Flash Portfolio Project:
Showcasing Your Animations

Project Portfolio

You will now create a single Flash animation file to display your animations.  It will have a main screen to introduce your animations, with a button for each animation, as well as a Home or Back button on some animations, as needed to return to the Home page. 

1. Plan your animation Portfolio:
1. Include the animations from the first two Projects (9 aminations).
   
   
2. Choose three additional animations (not just graphic pages) from the chapter lessons and practices, of which you are particularly proud.
   
   
2. Start a new Flash 3.0 file and save it in your Flash folder as Lastname myPortfolio.fla.
   
   
3. Create the Home page for your portfolio:
1. Name the existing layer buttons.  Create a second layer, and name it mainpage, or something similar.
   
   
2. Plan the arrangement of your page - the location and size of the twelve buttons, and the remaining area for the page content. (Remember to account for any change of button size if you choose to make the mouseover do that.)
   
   
3. In frame 1 of the button layer, create a small button graphic for each of the twelve animations you are including in your portfolio.  Each button should clearly indicate what it links to, either graphically or textually.
   
   
4. For each button, change the Over frame, the Down, frame or both.  Also, add a Hit rectangle, if needed. 
   
   
5. In frame 1 of the main screen layer, create the remaining ‘Home Page’ elements.  Include text to introduce yourself, your animations, as well as any other drawings or elements you wish to include on your main screen.
   
   
6. Adjust the arrangement of your buttons and other elements on the home page, as needed to be attractive as a whole.  Save the file.
   
   
4. Create Movie clips of your animations:
1. Create a new movie clip symbol for each of your animations, including the three additional movies you chose, naming them appropriately.
   
   
2. Copy the layers and frames from each animation into its movie clip symbol. Test its function, and make any adjustments necessary to make it work correctly.
   
   
3. Place the movie clips on the main timeline, each in its own layer, and each in a different frame.
   
   
5. ActionScript to control the page interaction:
   
   
   1. Add script commands as needed to control the flow of the main timeline.
      
      
   2. Add ActionScripts in the main timeline for each button, programmed to run the appropriate movie clip.
      
      
   3. Choose at least one of your movies to set its play to continuous loop.
      
      
   4. On this movie, create play, stop, and return buttons, on a new layer.
      
      
   5. Add ActionScript to control the movie clip timeline play, as well as to control the buttons to perform their correct function.
      Play button begins the movie play.
      Stop button stops movie play
      Return button returns control to the main timeline.
      
      
   6. If you plan to have more than one movie with this type of internal play control, copy the buttons to one or more other movie clips and adjust the script coding to control their function .
      
      
   7. On the remaining movie clips, scripting in the last frame to return command to the main timeline.
      
      
6. Play the movie from frame 1 to test all your buttons, making sure each works properly.
   
   
7. Troubleshoot as needed until you are satisfied with the look and function of your project.
   
   
8. Save, and the export as an SWF file, and close.

Place a copy your .fla and .swf files in the Turn-in folder in the common drive.