HELP!!! complex project (was) Re: FLASH: What program exports in vector graphic?

[Goldlink Media]

Marc, thanks for the information.  I wish Macromedia would develop

something more simpler for creating vector graphics.  Better yet, I wish

they had a 3D program.


Can anyone tell me of a sample file or tutorial to do the following

project?  I don't have a choice, I have to learn how to do this or I lose

an account that took a turn in mid stream.  The site was not suppose to be

so complicated but now they are asking for something I don't know how to do.


I have to build a 3D dolphin swimming, jumping, and whatever else dolphins

do *within reason* and when someone puts their mouse on the monitor, the

dolphin will continue swimming, but it will follow the mouse around.  When

the mouse is going in the opposite direction, the dolphin turns around and

follows the mouse.


I'm pulling my hair out over this one.  I want to keep this account so bad

but I have only 10 days to tell them whether or not I can figure it out.

If I can't, they will hire someone else. :(  I don't understand why

customers change their mind so drastically.  The contract is not for

immediate pay, its for a percentage of sales so I don't get to go back on

the customer and say you are in breach of contract for requesting something

different in mid-stream.  Well, if I can, I don't know about that part of

the business end of web design.


I need a very very simple 3D program to learn and learn FAST!  I wouldn't

even know where to begin on the mouse trailing part.  If someone has a

tutorial somewhere and I can salvage this account, we can discuss off list

about monetary compensation somehow.  I'm so desparate!


Sincerely,


Colleen Appleton


>Hi Colleen,

>

>This is not as simple a conversion as, say converting pict to jpeg. Jpegs 

>are raster images and as such they store the picture information as a 

>description of every pixel -- what color it will be and where it should be 

>placed on the screen. Vector graphics are stored as mathematical 

>descriptions of vertices, curves, and fills. That's why they scale up and 

>down without losing any detail.  Raster graphics (bitmaps) look lousy when 

>they scale up, and usually (but not always) are larger in file size than 

>comparable vector graphics.

>

>Converting from raster to vector requires a program that can interpret the 

>image information (patterns of color) and figure out where the lines and 

>fills  should be. Flash has an autotrace feature that can do this, but it 

>is cumbersome to use. Adobe Streamline is the tool of choice for automating 

>the task, but it also is not simple to learn; there are many parameters to 

>set. Freehand also can import raster images and trace them into vector 

>format.  These automatic conversion programs tend to work well with simple 

>images but with complex images they will produce a very complex file that 

>may be larger than the original raster graphic.

>

>Something to consider seriously is to hand-trace bitmaps within Flash, then 

>discard the bitmap and keep just the vector you've created. This is how 

>many do it, and it does not take enormous drawing skill to do.

>

>

>

>

>Marc Hoffman

>

>

marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com (mailto:marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com).

>My Flash Portfolio: <http://www.dartfrogmedia.com/sampler>

>(featured in Flash 3 Web Animation, by Ken Milburn)




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