Re: FLASH: How to write down your plans...

[Hal Medrano]

>At 06:59 AM 6/14/00 , you wrote:

>

>>I'd just like to know how all of you make plans and things like "storybooks"

>>for your projects?. What I mean is: Flash itself isn't hard to understand,

>>but the structure of a flash-project can sometimes be rather complicated

>>with buttons within movieclips, different scripts and so on.

>



Great question!  Marc's system sounds really complete.  My system's a

little less formal, but I also keep a notebook in which I scrawl out the

structure of my Flash movies. I find it helps me to identify the

*functionality* of my buttons and timelines *before* I start coding.


Here's a sample from one of my notebooks:


-------

main nav (top left) is in level 0

portfolio nav is in level 1

  (rollouts are in own MC and called by nav buttons)


new portfolio section button(on Release):

  --unloads portfolio piece from level2;

  --kills portfolio buttons (slide left);

  --rotates navigation dial;

  --calls new header (use text FX MC);

  --intros new portfolio buttons (slide right);

  --loads new portfolio piece into _level2


new main section button (on Release)

  --unloads content from levels 1 and 2;

  --kills portfolio buttons (slide left);

  --etc., etc., etc.

--------


I find it helps my thinking to write it all out longhand.  And when it

comes time to code, this gives me a checklist I can look over, to make sure

all my buttons are doing what they're supposed to, etc.


Design is by necessity a bit "messy" as a process, and I still sometimes

find myself having to redo a section (eg the file got too large and I need

to LoadMovie some of the content I'd hoped to have in the main movie), but

I do find that staring at my comps and thinking out the functionality of

the project before I start coding really helps me organize my movies a

great deal.


I like this question and hope others will share their planning methods.


Take care!



--------------------------

Hal Medrano

New Media Group

U S WEST Creative Services


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