It’s a great tool for designers and online storytellers, but the learning curve is incredibly steep. After taking a gander at it once, I felt compelled to learn how to make a multimedia project. So I spent a couple weeks teaching myself how to program in Action Script to create dialog boxes and markers on a Google map. It took forever learning how to code every single detail of a simple dialog box. ActionScript has to be on of the hardest programming languages out there. I, along with a couple of our instructors at the Maynard program, would not recommend learning Flash because of its steep learning curve.

I felt like it was worth learning so that I could at least understand how it’s used and what it’s used for. I also learned how it’s not really worth it to use Flash to create a multimedia project unless you’re anticipating a high ROI. At a time when newsrooms are struggling to do more with less, it’s always good to keep in mind the time it takes to complete a project.

Ask yourself “can I achieve the same goals by telling my story another way?”

Ever since I attended the Knight Digital Media Center’s Multimedia Training for Journalists in June 2008, I’ve only been able to produce three Flash applications for The Tribune. I’m trying to get into the habit of creating at least one a month so that I don’t forget how to use it and to show other reporters that there are ways to use multimedia to enhance their print stories.

Flash is a good tool to use to create interactive graphics. But there are drawbacks, including its inability to be recognized by search engines. And you can’t track hits, unless you find a way to embed, let’s say, Omniture code into it. So is it really worth it to try to teach journalists Flash? It has its pros and cons, but for the most part, it’s good to at least have a working knowledge of it. I would not recommend dedicating training sessions geared only towards Flash. And these days it’s really easy to find great tutorials and programs that will help you achieve your Flash-based storytelling goals.

Here is a list of some great, easy-to-use Flash applications that will come in handy for any journalist. I encourage you to visit these Web sites and play around with the different tools each has to offer. The best thing about most of these programs is that they’re user-friendly and for the most part, do not require a lot of ActionScript coding (except for AFComponents). I’ve posted this list before, so sorry for the repeat content. If you have a favorite Flash component site, feel free to post a comment.

1) Knight Digital Media Center’s training pages

Check out their tutorial pages on Flash, audio, video, photography and web design. They even provide downloadable templates which you can use to create your Flash projects. Best of all — it’s FREE!

2) Flash Den

FlasDen isn’t really tailored toward the average journalist, but it’s a great site to check out what you can do in Flash. I’ve come up with quite a few ideas for multimedia projects based off the components I’ve seen on this site.

3) SproutBuilder

SproutBuilder is an excellent program for making customizable widgets for your web page. You can even integrate audio, video, web polls, and other content to your Sprout widget. I’d suggest browsing through the “Recently Built Sprouts” section to get an idea of what you can do with SproutBuilder.

4) UMapper

This program allows you to create embeddable Flash maps for free. If you create a Google map in Flash you’ll have to use Action Script to program the points, dialogue boxes, and the ability to add links, video, and audio. UMapper does that for you and then generates embeddable code. You’ll have to tinker with the KML code and Google API keys (I think) but its doable. Check out some of the maps that have already been created and shared on UMapper. There are a bunch of big newspapers already using this program. I’ve had great success with it. Trust me, you won’t want to program your own map (I once spent five hours writing ActionScript to perfect a small Google map. I’ll never do that again!)

5) Advanced Flash Components

I’ve only used once component off this site, but it seems to have great little video players and cool components for interactive maps (I used the component GMap which is free.) Their customer service will also help you figure out how to work with KML code. They’re great at responding to e-mails.

I like doing these kinds of projects, especially when I have good content to work with. Thanks to Dave Middlecamp for the photos and for creating the SoundSlides project.

I was going to include a few more  tips on mountain biking around SLO County (there are a lot of great trails here) but I ran out of time.  Instead, here are a few good resources including a book on the topic by my buddy Brian Milne (that’s him on the cover).

The book covers some of the more popular trails including Cerro Alto (starts at the campground between Morro Bay and Atascadero), Blinn Ranch Trail (backside of Santa Margarita Lake accessible via the Pozo area), both sides of Cuesta Ridge and Cerro San Luis.  Montaña de Oro also has some pretty good trails.

Mapping these trails on UMapper wasn’t that easy since the only way you can really map a hiking trail is on a GPS unit, according to Brian. I figured my way around this by using UMapper’s Polygon and Line tools. Instead of points and dialogue boxes, UMapper allows you to highlight a section of the map, or draw lines and circles to highlight an area.

1) Knight Digital Media Center’s training pages

Check out their tutorial pages on Flash, audio, video, photography and web design. They even provide downloadable templates which you can use to create your Flash projects. Best of all — it’s FREE!

2) Flash Den

FlasDen isn’t really tailored toward the average journalist, but it’s a great site to check out what you can do in Flash. I’ve come up with quite a few ideas for multimedia projects based off the components I’ve seen on this site.

3) SproutBuilder

SproutBuilder is an excellent program for making customizable widgets for your web page. You can even integrate audio, video, web polls, and other content to your Sprout widget. I’d suggest browsing through the “Recently Built Sprouts” section to get an idea of what you can do with SproutBuilder.

4) UMapper

This program allows you to create embeddable Flash maps for free. If you create a Google map in Flash you’ll have to use Action Script to program the points, dialogue boxes, and the ability to add links, video, and audio. UMapper does that for you and then generates embeddable code. You’ll have to tinker with the KML code and Google API keys (I think) but its doable. Check out some of the maps that have already been created and shared on UMapper. There are a bunch of big newspapers already using this program. I’ve had great success with it. Trust me, you won’t want to program your own map (I once spent five hours writing ActionScript to perfect a small Google map. I’ll never do that again!)

5) Advanced Flash Components

I’ve only used once component off this site, but it seems to have great little video players and cool components for interactive maps (I used the component GMap which is free.) Their customer service will also help you figure out how to work with KML code. They’re great at responding to e-mails.