Project 1 called DUST

I agree with Bulma that Flash seems tricky after being so familiar with Photoshop. W hat was the hardest for me was merge-shapes versus object drawing, though in the end I mostly stuck with object drawing because it didn’t keep hiding everything behind the merge object. At one point I decided I was just going to use layers as the objects and shapes were beginning to frustrate me. When I searched for the layers window as I would do in Photoshop, I couldn’t even find it. So the final outcome still remains as one layer. I think merge objects would be great for creating logos or even objects that are animated and need to be disassembled or pieced together on video. Object drawing was great for creating shapes that touch other shapes as in the cactus in my project. The dog/deer glyph was created with the pen tool. At first I thought it would be easier to just use the brush but after trying each out the pen tool was by far superior. To begin I just did a square resemblance of the shape I wanted, then I went in and used the move tool (v) and the carat tool (c) using the bevier handles to push the lines around and make it curved where once was square.

I used the pencil tool on its default setting to create the outline of the cactus' shadow, then filled it in with a super low alpha setting on the brush after eye dropping (i) the color of the "ground" so the shadow would fade into the side. I LOVE the brush tool. I also used it in the cactus lines and on the text. I, by far, preferred the brush tool over the pencil tool. I think I even prefer the pen tool above the pencil. Though I used the pencil tool in my project in parts, including some of the background mountains, I have yet to learn or experience a time when the pen tool and brush are less useful than the pencil. Admittedly, my experience in Flash resides only in the length of this class so far. I think if I were to go back and try to recreate the same image again from scratch, I’d learn new ways and strategies and most likely just as much as I did the first time around.