Introduction

Macromedia Flash is a multimedia and software platform used for creating vector graphics, animation, games and rich Internet applications (RIAs) that can be viewed, played and executed in Adobe Flash Player. Flash is frequently used to add streamed video or audio players, advertisement and interactive multimedia content to web pages, although usage of Flash on websites is declining. Flash manipulates vector and raster graphics to provide animation of text, drawings, and still images. It allows bidirectional streaming of audio and video, and it can capture user input via mouse, keyboard, microphone and camera. Flash applications and animations can be programmed using the object-oriented language called ActionScript. Adobe Flash Professional is the most popular and user-friendly authoring tool for creating the Flash content, which also allows automation via the JavaScript Flash language (JSFL).

Prerequisties

• Macintosh OS or Windows

Course Content

1. Learning the Basics

• What You Will Learn
• Approximate Time
• Lesson Files
• Introducing Flash 8
• Looking at the Flash Workspace
• Creating Your First Flash 8 Document
• Working with Panels
• Using the Timeline and Frames
• Working with Layers
• Setting Your Preferences
• Testing an FLA File
• Finding Help
• Exploring the Project
• What You Have Learned

2. Creating Graphics

• Using the Tools Panel
• Learning About Fills and Strokes
• Using Vector and Bitmap Images
• Using Color
• Creating Graphics with Drawing Tools
• Using Guides, Grids, Coordinates, and Snapping
• Creating a New Graphic Symbol
• Creating and Using Masks
• Adding Strokes
• Using the Library
• Importing and Optimizing Bitmaps
• Importing Vector Drawings
• Using Fills and Gradients
• Manipulating Graphic

3. Using Text

• Using the Text Tool
• Understanding Static Text and Device Fonts
• Adding Static Text to a Document
• Using Embedded Fonts
• Looking at Font Properties
• Adding a Timeline Effect to a Text Field
• Spell Check Your Document
• Using Text-Based Components
• Understanding Dynamic Text Fields

4. Creating and Editing Symbols

• Symbols Explained
• Creating and Editing Symbols on the Stage
• Looking at Symbols in the Library
• Nesting Symbols and Timelines
• Revisiting Graphic Symbols
• Creating Buttons
• Placing the Buttons On the Stage
• Creating Text Buttons
• Creating an Invisible Button
• Creating and Using Movie Clips
• Creating the Menu
• Creating Movie Clip Buttons
• Duplicating Symbols and Adding Symbols to the Stage

6. Creating Animations

• Animating Explained
• Setting Up for a Motion Tween
• Adding the Motion Tweens
• Animating Alpha Levels and Size
• Animating the Movie Clip Button
• Creating a Shape Tween
• Creating Frame-by-Frame Animations
• Animating Along a Path

7. Adding Basic Interactivity

• Making Flash Documents Interactive
• Introducing Behaviors
• Using a Behavior to Load a JPEG
• Using Behaviors to Open a Web Page
• Loading an External SWF File with a Component
• Introducing Script Assist
• Using Actions to Control the Timeline
• Creating a Home Button
• Removing the Hand Cursor
• Making the Movie Clip Button Work
• Using the Script Navigator and Pins

8. Adding Sound and Video

• Using Sound and Video
• Editing Sound and Video
• Assuming Responsibility with Your Media
• Compression, Codecs, and Plug-ins
• Delivering Media Online
• File Size Considerations
• Importing Sound into a Document
• Adding and Customizing Sound
• Adding Sound to a Button
• Importing Video into Flash
• Encoding the Video

9. Creating Forms Using Components

• Introducing Forms and Data
• Introducing Flash Components
• Building the Feedback Form
• Using the Button Component
• Building a Questionnaire Using Flash
• Using the Focus Manager

10. Learning ActionScript Basics

• Learning about ActionScript 2.0
• Learning About Classes, Methods, and Properties
• Looking at Methods and Properties
• Learning How to Use Strict Data Typing
• Using Code Hints in the Actions Panel
• Using Functions and Conditional Statements
• Understanding Scope
• Using _root, _parent, this, and Levels
• Understanding LoadVars
• Creating the Reviews Page
• Using Events and Handlers
• Using Listeners
• Adding a Listener to the Reviews Page
• Adding Cascading Style Sheet Formatting to the Reviews
• Creating the Catalog Pages
• Building the Main Catalog
• Creating the News Page
• Building the Home Page
• Animating the Menu
• Controlling the Menu’s Buttons

11. Loading and Optimizing Flash Content

• Optimizing Flash Documents
• Organizing Applications and Using Good Practices
• Understanding Usability
• Optimizing Animation
• Making a Background More Efficient with Runtime Bitmap Caching
• Understanding Bandwidth and File Size
• Considering User Platforms
• Loading External Content
• Loading Content into the Main Application
• Sending Data Out of Flash
• Sending Data Out of the Feedback Form
• Sending Data Out of the Questionnaire Form
• Adding the ProgressBar Component
• Loading the Tech Bookstore
  Testing and Debugging the Tech Bookstore

12. Publishing Flash Documents

• Adding Metadata and Publishing SWF Files
• Detecting Flash Player
• Embedding an SWF File in an HTML Page
• Uploading the Tech Bookstore to the Web
• Wrapping It All Up

13. Installing Extensions

• Installing Extensions and Components
• Adding Commands and Behaviors to Flash
• Where to Find Extensions
• Course Calendar