I Have managed to achieve a functioning website with navigation, pages and some nice looking effects made in after effects. All i need to do now is fill the pages up with text, pictures and videos.
I am pleased on how the animated background has turned out.

Movie Website Dev Blog

Website Development So Far

 Using after effects i have made a animated title that puts a flare of the text to give it a shiny effect.
 I also used after effects to make a animated cindering background, but due file size issues i think I'm going to have to remove it or make it at a lower quality.

I have used Illustrator to make a site map, this will help me in developing my website over the weekend.

Over the weekend i hope to have achieved a functional mock up of my site.

http://tankionline.com/battle-en14.html#/battle/000000007ffff67b

Digital communication

TeamSpeak 3

What is it

TeamSpeak is a voice communications program that allows multiple users to engage in voice chats. It also allows for users to Instant Message each other. It is also possible to send files to each other.

What is it used for?

It is mainly used by gaming community’s so they can engage in voice communications in and out of games, this gives them the advantage of not having to type to teammates and keeping their focus on the game.

Skype

What is it

Skype is another voice communications program but it also allows people to do video chats as well.  It is possible to send files to each other. It also allows users to make calls to landlines and mobiles

What is it used for?

Skype is used mainly for video conferencing between work colleagues and is also used between small groups of friends; it is useful because Skype is mainly free unless you are making calls to land lines and mobiles.

PSN (PlayStation Network)

What is it

Play station network is an online gaming platform the enables friends to play games and chat online together. It is only available on the PS3. The PSN is provided free of charge by Sony, customers can buy games and DLC (downloadable content) from the play station store.

What is it used for?

It gives people who own a PS3 the ability to communicate and play together in online games, online gaming is becoming ever more popular.

E-Zine article

E-Zine article

Introduction

In recent years the internet has been increasing growing in popularity, at first it was used for nerds to show off their HTML skills in Web 1.0 but since web 2.0 (Allowed more of a two way connection between the internet and user, were as in Web 1.0 you could not interact as much) the it has become a common source of information and creativity. From doing your daily web browsing to posting video blogs on YouTube, the internet offers a source of entertainment and an audience to the public and the people wanting to become the next internet sensation. It also offers business the chance to market their product to millions of people a day through banners and other creative means, when online games are loading, during a YouTube video etc.

It has become a powerful tool for people to use, what makes it powerful is that anyone with access to the internet can voice and preach their opinions, it is very hard to control what is being published, many countries such as china, have tried to introduce tight restrictions on what their citizens can and cannot do but their efforts have been wasted because people can use programs that bypass the restrictions.  People can find out about events all around the world as they are happening through text based communication sites such as twitter and videos through YouTube. Many people use the internet to express their views; this can be a gift for minority groups trying to voice their concerns and bad because it’s easier for people to bully each over the internet because you are anonymous.

The internet wouldn’t be what it was today without the advances in other technologies such as mobile phones and videos. Mobile phones now a day focus more on nifty little features, the voice quality over the years has barely been improved compared to other parts of the phone such as Bluetooth, Wireless Internet, touch screens, multiple media players but the basic functionality of the phone ( making calls) has seemed to be a less common selling point.

While video’s camera’s have come a long way since the old film tape, nearly everything is digital now. Also with the release of blue ray HD has become a common form of viewing videos. HD is almost become the standard in which videos are watched in.

Various Media Platforms

User-generated content

User-generated content became possible when Web 2.0 came out because the internet and the user could interact with each other, the average person could create and submit content to be presented onto a site, this made a change from when in Web 1.0 only people with significant knowledge in web programming could produce content for the WWW ( World Wide Web) Sites such as You Tube , Newgrounds,  blogger etc ,  are excellent examples of people of little know how of  web coding could produce and upload their own content to spread to a wider audience then being oppressed by the big corporations that owned all T.V and Radio. Back before the internet the media was controlled by the government and Big businesses it was very hard for individuals to get there content out, there were also a lot of constraints T.V and Radio had to work within.  You Tube came along and changed all of that, people such as Shane Dawson and Ray William Johnson would not have had the chance to become the big internet stars they are. You tube gave them the platform they needed to entertain the millions of people they do today.  Ray William Johnson gets a minimum of around 3-4 million views on each video he uploads, that may be small compared to BBC or ITV but he produces 3-5 minute videos twice a week with almost nil production cost, that’s pretty impressive.

Newgrounds allows people to upload files containing animations and games (mostly done in flash) it has been around since the late 90’s and is still growing.

A good thing about most user-generated content is that it’s free. People can go on YouTube and watch videos for hours on end without having to pay a single penny, this is because of advertising.  Business big and small can pay to have their short videos/banners showed just before the beginning of the clip, this not only benefits the business but also the person who uploaded the video, Users that have a number of subscribers and views can apply for a YouTube partnership which allows them to gain a small amount of the money Google (owner of YouTube) is paid for showing the advert. This has lead to many big you tuber’s quitting there real life jobs are living of the income there videos produce.

E-mail and texting

Emailing is the new form of sending a letter, although not as formal and older generations think there’s a lot less effort is put into them (most likely true).  It allows friends to chat and receive message from around the world, it allows family members to send each other pictures, and it allows you and your co-workers to send each other important bits of work. It was the main source of social interaction over the internet before social sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook began to appear. To this Day it is still very widely used, it’s quicker and easier then sending someone a letter, most of the time it is free.

Texting otherwise known as SMS (Short Messaging Service) is commonly associated with mobile phones even though the first ever text was send by a personal computer. It is largely popular to the fact you can text with your mobile pretty much anywhere for a relatively cheap price. Nearly all mobile devices have the ability to send text/SMS or something similar. It enables you to send a short message directly to another mobile device, It is limited to only sending text, but other types of texting services can send videos and pictures it will usually cost you more.

File Formats

There are many types of file formats out there today, WMF, AVI, MPEG, SWF to name a few.  File types like AVI need a huge amount of space but usually are of a higher quality compare to MPEG which space needs are less but then the quality is poorer. There are many tools out there such as WinRAR and 7zip which enable to you compressed your requested format into a smaller sized file. This enables a quicker transfer over the internet or local networks.  

Conclusion

In conclusion the advancement of technology has been overwhelming in the past 30-40 years; the internet is most likely the most complex and invaluable advancement in computers to date, connecting to millions of other people across the world, sharing information and creating entertainment for each other. It is an amazing phenomenon that affects every aspect of our lives today. Digital media has also come along way, a few years ago it wasn’t even possible to watch any type of videos over the internet, but now some T.V shows are only aired over the internet. I’m not saying T.V is dead but it doesn’t seem to be able to evolve like internet does, and may not be able to compete a few years down the line.

Multiswift

Loading .SWF Files into other .SWF files other wise know as "Multiswifting"























Must remember when ever you make changes to one of the .SWF files you are importing that you make sure you publish it so it refreshs the file its importing.

Using the "loadMovieNum('insert.swf',num)" You can import any .SWF you have created.


It will import all the actionscript code aswell, so you could make a nav.swf file that contains all the AS code and buttons , and import into onto your main .swf this makes it easyer to organise over looking through different layers.

Final Fantasy 7 Game Review - FF7

Where to start?

Final Fantasy 7 were to begin? This game was properly the most revolutionary title of its time. One of the first ever 3D RPG games and also having the biggest game budget of its time $45 million, it set a benchmark for Final Fantasy games to come.

While selling over 10 million copies worldwide it opened up a whole new market to Square Enix ( Developers of the game) the western gamer's. Previously FF (Instead of saying Final Fantasy all the time) had been created for the Japaneses market, but due to Square falling out with Nintendo of content restrictions ( Nintendo were still using game cartridge which caused Square to take out parts for  previous games) they turned to Sony. Sony agreed not to interfere with any of the story or limit how much content they put into the game. And so in 1995 game development resumed but for the PlayStation console instead. Since Sony was a big influence in Europe and the United States, they had to make the game appeal to the Japaneses market as well as Europe and the United States.

Now onto Final Fantasy 7

Setting the Scene

Midgar

The beginning of the game is set in the industrial city of Midgar it is split into 8 sectors with each sector having massive metal/concrete plate above it. It a huge power plant, sucking the "life force" out of the planet to be used to make energy so people can live comfortable and convenient lives. It is run by the  corporation known as Shinra.

A terrorist group know as AVALANCHE  is trying to stop the Shinra from sucking all the "life force" out of the planet by blowing up the reactors within the city, while succeeding in blowing up 2 of these reactors, Shrina needs a way to get rid of AVALANCHE. So they blow up one of the pillars supporting the plate above sector 7 and thousands of people die, Shinra thinks AVALANCHE was crushed when the pillar collapses and tells the people of Midgar that AVALANCHE destroyed sector 7 and that they tryed to stop them.

AVALANCHE eventually rescues Aeris and escapes Midgar this brings the player to the world map,  you realise just how big the game really is, taking 6 hours just to get through Midgar and then being brought to a massive map were it is only a tiny spec.

The beginning of the game may be a bit slow starting but once you get into it the game is so immersing that you will be leaping for joy at high points for the characters and weeping half way through the game
(SPOILER ALERT - when Aeris is killed by sephiroth it is considered one of the saddest moments in video gaming , many cryed!)

Overview


Plot 


The storyline is very well written, lots of plot twists and not too many holes in the story or things left untold. The whole game takes around 40-50 hours to complete (without doing any of the side quests and just bashing away at the main storyline) and around 80-100 hours collecting rare items and doing side quests. so all in all the game will keep you entertained for hours on end. After completing the game
you feel this sense of disbelief that its all over, you don't want it to be over. It leaves a powerful impression on your mind. these characters you have seen rise and fall. You just can't describe this feeling.

Gameplay

With the unique 3D turn-based battle system the battles are very intense especially some of the boss battles, although it can get quite annoying since you can be put into random battles nearly all the time. They also introduced Materia , simply magic stones that grant you certain powers in battle, such as ice, fire , summoning etc. They level up too as well as your characters
It is also annoying when you stop playing the game for a few weeks and then tyring to play it again,  there is no system that tells you what you are supposed to be doing. So if you forgot what you were doing a few weeks ago its really hard to find out where your supposed to be going.

The is loads of minigames to play once you reach the golden saucer and as you go through the game you unlock even more, such as snowboarding , motorbike racing, submarine battles.



Graphics

The Graphics for FF7 were grounding breaking for its time, cinematic cut scenes, 3D battles, 3D roaming. It had it all and more. all the backgrounds were drawn by hand, all of it together gave people that sense of realism and immersion into the game.
Without Square deciding to take the game to Playstation none of it would have been possible.
Nintendo must have been gutted when they saw what they had achieved and how popular the game had become in Japan and US.

Music

I haven't yet spoke once about the music in this game but that's about to change. Nobuo Uematsu has composed music for nearly all the FF games to date, he is considered the most famous and respected composers in the industry.

The music you hear after winning a fight is so popular that people claim to hear it after completing activity's in the real world...
It is also used in the movie Final Fantasy - Advent Child when Tifa defeats on of bad guys.
The music through out the game helps set the mood, when a character is sad the music is sad, therefore you feel sad and vice versa.
I think the music is brilliant at helping bring the story alive, as well as the characters emotions and feelings.

Conclusion

FF7 is an astonishing game , storyline tells a epic tale of how one persons hatred of the world almost brings them to destroy it, while the heroes stop this, and destroy evil forever. Or did they?
Every thing just clicks within the game - music , characters and plot: though out the game bonds are created between you and the characters, you become so emotionaly attached you will cry at certain points. I guarantee you that.

Mobile OS's

There are 5 main Mobile OS's :

Simbian
Windows 7 mobile
Android
IOS
Blackberry OS

Simbian is a more older mobile operating system , it is still used in nokia phones today and worldwide is the most used. Most people don't even know they use Symbian. There is not too much information on how to develop apps for the OS, not many apps are released for this OS either.

Windows 7 Mobile could be the next up and coming mobile OS , released earlier this year there are around 32,000 developers producing around 100 apps a day, with only about 9000 apps in total it is  nothing compared to the android marketplace and the itunes app store.

Android is the bright shiny popular OS associated mainly with HTC and Samsung mobiles, it is over taking the IOS in the mobile OS Wars. It is Open Source so is very popular with deveolpers due to accessabilty of app and software development. Due to it being open source many of the apps on the Android marketplace are free this is one of its key selling points.

IOS stands for i-phone operating system , the development software is kept under lock and key to avoid security issues, it cost around £50 (99$) a year just to have access to the SDK. there are around 433,000 apps in the app store , many people are only staying with the IOS is becuase the have invested so much money into apps on the itunes store it would be a pain to have to buy them again for the android ( even if the apps are free on the andriod it is a waste to have bought them and not use them)

Blackberry OS is used in all blackberry phones and is not open source like the ISO, they are mainly used for instant messagning and e-mailing , it is mainly used by business people due to the e-mails.
to aquire apps for the blackberry OS you need to manualy install it to your phone and then connect via the phone or through your computer. It is in decline and is loosing popularity.

Today at Weymouth College , We learned basic tweening and action within Adobe Flash.

We created basic aliens and anitmated theres eyes and mouth , we then used actionscript 2.0 , to write simpe code to make the alien move across the screen.

We also learned more about nesting