Last Lab

Lab 10--the final lab :-) has been posted to the folowing link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/lab10.html.

I used the image I plan on using for my final project (an IRS ResourceSat satellite image of the Chesapeake Bay) to start fine-tuning how I will get my final project to work. I again had problems with buttons--the only ones I could get to work properly were the pre-made Flash ones, and the ones I already had made in previous labs. I also experimented with using portions of the image as the "button" to zoom into that area of the image, but I could not get it to work. I will keep fiddling with it when I work on the project. The camera tool worked very well--I was impressed with how easy it was to make a "movie" using the pre-made file.

Tufte Articles

Tufte's articles (Data Density and Small Multiples; and Aesthetics) provide great insight into map design, even though they are more concerned with how to present numerical data. His main point in the Data Density article is how to show a lot of data in a small space. In order to keep this balance, he asserts that it is best to present a summary of your data in a graphic since it helps keep it simple. He also touches on the importance/limitations of how the particular graphic will be printed or resized in publication as this can have a bearing on how the product is designed.

The Aesthetics article again asserts simplicity--that it is best to show complex data in a simple format. He highlights the importance of adding words and text to pictures and graphics, and discusses design elements such as the importance of using thin lines/borders, and to utilize the horizontal horizon effect for long data sets and lines.

Lab9

I finally got Lab9 up and running! It can be found at the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/stub.html. From here, you can get to my four maps. Since my first one was of Malta, my remaining maps are all of Malta to keep up the theme, so that it became, more or less, a Malta map site. I had some trouble with the loading screen/animation. I could not get the triangle to move along with the loading no matter how I tried it. I even tried a motion tween, but it did not seem to work. I'm just happy that the percentages and number of bytes went up as it loaded.

I also had some trouble with the "home" button actually. I tried to make one using just the word "home", but it didn't seem to work no matter how I tweaked it. I finally switched to an already-made button in the Flash Library and it worked on my first try! I am happy with how easy it was to keep the interactivity on all 4 maps--just by changing the basemaps and naming each instance "myMap", I was able to keep the zoom/pan on all maps with no changes in the coding.

Lab 8

My Lab 8 has been posted to the following link: http://mason.gmu.edu/~alechner/Lab8.html. I had trouble getting the up, down, left, right coding to work properly. I finally just copied the coding that was used for the zoom in/out buttons, except that I changed the button names, and changed it from _xscale/_yscale to _x/_y. It seems to work and gets the job done.

Another issue with this one is that all the objects on the stage (buttons, titles, etc.) "move" with the pan and zooming so that they eventually end up on the map itself, making it hard to read. It would be great if there was a way to "lock" the other objects or the map so that it is the only thing that moves. Otherwise, this process worked suprisingly well.