Here are the six steps to create a B2C Product Demo in Flash:
Gather/Collect details about the product: First step involves collecting all the details about the
product. For instance, suppose you are making the demo for study light product then you must
know all the features, working & benefits of that product.
For example: the features can be
1. Long backup (while power cut)
2. Safe for eyes
Brainstorming for concepts & ideas: This brainstorming is basically to get concepts & ideas
for making the demo. You can do this brainstorming by sitting alone in good environment or by
discussing with your creative team. In this phase, the designer(you) gather few ideas & concepts.
If I continue with my previous example of study light then the concept can be
Scene 1: The time is 9:00 PM and the boy (Jack, Age: 8 years) is preparing for his exam which
is to be held tomorrow morning
Scene 2: He is worried and thinking (thought bubble on his head) “I have a lot to read tonight”
Scene 3: Suddenly there’s a power cut and room is filled with darkness
Scene 4: Jack got worried about this exam and started crying
Scene 5: Then an angel comes to his room & tells him that “YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY,
USE THIS STUDY LIGHT. THIS HAS LONG BACKUP AND IT IS ALSO SAFE FOR
EYES”
Scene 6: Angel disappears and Jack is happy as he got light to study
Scene 7: At the end of story add the product image with its features.
Story-Board: Now when we have the concept and idea of implementation then its time for
making a storyboard to give a visual look. The main advantage of making a storyboard is that it
becomes easy to explain the concept to any one. As sometimes it becomes very difficult for a
normal user/client to understand the concepts which are just written so the storyboard gives them
a visual to understand and also gives them an idea of look & feel.
Elements of storyboard:
1. Screen-shot (Sketch or illustration) of every scene.
2. All the elements of concept should be present in the story board.
3. More detailing is not required in terms of graphics.
4. Storyboard can also be presented using PowerPoint.
Writing and recording script for Audio: It's time to write a script for audio. This audio will be
in WAV or MP3 format which will be embedded in the flash product demo. Normally content
writers do this job. Here, the duty of designer is to share all the details (Idea & storyboard) &
explain the concept to the content writer. Then he or she will write the script for the storyboard.
Now, after the script is complete, it should be shared with a professional who can record the
audio by reading the script.
Flash Animation: Now the time has come to make the demo in flash. You have everything
(Concept, storyboard & audio) to start but you can’t directly work on the animation section.
Before you start with animation you should have:
1. Vector graphics/icons for animation (For better visual clarity), you can design these graphics
in illustrator or in flash
2. Knowledge of ActionScript (Basic knowledge will also work)
3. And some basic elements like Preloader…
When the animation is complete you have to add some more basic features like play/pause
button, mute/un-mute button, skip (If embedded as intro in website). This will allow the user to
run the demo as per their requirement.
Audio Integration: Now when you are ready with your flash animation. It's time to embed
audio in it. You can’t simply attach an audio file to flash you have to match your animation with
the audio lyrics. For this, you have to use sound editing software (I use Sony Sound Forge). Slice
the audio file as per your animation scenes and then embed those slices in flash & match with
animation.
Your B2C FLASH PRODUCT DEMO is ready to use.