check out this little animation for my portfolio flash website

http://binarydemons.com/~strike/files/portfolio.html


anyone think they have a good laser beam / burning sound i could use for it?

:/ just so you know, the whole laser cutting thing for a website is really really really cheesy, and really wouldnt look good for a portfolio unless it was rediculously incredible.

I like it but I think it takes too long.

ok captain creative, maybe i should just copy the style you use on your websites; nasty dark peach grainy texture on a white background. go go gadget flying guitar!

http://www.acousticbandits.com/
http://www.theriscgroup.com/



regardless, i write C++ not html and css layouts.

maybe i should stick with my original idea: make my portfolio into an application and have a plain-a$$ website with a white background and one little bright blue link to the exe. it would be a lot easier than jumping through hoops trying to get around the inadequacies of web programming.

First of all, thank you for that sarcastic remark, I really appreciate it.

Secondly, those are not my websites, merely bands that I enjoy. I have no control over what their website designs are.

Thirdly: I am only trying to help. What do I mean by cheesy? Its an outdated effect, look when this tutorial was made:
http://www.flashkit.com/tutorials/Special_Effects/Create_a-Stephen_-216/index.php

2000! 6 years ago!


Seriously man, just because I didnt like your stupid flash animation doesnt mean you have to jump down my throat about it.

And no, a "simple-***" website wouldnt be any better than this. If you can code C++ you can learn CSS in a second.

My advice:

Go to [url]www.devguru.com[/url] and start checking out what CSS can do. After you do that, look at other peoples portfolios. Dont base what you have on a Coders portfolio, try looking at a design portfolio that way you have inspiration to come up with something that will make you stand out.

What MB said.

And the laser cutting doesn't work at all since it's not cutting into anything, and the green orb doesn't fit in anywhere, and the text doesn't match real "etching".

Intro animation? Then it's useless.

You have only so many seconds to catch your audience. An intro flash animation will lose a majority of your visitors. If this is a portfolio and you're trying to show off your flash skills: This is the worst way. 5 minutes of flash tutorial reading and anyone can make that.

Are you even a web designer? If not, it might hurt you to make your own portfolio.

no, i do not make websites.

no, i am not a flash god; this is my first actionscript.

no, i am not a photoshop expert. that is why you see white on black. etching into an image is just as easy as solid black.

no i did not read a tutorial to make the effect, nor should a tutorial's existance invalidate my successful attempt to create the effect i was trying to achieve.

hey jedikirby, who the hell said intro animation? you were the first one to type those words in this thread, so dont start lecturing me about them. this is just something that belongs up in the corner of the main page. does it take too long to play? who cares. ideally, the contact information is what they will look at LAST anyway; after they have reviewed the actual content of the portfolio and decide that what they have seen merits further contact.


of course i agree that the wrapping used to sell yourself is important. but it is not as important as what you are actually selling. are you going to pay $50 for a big mac because mcdonalds puts ridiculous efforts into their advertising campaigns? get real.

does someone want to make me a portfolio layout? a few years ago everybody i knew was a photoshop god by day, web designer and visual basic programmer by night. now that i actually have use for these people, they are nowhere to be found. maybe im a jerk? oh wait; just reading the posts of massassians who reply to my innocuous threads brings me to the realization that i'm not.. at least not in the context of this community.

MB's right though, it looks pretty bad.

Gradients in flash are almost never a good idea. If you MUST do a laser thing, photoshop up some decent-looking FX instead of trying to draw it in there. And pick a better font.

Stop being a little ***** about it, and maybe someone will help you? Seriously, you've got the attitude of a 4th grader. There are several people that probably would have helped you, myself included. I'm actually looking for a quick side project to do, as I need to do a little CSS. But there's no way in hell I'd help someone so conceided as you're acting.

And the visual attraction of your portfolio is VERY important. You're a fool to think otherwise. Why choose your portfolio over someone elses with equal merits? Zeal and appearance are VERY important. It's obvious you have no idea why you need a portfolio, and you're just making kewl awsomms flashs!

Said mr. CANT TEXTURE

Actually Strike, I'll help you. What kind of a portfolio do you want? From what you've demonstrated, you want something to show off your coding, and your music, right? I'm 100% honest: I'll cook you up a portfolio site. Is there any other media types that you use?

im not looking for advice or help from people with an unwarranted ego.



im not going to waste my damn time learning how to be an artist and web designer just to make a portfolio that most prospective employers will not see. do you really think GE Healthcare (i applied there last night) is going to care if i have an award-winning website? is that going to prove to them that i can write higher-quality medical software? isnt it enough to know that i wrote my first actionscript and it turned out to be something that most would need a tutorial for?



heres a link you should check out
http://www.advsys.net/ken/

just by looking at it, would you have guessed thats the website of the guy who created the Duke Nukem engine? look folks, im a m-fikng programmer! nobody is expecting me to be able to fart on a wall and have it look like the mona lisa.

So impressing people is unimportant? You have no idea.

And MY ego isn't the problem here. You seem to think that posting a flash image on the showcase forum makes you exempt from criticism because you're a coder, not a web designer. You're taking this the wrong way: I'm telling you that I'm willing to make you a quick and dirty portfolio so that you don't have to worry about it. It won't have useless flash on it, but it'll be impressive and keep people's attention.

If you're not trying to get hired as a creative artist there's no need to pretend you're one. Employers don't want anything more than professional simplicity and content showing how you're good at stuff related to the job

Actually, now I think about it, if you're a new programmer you don't even really need a portfolio (unless you've done programming on your own that's good enough to make you stand out). A resume saying you went to Full Sail (and presumably did well) would be enough to automatically get you a decent starting programming job.

no. does charisma prove that a politician will be an effective handler of matters of state?

yeah thats more my problem

i dont have many credible experiences to list on a resume or portfolio.. sure ive worked on a bazillion projects, but most of them arent completed and they are more or less all personal projects. the most relevant work experience i have was being a teacher assistant for 6 months for the C++ course at my high school; but its not like i have anything 'physical' to show for it.

i have made some programs that demonstrate algorithms in real-time though; those might be more worthwhile than a completed game project in some ways.. game projects are tough because of the sheer amount of assets they typically require.. if only i had a couple modeler and texture artist friends...

....or at least ones that dont make 1 asset and get too bored with the concept to continue; which is especially sad when they are the one coming up with the game design my gimmicks dont work! do i have to pay somebody to let me code a game for their game idea and art?



back to what you were saying though: at least when i put myself in context with the large majority of my former classmates at full sail, i DO stand out. most of them never programmed before going to full sail, and most of them have absolutely no extra-cirricular projects.

hell, some of them are downright awful at programming; no concept of error checking or deleting allocated memory when they are done with it - let alone the fact they would be helpless if they had to do independent research to complete a task. the act of writing code is like speaking. if you cant explain to the computer how you want something done, how useful are you going to be in getting the computer to perform the task? writing code is not the challange - the real challange is solving the problem. but they are struggling with the elementary aspects of coding.

whats my point? my point is that they have the same degree. they have nearly the same skill set. from a resume standpoint, we're going to have more or less the same stuff listed. we'll both have C++ listed as a skill. the problem is assumptions: a potential employer will see that i went to full sail and that i have no paid relevant work experience, and will just assume that i am at the same skill level as every other bimbo that has only programmed school assignments when they were forced to. how am i supposed to relate the fact that i program every day? how am i supposed to relate the fact that the reason i occasionally blew off assignments was not because i wanted to watch TV and play video games but because i was driven to overcome a major roadblock in a research project i'd been working on for months?


is a resume really the place to convey that? how?

what about a cover letter? a lot of software companies use online application forms; many do not even have the option to paste a cover letter.

i figured a portfolio might work more as a proof-of-concept.. it lets me explain in detail the challanges i overcame on a variety of different projects, without the 1-page conciseness BS of a resume. the problem is that unless something really stands out about my resume, they arent even going to give me a decent shot. they want to see credible industry experience or an impressive collection of degrees; neither of which i have.

no. are you going to take a bite into a steaming dog poop because i dipped it in sugar? come on; you like sugar, don't you?


the point that ive already expressed (and now money•bie as well) is that if im applying for a PROGRAMMING job, its pointless to prove my skills as an artist. they are absolutely unrelated.





if im a sound engineer, should i prove my skills as a film director?
if im a car salesman, should i prove my skills as an guitar player and vocalist?
if im a chef, should i prove my skills as a glass blower?

no? but what if i...

made an epic film to showcase my sound skills..
recorded a song and sung about my car salesman skills..
blew a decorative glass plate to present a gourmet meal..


sure all of those are great ways to provide a presentation of the primary skill, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the primary skill and anyone who buys into it is a fool.


likewise, how much sense does it make to create a pretty picture to demonstrate the ability to write an organized system architecture?

the bottom line is: yes it would be NICE if there was a totally awesome presentation - it provides initial appeal, but its the actual CONTENT that counts. if i can manage to get a potential employer to even GO to my portfolio, they are not going to close it instantly without looking at any of the CONTENT just because it has a cheesy laser beam effect. if they do, i wouldn't want to work for a company like that anyway.

While egos are edgy around here, I'll just say that Strike's last post was very well written and totally convinced me.

Good written skills. Put that on your resume

Add more than one lazer so it doesn't take as long to go through it, that might also help it look cooler.. but I dont think it's bad.

But hey I can be your modeler friend!

It's a good post.

But I still don't understand why, if his flash animations are ugly, he needs a flash animation for his website?

perhaps i dont; the intent behind using flash is im better at that than more traditional methods of web layout

Produce a barebones HTML page with zero styling but perfect semantic markup. Put your details on there in well-organised sections and you're done.

It'll get the job done and it'll get reasonably good google rankings because of the markup. Put loads of things about the area you currently live, where you'd like to work and all that jazz and any employers looking for someone will find you.

I would follow Detty's advice. You are correct, Strike, in believing that employers could care less about your art skills if they are hiring you for a programming position.

HOWEVER, you cannot with any seriousness argue that the way in which information is presented has no importance. In a "perfect" world, perhaps this would be the case. Everyone would be perfectly rational and logical, and considerations like, "Ooh, this is pretty," wouldn't enter our minds. But we don't live in such a world.

The entire field of graphic design is dedicated to what we're talking about here: organizing and displaying information so that it can be read and understood better. And with this comes the ability to manipulate (for good or bad). Companies know how humans respond to certain stimuli; we are much more likely to be attracted to products with better designed packaging. Often the packaging will use certain colors and typefaces in order to provoke an emotional response. Is this response substantive (compared to a thorough analysis of the pros and cons of competing products)? Of course not.

But the response exists, and to deny that presentation has any significance is to be somewhat delusional, I think. You are spot on when you claim that a sparse resume (albeit one that is well-designed) is still a sparse resume, and the majority of employers (the good ones, anyway) will be able to see through the ruse. But consider your resume: from the little I've read here, it seems you have a lot of things you wish to put on there. Would it not be in your best interest to also present it as best you could?

Your potential employers will not look at your website and go, "Oooh, web design/artistic skills" - but it will show them other things: that you pay attention to detail, and that you care about presenting yourself as professionally as possible. You would not show up to an interview in a wrinkled, stained t-shirt and flip-flops, nor would you type up your resume in Comic Sans or Papyrus. Your company is not hiring you for your fashion skills, and yet, a suit (or at least a dress shirt and tie) shows that you are mature and serious about the job. Likewise, a simple, well-designed web site can only help.

And of course, there are always exceptions: people who are so damn qualified that they could hand in their resume on the back of a napkin, written in Hieroglyphs, and be hired on the spot. But these people are few and far between, and I don't think you or I are quite there yet (maybe someday!).

Best of luck with your web site and job search...

p.s. It is with great amusement that I return to Massasi after months and months of absence, only to see the same people still being inflammatory. It's called tact, guys.

That was my original point, and why I offered to make it for you.



Tact is a waste of time on this website. Besides, people take things so personally that it's only a matter of least offense.

As usual, Detty and Jipe hit the nail on the head.

Never said that, only was pointing out that its outdated.


Yes, but if the animation is too long, you lose their interest.


Youre blowing this out of proportion.



I would appreciate if you didnt take shots at me like that or this:

#1- I didnt come into this thread saying I was better than you.
#2- I go to school for things like this, so I dont exactly see how my advice is unwarranted.




My ONLY point coming into this thread was to help you make something that showcased your experience as a programmer in a clear way. I never said anything about making a crazy website. Just make something simple and to the point. You should only use flash if you need it or make good use of it, not just for some silly animation.

I think he was talking about me in most of those, but I was saying the same thing as you: I just lack tact, apparently.

yes and yes