Runtime Revolution
Articles Other News

Revolution Live 2008: Multimedia with Scott Rossi


by Jo Hernandez

Previous attendees of RevConWest will testify that Scott Rossi's sessions on his passion, Multimedia, are unmissable. Not only is he a highly talented designer/programmer, but he's a captivating speaker. At Revolution Live he will be covering new areas of interest to the developer who wants to create beautiful interactive applications that take full advantage of Revolution's multimedia capabilities. Here's what we know about him:

The Speaker

Scott Rossi is creative director and owner of Tactile Media, a small multimedia studio located in Campbell, California. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Art & Design and 25+ years of experience in the computer graphics field, Scott is able to combine artistic and programming talents to create visually compelling applications and experiences. Scott has an extensive background in vector and raster graphics for both on-screen and print use, as well as substantial experience in scripted application development, addressing such issues as usability, localization, and cross-platform management.

Scott is a classically trained graphic designer who spent several years creating print-ready mechanicals with photostats and computer-set typography. After graduating Cal Poly University on the threshold of the desktop publishing explosion, it was common practice to make changes to printed layouts using an Exacto blade and rubber cement. Cutting up 6 point paper type and pasting it down squarely was a challenging proposition, but one which Scott was able to master. It was during this time that Scott was introduced to the first versions of many popular design applications, some of which are still in use today - Freehand, Illustrator, Photoshop and others - and he gained an appreciation for precision and efficiency in his work.

One day during the course of his publishing work, Scott was poking around a borrowed computer and discovered the Hypercard programming environment. That was the beginning of a new career direction: from that point on, Scott decided his future was in interactive media, and went on to work in Director, SuperCard, MetaCard, and eventually Revolution. Over the years, Scott shifted his professional focus from print media to interactive media and on-screen design. Today Scott specializes in custom interface design.

"I really try to capture material qualities in my work," explains Scott. "I want the interfaces I create to have a believable, photorealistic appearance, even if they couldn't be created in the 'real world.'" Drawing on his past experience with precision work, Scott now designs meticulously rendered interfaces, often editing the artwork on a pixel-by-pixel level. But his passion for creative interface doesn't end with appearance, and he is tapping the power of Revolution to bring his interface sensibilities to Revolution developers.

"During my career I've spent thousands of hours looking at interfaces and materials, and figuring out how to build graphics programmatically. Now I want to empower developers who are 'artistically challenged' to build their own super-cool interfaces with a minimum of fuss." With this in mind, Scott will be introducing "tm|elements" at Revolution Live: a collection of tools and pre-built interface elements made specifically for Revolution developers. "tm|gauge was the beginning," Scott says, referring to his gauge-building tool released in 2006. "Now we need to address the rest of peoples' stacks. I think developers will be pretty excited about this."

When Scott is not working on interface projects, he dabbles in electronic music and sound creation, plays video games with his family, and pursues his addiction to all things related to Halloween.

The Sessions:

Multimedia I

  • The Image Object and Animation
  • Using Visual Effects/Transitions
  • The Audioclip Object and Sound
  • The Player Object & VideoClip Object

Multimedia II

  • Advanced Animation with Arcade Engine
  • Animated Windows & Stacks
  • Using Flash with Revolution
  • Build a Music Player in Revolution (EnhancedQT)
©2005 Runtime Revolution Ltd, 15-19 York Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, EH1 3EB.
Questions? Email info@runrev.com for answers.