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My entry into the world of multimedia began years ago with a summer job as a cell painter for a small animation studio. Armed with a state of the art paintbrush and a white cotton glove to protect the fragile surface of the acetate film, I painstakingly applied color onto the thin plastic sheet being very careful to stay within the animator’s lines. Each piece of acetate, or cell as the animators called it, was then photographed with a movie camera to bring these static drawings to life. It took over 60 cells to produce the 5-second segment for an HBO intro spot that I was working on. The work was very tedious, but seeing the final animation on film was magical.

Now my brushes and paints have been replaced by a computer and a mouse. My work has evolved from animated animals running across the screen to developing dynamic ways of expressing ideas and information. The multimedia tools that we have on campus provide all of us with new communication opportunities for the learning environment.

Currently I like to use Macromedia Flash to generate visual presentations for my classes. Flash is a powerful multimedia tool that allows me to control every aspect of the design so that I can effectively express the content of my presentation. This flexibility allows for the development of both static and dynamic visual representations that enhance the informational experience of the student. I have also incorporated Flash movies into my faculty web site to showcase my students’ work. Since first publishing the site last summer, many of my students have been asking me to show them how to use Flash to create their online portfolio.

This summer I am conducting a series of Flash workshops for the Industrial Design seniors. It is very rewarding to see their enthusiasm as they also discover the magic of multimedia. For our final project, we will be building a site together. Each student will be responsible for the conceptual development of a movie as well as creating a final piece in Flash. In the future I hope to build upon this experience and develop a course that helps students explore the visual language of dynamic representations.