going to use it over and over again in the future), it would be a great investment. You just need the laptop + projector. Don't need to transfer to VHS.

e.g here's Toshiba laptop projector:
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Toshiba_TLP_S30U/4505-3180_16-20723840.html

But transferring your video to VHS is possible. my roommate did that last year, using his adobe premier and VHS player. But I don't know how you can transfer Flash to VHS.

If you have a Mac and a Firewire Video camera, then , it is possible to transfer them around.
Not sure about PC. Here's the link that you might want to check out.

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,3010943,00.html

[aquila]

Dear all,

Thanks for the input. Any idea how I can get the Flash software? Can I download it for free?

If I can do it myself, I will.

I don't think I will buy a projector though. $1000 is a lot of money.

I use Windows, not Mac. :( I will check with my coordinator to see if they will be bringing a projector along. Otherwise, can Flash movies be converted to VHS?

Thanks yall so much for your help! I'm really excited about the internship! Sigh... too bad I still have 3 weeks of summer Physics to go through.

[chenchow]

May be you can check on Macromedia.com . I think there is a free trial there for you to try out...

[masterof_none]

Thanks for the input. Any idea how I can get the Flash software? Can I download it for free?


You can get it here. But you have only 30 days to complete your project...it's only a trial version:
http://macromedia.com/devnet/mx/flash/articles/getstart_flv.html

They got nice tutorials too.


Otherwise, can Flash movies be converted to VHS?


as far as I know, Flash specializes in web streaming (in fact, it was designed to be stiff for the web)

I'm not sure if it could be converted into VHS. you may need a third party apps to do that (either a shareware, freeware, or purchase-ware).

my suggestion is that, you use Adobe Premier instead of Flash.
But again, I never done flash, so, maybe Flash could be converted to VHS.

[luke]

IMHO, Flash is geared more towards fancy website interface and navigation ... it's great if you want to make a website with a navigation bar or something ... eventhough some people utilize Flash to make a linear animation clip or movie, seriously IMHO again, that is just not using Flash optimally ..

if what you want is just a presentation for people to stare at (i.e not interactive), M$ Powerpoint is sufficient ... unless what you want is for the people to be impressed by the cool effects rather than digesting the contents of your presentation ... mind you, it takes a while to learn the basic of Flash so why don't you just use any other alternatives that you know of using ..

[aquila]

PPT presentations can be rather dull and boring sometimes. You are talking about a group of students here. I know for myself when I was a kid I hated it when people came and give dull lectures. I so do not want that to happen. Yes, I do want to spread the message across, but I also believe there are creative means to do that as well. I think it's just as important to catch kids' attention so that they will absorb the stuff we try to teach. ;P

I have never tried Flash before. Can it make any kinds of animation from sketch? Also, how do I use Adobe Premier, if you so recommend it? Do I download the trial version as well? ;)

Thanks for your help, yall!

[luke]

here's my word, if you can't make an interesting Powerpoint presentation, don't expect to make an interesting presentation in Flash .. I said "IF" ... if you are confident with yourself, then go for it ... and like I wrote b4, Flash is best used for presentations where people can click here and there ... if the presentation is just to be displayed on screen, then use something simpler but with more creativity ...

IMO, "interestingness" comes from 75% creativity and skills and 25% media ... no matter what you use, be it a neon billboard or even a plain white board and marker, your creativity counts the most .. you can use the most sophisticated holographic 3D device to do the presentation but your audience falls asleep staring at a plain rotating cube image, or you can use pieces of cardboards with colorful pictures and texts, and your audience participates with enthusiasm ... choose your path and may the force be with you ...

sorry for killing your spirit but I don't recommend using Flash for the presentation ... but in the end it's up to you anyway ... may your presentation go well .. good luck!

[masterof_none]

although using flash might be a good way to give catch kids' attention, like Luke said, what matter in the end is what you presented in the Flash itself. In the end, like you said , what you want , is to get your message across.

So, you may want to consider other things to get their attention, draw cartoon, (kids love cartoons) , write a little play and use puppets . maybe some character got sick when they lack vitamin A , or got himself blinded when they play around the river (is that for 'river blindness?).. and use your different voices to represent each characters. or anything like that..

maybe you want to bring some lego's .... or some simpson characters..
maybe spongebob squarepants (my favorite), or futurama. characters,donald duck , things that kid can easily recognize. and then go from there...

just some suggestions.

[aquila]

Lol... thanks for the advice and encouragement. ;P

again, as I said, I am just asking around for suggestions. Nothing's fixed yet. My coordinator is still somewhere in Vancouver, not contactable, so I won't be able to decide until I nail him down.

ChenChow said Flash's pretty easy and someone else said it's hard. So who's telling the truth? I was planning on coming up with an animation. I saw my friends' work on flash and I really liked what I saw. PPT? Hmm... I can make a few words and pictures swirl here and there. But won't be able to create a mosquite buzzing and talking, right? ;P

The puppet idea is excellent! I will have to look for used soft toys and dig out the insides to put my hand in. If you guys want to donate or help me with a donation drive, that will be excellent! You can mail the stuff to me.

More suggestions are most welcome! Thanks again! And do be critical, I expect a thousand things to go wrong and I do want to be prepared to the best of my ability.