I am interested in combining Flash and Dreamweaver within my site. Does this make sense or should I decide on one or the other? How could I include a Flash document?
Definitely would love to know how to incorporate Movable Type.
Does it make sense for a Junior to get webspace? Is it expensive?

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I agree with Carolin, I'm debating on which to use for my website...I wasn't sure if both were possible.
I would like to learn about actionscript and go over the ones that would be used most and work best...and a few crazy ones would be good too!
I also have a concern about the size of my webspace through NCSU...I recently tried to add stuff to it and it didnt show up.

for both colleen and carolin, i think you both should consider combining html and flash IF appropriate. a lot of times people tend to use flash when it would be just as easy to use html. obviously, if something is animated, use flash. but if its static or simply utilizes a rollover, use html. a smart designer would be able to utilized the best of both worlds. and usually, you can keep your file size down by using html and gifs versus all swf files.

i think my problem with flash right now as learning it is on a long list of things to do and it doesn't get priority. i'm sure i'll learn more when i start building things out of necessity, but that also will make building the site much more time consuming. i think lack of time is the biggest issue for me right now. however, i prefer doing the learning on my own. tutorials don't help for the most part unless its something highly complicated that watching lynda can't provide the answer to. ie some actionscripting.

I have found that going back to the basics/fundamentals in everything that you want to learn or achieve is the best place to start. It's so easy to jump right in and try to learn the more complex applications without having patience for going over the base tasks.

This is my struggle. I obviously had to start at the basic level for learning Flash, but then I run off on tagents that keep me from returning to my fundamental path. What I'm gettin at is that I need to know what is it in these programs, specifically Flash and Dreamweaver, that I need to know. Even if it means going back over what I already know. I learn a lot in demos and tutorials, simply because I can ask these types of questions.

Reading the books Tony left for us is a big help. Joshua Davis breaks down Flash to its elementary foundation, comparing the program to actors and props on a stage. This is the type of learning that I feed on.

I know that I will eventually have to get good at working in DW, because without it, I can't publish anything on the web. I am also slowly beginning to see the significance for working in html on the web as opposed to just flash. However before I realized this I don't feel like I payed close enough attention to DW when we were first learning it in anticipation of learning flash. I guess it would just be a review of the fundamentals, which I'm sure I know but its always good to go back over them. I would also most certainly want to learn about moveable type, among the other fundamentals about DW. As far as flash goes, what's the status on having that programmer coming in once or twice a week Tbrock?

For me, tutorials are as useful as a kick to the groin. I think the best way to learn Flash or Dreamweaver is to want to do something and to force yourself to learn how to do something out of necessity. We've never been taught properly how to do anything in any software, all the way from Photoshop to After Effects and Flash. Oftentimes, my boss at work will get frustrated that I don't know how to do something simple in Photoshop or Illustrator. If I've never been taught how to do something or never had to force myself to do something because I've never needed to do it, then I won't know how to do it. Oftentimes I find that my boss does not know how to do something that he will get mad at me for not knowing how to do.

VERY frustrating.

I think that Flash isn't that fantastic of a program yet. There are several things that are really user-unfriendly. It's like it is a program designed by nerds for nerds. There's not much enjoyment to be had unless you're an ubergeek who gets off on Actionscripting. For modeling, I've found that simple timeline jumps seem to work well enough. Working with a proper actionscript programmer, they can knock out the work in 1/10 of the time without having to break a sweat. Of course, there are timing issues that can be done on a timeline to show the animation/transistions, which I've come to find that many actionscript geeks are horrible performing. Rarely is someone good at concept, motion, AND action scripting.

(shutup Jonathan Harris, I don't care about the rare exceptions if you want to argue that you know yada yada)

I DO think though that designers should be good enough with a program so that they know what is possible, what is NOT possible, and how to go into the file later after it is built and to modify to their needs without needing too much assistance. I've found that certain schools (*cough* ECU) do not even teach their students how to make files that work. Which runs into problems when you're working on a team with said designer and they design something that either can't be built, something that is absurdly out of question, or some variant of the aforementioned problems. At least State gives us SOME sort of education on Dreamweaver and Flash.

I believe it is up to us to learn the really gritty aspects of flash, but there are some people who would be wasting their time learning much beyond the basics of Flash. If you're like Liollio, Wes, Tony and myself, you like to be able to call something your baby from drawing board to final mockup, and if that final piece doesn't look like a production piece, then you're bent all out of whack. There are others though who can get the point across well enough without having to waste time learning a program that they have no concern in learning.

I enjoy learning software. It makes me feel more secure in my work, whether it actually adds to my marketability as a designer or not. But it is a personal decision in regards to how deep we dig ourselves in the program.

I find that Lynda.com is a waste of time. I much prefer sites that offer downloadable FLA files that you can pick apart the code and figure it out on your own. As a kid I often took apart toys to learn how they were built. It's the same way with html or php or flash. It is much easier to tear down and rebuild than learn from some silly tutorial.

Actionscript is a pain in the ass. And Flash has to be one of the worst programs as far as doing anything without mega-scripting. For now, I think everyone should focus on the animation and get that down first. If you can explain how something will work and SHOW how it will work, then you are doing all that you need. If you are Liollio or Jonathan Harris and want to have a pissing contest over who can make the hottest actionscripted doodle engine, then more power to you. I feel though that people are getting WAY more stressed than they need to be over the whole I-Have-to-Learn-Flash-to-Please-Tony-and-Make-an-A ordeal.

I think the most logical use of flash (which is rarely implemented properly) is to have flash and html together in the same window. All-Flash sites are usually heavy, time-consuming, un-bookmarkable beasts of burden, where HTML will often fail because it is usually lacking much motion or transitions. A mix of both HTML and Flash elements is a successful combination, much like a designer/programmer combo. If you can do both, then more power to you... yet it is often overkill for one person to know how to do it all... or at least a waste of time.

Also, a highly-overlooked aspect of web is CSS. You can do some amazing things with CSS alone. HTML without CSS is like coloring with dollar-store crayons, while using CSS is like updating to the Prismacolor marker ultramega ID collector limited edition set.

Maybe we could have a CSS lesson to learn about different a and div and id and img and background and padding and positioning and borders and and and and and whatnot...

I agree with Matt that "action script is pain in the @$$" as we don't have that programming knowledge to comprehend the codes. flash tutorials CD at beginners and the intermediate levels are very time consuming. the other day i spent couple of hours just going through the tutorials to learn how a drop down menu works. Just one simple action is broken down into 5 long chapters...

I experience frustration at the end of each of my flash tutorials because I can't remember the order... or can't understand the logic behind each code except the timeline action scripting as Ana mentioned in class. I feel comfortable with the scripting of mouse action and timeline saying on press go to so and so frame etc. but making use of the core interactive action scripting is beyond my reach unless i get some in-class demos.

I worked with Director when i was in India. ie 5years ago. I agree with Tony that Director has lot to offer for interactive media. But Director uses action scripting like Flash does!

I would like to learn more about dreamweaver. I feel like I didnt absorb enough about the program last semester. There is a lot I dont know about dreamweaver. And it would be nice to combine flash with dreamweaver to create a dynamic site.