Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Designer

Transcription

1 Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Designer Certification Examination Specification Introduction This is an exam specification for Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Designer. The specification defines the content of the examination and the relevant background and experience needed to become a certified Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Designer. Exam Purpose This examination is based upon the most critical job activities a Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Designer performs. The skills and knowledge certified by this examination represent a professional level of expertise for a certified individual. The critical job activities of a Designer are: Effective planning Visual design implementation Experience design Optimization and publication of application output Background and Experience The test specification is intended to address the knowledge and skill areas that demonstrate competency as a Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Designer. The knowledge level required is defined as having experience with non-code based software that uses visual objects in development and the following general suggested prerequisites: One to two years experience with Macromedia Flash At least six months experience with Macromedia Flash MX and some experience with Macromedia Flash MX One to two years of involvement in Web design, production, and graphics in the full development process in Web site creation. The Macromedia instructor-led training course that will assist in exam preparation is: Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Rich Media Design (2 days). The Macromedia online training that will assist in exam preparation is: Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Fundamental Design with Flash MX 2004 Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Enhancing Functionality Using ActionScript Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Adding Media and Interactivity with Flash MX

2 The skills and knowledge measured by this examination are derived from an understanding of the jobs of current Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Designers. A team of highly qualified Macromedia Flash MX 2004 design experts defined the test content and wrote the test items. Exam Structure The knowledge domains measured by this examination and the extent to which they are represented in the examination are shown in the table below. Domain % of Examination 1.0 Planning 15% 2.0 Visual Design 35% 3.0 Experience Design 30% 4.0 Optimization, Publishing and Workflow 20% Total % Response Limits The examinee selects, from four (4) or more response options, the option(s) that best completes the statement or answers the question. Distracters or wrong answers are response options that examinees with incomplete knowledge or skill would likely choose, but are generally plausible responses fitting into the content area defined by the test objective. Test item formats used in this examination are: Multiple-choice: The examinee selects one option that best answers the question or completes a statement. Multiple-response: The examinee selects more than one option that best answers the question or completes a statement. The question will state how many options are correct, i.e. (Choose two). Sample Directions: Read the statement or question and from the response options, select only the option(s) that represent the most correct or best answer(s) given the information provided. 2

3 Content Limits The basic knowledge and skills required at this level should include all of the following content areas and objective components below. Domain 1.0 Planning This is the planning and conceptualization process of how all the elements of a Flash MX 2004 Designer project and their production come together as a unified application. 1.1 Identify basic requirements in project architecture. Site dimensions, browser / platform capability Site mapping Navigational structure Global / secondary navigation systems Menu structures (drop-down / tabbed, etc.) Site maps / search options Content Static vs. Dynamic content Movie structure loadmovie / Multiple SWF file usage Loading JPGs, FLVs and mp3 s Movie Clips o Referencing a movie clip, instance / variable names o Level and target locations 1.2 Identify basic requirements in page and interface layout. Use of template images Guides / guide layers Alignment panel Rulers Grid 3

4 1.3 Recognize important target audience considerations in usability and accessibility for implementing a Flash MX 2004 designed solution. Flash Player options, such as Magnification (zoom), Printing, Quality settings Compatibility (browser / platform / audience) File size / download time / reusability Legible / resizable text Sound volume on/off Domain 2.0 Visual Design This is the activity of visualization, creation and implementation of text and graphics within a Flash MX 2004 application. 2.1 Recognize effective visual design in building Flash MX 2004 applications using bitmap and vector images. Importing (Freehand / Fireworks) Relative vs. absolute scaling effects Transform Fill / Tiling effects Control points / sub-select tool Symbol / Instance effects Round-trip editing feature Run-time JPEG feature Free transform tool Trace Bitmap Strand C Fill / Strokes Resolution Size Color Color Swatches (custom creating, saving, selecting from) Instance Effects Tint, Alpha, Brightness, etc. Hexadecimal colors / web-safe The Color wheel Dropper tool Color Mixer Gradients Alpha 4

5 2.2 Recognize effective visual design in using text to build Flash MX 2004 applications. Character properties (leading, kerning, justification) Paragraph layout Font Mapping Font families Embedded fonts Device fonts Dynamic text boxes HTML text formatting Calling an external text file (loadvars) Input text boxes / creating forms Serif vs. San serif Text components Scrolling Tabbing Relative vs. Absolute scaling effects Alias vs. Anti-aliased 2.3 Recognize effective use and creation of symbols and buttons in designing the Flash MX 2004 application. Placement / Registration points of an object / snap ring Symbol / instance creation / behavior types Populating UI components Scroll Bar components Skinning components Styling components Swapping symbols Handling assets Buttons 5

6 Domain 3.0 Experience Design This is the creation and implementation activity of interactive elements, such as animated sequences, sound, and video within a Flash MX 2004 application. 3.1 Recognize effective use of ActionScript for creating interactivity in building Flash MX 2004 applications. Using the Button component States button, graphic, movie clip Up, over, down and hit areas With sound Animated Basic actions stop, gotoandplay (Stop), geturl, loadmovie Calling different timelines / movie clips Attaching ActionScript to timelines Timeline defined events Sound completion event Movie Clip properties Use of frame labels Defining events _parent 3.2 Recognize effective animation and media design in building Flash MX 2004 applications. Creating a Video object Video components Embedded Linked FLV files Masking Sound Sound Completion event / volume control Basic sound editing features Streaming sound Event sound 6

7 Strand C Animation Tweening (Shape and Motion) Animating with ActionScript enterframe setinterval Keyframes, blank keyframes, frames, etc / editing of Scale / rotation / translation of objects, instances Masking / transitional effects Strand D Animation Distribute to Layers Breaking Text apart Path (motion guide) Use of 3D elements Ease-in / Ease-out Frame by frame Onion Skinning Duplicating Timeline Layers Domain 4.0 Optimization and Publishing This is the process activity of creating efficient, streamlined productions and their workflow implications in a Flash MX 2004 application. 4.1 Recognize effective publishing and output design approaches and their use in building Flash MX 2004 applications. Bandwidth profiler Protect from import Size report Pre-loaders HTML code for SWF embedding and posting- <OBJECT>, <EMBED> tags Publish Settings formats Flash, HTML, GIF, JPEG, Mac/ PC projectors (executables) 7

8 4.2 Recognize effective optimization considerations in building Flash MX 2004 applications. Image compression GIF, PNG, JPEG compression lossy vs. lossless Use of Fireworks / PNG file format Vector optimization Video compression / formats / size MPEG, etc MOV AVI Sound compression / formats AIF (Mac) WAV (PC) ADPCM MP3 Raw Libraries Author time & runtime sharing Library folders /options Shared Libraries 8