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Slide 1: Interactive Activities in Music Using Macromedia Flash Streaming Audio and Video in Blackboard Dr. Steven Kreinberg Temple University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania kreinberg@temple.edu ATMI / CMS San Antonio, Texas September 2006
Slide 2: What is Flash?   Term is used interchangeably to describe both the authoring tool software and the media player (Flash Player) that displays the published output (.swf files). Optimized for delivery over the Internet using the free, downloadable Flash Player.  Extremely small file sizes enable quick download of content.  Cross platform and cross browser compatible  Content can be embedded or linked (streamed)  Has its own programming language (Actionscript)
Slide 3: Flash Authoring Tool  Enables the development of Rich Internet Applications Audio content (supports .wav, .aiff, .mp3, among others)  Video content (supports .avi, .dv., .mpg, .mpeg, .mov, .wmv, .asf)  Vector and bitmap graphics  Photos and other media (.jpg, .tiff, .pdf among others)   Enables the creation of:      Animations Games User interfaces, such as interactive navigation bars for web sites, animated buttons, hypertext links to content on the Internet audio and video jukeboxes, for example. Flexible messaging areas that change often or over time, such as news items, announcements, and messages. Interfaces with databases for user input and output.
Slide 4: The Flash Player  Flash Player is installed on approximately 97.3% of the world’s Internet-enabled computers. Source: http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer   Content also can be placed on mobile devices, such as mobile phones and PDAs. Flash .swf files can be converted other file formats to enable display on video iPods and other similar devices.
Slide 5: Use in Blackboard  Perfect platform for developing content within Blackboard course tool.       Most students already have Flash Player installed on their computers Cross-platform and cross-browser compatible Fast downloads Interactivity Aurally and visually rich applications Instructor can supplement course text material.
Slide 6: Three Ways to Create Content   Embedding  Creates large file sizes Progressive download Allows linking of media content  Creates smaller file sizes for faster downloads  Allows user choice in selecting the content download   Streaming      Allows linking of media content Creates smaller file sizes for faster downloads Allows user choice in select the content download Does not download any content to the local computer Requires Flash Communication Server
Slide 7: Flash “Components” Ready-made components that minimize or eliminate need to program in Actionscript.  Components already contain the programming code.  Developer can add additional programming, if desired, for further interactivity  MediaPlayback Component (Flash MX2004) and FLV Playback Component (Flash 8) play audio and/or video in .MP3 or .FLV encoded files.  Flash Video Converter, which ships with Flash MX2004 Professional or Flash 8 Professional), converts audio and video content for use within Flash.  QuickTime Pro, Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro (among others) also export to .FLV for use in Flash. 
Slide 8: Navigation Using Components   Labeled Frame CuePoint Navigation Slide CuePoint Navigation
Slide 9: Labeled Frame CuePoint Navigation Demo Graphics Appear on the Next Three Slides
Slide 13: Slide CuePoint Navigation Demo Graphics Appear on the Next Three Slides
Slide 17: How to Encode Audio and Video for Progressive Streaming in Flash   Use the “Flash Video Exporter” that ships with the Flash program 7.2 and higher. Once installed, export files to the .flv format from within Flash, or alternatively from within several popular software packages, such as Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and QuickTime Pro, among several others.
Slide 18: How to Place Flash Progressive Streaming Content in Blackboard  Create content in Flash. Publish the Flash file (.swf) and the HTML container. The Flash .swf file is displayed within the Flash Player, and the HTML page contains the Flash Player. (These publishing options are found in “File > Publish Settings” within Flash). You will end up with two files:  Filename.swf  Filename.html
Slide 19: How to Place Flash Progressive Streaming Content in Blackboard  Create a zipped (.zip) file using any standard compression program, such as WinZip (http://www.winzip.com) that contains the following files:  Filename.swf  Filename.html  ALL of the media files (.mp3 and/or .flv) that your Flash presentation uses as streaming files. (Embedded content does not have to be included here, since it is already contained within the Flash .swf file. You only need to include the streamed content, such as your video files in the .flv format and your audio files in the .mp3 or .flv format).  You will end up with one .zip file that contains all of your Flash, html, .mp3 and .flv files.
Slide 20: How to Place Flash Progressive Streaming Content in Blackboard  Launch Blackboard. Create an Item in one of the Content Areas of your Blackboard site.  To add your Flash content to your Item, click “File to Attach”  Select your .zip file ONLY.  Under “Special Action”, select “Unpackage this file”  Click “Submit” to upload your content to Blackboard.  DO NOT leave this page while your content uploads.  When your content has loaded, Blackboard will list ALL of the files contained in your .zip file.  Select the Filename.html file  Click “Submit” to load this selection.  That’s it! Enjoy your content from within Blackboard.
Slide 21: Finding More Information       Flash  http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/flashpro http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/components.html http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/screens.html http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/video.html Components  Development  Screens  Video  Mutopia Project http://mutopiaproject.org  This is an incredibly rich source of free music in the Public Domain. You can obtain scores in a variety of fomats (including PDF) and MIDI sound files of the music, all of which are downloadable. 