What Technical Communicators Need to Know about Flash
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Transcript of What Technical Communicators Need to Know about Flash
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What technical communicators need to know about Flash
Sarah O'KeefeDocTrain West, May 2008
Vancouver
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About the presenter
Principal, Scriptorium PublishingExpert in XML, XSL, and similar technologiesNot an expert in Flash!
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Agenda
What is Flash?Adding Flash to your workflowFlash demo
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What is Flash?
Vector-based format for moving imagesAdobe technology via MacromediaProprietary.FLA for Flash development files.SWF for compressed files
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Putting Flash in context
FlexCaptivateAdobe Integrated Runtime (AIR)CamtasiaSilverlight
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Where can I see Flash content?
98% of desktops and laptops have Flash Player (says Adobe)Web videoWeb gamesGratuitous splash pagesSome mobile phones
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Games
nickjr.comluminosity.comkongregate.comand many, many more
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Video
YouTubeMany major media sites
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How might you use Flash in a tech pubs workflow?
QuizzesVideoAnimation/simulatione-LearningCustomized interface for content delivery
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Quizzes
PollsReader feedbacke-Learning assessments
Branching support
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Video
Talking head videoInstructional video
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Animation/simulation
Explaining difficult concepts visually
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Basic Flash concepts
StageTimelineKeyframeSymbolsTweeningPublishingActionScript
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Stage
The area on which your objects move around.
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Timeline
The sequence in which events occur.
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Keyframe
A frame where an object changes.
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Symbols
Reusable objects.
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Tweening
The process of generating the frames between two object states to show a change.
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Publishing
Generating output from the Flash development environment, often as SWF.
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ActionScript
The Flash scripting language, a variant of JavaScript
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Important notes
Flash is a time sink.Animation can be surprisingly effective.Consider localization costs.Remember accessibility.Captivate and similar tools offer limited functionality but much faster development.
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Are documentation and training converging?
Classroom versus bookInteractive online training versus interactive online documents
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Visual communication
Difficult and time consumingEffectiveWill it displace text?
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Challenges for Flash
Content silosIntegration with XML?ProprietaryMobile devices
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Challenges for technical communicators
Are you a visual thinker? (I'm not.)Is Flash relevant to your content? Should it be?How do you fit Flash development into the project schedule?What about localization?What about accessibility?
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Q & A