Myfirst 100% Flash Site

[Carm3D]

Still not finished yet, but it's mostly done.

Carm3D.net/Flash.htm

Enjoy!

[queo]

Your works are amazing. Very good job

[Carm3D]

Your works are amazing. Very good job

Thanks Queo

[cgacfox]

This is really nice. I have been through many tutorials both in book form and CBTs but cannot figure out how to do something like what you have done. Could you share how you made this site or give advice on how to create something similar to what you did? Thanks.

[Carm3D]

Thanks Mom!

> Could you share how you made this site or give advice on how to create something similar to what you did?

Could you narrow the scope of your question? There are alot of things going on at once here on my new site. Many different disciplines, if you will.

[Carm3D]

My website now has mobile content! See one of the home pages for details!

[cgacfox]

I really some of the elements like the "closing doors". Also how did you "draw" the top part that houses the links? Was it done in Flash or did you use another application to do this? I have Photoshop CS2 but don't really like to use it as much as Fireworks MX 2004 or Paintshop Pro X. These are the type of elements I see on sites out in cyberspace that I would love to be able to do. The books and CBTs don't really show you how to do that.

[Carm3D]

Hi Fox,

I really some of the elements like the "closing doors"

Well of course the doors were created in 3D. But I think you are wanting to know how they get triggered and wait for things to load, etc..

What I do is create a new movieClip and I call it "Engine". And put in on a new layer. And here's an abridged version of the code I put in it:

onClipEvent(enterFrame){

// Pressing a menu button makes MovieMode = 1
if(_parent.MovieMode == 1) {
_parent.DoorMode = 1;
_parent.MovieMode = 2;
}

if(_parent.DoorMode == 1){
// Begin Door opening
_parent.DoorMovie.gotoAndPlay(2);
_parent.DoorMode = 2;
}
}

So basically there are a series of if's that check if certain modes are a certain value, every frame. Once a mode equals a number, it does whatever code, then it changes that mode to the appropriate number.

So for my movie... Buttons are only active when MovieMode = 4. When a button is pressed, MovieMode is changed to 5. In the "Engine," MovieMode starts the doors closing, then waits for the doors to be closed. the door movie changes MovieMode to 6 once they are closed.. which then starts loading the external movie. Once the movie is done loading, the doormovie starts to open... and on.. and on... it's like a chain of events.

Also how did you "draw" the top part that houses the links? Was it done in Flash or did you use another application to do this? I have Photoshop CS2 but don't really like to use it as much as Fireworks MX 2004 or Paintshop Pro X. These are the type of elements I see on sites out in cyberspace that I would love to be able to do. The books and CBTs don't really show you how to do that.

If you are talking about the framework that surrounds the buttons, that was done in my 3D software. So... You're on your own there! All I can add here is that I saved them as regular JPEG images, and then the holes were cut out with flash mask elements.. This way I didn't have to make then PNGs and I could have transparent elements in the graphic. Smaller file sizes.

Good luck!

[mxgen]

sorry, i didn't have much time to read the previous replies...

i'd like to ask.. what was your theme, exactly, for this website?

i find that there's much, much room for improvement on the navigation area... i would think that there's room for improvement on the fonts for the main menus and the descriptions for the menus..

also, maybe you could try giving the menu bar the ability to detect the mouse, so that the scrolling can be done without dragging?

anyway.. i suppose i should wait to hear what your theme is, before i could give my opinions further.

[Carm3D]

Hi MXGen,

Well I guess the theme is... Squares with the corners cut off? I didn't really approach this with a singular theme in mind. The design probably suffered from that a bit.

I know there are ways to make the menu strip "easier" to navigate. But the idea was to make it fun to use.. Like a toy. I've used this menu system before and people tell me they just love spinning the menu. I also like it because it's unique. I've never seen this kind of mechanism anywhere else. And that can make a strong impression.

[Carm3D]

My site has been fleshed out more over the past week. Some changes to the frame, more home page animations, the start of the Services page, and more.