Re: Web Animation and Sound Advice Sought

Dr Zen wrote:

"$Zero" <zero@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> led the charge, yelling:
Dr Zen wrote:
"$Zero" <zero@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> led the charge, yelling:
Dr Zen wrote:
"$Zero" <zero@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> led the charge, yelling:

Web Animation and Sound Advice Sought

anyone here got any tips on adding animation and
sound to your website?

i'm looking for the simplest way possible.

using raw HTML coding (windows notepad-generated).

Do you know any DHTML?

not yet. just basic HTML.

No JS at all?

JS = Java Script?

Yeah.

Jah.

nope. not yet.

Sal gave me some links awhile back, but i haven't had a
chance to look into them yet.

Do it. You can't make what you want without it.

I challenge you on that assertion, but... nevertheless...


You need some JS to do what you're after, I think.

what's the usual learning curve with Java Script?

Steep.

Steep.


a couple days? i'm a quick study, mind you.

The basics, maybe.

Well, that applies to almost anything. Do you think that someone of my
vast Unicornian intelligence could learn what I need to know in order
to create an animation with a sound file in a couple of days? My guess
is yes, since I checked out some sites last night demonstrating how to
make swf files, of course they were using some prepackaged software,
but...still.

especially with software/programming stuff.

Do you know any scripting languages? Visual Basic?

Yes. I know something very similar to Visual Basic.


i handcode in microsoft notepad text files.

Yes, so do I.

i'm sure there's some cool advantages to using suff like
adobe pro-live and whatnot, but i like keeping things simple.

You would only have to check it if you used a program.

True. But I don't feel like committing to a program just yet. I've
been down that route. You get locked in and then you find that you're
locked into a fricken' nightmare. All that time spent probing the
depths of the program's capacity (years and yeqars) only to discover a
few years down the road that the company who makes it are losers and
nitwits.

OTOH, I've had just the opposite experience as well. I'm just not in
the mood to flip that coin right now, unless I have to. Of course,
it'd be easier to make that choice if all the techies around here were
a bit more generous with their recommendations, but, then this wouldn't
be mw, would it?

i have a brandnew copy of Frontpage still shrinkwrapped in the
box, but i'd rather build things from the ground up. it helps
my creativity develop.

It's up to you how you do it but without JS, you're not going
to do it.

i seem to remember some sort of "flash" option in the early HTML
stuff, years ago.

Learning flash would be harder than learning JS.

I'm thinking the old HTML feature that I was thinking about was called
"blink", not "flash". Are you talking about flash macromedia or some
such?

it'd be hard to imagine that there's no way to do it without java.

Java's different.

How so? And who sells a good interface for it?

But maybe. I haven't kept up with that stuff.

You cannot do it without JS.

Bzzzt. But I don't doubt that Java is a good way to go.

i was considering buying Dreamweaver, etc., but right now i
just want to handcode it all.

here's what i'm trying to accomplish:

upon someone landing on my website, i want to:

1] automatically toggle a few jpegs

Easy.

i would assume so. but what are the tags for it?

There aren't any. You'll have to use JS.

Maybe. It's probably more efficient, I'd imagine.

No. It's simply impossible to do what you want using plain HTML.

Not impossible, just very awkward. For the enduser, especially.

can i get them at w3schools.com? probably.

but which ones would YOU recommend?

Have a look at the code for my blog. It picks quotes. You'd use
similar code for a slideshow of images.

ok.

Do you mean pick one at random or go through a slideshow
type thing. Either way, it's easy enough.

slideshow.

though naturally, i'd like to know the other as well.

2] have a sound file play in the background

Easy. But fucking annoying. Don't do it.

[why was it] annoying?

Because anything that makes a noise or flashes is annoying on
a website. Music is particularly annoying. If you insist,
include a highly visible way of switching it off. Personally,
I immediately *** off any website that makes uninvited music
at me.

Oh, I see what you're saying. me too.

Well then!

Well, my sound wqasn't going to obnoxious or anything, so I didn't even
consider that dynamic, but still, it would be the polite way to go, I
suppose. Like for browsers who had their volume cranked up all the way
and didn't realize it. They'd blame me.

Yeah, I'll probably put a launch animation/.mov button.

anyway, this is for a multimedia type presentation.

audio is a good thing in that circumstance.

Not if it's unbidden.

Agreed. I rememeber Josh using an annoying link like that once.

Josh is annoying enough without music.

He never really annoyed me until that one link. It was rude and
obnoxious. His writing is just exhausting sometimes. In which case,
I'd just skim it quickly, if at all. But he is pretty bright, despite
himself.


automatically, as soon as someone lands on the site.

also, i'd like to use very low resource-hog ways to do
this in order to be compatible with as many browsers/
users as possible. unless, are broadband connections
the only feasible way for soundfiles?

Not if the soundfiles are very low fi.

how low? what frequency range? like telephone quality?

Very low. It's not to do with frequency but to do with sample
quality.

Right. The word escaped me. Like how you can choose which
sampling quality you want when you burn your CDs into mp3 files.

Yes, exactly.

Which is pretty similar effect-wise to limiting the frequency range.

As low as possible so that the resulting file is very small.

A simple melody with a voiceover. No need for high fi.

A midi file might do it.

Are midi files pretty much universally readable? I have a few
midi-generating programs laying around.


that'd be fine.

yes, i know, research it myself. i am.

i'm just looking for a few tips from anyone here who
already has some experience in it.

i'm entering a contest with prize money, etc. so,
anyone who wants to go partners with me is welcome
to come aboard for all the fun (and possible splitting
of any prizes) -- or you can just offer me a few tips
just for the heck of it, because you're so generous
and helpful and whatnot.

i have a really neat idea for this thinger.

-$Zero... SoThanksInAdvance... ForAnyUsefulTipsYouMightHave...

You need to be a bit clearer about what you want.

see above. and thanks.

i'm entering the HuffPo contest.

http://cf.huffingtonpost.com/

Yeah, look, I can't be bothered reading that.

It's not novel length or anything.

Can you tell me what you're trying to do in a couple of sentences?

Make people laugh. and think. Win a creativity contest.

And promote my new website business while doing so.

Well, good luck to you.

Thanks.

Of course, not knowing how to do JS is really
going to put a crimp in your website prospects.

No. I could always delegate it. But I like the hands-on approach.

Anyway, not everybody has Java fully enabled on their browsers -- I
don't -- on several of my computers.

Regardless, Java is not a prerequisite for web-project success by any
means.


-$Zero... CreativityIsNeverPlatformDependent...


"gorgeous doesn't care
what anyone else is doing.
gorgeous trumps everything."
-- Willem Dafoe
[narrating a car commercial (2005)]


http://www.blurbees.com

w9773

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