Welcome to TomOnTheWeb
Things do change and this site is no different. For the past few years it has really been showing its age and I decided this monster needed an enema. It was delivered by a fellow faculty member at Humber, Kevin Brandon, and I am just thrilled with the result. The layout is clean, consiustent and, best of all, it is really easy for me to use!!! Thanks Kevin.
So what's with this site?
Over the years I have accumulated a lot of teaching materials, tutorials, and other bits and pieces that can be used to learn and explore the various technologies I teach.
As well, I have written a dozen books that deal directly with the various technologies you will learn, contribute tutorials to a number of professional sites and deliver seminars and lectures to various industry groups. All of that material will also be available to you from time-to-time.
This site is also a “living document”. It will change. The reason is simple. Though I have done a lot in my career I have never regarded myself as a “guru”, “expert” or any other honorific you want to tag on me. Like you, I am constantly learning and this will become an area where I can share what I have learned with you. It will also become an area where you can share what you have learned with me.
A phrase I have managed to work into all of my books is this:
“The amount of fun we have in this business should be illegal. May we all be arrested.
See you in jail!”
LATEST EFFORTS:
- Just completed a Catalyst CS5 Video training series for the Rich Media Institute in Los Angeles. Nine bucks for a couple of hours training is almost a steal but it was a blast to do and honed my Catalyst chops. Check it out here: RMI.
- The CS5 book is done and is in the final stages before it hits the press. Lot's of really neat stuff in the book and I am looking forward to seeing how it is received. Check it out on Amazon.
- Oh joy:-) Have started banging away at my new book. It is the updated version of my Foundation Flash books for friendsofEd. Look for Foundation Flash CS5 for Designers in late June, 2010.
- Have completed a rather extensive set of video tutorials around the fundamentals of creating and using Flash Video for Active.tutsplus.
- The Adobe Developer Center caught up with me a couple of weeks back and wondered if I would be interested in doing a "How To" around the integration of Flash CS4 and After Effects CS4. Seeing as how I have been fascinated with this subject for a couple of years I agreed and the piece is here.
- ActiveTutes+ has asked if I'd do some stuff for them. My latest series revolves around new features in Flash CS5. A few of them are listed under the logo to the right and a full listing of the stuff I have done for Active.tutsplus.com can be found here.
- Been busy producing tutorials for Layersmagazine.com . I love this "gig" because they have given me the freedom to play with the Studio and to follow my muse. The latest offerings range from "How can I use audio to mask a video ?" to "How did you do that floating text effect, Tom?" They are over on the right under the Layers banner. Enjoy!!! All of my work for Layers can be found here.
- Back from a tour of Chinese Universities. Ten lectures, 5 Master Classes, 3 faculty seminars on teaching this stuff at 7 Universities in four cities in 9 days to just over 3,000 students and faculty is draining but, in an odd way, totally exhilerating. You can check out the pictures here: Spreading the Flash Platform Love Tour.
- Writing a blog is a pain in the ass. It always seems to be more a chore than pleasure. Never can seem to find the time to do it right. As such, I am killing Rants,Raves and Ruminations and , instead moving over to Tumblr which suits my needs a lot more than Blogger. Check me out at Hangin' .
- Adobe asked if I could update a series I had already written about the Flash Media Server 3.5 .The whole purpose of the seven pieces was to make this rather mystifying piece of technology understandable to to people new to the server. It took a bit of work but the series covers the essentials from installation to live streaming and, according to several people at Adobe, is among the top articles for the Adobe Developer Center.. Have a look.
- The new Flash CS4 book is out: Foundation Flash CS4 for Designers by friendsofED. David Stiller and I had our usual blast writing the book and there is a serious whack of new stuff we cover. You can check out the book at Amazon or download a sample chapter.
- Last August I started producing a regular series of video tutorals for Layers Magazine's web site. The neat thing is I get to wander all over the apps. Check them out. I also list a few them under the Layers logo to the right.
- Another review of Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers just went up over at Amazon and both Dave and I are amazed at how fast the book has been climbing the Amazon charts. The latest review says:
"What I like about this book is how David and Tom approach the technology; the analogy between programming principles and real life, which will steepen the learning curve of a non-programmer who learns flash considerably."
This guy must have been looking over our shoulders because our approach to Flash, in the book, is to explain why it works, how it works and, most of all, how much fun you can have with the app. It is gratifying to see our message is coming through loud and clear.
- The reviews for Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers have started up over at Amazon. Though I don't normally pay much attention to them this one reall caught my eye:
"Tom and David have created the Flash CS3 book equivalent of Bill Nye Science Guy show. Easy for everyone to learn, yet the material is quite complex. A very uniquely rare talent of making the complicated easy because of the intertwined humor in the material."
Being compared to Bill Nye is high praise indeed:-) - Digital Web magazine is no more. I loved working for those guys and felt I did some of my best work for them. The site is still up as an archive and my last article – The Education of Freaks and Geeks – is still there.
- The Fireworks CS3 Essentials training is up at Lynda.com. Though not a book- it is a series of video tutorials- it has to be right up there with one of the most gruelling, yet professionally rewarding, experiences I have undertaken.
HOW THIS MONSTER WORKS:
At the moment there are four main areas to this site:
Streaming 
I am currently delivering a Streaming Media in Flash course at Humber College in Toronto. The course involves the preparation of video files for Flash, the ActionScript that makes it work, how to "play" with video contyent, use a Flash Media server and how to stream HD content. It is currently under revison and will go live in a few weeks. Only the overview - a long dissertation on the technologies - is available here.
Flash Basics
A 15-week course designed for our First Year students who will be using and exploring Flash.
Tips & Techniques
This site contains a collection of the tutorials I have written over the years around the use of the Macromedia Studio Tools.
Design Course
A series of lectures and support material that I deliver to our First year students.
The lab
I needed a place to try out some of things I am learning. Most of it involves video delivery.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
