B&P: How long have you worked with Front Runner, and how did the relationship start?

Mary: I started training with FrontRunner in 2001 through the Computer Trainers Network.

B&P: How did you get into training?

Mary: I've always loved teaching, and found it easy to make the move from working as an academic librarian to applications training, then Internet and web development. It all tied together!

B&P: What do you most enjoy about training?

Mary: Seeing my students make the connections as they learn and watching them gain confidence in their skills.

B&P: What's the biggest challenge people face when learning Flash? What do you suggest for getting past this challenge?

Mary: The concept of "tweening" and the use of keyframes to create tweened animations can throw some people. In class, I show the difference between the kind of flipbook animation we all did when we were kids, where each change in appearance is created manually on a separate page or frame, and tweening, where a series of keyframes mark major changes in appearance and Flash automatically fills in the intervening states.

The word "tweening" is actually short for "inbetweening", a classic technique used in hand-drawn animation. Cartooning stars at Warner Brothers like Chuck Jones would draw the keyframes for Bugs Bunny or other characters. The "inbetweeners" would then draw the intervening frames that make the movement look natural. With Flash, you are Chuck Jones and the program is the team of inbetweeners!

B&P: How can people coming to learn Flash get the most from their training?

Mary: Look at interesting examples of Flash you see on the Web or elsewhere to get an idea of the kind of things you would like to do. If you're coming to an introductory course, you may not learn enough to recreate complex effects, but you can get an idea of the principles behind them and get ready to learn more on your own or in future courses.

B&P: Do you have any suggestions for how someone can effectively describe or demonstrate their proficiency with Adobe CS in their resume or portfolio?

Mary:: If you have a personal web site, put some Flash there and include the URL in your resume. Or include a standalone animation or presentation in your electronic portfolio.

B&P: Look into your crystal ball and tell us what you see in the future for Flash.

Mary: Flash is being used in more and more places. The videos you see at sites like YouTube are delivered to you via your Flash player. Expect to be able to deliver almost any kind of content through Flash.

B&P: Thanks for speaking with us.