Independent Learning Exercises.

Collecting Pre-Existing Assets.

There are a large number of resource centres on the web that might be of use in the development of student multimedia projects. There are image libraries, sound clips, icons, etc. in vast numbers. One of the problems with using them is that searching for high-quality resources takes time - and usually you forget the address by the time you next need some resources. As a useful exercise, why not construct your own 'resource gateway' web page - with useful links under informative headings - and keep this page in your network filespace or on disk. Use Dreamweaver to construct the page so that you get a little more practice in its use. Use some of the more sophisticated search engines such as Google or AltaVista, and try and construct some 'advanced' searches.

Creating Your Own Assets.

An important aspect of design that requires experience is knowing what assets you might realistically be able to produce for yourself in the development time available for a project. There is no point in committing yourself to a design that you haven't a hope of implementing in time. If you haven't had any (painful) experience then try an experimental task. Set yourself the goal of producing some asset: a graphic, a fragment of recorded sound, a digital photograph, etc. - then go ahead and produce it. Log the time you spend and the difficulties that you encountered. You'll probably quickly develop some simple maxims for yourself, such as: minimum effort, maximum effect; do the simple thing effectively; don't reinvent what you can pick up and use; keep a stock of re-usable assets; if at first you don't succed then think of some more efficient alternatives. These might sound cynical - but none of us are in this business for our health, are we?