Re: [Flashcoders] FW: [Flash_Tiger] Outsourcing and Actionscript specs
Hi there! Sorry to be late to the discussion. I've been in both sides and I have to say it's pretty damn difficult to get it right. Very, very difficult. If you are the one outsourcing (sending work outside) you usually do it either because you don't have the money or you don't have the time (which is money). My experience is that actual savings are much, much less than you would expect. Some notes: * Code reviews take time (that you don't have, that's why you outsource). But if you only review at the end of the project, be ready for surprises. * Common sense is definitely NOT the same all over the world. Is not even in the same country, no matter which country you choose. So don't expect people to solve the same common sense situations as you would. * The recipe to avoid common-sense-solving situations is writing a detailed specification. But writing detailed specs takes VERY LONG time (that again, by definition, you don't have) plus is very boring. * Time and cultural differences ARE a bigger deal than you might initially think. * Maintaining someone else's code is probably 2x times more difficult than your own code. * I think it's very difficult to make people feel *your* problems as *their* problems. Say something has to be changed quickly for whatever the reason. If the developer is by your side, he/she will see your face, your tension and he/she will be much more empathetic and probably feel much more involved. Trying to express that very same feeling to someone 10.000 miles away is not always easy. Don't want to extend me much more. To sum up my experience I'd say that it's NOT worth it _unless_ you are big company with resources dedicated to establish the workflow and closely follow up the work in progress. Cheers! Juan On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 3:44 PM, Merrill, Jason [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I agree with Joel; your best bet is to provide a highly detailed design spec with complete API, and also provide guidance on what components to extend, etc. The downside is that it takes a lot of time to do all of this work, and depending on your particular situation, it may be unrealistic. Yeah, had done that, but not in great detail. An API would have been too much. The project was a learning game, and in my mind I couldn't justify spending a huge amount of time writing very detailed design specs, because that could take almost as much time to think about and write as it would be to sit down build the game. I'm very much in favor of abstraction, but they took abstraction way too far, and really to the extreme in my opinion, where the benefits of abstraction are completely lost. Thanks everyone, I'm definitely going to insist on more frequent code reviews with them. I guess I put too much faith in them last time! :) Jason ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Juan Delgado - Zárate http://zarate.tv http://dandolachapa.com http://loqueyosede.com ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Stream Live from File
Hi, May seem like a daft question, but can't you just upload the file to the server?? Glen Jason Van Cleave wrote: I am currently looking for a way to stream a file based video to an Flash Media Server. Flash Media Encoder apparently requires a camera or deck source. Has anyone seen a live media encoder that can use a file source? ANy possible workarounds other than dumping the file to a camera/deck and playing it back through? Thanks, Jason ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Glen Pike 01326 218440 www.glenpike.co.uk http://www.glenpike.co.uk ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
[Flashcoders] AS3 training courses in Sydney
Hi List, As an anxious AS2 developer, I was wondering if anyone could recommend an AS3 training course in Sydney (Australia). So far, I have come across this course at Dynamic Web Training - http://www.dynamicwebtraining.com.au/courses/flash-training-3.htm - but was wondering if there were others people might recommend. Thanks for any suggestions! Best regards, CB. ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] AS3 training courses in Sydney
I did a course with this company years ago (2004 I think it was) and it was great. Linda was my trainer and she did a great job at answering questions for different levels of people in the room from advanced to beginners. I remember researching before I did the course and someone mentioned to me that they had done 2 courses there and also had Linda as their trainers and she was much better than the other instructor. The other suggestion I have is to look for a well accomplisted freelance Flash developer (who is patient and open minded) so sit with you a few nights a week one on one and pay them. Come up with a fictional project that covers everything you want to learn and sit with them and go through the project - that's just an idea. They are both very different ways of learning and people learn differently. The good thing about the structured courses is you learn the best practices (not someones bad habits). Good luck Mick On Sun, Nov 9, 2008 at 5:48 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi List, As an anxious AS2 developer, I was wondering if anyone could recommend an AS3 training course in Sydney (Australia). So far, I have come across this course at Dynamic Web Training - http://www.dynamicwebtraining.com.au/courses/flash-training-3.htm - but was wondering if there were others people might recommend. Thanks for any suggestions! Best regards, CB. ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
Re: [Flashcoders] Stream Live from File
The player is setup for RTMP streams coming in live from a CDN. We are doing a live event and this is in case the connection goes down and we need to send a prerecorded stream to the same player. I did find some virtual webcam software that creates a virtual camera that Flash Media Encoder was able to pick up but getting sound to work is kinda clunky. So in the end I am just going the router of DVD player -AV/DV converter -Flash media Encoder On Sun, Nov 9, 2008 at 5:32 PM, Glen Pike [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, May seem like a daft question, but can't you just upload the file to the server?? Glen Jason Van Cleave wrote: I am currently looking for a way to stream a file based video to an Flash Media Server. Flash Media Encoder apparently requires a camera or deck source. Has anyone seen a live media encoder that can use a file source? ANy possible workarounds other than dumping the file to a camera/deck and playing it back through? Thanks, Jason ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders -- Glen Pike 01326 218440 www.glenpike.co.uk http://www.glenpike.co.uk ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders ___ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
