OK, mods! Time to work. I’ve proposed Kirupa (and asked a few) a new section, a “Guided Experimental Section”. And he [SIZE=1]sort of[/SIZE] agreed, so here’s the idea:
Every month, a mod will propose an experiment to all the Kirupeans to think about. He will provide a short tutorial on how to get to the basic effect, and a few pointers to turn it into the next Winner of the FlashForward Experimental Section (and possibly a simple fla with the basic effect). We could all discuss about who will do what and when and how and everything else (we should also try to make it doable for both Flash 5 and MX users) before right here.
Then the forum would be an open space for users to discuss, showcase, admire all of their works in a mini-contest. Kirupa told me he would try to get prizes for the winner (which means that we can’t participate, of course :)).
At the end of the month, we would decide which one was the best experiment, or make a poll or whatever.
OK, that’s all I can think of concerning the rules. Tell me what you think
A few things:
In this contest, you cannot import anything. No pictures, no 3DSMax (sorry Dan :)), just script, or simple drawing.
The first theme will be grids. And this is not bargainable [SIZE=1]is that a word?[/SIZE] Grids are extremely cool, and you can do all sorts of crazy effects with them.
Then I don’t know, I’d like to haev your input on this. I think Upu has an idea already, I’m sure we can really find something exciting each month.
This sounds cool. I think we should keep our focus on MX (due to it’s flexibility) but allow Flash 5 entries. Also, if we’re starting them out, could we not provide the starting graphic? I’ll give you an example. I thought that I could start them off with a bingo game project I started a while back. We could use the stipulation that the original graphic must not be changed or enhanced.
Um… yeah… its a silly little game that a lot of senior citizens play in America. The good thing about it is that it requires a lot of random numbers and letters, etc…
I’m sure if I show you the file you will remember it from Kirupa. See, on bit-101, you guys are doing a lot of math drawing and stuff…very, very cool… Now, with the exception of a few people, that may be a bit too hard for our normal user base. Do you agree? I think the trick will be to challenge new users’ creativity, while nudging them towards a challenging result.
You’re absolutely right. I hope the grid won’t be too much trouble. It shouldn’t :-\ I was also thinking about trailers. Cool and easy. But if you think that the bingo (hmm, you really have to show me the fla) has good potential, I’m all for it.
Anyway, we’ll what happens when we launch the first one. Might be good to do it at the beginning of the month.
I agree about the Flash 5.0 aspect. Mainly because that’s what I’m using. What are you going to exclude 80% of the kirupa members every time something is done in MX? You can’t ask people to try to improve something that they don’t have the tools to make. I say all entries MUST be able to be created using the Flash 5.0 program.
Interesting idea about no imported stuff, and I tend to agree, but I certainly think imm has a point. If the source for the import is provided it might not be so bad. Think about his suggestion anyway.
That bit 101 stuff is way beyond me. Personaly I’m more of a practical designer. All those little effects just tend to take away processing power for things like my xml parsing and various movie clip containers… but I do soooo love looking at them.
You’re right, David, and I didnt mean to sound like I wanted to exclude Flash 5 users. I certainly dont, especially since we were all Flash 5 users just a few short months ago. I guess I meant to say, write for MX and the Mod or the users can point out Flash 5 differences. I, for one, have gotten so used to doing things in MX fashion, that I would have to go back to the book to do them in 5.
I don’t think that all entries should be made in Flash 5. Like Inigo, I’d have to torture my mind to do it. Let’s try our best on either support and we’ll see then.
The trailer is something really interesting, yes. But what did you mean with the navigation effect? Remember that it should be something very simple, eye-candy really.
It might be interesting to take clasic examples of things like the scrolling menu system and challenge people to come up with the best adaptation of it.
The problem, Upu, is that a menu is a rather fixed structure. No place for cool scripts in a menu. The design would be the keypoint there. I don’t know, it’s my point of view.
Maybe we could supply a .fla with only movie clips, etc, but with no actionscript. Then we see who can be the most creative with what they are given by adding Actionscript.
Although, I do think this would be too difficult for beginners who want to get in on the game. This would also help with the 5/MX difference though. Flash 5 people could use Flash 5 code and Flash MX people can use Flash MX code.
David, if you look at the kirupa forum and see how many posts are in the Flash MX forum and the Flash 5 forum you can easily see that we won’t be excluding even close to 80% of the users, its a cheap upgrade and I am sure half the people here pirate their software anyways! I like the Flash 5 idea but I’m not down for excluding MX just because everyone doesn’t have it, I am sure you can’t ever find a program community (ex. photoshop) that exculdes upgrades because not 100% of the users have the latest version. It all comes down to who wants to flip the bill to get the advantages over the others that won’t! Sorry if I’m sounding like a little annoying bastard on the subject but I just can’t stand having programs that are considered too updated to use.
I think the only reason you want it to be that all entries have to be Flash 5 compatible is because you don’t have MX, so you don’t get whats its like to have a new program that was upgraded for a particular reason but not allowed if not backwards capable. That like having a Photoshop 7.0 contest but only allowing filters/brush stroke/tools that work with Photoshop 5.5 also!
ok… fair enough. Just be prepared for the situation that I wont be able to participate in many of the creation or judging processes. Like it says in the title of the thread… we’re just discussing ideas here. I’m not closed to anything.
Grids are extremely cool, and you can do all sorts of crazy effects with them.
Everyone has these great ideas for scripts that include grids and trailers and menus, and I have no idea what to do.