Cooperation between front-end and art

 

We should all know that the Flash software has been used for animation for a long time in history. Flash and art are the same roots during this time. Later, with the gradual improvement of AS1 and as2 and the strong release of as3, The Flash customers gradually split into pure programs and pure art camps. However, no matter what the points are, the relationship between flash programs and art is still very close. A good as programmer must know more about art than programmers in other languages, at least be proficient in Flash
IDE for simple graphic processing. The cooperation between flash programmers and art is dominated by as programmers most of the time, mainly manifested in the following aspects:

1. FLA File Management: Put associated art materials into a FLA file for unified management, which can effectively reduce the number of art materials and facilitate programmers to write programs. Originally, the management of art materials like this should be done by art. However, most of these art materials may also require programmers to write programs, and art and programs need to share these materials, although we can use SVN for sharing and version control, programmers and art still have to rely on conventions to know exactly when to find the files. This Convention should be made by our programmers, because I have observed that programmers are generally more reliable than art in terms of organization and rule making. Taking our company as an example, file management is basically the responsibility of me. I name the part that requires the joint maintenance of multiple artists and programmers into a folder named by project name, sub-categories can be performed under the project if necessary, and the classification rules are also developed by me. Most of the sub-modules may only need an art and a programmer. At this time, the art will put the materials in a folder named after their English names. As for how to classify their folders, I will give my opinion, but it is not managed forcibly. Module programmers will also have folders named in their English names. They will copy the pure FLA material of art to their own folders and classify them according to modules, then write the code and publish the SWF. As for how to manage the SWF file, I will discuss it in the next section. In fact, my management goals are very simple. I only need all the art and programmers to instantly find the materials and source code we need at any time, and call out the required versions. As long as this goal is still under control, I will give all employees the greatest freedom to free themselves from management and put more time into development, after all, for entrepreneurial companies, rapid development is the main theme for the boss and the market to see products. Management only needs to be strong when necessary. As a matter of fact, my company manages files only once every six months, and it takes about a week to restandardize the rules. Other times are basically in a laissez-faire state, but there have never been any major problems. Finally, let's give you a number. After nearly three years of accumulation, our company already has dozens of G pieces and tens of thousands of art materials.

2. SWF File Management: SWF files are generally published and managed by front-end programmers. However, some SWF files may not need some code, such as furniture and personal panel backgrounds, these can be directly managed by art, and the management solution is similar to FLA file management. The biggest difference is that the final release path of the SWF file is the internal network simulated test environment, rather than the local machine. An update-driven game like ours cannot be used to build a realistic test environment for every module. If so, we may not have a good test environment yet, it is time to go online and prepare for the next week's update. Therefore, the final integration test of all modules will be conducted directly in the Intranet test environment.

3. Management of Components in FLA: I believe many as programmers have encountered this problem and have a headache. The FLA file provided by art to programmers may be messy. There is no classification in the library, and the component names are also clear-colored "component 1, component 2, component 3 ......", The internal masks, combinations, and layers of components are not regular. If art directly gives me an AI or PS source file for us to import flash, then we will be even more confused, the color pattern changes, the path tool failure, A large number of layers make it difficult to crop, and it cannot be split or merged. It can only be split by one layer. At this time, as I mentioned earlier, a qualified as programmer should have a better understanding of art and graphics software, and you should promptly correct inappropriate art practices, even a reasonable solution is provided. For example, you should know that flash only supports the RGB color mode. AI can not only specify the color mode for the entire document, but also for each layer, when there is a color difference between art and flash imported to your ai, it can help the art to find out where the color pattern is incorrect. It is recommended that they only use the RGB pattern in the future. Many pure as programmers may have graphics phobias. They will try their best to push this part of work to art, but they will be very depressed in the end, because they will find that, in addition to naming rules that can be used to specify the library folder, other rules are hard to be described in the art. Due to the ever-changing nature of the module, it is difficult to sum up a completely general rule, I want to get a FLA file that does not need to be modified from the art. I can write the code directly. It's almost impossible. Therefore, it is better to improve your art knowledge and basic graphics processing skills than to let FLA files waste time in art and programs, and to make yourself angry and complained about art in contempt for it. After all, it is entirely reasonable for our programmers to name components on the stage, associate them with classes, layers, and exploit them, it is also the most efficient. Art only needs to give us the materials we need and put them in a convenient location. Putting down the shelf of programmers and taking the initiative to enter the world of art is absolutely good for our programmers.

4. The impact of FP performance on Art: when it comes to this issue, I think of a situation that has made me twitching for a long time. Our boss always likes to say to me with great enthusiasm: "Volcano, you can give our front-end staff and art a solution to tell them how to achieve the highest performance of flash !" Well, which of the following can help the volcano answer this question. The volcano is really ashamed. I have been engaged in flash for seven years. I still haven't fully understood the performance problems of flash. Regardless of the previous mm or Adobe, the image processing and screen rendering parts are regarded as the treasure of the town and refuse to disclose their technical details, I have never been able to give an essential answer from the theoretical perspective. Most of my current performance solutions are based on the actual situation of the project, based on seven years of experience summed up Experience science. I still don't believe it. Who can give a general performance solution suitable for all projects? At the same time, the memory, CPU, and bandwidth usage can be minimized, and the screen is dazzling, the function is very powerful, the SWF file is very small, and the playability is very high, but the development cycle and cost are very small. Memory, CPU, SwF volume, bandwidth, effect, and cost are often in conflict. your over-optimization of any of these factors may lead to other points going to the opposite. I am confident that in this period, a good performance expert is definitely not about whether he can provide a comprehensive optimization solution, but about how he is facing different projects and situations, how to make choices and trade-offs. Yes, "Choice and Choice" will always be the most difficult topic in life: hand-to-hand, hand-to-hand, and hand-to-hand, which side should be cut off? My wife and children are all in the sea. Who can save them? In this case, I think a responsible front-end engineer should not simply throw a dead copy of the art document to tell them how to do it, let them do this all the time. Front-end personnel should give a clear explanation of the reason every time they face a real situation. We should try to teach people to "fish" instead of "fish ", let them understand the principle of choice, rather than simply telling them what to choose. I believe that as long as it is an art study with an open mind, after a year and a half of explanations, they will be able to make judgments for you. At this time, you will let them talk to the later art, and you will be relieved. Unfortunately, most bosses who do not know the technology may think that you are playing tricks and have to give a document. It doesn't matter. Isn't it fun for you to argue with tech-savvy people? The boss is more often from the management point of view, we should cooperate. We have nothing to write, such as minimizing the number of components, reducing the volume of SWF, reducing the number of continuous animations, and doing more trigger animations and using less masks and filters, do not embed Chinese fonts, improve component reusability, and so on! These suggestions sound completely correct. It is appropriate for people who don't know the technology. However, in high-end development, these theories are all nonsense and cannot help much, because everyone on Earth knows that the problems we encounter must be high-end problems beyond these technical points!

In summary, we can see that the cooperation process between the front-end and art is dominated by the front-end most of the time. This is also an important reason why I have repeatedly stressed that the front-end should learn more about art. When you can talk about art theory with art, operate it on the computer of art and show it to them, and propose a solution to them from the perspective of art, you are more likely to be accepted by art and take responsibility for leading front-end and art cooperation.