Macromedia Flash MX 2004

A Beginner's Guide

By: Brian Underdahl

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Paperback | 17 November 2003 | Edition Number 2

At a Glance

Paperback
416 Pages

Edition Type
Revised

Dimensions(cm)
23.5 x 19.05 x 2.54

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$69.75

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Animate your productions and publish Flash movies. Take advantage of Flash’s functionality and flexibility, and discover even greater creativity and brighter, more effective Web content. Get fascinating, step-by-step coverage of arguably the most exciting Web authoring tool ever created. Learn the fundamental tools as well as ActionScript, Flash’s native programming language.

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Computing & I.T.Graphical & Digital Media Applications Desktop Publishing Computer Programming & Software Development Digital Lifestyle & Online World: Consumer & User Guides Internet Guides & Online Services Digital Animation Computer Science Audio Processing

Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Understanding Flash MX 2004	p. 1
What Can You Do with Flash MX 2004?	p. 2
Create Web Images	p. 2
Animate Your Web Site	p. 4
Build Interactive Movies	p. 5
Display Buttons	p. 6
Transform Shapes	p. 7
Display Rolling Banner Text	p. 8
Understanding Flash MX 2004's Basic Elements	p. 9
The Flash MX 2004 Stage	p. 10
The Timeline	p. 12
Layers	p. 15
The Tools Panel	p. 16
The Panels	p. 20
Create Your Own Animations	p. 21
Creating a Simple Animation	p. 21
Module 1 Mastery Check	p. 23
Learning the Flash Tools Panel	p. 25
Learning the Tools Panel	p. 26
Selecting the Tools	p. 27
Selecting Tool Options	p. 28
Using the Tools	p. 30
Drawing with the Line Tool	p. 30
Drawing with the Rectangle Tool	p. 33
Drawing with the Oval Tool	p. 34
Adding Text with the Text Tool	p. 36
Drawing with the Pencil Tool	p. 39
Drawing with the Brush Tool	p. 40
Drawing with the Pen Tool	p. 41
Adding Fills	p. 43
Using the Eraser Tool	p. 44
Selecting with the Arrow Tool	p. 45
Selecting with the Lasso Tool	p. 47
Use Tools to Create an Object for Your Movies	p. 48
Drawing a Truck and Adding Some Text	p. 49
Module 2 Mastery Check	p. 53
Learning the Flash Panels	p. 55
Understanding the Panels	p. 56
What Are Panels?	p. 56
Locating the Correct Panel	p. 57
Choose the Correct Panel for Your Needs	p. 61
Align Panel	p. 61
Color Mixer Panel	p. 62
Color Swatches Panel	p. 62
Info Panel	p. 63
Scene Panel	p. 64
Transform Panel	p. 64
Actions Panel	p. 65
Behaviors Panel	p. 66
Components Panel	p. 67
Component Inspector Panel	p. 68
Debugger Panel	p. 68
Output Panel	p. 69
Accessibility Panel	p. 70
History Panel	p. 70
Movie Explorer Panel	p. 71
Strings Panel	p. 72
Help Panel	p. 72
Make Changes Using the Panels	p. 74
Selecting in Panels	p. 74
Applying Panel Selections	p. 75
Create and Save Custom Panels	p. 75
Creating Panel Sets	p. 75
Saving Panel Sets	p. 76
Displaying the Standard Panels	p. 76
Setting Properties with the Properties Panel	p. 77
Module 3 Mastery Check	p. 79
Using the Timeline and Layers	p. 81
Understanding How the Timeline Works	p. 82
Understanding Frames	p. 83
Viewing Your Work with Onion Skins	p. 91
Understanding Layers	p. 93
The Purpose of Layers	p. 94
Adding Layers	p. 95
Use Layers Effectively	p. 97
Adding Objects to Layers	p. 97
Adding Some Layers and Frames to the Timeline	p. 103
Module 4 Mastery Check	p. 105
Drawing Objects	p. 107
Drawing Lines and Fills	p. 108
Selecting Different Strokes	p. 108
Choosing Different Fills	p. 110
Adding Complex Curves	p. 112
Using Colors	p. 115
Choosing Colors	p. 116
Adding Gradients	p. 117
Creating Your Own Gradients	p. 118
Warping and Bending Gradients	p. 119
Controlling Alpha Settings	p. 121
Rotating, Skewing, and Scaling	p. 123
Rotating Objects	p. 124
Skewing Objects	p. 125
Scaling Objects	p. 125
Rotating, Skewing, and Scaling Using the Transform Panel	p. 126
Grouping and Ungrouping Objects	p. 127
Understanding Ungrouped Objects	p. 128
Understanding Grouped Objects	p. 128
Simple Grouping Examples	p. 129
Ungrouping as Needed	p. 131
Drawing a Button with a Gradient Fill	p. 131
Module 5 Mastery Check	p. 134
Creating Animations	p. 135
How Animation Works	p. 136
Understanding Frame Rates	p. 136
How Flash Simplifies Animation	p. 137
Understanding the Timeline and Tweens	p. 138
Learning About Tween Types	p. 139
Motion Tweens	p. 140
Shape Tweens	p. 140
Choosing the Correct Tween	p. 142
Creating Motion Tweens	p. 143
Drawing an Object for a Motion Tween	p. 143
Getting the Object Ready for a Motion Tween	p. 144
Getting the Timeline Ready for a Motion Tween	p. 145
Applying the Motion Tween	p. 145
Creating Shape Tweens	p. 147
Drawing an Object for a Shape Tween	p. 147
Getting the Timeline Ready for a Shape Tween	p. 148
Applying the Shape Tween	p. 149
Using Easing	p. 150
Using Shape Tween Hints	p. 151
Creating a Bouncing Ball Animation	p. 153
Module 6 Mastery Check	p. 156
Using Guides and Masks	p. 157
Understanding Guides	p. 158
Creating Guides	p. 160
Creating the Guide Layer	p. 160
Drawing the Motion Guide	p. 161
Locking Objects to the Guide	p. 162
Extending a Guide Off the Stage	p. 164
Orienting the Motion	p. 164
Guiding More Than One Tween with the Same Guide	p. 167
Understanding Masks	p. 168
Creating a Mask	p. 169
Adding a Graphic Mask	p. 169
Using Text as a Mask	p. 171
Modifying the Mask	p. 174
Using a Mask in Animation	p. 174
Creating Scrolling Text	p. 176
Using a Mask to Create Banner Text	p. 178
Module 7 Mastery Check	p. 180
Creating Symbols and Using the Library	p. 183
Learning About Symbols	p. 184
Graphic Symbols	p. 184
Button Symbols	p. 185
Movie Clips	p. 187
Understanding the Ripple Effect	p. 187
Creating Symbols	p. 188
Creating Graphic Symbols	p. 188
Creating Button Symbols	p. 191
Creating Movie Clip Symbols	p. 193
Opening Symbols for Editing	p. 195
Using Symbol Instances	p. 197
Adding Symbol Instances to Your Movie	p. 197
Combining Symbols	p. 198
Modifying Symbol Instances	p. 198
Using Libraries	p. 201
Understanding Libraries	p. 201
Adding Your Objects to Libraries	p. 204
Organizing Your Libraries	p. 204
Using Standard Library Objects	p. 205
Creating Reusable Libraries	p. 207
Using Shared Libraries	p. 209
Using Behaviors	p. 210
Creating and Using a Rolling Wheel Movie Clip	p. 212
Module 8 Mastery Check	p. 215
Using Imported Graphics	p. 217
Understanding Importing Graphics	p. 218
Understanding Vector Graphics	p. 218
Understanding Bitmap Graphics	p. 219
Importing Vector Graphics	p. 220
Using FreeHand Graphics in Flash	p. 220
Using Other Vector Graphics in Flash	p. 225
Creating a Canvas Drawing	p. 225
Saving Your Canvas Drawing for Flash	p. 227
Importing the Canvas Drawing into Flash	p. 229
Importing Bitmap Graphics	p. 231
Importing the Bitmap Image	p. 232
Using the Imported Bitmap in Flash	p. 232
Setting the Properties of an Imported Bitmap Image	p. 232
Importing PDF Files	p. 234
Converting Bitmaps into Vectors	p. 234
Tracing a Bitmap	p. 235
Breaking Up a Bitmap	p. 237
Converting Text into Graphics	p. 239
Breaking Up Text	p. 240
Using Broken-Up Text	p. 240
Making Text Fly into Place to Assemble Words	p. 241
Module 9 Mastery Check	p. 244
Adding Sounds to Your Movies	p. 245
Understanding the Sound Options	p. 246
Sampling Rates	p. 246
Bit Depths	p. 247
Stereo Versus Mono	p. 248
Compression Method	p. 248
Importing Sounds	p. 249
Adding Sounds	p. 251
Adding Sounds to Frames	p. 251
Adding Sounds to Buttons	p. 252
Synchronizing Sounds	p. 255
Event Sounds	p. 256
Start and Stop Options	p. 256
Streaming Sounds	p. 256
Editing Sounds	p. 257
Using Fades	p. 257
Looping Sounds	p. 257
Editing the Envelope	p. 258
Setting the Sound Output Options	p. 261
Setting Individual Sound File Output Options	p. 261
Setting Global Sound File Output Options	p. 262
Compressing and Using a Soundtrack	p. 264
Module 10 Mastery Check	p. 267
Publishing Flash Movies	p. 269
Getting Your Movie Ready to Publish	p. 270
Optimizing Your Movies	p. 272
Understanding Bandwidth	p. 273
Looking for Bottlenecks	p. 274
Optimizing Movie Loading	p. 277
Putting Your Movies on the Web	p. 281
Choosing Settings and Publishing the Movie	p. 281
Understanding the HTML Page	p. 286
Exporting Flash in Alternative Formats	p. 287
Exporting Movies	p. 287
Publishing in Alternate Formats	p. 288
Limitations on Using Alternate Formats	p. 290
Creating a Stand-Alone Flash Movie Using a Projector	p. 290
Module 11 Mastery Check	p. 292
Learning Basic ActionScript Concepts	p. 293
Understanding ActionScript	p. 294
ActionScript's Origin in JavaScript	p. 295
Understanding Object-Oriented Programming	p. 296
ActionScript Basic Elements	p. 297
Functions	p. 297
Events	p. 304
Methods	p. 306
Properties	p. 306
Variables	p. 307
Expressions	p. 308
Parameters	p. 308
Operators	p. 308
Looping	p. 309
Working with Objects	p. 310
Data Type Basics	p. 312
Strings	p. 312
Numbers	p. 313
Boolean	p. 314
Movie Clips	p. 314
Objects	p. 315
Arrays	p. 315
Adding Simple ActionScript to a Movie	p. 316
Module 12 Mastery Check	p. 320
Learning Basic ActionScript Programming	p. 321
Applying ActionScript	p. 322
Planning Your Program	p. 322
Adding ActionScript to Objects and Frames	p. 325
Using ActionScript to Control Actions	p. 327
gotoAndPlay	p. 327
gotoAndStop	p. 327
nextFrame	p. 328
prevFrame	p. 328
play	p. 328
stop	p. 328
stopAllSounds	p. 328
getURL	p. 329
fscommand	p. 329
loadMovie	p. 330
unloadMovie	p. 330
on	p. 331
Using ActionScript to Control Properties	p. 333
Understanding Which Properties You Can Set	p. 333
Setting Movie Clip Instance Properties	p. 336
Understanding Functions and Event Handlers	p. 337
Functions	p. 337
Event Handlers	p. 337
Using Simple ActionScript to Control Movie Flow	p. 338
Module 13 Mastery Check	p. 341
Learning More ActionScript Programming	p. 343
Understanding ActionScript Versions	p. 344
Understanding Deprecated Commands	p. 344
Determining the Flash Player Version	p. 345
Using More ActionScript Functions	p. 348
Using Variables	p. 348
Using Conditional Tests	p. 350
Creating Loops	p. 352
Using ActionScript Operators	p. 355
Using Logical Operators	p. 356
Using Assignment Operators	p. 356
Using Additional Functions in ActionScript	p. 357
Using Built-in Functions	p. 357
Using Custom Functions	p. 358
Setting Properties	p. 359
Using Behaviors	p. 361
Using ActionScript to Fade an Object In and Out	p. 363
Module 14 Mastery Check	p. 366
Answers to Mastery Checks	p. 367
Understanding Flash MX 2004	p. 368
Learning the Flash Tools Panel	p. 369
Learning the Flash Panels	p. 370
Using the Timeline and Layers	p. 371
Drawing Objects	p. 372
Creating Animations	p. 374
Using Guides and Masks	p. 375
Creating Symbols and Using the Library	p. 376
Using Imported Graphics	p. 377
Adding Sounds to Your Movies	p. 378
Publishing Flash Movies	p. 380
Learning Basic ActionScript Concepts	p. 381
Learning Basic ActionScript Programming	p. 382
Learning More ActionScript Programming	p. 383
Index	p. 385
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Macromedia Flash MX 2004

A Beginner's Guide

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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