Interactive Web-Based Systems - Assignment Example

? Brunel Business School Bachelor of Science Interactive Web-based Systems MODULE MG2131 Final Due 31st August 12:00pm noon (online) Overall weighting for this assignment: 60% Aim For this assignment you will adopt the role of a multimedia author in a small company. Your employers have decided to produce an interactive web-based system to illustrate the assembly of one or more of their product(s). You have been assigned the authoring task using Adobe Flash. Objectives Your web-based system will allow users to learn each of the stages in assembly of the product by clicking on images and text. There must be at least four stages. It should include images of the product or products as well as the name of the company. There should be several interactions, as well as sound effects (audio feedback) and music. It should also include various types of animation. The company can be a real firm or entirely imaginary. You will need to: Find examples of Flash movies on the Web Start a blog on u-Link to record your development process Post to your blog a source of suitable media elements on the Web Post to your blog the addresses of specific media elements within that or another source Post to your blog a storyboard for your package, including the four or more assembly stages Construct your package in Flash, recording your progress on your blog (minimum 15 posts on different days) Create a shockwave version that will run on the web Write a short report on your final system Your package must include credits which acknowledge the sources of all the media elements as well as yourself as the author. Credits must give the author, company, year, and URL/reference for every single media element you use from elsewhere. Each element must be clearly identified. Credits should be given in Harvard Style within the package. Restrictions The size of the shockwave package (not the Flash file) must be less than 10MB (and preferably less than 5 MB) The Stage size is of your own choosing, but must not exceed 640 X 480 pixels The final shockwave file must run in a web browser on a computer that does not have Flash installed Animated GIFs may not be used as media elements (as the default Shockwave installation does not support them) There must be at least five interactions You must include at least five separate scripts in ActionsScript, written yourself Tasks You have the freedom to design the interactive web-based system any way you like provided you take full account of the objectives, tasks and restrictions. You may choose to have just a single screen with in-page animations and interactivity, or you may choose to have a series of several different screens. Your proposal must precisely identify each of the media elements you intend to use (sounds, graphics), the interactive features, and the overall structure. Details of the tasks which need to be undertaken to complete the aims and objectives for this assignment are as follows: Find Examples of Flash Movies Search the Web for examples of shockwave Flash animations and post the page's URL to the "Flash Examples" discussion topic. If this topic has not been created, you should ask your module tutor to create it. You must post a link to a different animation than those previously posted. These examples can be used to give everyone ideas for their own projects. You must post your example at the very latest by the Proposal and Flash Examples deadline given above. Start a Blog You start a blog by making a post in the blog area of the discussions on u-Link. A blog is an online diary of your progress in developing your system. You are expected to make a minimum of 15 posts on different days, describing problems you face, how you overcome them, and things you learn about using Flash. Post your Sources You must locate one website giving access to a range of sounds or graphics that you think would be a suitable source of media elements for your web package. Post the name and address to your blog. Locate Media Elements You should identify particular sounds or images from your chosen media source or from other sources e.g. a breaking glass sound from www.soundarchive.com/effects/glass.wav. These will form part of your proposal. Just saying "I will use a sound effect" or "I will use a breaking glass sound" is not acceptable. You must identify exactly where the sound can be downloaded. You may choose to use different elements later as your implementation progresses - you don't have to stick to those specified in the proposal. Post the URL of each media element to your blog. This is just an initial list – you can use other media elements later if you choose. Post a Storyboard Your outline or written storyboard should be less than 200 words plus the list of media elements and their locations. It should clearly identify the format of each interaction involved in your package. Your proposal must be posted as a normal blog posting and not as an attachment. Construct your Flash Movie You should download all your media elements before you begin construction in Flash. You may also choose to create your own media elements in Flash or with other multimedia software. Most of your efforts should go in to constructing your movie, but don't forget that about one third of the marks are allocated to your report and blog. There are many tips about construction of Flash movies in the Virtual Lectures and Lab Exercises. You may also wish to take a look at Adobe’s own website (http://www.adobe.com/). Create the Shockwave version Having produced a multimedia web system in Flash, you must publish it as a shockwave movie (".swf" file). You will need to test this to take into account the requirements of web delivery. It is a good idea to try this out as your project progresses rather than waiting to the very end. It is primarily the shockwave file that will be assessed (although you must submit both ".fla" and ".swf" files) so you must ensure that this version works well outside of Flash. Write a Report You should write a report (500-1000 words) on the construction of your chosen multimedia web system. This should be in Word 2007 or Word 2008 XML format (.docx). The report should explain the basic ideas behind the subject matter, describe examples from the Flash movie, provide full Harvard style bibliographic references, and give a critical conclusion pointing to improvements. It should not contain information about problems you encountered – these should be recorded in your blog. In your conclusion, avoid giving a "wish list" of extra features and concentrate on how things might have been done differently with the hindsight of experience. The references should be for all the publications you consulted in the process of completing the assignment. You do not need to acknowledge all the media elements in this report: this should be done on the credit screen of the movie itself. The report should not describe what happens when your movie is run: it should concentrate on the work that is not obvious from simply running your movie. You should use it as an opportunity to draw attention to aspects which took extra effort to develop or fix. You should also use the report to demonstrate your assimilation of the teaching material where appropriate. You should not feel obliged to document every single aspect of your movie - just the important bits. You tutor will attach your blog to this report for assessment purposes. Submission Details You need to submit a Flash CS3 file, Shockwave file, and Word XML (.docx) file for assessment. Submissions using other versions of Flash are not acceptable. The three files must be submitted electronically through the assignment tool. Do not email your files as this will appear as a non-submission. Since Flash movies are typically very large, it may take some time for you to complete submission of your movie. If possible do this from an Ethernet network connection such as the Brunel network (cable/broadband is slow to upload). Late submissions will be subject to the usual capping process (see Handbook). You are strongly advised to review the University's regulations regarding plagiarism and the guidelines recommended in the Virtual Lectures and Handbooks. Assessment Details The assignment is worth 60% of the overall marks for this module. The marks for the assignment itself are allocated as follows: Blog 20% The Director movie 60% The Report 20% Please enter here the marking scheme relevant for the coursework and provide an illustration of each assessment criterion achieved at each of the grade descriptor for UG/PG levels. UG grades and marks bands are: A (70% and above), B (60-69%), C (50-59%), D (40-49%), E/F (39% and below) System (60%) Grade Range Criteria A >70 Includes a variety of animation types, is highly interactive, extensive use of audio feedback and well-integrated music. The system should appear very “polished” and give the impression of mastery of the relevant aspects of Flash, beyond the supplied exercises. B 60-69 Includes a variety of animation types, is highly interactive, extensive use of audio feedback and well-integrated music. The system may not be “polished”, but gives the impression of mastery of the basic aspects of Flash. C 50-59 Includes a variety of animation types, is fairly interactive, uses some audio feedback and music. The system should give the impression of good attempt at implementing the relevant aspects of Flash but without mastery. D 40-49 Meets the basic requirements of incorporating animation, interactivity, feedback and music, but the provision is minimal. E 30-39 Is severely lacking in one or more of the following areas: animation, interactivity, feedback, music. F 70 Has an excellent report style, references which go beyond the supplied reading list, does an excellent job at relating the implementation to theory, gives a critical appraisal of the project and system with suggestions for future work. B 60-69 Has a very good report style, several references, does a good job at relating the implementation to theory, gives a critical appraisal of the project and system although has room for improvement. C 50-59 Has a basic report style, at least two references, has basic attempt at relating the implementation to theory, gives an appraisal of the project and system lacking criticality. D 40-49 Has a basic report style, at least one reference, has little or no attempt at relating the implementation to theory, makes basic suggestions for improvement,. E 30-39 Is severely lacking in one of the following areas: report style, referencing or reference list, description of system, suggestions for improvement, exceeds the minimum or maximum word count. F 70 Shows excellent reflections, is regularly updated, above average number of high quality postings, exemplary use of the technology. B 60-69 Shows very good reflections, is frequently updated, above average number of genuine postings. C 50-59 Shows good reflections, is updated, contains an average number of genuine blog postings. D 40-49 Shows some reflection, is updated, contains less than average number of genuine blog postings. E 30-39 Shows little reflection, is rarely updated, contains much less than average number of genuine postings. F Read More