Fixturemedia Blog - Director : Michael Kirch

Moving out of the Actionscript and into AJAX mobile

2011-12-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

So having moved into a host of new AJAX applications in the last 12 months I am finding the suite of applications and IDEs supporting AJAX/JQuery development improving out of site. I have been building MVC front end prototypes with AXURE.com and cleaning out implementations for delivery of slick and very animated looking front ends while also using a range of live platform testing via Live View in Dreamweaver to deliver framework driven content via platforms such as EXO.

Fixturemedia's current production schedule is involved in a long term delivery of assistance learning and developmentatl devices to equip the disabilities sector for a NSW based NGO. There are lots of challenges in this type of project not the least being stitching together 5 child apps under the EXO umbrella.

MidnightCoder's WebORB data messaging proxy looking like a good solution for a current mobile implementation which will need to roll out to multidevice Android and in the new year iPhone. Having moved further away from ActionScript to AJAX for mobile, it is good to see some of the better features like real time data and binding making their way into JavaScript applications.

For a sneak peek please look at jeenee.org.au, however we are still in prototype but on course for release next June July.

Canoeing == Ready for the changing landscape

2011-09-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

So just back from 6 days of canoeing and bush hiking in Katherine Gorge Nitmiluk National Park. A totally amazing time, very harsh environments often bring about some amazing reflections. Anyone who is into their hiking and tramping will attest to this.

On my return I am now sliding into further User Experience research and development work which looks to be keeping me busy for the next year or so. Very exciting.

It is seeing me diverge away from contiguous UI development for multiple platforms using flash and looking at other tools that might not have as many bugs. It does crash a lot on Mac OSX Snow Leopard. So... I am now really getting into both http://www.Axure.com and also http://www.appcelerator.com

Q: Has ADOBE done enough with CS 5.5 as a cross platform developing in Flash IDE . Even with the accompaniment of Flash Builder 4.5? Industry response does not quite tell me so.

However no doubt there are still some agencies out their milking the high earning potential of double dipping on development cross platform.... well death to them!

Multiple platform development in one IDE ... the real question, which one!

BTW
Something else I have been looking at with a keen eye ... thinking processors, do they equal AI?

Back in the Consulting seat... 2011

2011-08-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

After a few years in house with Hyro Services my return to consulting work 2011 has seen a fairly busy and steep. Surprisingly it has also been broader in also being part of enterprise application development and IA/UX management.

So rather than rabble on about Flash Builder and development I thought I regularly discuss some of the new tools out there that I Have been using.

AXURE ... for wire-framing and documentation it is quite the application. Really pretty spectacular in what one can do quickly to nut out some prototype linkage and logic. I also ran it through some W3C tests the other day to see how it faired and actually only about 5 errors, not bad considering. Axure.com ... worth the download and trial for certain. Any enterprise client will love you for it.

The Fixturemedia.com website is going through another rebirth at the moment. Really needed it.

It is going to be a good year to change focus and look further into the tablet and continuous integration of multi-platform output for apps.... currently testing Flash CS5.5 > HTML5 > iOS > Andriod > Flash Player... and AIR. Results not yet confirmed.

Also EXT JS a sench product for MVC style development on larger consolidated UIs.... so far looks promising.

fixturemedia.com

Flash CS4/Flex 3D coverflow production Jan - March 2009

2009-04-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

The 3D Cover-flow represented here [http://fixturemedia.com] is a class driven implementation representing the use of nested library images loading into programmatically drawn circles. These in turn represented in programmatically drawn faces of the 3D Box object Class. This is an adaptation of the ADOBE CS4 samples content for AS3and of course published for Flash Player 10.

Rendering Bitmaps in 3D in Flash CS4 has become a simpler part of the creative process for production of custom cover-flows. Here the mouse driven movement simply demonstrates the use of the Z Axis variables that designers now have at their disposal.

Further 3D and sample content is available in the Custom Components section of the site.

http://fixturemedia.com/html/components.html

Pro-Bono unfortunately doesn't have much to do with music in a recession!

2009-04-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

My next entry while still belated has a very current flavour to it. Perhaps it is even somewhat before its time, as the global economy enters into a fuller downturn day by day.

A week and a half ago I sat here at the terminal doing some design on a Flash 3D implementation and contacting new clients, when I am emailed a request by a development house in North Sydney asking for work on a pro-bono basis... for a quotation on an air application, not only wanting me to work pro-bono but also under NDA.

For a touch of scene setting, this was a company who's owner and MD had broken contract with a HR agent after getting me up for not one but a two interview process to then offer me 'future consideration' in my specialty area, Flash and Flex development. A pity the two interviews were in diguised as full time positions.

Wow... What an opportunity I thought! A chance to work for nothing and not even own the rights to my ideas at the end of it. How exciting, years of training, up-skilling, management training and good siness practice behaviour, have come to this... what a great place the open market is in hard times.

As I have mentioned before hard times bring about some of the worst behaviour in people. So I can now say NO TO PRO-BONO ... unless for a good cause of course.

This was definitely not the freshest web moment I have ever had.

E-Learning, Flash and at least some project management?

2009-03-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

So far a year of odd contractor bits and pieces work.

It is already March 09 and with the economic crisis hitting home world wide many contractors and consultants alike will have already been set aside in the initial round of budget cuts. So what is the Fixture Media story this year.

So far some appalling legacy Flash work from a E-Learning provider. Brisbane based this provider had purchased CDROM content that even though written in 2007 was in Action Script 1. We were brought in at the last minute of a phase 1 production that had been ill advised from the get go by one of the "Yes I can do it if I lie about it!" Flash imposters out there in contractor land.

After a few rounds of "who made that decision" things started to move in the right direction. I must admit, out of this a newly found appreciation for a field that I have not done a lot of work in over the last few years. Learning Management systems and content delivery, the dreaded LMS. The culprit was Moodle, an open source PHP LMS platform with quite a few interesting contruibutors and a host of plugins.

I recommend you have a read of anything Mat Bury does, he seems knowledgable and well across the limits of the Moodle platform, particularly when it comes to Flash integration.

Not to say too much more or mention any names but some of the Flash development houses in Brisbane seem to have gotten away with quite a bit. Be careful if working with Flash development. Clients should always use an inhouse consultant who can actually produce specifications and requirements documentation, as a measure of risk mitigation if nothing else.

There are standards out there in the world of IT production... will anyone ever find them in Flash development!