T361: Interactive Transmedia Design
Indiana University, Department of Telecommunications
Fall Semester 2007
Tuesday & Thursday (#20696) noon –1:45, TV 250
Instructor
Norbert Herber 855-1798 or nherber at indiana dot edu
Document location: www.indiana.edu/~audioweb/T361
What is interactivity?
An interactive environment is one in which all parties involved can modify and
be modified by the actions of the other participants in real time. Thus if I
am interacting with a computer, the computer will respond differently based
on my responses and my responses will modify the computer's behavior.
What is transmedia?
Transmedia is media that flows through new technologies and alters and is altered
by them. The sound of a flute was initially only obtainable by listening
to someone play a flute. Then we had analog recordings of flute playing.
Now we have digital recordings of flutes playing or we can digitally generate
the sound of a flute playing. Incorporate this into an animated story and
send it out over the Internet: transmedia.
How do we create interactive transmedia?
Flash is one tool for building interactive environments which include most kinds
of traditional media (images, sound, film, voice, etc.). We take something in
one format and move it into another. This makes it different! The goal of this
class is to explore these differences and develop interesting, compelling interactive
environments.
Course information
Interactive Transmedia Design takes what students started in Intro to Interactivity
Media Design and moves things up to the next level. Flash allows you to have
more control over the environment in which the user is placed. Is this a
good thing or a bad thing? It allows for much more sophisticated use of graphic
design, programming, and interactivity. We shall explore the possibilities
offered by this tool.
We shall also examine issues of usability. What is good for the designer might
not be the best thing for the user. How do we maximize our design goals while
still creating an optimized environment for the user?
This class starts with the assumption that you know HTML, elementary Photoshop,
basic Javascript and the basics of pre-production for all media. We assume that
you know nothing about Flash.
Course Objectives
Role of the Student
This will be a difficult class for many of you. It will be difficult because
you will be faced with technically oriented material that you may have never
encountered before. Do not be alarmed. One of the goals of this class is not
only to teach you the material but to teach you to understand the material so
that technical problems are seen as only that: problems.
Problems can be solved. Your best strategy to overcoming technical problems is daily practice.
Spend some time every day of the week working with these materials. This does not mean reading and re-reading
the chapters of our books (though that can be good...) Think about the topics we've discussed, dig through the source
code of a web site you think is interesting, take the time to tweak your web site so that it works perfectly and
looks great, and so on. Repeated exposure to the material is the only way that you will be able to learn, understand,
and master the material we will cover in this course.
Concerning in-class examples:
Many of the examples we consider in class will be very simple and to-the-point. You may see them and think
"This is stupid! I'm never going to do anything like this!" You're probably right. A lot of the examples we consider
are intentionally over-simplified so that they are clear and concise. Ultimately this makes them easier for you to
understand. There will be in-class examples that are there to dazzle you; others will not. Most examples will serve
as the quickest and easiest way to clearly demonstrate the concepts at hand. This means that though something may not
be all that inspiring at first glance, it will have a basic functionality and will allow you to do great things once
you understand how it works and infuse some personal creativity. You must crawl before you can run.
Student Integrity
You are expected to conduct yourself with decorum in this class. Professionalism
and integrity are essential to success in any field. If you haven't started
yet, now is a great time to develop these fundamental attitudes and behaviors.
Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated. Both are grounds for an Academic
Misconduct report and a failing grade. Any questions regarding these policies
can be directed to the Code of Student Rights at
http://dsa.indiana.edu/Code/
All work that you turn in must be your own. In certain situations it may be necessary to borrow from third-party source. Students are allowed to do this only after specific permission has been granted by the instructor. All borrowed work must be cited; no exceptions. Failure to cite borrowed work will be viewed as plagiarism(see above).
The production and discussion of creative work is a large part of this class. Any work or criticism that is offensive or that constitutes harassment of a racial, sexual, ethnic, or religious nature will result in a failing grade.
Mobile phones and pagers must be turned off before entering the classroom.
Attendance
Attendance will be taken for all class periods. To accommodate for scheduling
conflicts and other "surprises" that may occur during the semester, all students
are allowed 2 absences. Your grade will be reduced 2 points (1%) for every unexcused
absence. Unless it is unavoidable, do not schedule medical appointments or interviews
during class or discussion section meeting times.
Students who have true emergencies, life-threatening illnesses, or deaths in the family may be granted excused absences. An excused absence must be supported with written documentation when you return to class. You will be responsible to get missed notes and information from a classmate.
Students observing religious holidays during the semester please see IU's Religious Holidays request form.
Communication
All technical questions pertaining to the class should be referred to t361@oncourse.iu.edu.
All students in the class will be automatically subscribed to this list. It
will provide a lifeline for help when you need it most. We will discuss this
in more detail during class.
All communication with me concerning your progress in the class should be done
in office hours, and either before or after class. If you cannot meet during
my regularly scheduled office hours, send an e-mail to make an appointment.
I am glad to meet with you to discuss class questions and anything else you
find interesting.