HSC - Multimedia - Help Required

[ss_11000]

Hi guys,

I am currently doing the "Research" section of my HSC Major Project Portfolio for Multimedia Industries. I intend to create a website which teaches viewers about the game of hockey. I will include video's, pictures and other hockey related content.

But...right now, I need to research different types of websites to find what I like and what I dont like. I will be looking at:

• How they were made (Flash or otherwise)
• Their layout
• Navigation
• Colour schemes

etc etc.

I would be very appreciative if you can post links to ANY website that you think has a good layout, navigation etc etc. They do not have to be hockey related because I am just trying to get an idea of what I like and dont like in a website.

Also, if you have any links to hockey websites that have:

• Video's showing specific skills. eg, dragging a ball, dribbling, hitting etc
• simple explanations of the rules
• etc, etc.

Can you please post the links to them.

Please note that this thread/topic will be going into my portfolio so please make sure of the links you post and also of the content of your post (no swearing etc).

Cheers

[Stuart]

I might be able to think of one...


www.stusshed.com

Uses free online blogging software: www.wordpress.com
Videos hosted (again for free) through http://blip.tv These are then crossposted directly into the primary website (Stu's Shed)

The videos can be either inline, or a separate popup window based on options you choose. I then submit the RSS feed to www.feedburner.com, then submit the resulting iTunes-ready feed to iTunes to have the videos simultaneously available as a podcast.

For the Wordpress website, there are a number of different themes available, or if you know CSS, you can create your own. You can also have a chronological blog and/or static pages.

I know it isn't "bake-you-own", but these days there are more and more of these ready-to-cook forms of website creations out there, so it becomes time economical to go with one of these solutions.

[Waldo]

G'day Stirlo,

Might be pricey for a lad in your circumstances, but Adobe CS4 now lets you make swf and Flash files directly from InDesign CS4, the result a full blown interactive website with no need to know any programming whatsoever, but you may not know IDCS3.

http://tv.adobe.com/#pd+InDesign

(at last I can get my website going instead of waiting for my developer to do it )

[ss_11000]

Thanks guys. Just to let you know, I do not have much skill in the way of programming but thats not to say I cant learn

www.stusshed.com
........

Thanks Stu for explaining how you created your websiteI'll take it on board and have a think about how I will go about doing my project. I'm not 100% sure on this but I have a feeling that every thing I have on my webpage (except for outside links) should be able to be put onto an autorun CD so effectively, you do not need internet connection to view my site I will check this with my teacher though because I am not 100% sure.

..........

http://tv.adobe.com/#pd+InDesign

.....

Waldo, If I can justify the costs of it and prove that the schools software isn't capable or only has indirect ways of doing something that I want - Then the school will most likely pay for the software because other students may want to use it and it will be handy for them to have it anyway. I'll check it out and see what it can do and see if it is the type of software that I want to use.

Cheers

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I'm not 100% sure on this but I have a feeling that every thing I have on my webpage (except for outside links) should be able to be put onto an autorun CD so effectively, you do not need internet connection to view my site I will check this with my teacher though because I am not 100% sure.

That would surprise me... it's hard enough to generate a webpage that looks good under all browsers - as compared to "just IE" or "just Firefox" - let alone throw in expectations of an autorun CD.

Creating such a thing that autoboots & performs correctly under Linux, Windoze and MacOS should be considered extra-curricular activity and earn bonus points. (it is, after all, a different aspect of 'puting that's unrelated to the web per se)

Or would they be saying "the web page has to look good but the rest of the project can be of lower standards"?

[Waldo]

There is also the option of saving a Flash based website and rather than being compatible with eg. Flash 10 that it's Adobe Air compatible also, this means that once downloaded the user can access it anywhere off-line and still retain all the functions of it as a website without having to have a web browser on your puter.

http://www.adobe.com/products/air/

[Sebastiaan56]

Stirlo,

Waldo is right about CS4 for versatility. Student versions of CS4 are available and they are considerably cheaper than the full blown ones. A$3370 for Deign Premium ....

A friend of mine is a developer, he links his work to his homepage. He does mostly commercial sites but he has a great layout artist who understands impact. There may be some ideas for you there. Here is his website www.web105.com

There are plenty of web developers out there, google them, Im sure you will get ideas, and the best ideas are always adapted by other designers.

[AlexS]

Stirlo, I'll PM you a link from work on Friday. It's a USGS training site, but it's one of the best I've seen - text, video clips, audio and self-tests. No idea how it was made, though.

[ss_11000]

That would surprise me... it's hard enough to generate a webpage that looks good under all browsers - as compared to "just IE" or "just Firefox" - let alone throw in expectations of an autorun CD.

Creating such a thing that autoboots & performs correctly under Linux, Windoze and MacOS should be considered extra-curricular activity and earn bonus points. (it is, after all, a different aspect of 'puting that's unrelated to the web per se)

Or would they be saying "the web page has to look good but the rest of the project can be of lower standards"?

I will ask the question because what you've said does make more sense

There is also the option of saving a Flash based website and rather than being compatible with eg. Flash 10 that it's Adobe Air compatible also, this means that once downloaded the user can access it anywhere off-line and still retain all the functions of it as a website without having to have a web browser on your puter.

http://www.adobe.com/products/air/

that looks interesting do you recommend Downloading the free Adobe AIR SDK ›

Stirlo,

Waldo is right about CS4 for versatility. Student versions of CS4 are available and they are considerably cheaper than the full blown ones. A$3370 for Deign Premium ....

A friend of mine is a developer, he links his work to his homepage. He does mostly commercial sites but he has a great layout artist who understands impact. There may be some ideas for you there. Here is his website www.web105.com

There are plenty of web developers out there, google them, Im sure you will get ideas, and the best ideas are always adapted by other designers.

Thanx for the link. I will use that one and some of the sites the company has made (along with many others including stu's shed), in my 'analysis of websites'



Question: I have pretty good skills in Dreamweaver CS (I think thats the version the school has - I will check) and alright skills in FLASH and pinnacle studio.
Is CS3 or CS4 a whole lot better for creating webpages and flash animations/pages etc. Also, can you reccomend a better (relatively cheap) program than pinnacle studio to edit video footage with?

[ss_11000]

Stirlo, I'll PM you a link from work on Friday. It's a USGS training site, but it's one of the best I've seen - text, video clips, audio and self-tests. No idea how it was made, though.

Thanx Alex

[Waldo]

Question: I have pretty good skills in Dreamweaver CS (I think thats the version the school has - I will check) and alright skills in FLASH and pinnacle studio.
Is CS3 or CS4 a whole lot better for creating webpages and flash animations/pages etc. Also, can you reccomend a better (relatively cheap) program than pinnacle studio to edit video footage with?

Stirlo, a hell of a lot easier, they've made intergration across work flows very intuitive and sooo simple so that dummies like me don't have to worry about coding.

I might sound like a Adobe rep, but I've been watching some online seminars fro Adobe CS4 (currently running CS3) and I'm upgrading as soon as I can as my productivity will jump leaps and bounds as well as being able to do more in-house than farm out to external sources.

[chrisb691]

Can't say if this is good, or bad, as I'm biassed. However, it does serve it's purpose. I got a basic free template set from the internet, and then modified it to suit. All coding was done using notepad.

[ss_11000]

Stirlo, a hell of a lot easier, they've made intergration across work flows very intuitive and sooo simple so that dummies like me don't have to worry about coding.

I might sound like a Adobe rep, but I've been watching some online seminars fro Adobe CS4 (currently running CS3) and I'm upgrading as soon as I can as my productivity will jump leaps and bounds as well as being able to do more in-house than farm out to external sources.

Hmmm, I will have to see what my teacher thinks about the school upgrading.

Can't say if this is good, or bad, as I'm biassed. However, it does serve it's purpose. I got a basic free template set from the internet, and then modified it to suit. All coding was done using notepad.

Overall, I think your site isnt too bad but like you said, it does serve its purpose.
From a multimedia point of view, I would have to say its basic. But I do think I should include a few sites like yours so I can show the markers that I know the difference between a complex and basic website.

[Waldo]

From a multimedia point of view, I would have to say its basic. But I do think I should include a few sites like yours so I can show the markers that I know the difference between a complex and basic website.

G'day Stirlo,

If you have to show content rich sites, then sites like Adobe would have to be way up there.

[ian]

Hi guys,

I am currently doing the "Research" section of my HSC Major Project Portfolio for Multimedia Industries. I intend to create a website which teaches viewers about the game of hockey. I will include video's, pictures and other hockey related content.

But...right now, I need to research different types of websites to find what I like and what I dont like. I will be looking at:

• How they were made (Flash or otherwise)
• Their layout
• Navigation
• Colour schemes

snip

Stirlo, don't take the following as a deliberate negative,

as a user of your proposed site, I couldn't care less what YOU like or don't like in a site

It's far more important how the site performs and appeals to ME and other potential users

In my opinion
• down load speed – you might design the front page for a dial-up connection (as the default) and then allow the user to select their connection – Dial-up, ADSL, Cable, etc (unless of course, the site software can automaticly determine the connection type) when it comes to watching videos or downloading content
• I hate sites that scroll across the page – select a default screen resolution (say 1280 x 1024) and then stick to it
I'm quite happy to scroll down a page
• colour schemes. A significant proportion of the population is colour blind — typically red-green — so you would want to avoid these colours
• site engine – don't be cutting edge, or too tricky, as anyone with an older computer wont be able to view the content
• I like PDF down loads, but size them for both A4 and US quarto(?)
• navigation — I like really really obvious click on links



ian