Archive for December, 2005

New JibJab animation, interview

Thursday, December 15th, 2005

Cold Hard Flash has posted an excellent interview by Aaron Simpson of JibJab’s Gregg and Evan Spiridellis. Among other topics they discuss the new short, 2-0-5, which will debut on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this evening, and on the JibJab web site immediately afterward.

Read the interview.

Evan will be rejoining us at Flashforward2006 Seattle to discuss JibJab’s recent work in depth, in his session Cut, Paste, Animate: Collage Animation.

And while you’re waiting for the new animation to debut tonight, why not check out some of the highlights from JibJab’s archives, including the seasonal “Santa Clause” and “Farting* Elves: 12 Days of Christmas” linked to on the JibJab home page.

(via MXNA)

* Did you get a happy little chill the first time you typed the word “farting” on your blog? We just did. Thanks, JibJab!

The Big List: Flashforward2006 Seattle speakers and topics overview

Thursday, December 15th, 2005


In case the schedule grid or the alphabetical lists of workshops, sessions and speakers left you in any doubt, we have an amazing lineup assembled for the first Flashforward of the New Flash Era. (Cue inspirational swelling of trumpets.)

Click anything for more details. Then be sure to register!

Beau Ambur
ActionScript 3 and GPS Data Mapping
Laura Arguello
RIA development with ColdFusion, Flex 2, and CFForms
Aral Balkan
ActionScript Workshop
The Open Source Flash Revolution
Luke Bayes
Test-Driven Development in ActionScript 3.0
Laurie Burruss
Flash 8 for Educators Workshop
Matt Chapman
How and Why Homestar Runner Cartoons Get Made
Mike Chapman
How and Why Homestar Runner Cartoons Get Made
Sandro Corsaro
The Evolution of Flash Animation: Bedrock Revisted
Hillman Curtis
Hillman on Video
John Davey
Build Your First Flash Game
Getting Hooked Up: Flash > MySql
Darren David
Deconstructing Reebok and Timberland Case Studies
Philip Desenne
Pedagogical Use of Flash in Course Web Sites at Harvard University
Julian Dolce
Speed Up Workflow with the JSAPI
Justin Everett-Church
Designing for Flash Lite / Moving to Flash Lite 2.0
Erik Falat
Motion United
Nahuel Foronda
RIA development with ColdFusion, Flex 2, and CFForms
David Gassner
Flex 2 Workshop
April Greiman
Think About What You Think About
Moses Gunesch
Trip the Tween Fantastic: the ZigoEngine + Fuse
Andreas Heim
Deconstructing Nintendogs.com
Flash Game Development
Gabe Kean
Flash on Display
Steve Kilisky
After Effects and Flash
Sho Kuwamoto
Flex 2 for Flash Developers
Larry Lessig
Creative Commons
Kevin Lynch
Adobe/Macromedia Keynote
Jon Meyer
Ajax for ActionScripters
User Experience: meet FlashBlock
Ali Mills
Test-Driven Development in ActionScript 3.0
Nathan Moody
Deconstructing Reebok and Timberland Case Studies
Garrett Nantz
Burning Your Flash Video Retinas
Erik Natzke
The Work of Erik Natzke
Michael Ninness
Photoshop CS2 & Flash 8: Optimizing Pixels and Workflow
Chris Orwig
Building an Interactive Portfolio in Flash
Teaching Flash Website Design/Development
Nigel Pegg
Building Multi-User Applications with Breeze
Bob Regan
Accessible Video with Macromedia Flash
Robert Reinhardt
Flash Video Workshop
David Schroeder
Avoid That Sucking Sound
Rich Shupe
The Ultimate Guide to Flash Runtime Compositing
Grant Skinner
Digital Art and Alternative Interactions
Evan Spiridellis
Cut, Paste, Animate: Collage Animation
Tim Stout
Hoops and Yoyo: Character Development
Craig Swann
Aural Fixation: Dynamic Flash Audio
Let’s Get Physical: Extending the Flash Platform
Jeremy Thorp
Flash in Generative Art and Design
Phil Torrone
The Makers…
Jakob Trollbäck
Moving Design
Drew Trujillo
the evolution of expressiveness: brushes.paints.stencils.
Jonathan Wells
Ten Years of RESFEST
David Wharton
Deconstructing Nintendogs.com

Flashforward Party Venues

Thursday, December 15th, 2005

If you’re planning to get lots of exercise while attending Flashforward, we’re not going to be much help. Every aspect of the event, from hotel to venue to parties, will take place in a one block radius. So keep your badges on and plan to meet your fellow attendees as we take over the neighborhood!

VIP Party: Gameworks, 1511 7th Avenue, Seattle

If you purchase a Premium Pass to Flashforward, one of the benefits is to join us, along with speakers, sponsors, and special guests at our VIP Party, Monday, February 27th from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Gameworks (right across the street from the convention center) offers the ideal experience where our VIP attendees will eat, drink, party, and play all kinds of video games, from pinball to virtual reality offerings. This is going to be an amazing gathering of luminaries and kindred spirits, and a great way to kick off the event. Admission to this party is only available through the purchase of a Premium Pass.

Film Festival After-Party: Fox Sports Grill, 1522 6th Avenue, Seattle

Join us from 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., as Flashforward attendees, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and staff gathers after the Flashforward Film Festival for a fun night of networking and Flash. Just around the corner from the WA State Convention and Trade Center, (where Flashforward and the Film Festival will be held) is the Fox Sports Grill. Those expecting walls cluttered with sports memorabilia and beer paraphernalia are in for a huge surprise when they walk into this 21st-century sports bar. Cushy couches, soft lighting, fireplaces, a huge waterfall in the middle of the venue and a billiards area give the space a very cool and funky feel. The 32 flat-screen plasma TVs, all usually tuned to football, will be showing Flash and Adobe video reels throughout the evening.

Audio Interview: Chris Orwig

Tuesday, December 13th, 2005

Recently, Flashforward founder Lynda Weinman interviewed Flashforward speaker Chris Orwig. They discuss Chris’ session, Building an Interactive Portfolio in Flash®, talk about Flash 8 and Flashforward in general.

At the end, Chris turns the table to interview Lynda.

UPDATE: Feb 2, 2006 — we now have a proper Podcast, and Chris’ interview is episode 1!

  • iTunes — Subscribe to our Podcast via the iTunes Music Store. (enhanced AAC)
  • RSS — Direct link to the RSS for other aggregators. (enhanced AAC)
  • Chris Orwig (AAC) — download the interview (enhanced AAC)
  • Chris Orwig (MP3) — download the interview (MP3)

Flash User Experience Best Practices

Monday, December 12th, 2005

Flash User Experience Best Practices with: Robert Hoekman Jr. was recently published in the lynda.com Online Training Library™.

If you are coming to Flashforward2006 Seattle, you may view this or hundreds of other training videos for free! Everyone who registers for Flashforward receives a complimentary membership to the Online Training Library. Length of membership varies according to package level; see registration page for details.

Flash User Experience Best Practices defines the common user experience issues that Flash designers and developers face every day, and explains why having solutions to these issues is vital to the success of the application. This tutorial shows you how to solve many of these issues, including making the browser Back button work with the Flash Player, handling state management, implementing effective Flash detection with useful alternate content, improving “scanability” and workflow in your applications, and helping users maintain context while working with your applications. Throughout the training videos, Robert Hoekman, Jr., shows you real-world examples and demonstrates techniques for improving the experiences you create. Exercise files accompany the training videos, allowing you to follow along and learn at your own pace.

Topics include:

  • The importance of user experience with regard to Flash content
  • How to design an effective workflow
  • Flash detection best practices
  • When to require Flash Player upgrades and how to handle them
  • Designing effective forms
  • How to get the Back button working with your Flash application
  • Creating unique URLs to enable bookmarking
  • Maintaining application context
  • Improving “scanability”
  • Duration: 4 hours