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Thread: Question for Flash Developers

  1. #1
    Senior Member Mo1010427's Avatar
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    Question for Flash Developers

    Please excuse me if this isn't the correct section for this post. It was a toss up between here and the Coffee Lounge, I chose here.

    Here is my question. How many Flash Developers use InDesign?

    I'm curious since I am rather annoyed with the school I'm attending currently. I was expecting to learn more in-depth programming, i.e. integrating 3D into Flash, creating SSL shopping carts, ect.. Granted I know some of these services already exist, but I'm the type that wants to know all the programming behind things that make them work. Thus far, the majority of classes focus heavily on print layout and typography. Only occasionally do we touch on web-based media.

    So there was the basis for my question. If developers use InDesign fairly often, then I'll struggle through learning that god-awful program. But for right now, I don't see the point from a developers' perspective.

    Thanks.

    Mo

  2. #2
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    I have been an interactive developer for a few years now and I have never touched InDesign for a single project personally.

  3. #3
    Developing For Dunkets mneil's Avatar
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    Unless you plan on publishing catalogs or books I don't see the need in using inDesign. When I was starting out in school (feels like decades ago now) they taught us inDesign. That was about 6 years ago now. The only time I ever applied that knowledge was for my Bachelor's I had to put together a fairly large paper with work examples and send it off to get bound. Even then, I only used the most basic functions in the program. Nothing you couldn't learn on your own in a couple of hours.

    As far as developing... What the hell are you learning inDesign for? That's what I'd ask them. Chances are their answer is shady.

    Lastly, learning page layout, typography will help you in all forms of media; and no matter what format you learn that on. So, from a design prospective it isn't a bad thing. Learning how to layout pages on paper transfers to placing items on stage in flash, to page layout in xhtml, to program interface in C++.
    http://code.mneilsworld.com/
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  4. #4
    Senior Member Mo1010427's Avatar
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    Thank you both for you replies. I was beginning to think maybe it was just me, and that page layout for print was a necessary part of web developing.

    mneil; I totally agree that learning layout isn't necessarily a bad thing. I personally think the more one knows, the better off one is. To be totally honest, one class that I have is an interface design class. According to the course description it was supposed to be about designing web interfaces. Mid-term has now hit and we just started talking about web design. What's even more ironic/frustrating, the instructor for that class has zero background in web development. He has even told us he doesn't know anything about web, not even html programming. At any rate....I'm going to stop here, otherwise I'd be venting for hours! Just extremely aggravated with the whole deal. All I can say is 'Thank god for Flashkit and the intellectual people on here.'

    Mo

  5. #5
    Developing For Dunkets mneil's Avatar
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    There's always going to be those worthless classes that you have to take to finish. Fancier schools just means fancier bull****.
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  6. #6
    OOP is one letter from OOPS kortex's Avatar
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    You would be surprised. I just started teaching web design at a local university last summer and my students have been telling me that most of the other web design courses they have taken are still teaching table based layout and they spent a bunch of time on Photoshop. Furthermore, a few who took Flash courses said they were all design, no coding.

    Now granted layout is a part of web design, but, one would think that HTML and CSS might be covered somewhere in a course on web design and that there would be at least some courses on ActionScript offered.

    What seems to happen is the universities hire designers to teach these courses and completely ignore the development side. Perhaps they assume that people interested in coding would take computer science courses, but I am not aware of many computer science departments that teach ActionScript. Seems like there is sort of a cross over area that they have not found a way to fill.
    Jeremy Wischusen
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    AS OOP FAQ-Best Practices Thread | Flashkit OOP Tutorials | Purple Inc (day job) | Blog


  7. #7
    Senior Member Mo1010427's Avatar
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    mneil; I hear you on the classes required to finish. I've actually found some of those to be totally worthwhile and educational. I think I understand about where you stand on the matter, and I agree with your position. In regard to the fancier school..fancier BS....that was hilarious and unexpected

    kortex; That's along the same lines I was hearing at my school. The designer just says what looks good, then you hand it off to the programmer. I always thought that was one in the same person. More so over, just my way of thinking, I can't see why a company would hire a site designer and also a developer. Why pay two people?

    I can just see the designer saying "this will be the best looking site on the web" and the developer saying " are you kidding me? There's no way I can pull that off with code." Of course with Flash and all, maybe those days are past now.

    Mo

  8. #8
    OOP is one letter from OOPS kortex's Avatar
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    Nope. In many places they are different departments entirely. And what you said is basically what happens. The designer lay something out in photoshop which gets handed off to me, then I look at it (curse several times - in my head) and then explain why something that is relatively easy to do in Photoshop where all you have to do is drag layers around, might be a bit more complicated in CSS.

    Its odd, but there is such a separation in the industry that when you have skills that bridge those departments, they don't know what to do with you. I have been on many interviews where they are like, "we see you have both back end and front end experience, which do you really prefer" And I calmly explain that I can do both and enjoy doing both. It is like they can't even conceptualize that there are people who do not fit into the little departmental buckets they have.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mo1010427
    I always thought that was one in the same person. More so over, just my way of thinking, I can't see why a company would hire a site designer and also a developer. Why pay two people?

    I can just see the designer saying "this will be the best looking site on the web" and the developer saying " are you kidding me? There's no way I can pull that off with code." Of course with Flash and all, maybe those days are past now.

    Mo
    Jeremy Wischusen
    Flash - Flex - LAMP - Web Developer Purple Inc
    AS OOP FAQ-Best Practices Thread | Flashkit OOP Tutorials | Purple Inc (day job) | Blog


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