You have a personal tutor in the Digital Classroom

Transcription

1 You have a personal tutor in the Digital Classroom Training DVD Included Adobe Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Flash Professional CS5 If you want expert instruction that fits into your schedule, the Digital Classroom series delivers. Adobe Certified Experts guide you through 15 lessons, helping you learn essential Flash Professional CS5 skills at your own speed. Full-color, step-by-step instructions in the book are enhanced with video tutorials on the DVD. With this Digital Classroom training package, you have your own private instructor showing you the easiest way to learn Flash Professional CS5. Gerantabee Create cool vector-based artwork, type, and animation with Flash Use the animation engine and Motion Editor to create animation you can duplicate, save, and reuse Build complex motion graphics with movie clips and inverse kinematics tools Control movies and create interactive controls with ActionScript Import graphics from Photoshop and Illustrator and add music or video Create complex interactivity using code snippets A Complete Training Package! Full-color, step-by-step instructional book Video training from Adobe Certified Experts Tutorials and lesson files on companion DVD Fred Gerantabee is an expert Flash and Silverlight designer, developer, and instructor. He has served as the training manager for AGI Training, and currently leads the UI/UX Development team at BrandWizard Technologies in New York. The AGI Creative Team develops and delivers training programs through the American Graphics Institute. Web/Page Design $49.99 US/$59.99 CAN Fred Gerantabee and the AGI Creative Team

2

3 Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

4

5 Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom Fred Gerantabee and the AGI Creative Team

6 Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN Copyright 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: Manufactured in the United States of America No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) , fax (317) , or online at Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) , outside the U.S. at (317) or fax (317) Please report any errors by sending a message to errata@aquent.com Library of Congress Control Number: Trademarks: Wiley and related trade dress are registered trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. The Aquent and AGI logos are trademarks of Aquent, LLC in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

7 About the Authors Fred Gerantabee is an award winning interactive designer, web developer and author based in New York City. He is an expert with Flash, Silverlight, and code. He previously served as training manager for American Graphics Institute (AGI) and currently leads the UI/UX Development team at BrandWizard Technologies in New York City. Fred is the author of books on Flash and Dreamweaver, and co-author of the Creative Suite 4 Web Premium for Dummies, also published by Wiley. Fred is an Adobe Certified Instructor and holds Adobe Certified Expert status in Flash, Dreamweaver, Flash Lite, and Contribute. Greg Heald has 20 years of design and production experience in both Web and print environments. He has served as a contributing author or editor on a number of books on Dreamweaver, Flash, InDesign, and Acrobat. Greg has contributed to the development of Adobe s certification exams, and as Training Manager for American Graphics Institute, he oversees the delivery of professional development training programs for individuals and organizations. Greg holds a degree in Advertising Design from the acclaimed College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. Jeremy Osborn is the Content Director at American Graphics Institute. He has more than 15 years of experience in web and graphic design, filmmaking, writing, and publication development for both print and digital media. He has contributed to several of the Digital Classroom book series. Jeremy holds a MS in Management from the Marlboro College Graduate Center and a BFA in Film/TV from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. The AGI Creative Team is composed of Adobe Certified Experts and Adobe Certified Instructors from American Graphics Institute (AGI). The AGI Creative Team has authored more than 10 Digital Classroom books, and previously created many of Adobe s official training guides. They work with many of the world s most prominent companies, helping them use creative software to communicate more effectively and creatively. They work with design, creative, and marketing teams around the world, delivering private customized training programs, and teach regularly scheduled classes at AGI s locations. The Digital Classroom authors are available for professional development sessions at companies, schools and universities. More information at agitraining.com.

8 Acknowledgments Thanks to our many friends at Adobe Systems, Inc. who made this book possible and assisted with questions and feedback during the writing process. To the many clients of AGI who have helped us better understand how they use Flash and provided us with many of the tips and suggestions found in this book. A special thanks to the instructional team at AGI for their input and assistance in the review process and for making this book such a team effort. Thanks to Arturo Toledo for helping us to expand our creative horizons in creating the next generation of interactive experiences. Thanks to the following photographers for the use of their images: Lesson 12: Shayna Zaid & The Catch photo by Jamie Santamour; Leslie Graves photo by Calvin Williams; Christopher Heinz photo by Calvin Williams; Shayna Zaid photo by William Kates; Oscar Rodriguez/Nakatomi Plaza photo by Dave Sanders; Emek Rave photo by Holly Danger; Cover photo Risa Bender by Lou Porier.

9 Credits Additional Writing Greg Heald, Jeremy Osborn President, American Graphics Institute and Digital Classroom Series Publisher Christopher Smith Executive Editor Jody Lefevere Technical Editors Cathy Auclair, Barbara Holbrook, Haziel Olivera Editor Marylouise Wiack Editorial Director Robyn Siesky Business Manager Amy Knies Senior Marketing Manager Sandy Smith Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher Barry Pruett Senior Project Coordinator Lynsey Stanford Graphics and Production Specialist Lauren Mickol Media Development Project Supervisor Chris Leavey Proofreading Jay Donahue Indexing Michael Ferreira

10

11 Contents Starting Up About Flash Digital Classroom Prerequisites System requirements Starting Adobe Flash Professional CS Resetting the Flash workspace Loading lesson files Working with the video tutorials Setting up for viewing the video tutorials Viewing the video tutorials with the Adobe Flash Player Hosting Your Flash content and web sites Additional resources Lesson 1: Flash CS5 Jumpstart Starting up What is Flash? About Flash Player Flash file types Creating a new document Setting up your new document Saving your Flash document Opening documents The Flash workspace The Stage and work area The Flash Tools panel The Property Inspector Panels and panel groups The Timeline Practicing with the Flash tools The drawing and selection tools in action Using gradient and color tools Animation in action Getting help Support forums Moving forward Table of Contents IX

12 Contents Self study Review X Lesson 2: Getting Started with the Drawing Tools Starting up Drawing in Flash Using the Merge Drawing mode Creating artwork in Merged Drawing mode Working with Drawing Objects Putting it all together Using the Line tool Using the Pen tool Using the Add and Delete Anchor Point tools Using the Combine Objects menu Using the Primitive tools (Smart Shapes) Using the Oval Primitive tool The Rectangle Primitive tool Adding text to your artwork New & Improved: Flash TLF Text New: Working with Threaded and Multi-Column Text Adding filters Working with colors Getting set up Creating gradients Using opacity with gradient colors Creating custom colors Saving a custom color set Organizing and layering graphics Working with layers Arranging, locking, and hiding layers Creating layer folders Transforming graphics The Transform menu and Free Transform tool The Transform panel Transforming gradients Self study Review Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

13 Contents Lesson 3: Using Symbols and the Library Starting up What are symbols? A look at the Library panel Creating symbols Converting a graphic to a symbol Creating blank symbols Building artwork with symbol instances Positioning and snapping in symbol instances Editing and duplicating symbols Editing symbols in place Modifying individual symbol instances Modifying instance color Fine-tuning your background Duplicating symbols Adding graphics and text to your banner Swapping symbols Managing the Library Organizing symbols with folders The Move To command Deleting items from the library Controlling library views Wrapping up Self study Review Lesson 4: Advanced Tools Starting up Working with gradients Adjusting gradients with the Gradient Transform tool Flash CS5 tools for advanced drawing Spraying symbols Masking Introducing the Deco tool Advanced Deco tool techniques The Deco Tool s new options Table of Contents XI

14 Contents Introduction to IK tools Self study Review Lesson 5: Creating Basic Animation Starting up Introducing keyframes and the Timeline Layers Frames and keyframes Building animation: Enter the tween Tween layers and automatic keyframing Tweening multiple objects Previewing animation with Test Movie Moving and transforming tween paths Incorporating color effects and scaling Introducing the Motion Editor Modifying the animation using the Motion Editor Tweening rotation Controlling animation paths Where did Motion Guide layers go? What happens to my existing Flash files that use Motion Guide layers? How do I create a motion guide if I still want to? Morphing graphics and colors with shape tweens Shape tween basics Legacy techniques: Creating classic tweens Adding color effects and scaling to a classic tween (Re)creating motion guides for classic tweens Troubleshooting Motion Guides Adjusting animation with onion skinning Looking ahead Self study Review XII Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

15 Contents Lesson 6: Advanced Animation Starting up Copying, pasting, and saving animation Using Copy and Paste Motion Creating Motion Presets Applying Advanced Easing Behavior Animating Masks Creating Animation with IK Poses Sequencing Animation Shifting, Moving, and Extending Tween Spans Rendering and Animating in 3D The 3D Rotation tool The 3D Translation tool Fine-Tuning tweens with the Motion Editor Adding shape tweens and shape hints Creating Shape Hints Self study Review Lesson 7: Customizing Your Workflow Starting up Customizing workspace layouts Opening the completed file Working with panels Collapsing and storing panels Managing workspaces Setting preferences Keyboard shortcuts Visual aids for alignment Rulers and guides Guide layers Advanced alignment Refining your aligned objects Self study Review Table of Contents XIII

16 Contents Lesson 8: Working with Imported Files Starting up Import formats Importing still images Viewing the completed lesson file Import a bitmap image Adding text Swapping out an imported file Modifying imported artwork Updating imported files Importing Photoshop files Importing a layered Photoshop file Importing Illustrator artwork Animating the bat Self study Review Lesson 9: Introducing ActionScript Starting up Exploring the lesson file What is ActionScript? ActionScript 2.0 or 3.0: Which should you use? Where Do I Place ActionScript? New: The Code Snippets Panel An important note about Publish settings The Actions panel at work Standard (default) script editing mode Using Script Assist Adding & removing actions Adding actions to frames with the Code Snippets Panel Adding a stop( ) action Placing a goto action using the Actions Panel Controlling Movie Clip Timelines Functions Wrapping up XIV Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

17 Contents Self study Review Lesson 10: Creating Navigation Controls Starting up Working with button symbols Building buttons Adding text to a button Duplicating and modifying buttons Creating text-based buttons Creating frame labels for ActionScript Adding ActionScript: Events and event handlers Understanding events Responding to events with event handlers Tying it all together with event listeners Linking buttons to specific frames Adding an event listener to a button Linking buttons to a web site Introducing navigatetourl( ) and URLRequest( ) Self study Review Lesson 11: Adding Sound to Your Movies Starting up Preparing sound files for Flash Sample rate and bit depth Editing your audio Mono or stereo Audio file formats Importing sounds Placing sounds on the Timeline Adding sound to your slide show project Adding the remaining narration Adding sound effects to buttons Placing Event sounds on button frames Controlling sounds Table of Contents XV

18 Contents Editing sounds Trimming sound Controlling sounds Repeating and looping sounds Looping sounds Introducing the SoundMixer and stopall( ) More sync menu controls: stop and start Start sounds Stop sounds Sound publishing options Self study Review Lesson 12: Introducing Movie Clips Starting up About movie clips Creating movie clips Laying the foundation: Your first movie clip Previewing movie clip animation from the main Timeline Creating the landing gear Combining movie clips and main Timeline animation Nesting movie clips Adding ActionScript to movie clip Timelines Controlling movie clip playback Adding some variation to the propellers Tweening movie clips Adding a second tween Combining movie clips for complex animation Adding filter effects to movie clips Using the Filters panel Creating a filter effect Self study Review XVI Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

19 Contents Lesson 13: Working with Video Starting up Video in Flash: formats and fundamentals The FLV and F4V Video Formats Understanding video Embedded versus linked video The Flash Video format Understanding codecs Understanding the Adobe Media Encoder Converting video with the Adobe Media Encoder Working with embedded video Adding embedded video to the Timeline Building controls for embedded video The Bandwidth Profiler Working with linked video Adding cue points in the Adobe Media Encoder Adding linked video to the Timeline New Feature: Live Preview New: Adding Cue Points in the Property Inspector Working with the FLVPlayback component Self study Review Lesson 14: Delivering Your Final Movie Starting up The publishing process Publishing to the Web Customizing the Publish settings Publishing for the Desktop with Adobe AIR About Digital Certificates Installing Your New AIR Application CD-ROM delivery Creating a standalone projector Using Export Movie An overview of FTP Table of Contents XVII

20 Contents Using Adobe Device Central in Flash Self study Review Lesson 15: What s New in Adobe Flash CS5? Starting up Improved text features with the all-new TLF text engine ActionScript made easier with the new Code Snippets panel Improved Video Features Live Preview Enhanced Property Inspector Spring Behavior added to IK Bones Bitmap Editing with Adobe Photoshop CS New XFL File Format XVIII Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

21 Starting up About Flash Digital Classroom Adobe Flash Professional CS5 is used to create and deliver interactive content. Adobe Flash Professional CS5 is the authoring environment for creating rich, interactive content for digital, web, and mobile platforms. The Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom helps you to understand these capabilities and to get the most out of your software so that you can get up-and-running right away. You can work through all the lessons in this book, or complete only specific lessons. Each lesson includes detailed, step-by-step instructions, along with lesson files, useful background information, and video tutorials. Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom is like having your own expert instructor guiding you through each lesson while you work at your own pace. This book includes 15 self-paced lessons that let you discover essential skills, explore new ones, and understand capabilities that will save you time. You ll be productive right away with real-world exercises and simple explanations. Each lesson includes step-by-step instructions, lesson files, and video tutorials, all of which are available on the included DVD. The Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom lessons are developed by the same team of Adobe Certified Instructors and Flash experts who have created many of the official training titles for Adobe Systems. Prerequisites Before you start the Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom lessons, you should have a working knowledge of your computer and its operating system. You should know how to use the directory system of your computer so that you can navigate through folders. You also need to understand how to locate, save, and open files, and you should also know how to use your mouse to access menus and commands. Before starting the lesson files in the Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom, make sure that you have installed Adobe Flash Professional CS5. The software is sold separately, and is not included with this book. You may use the free 30-day trial version of Adobe Flash Professional CS5 available at the adobe.com web site, subject to the terms of its license agreement. System requirements Before starting the lessons in the Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom, make sure that your computer is equipped for running Adobe Flash Professional CS5, which you must purchase separately. The minimum system requirements for your computer to effectively use the software are listed on the following page. Starting up 1

22 Starting Adobe Flash Professional CS5 System requirements for Adobe Flash Professional CS5 These are the minimum system requirements for using Flash Professional CS5 software. Windows OS Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 processor Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended); Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1; or Windows 7 1GB of RAM 3.5GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable fl ash-based storage devices) 1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card DVD-ROM drive QuickTime software required for multimedia features Broadband Internet connection required for online services Macintosh OS Multicore Intel processor Mac OS X v or v10.6 1GB of RAM 4GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable fl ash-based storage devices) 1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card DVD-ROM drive QuickTime software required for multimedia features Broadband Internet connection required for online services Starting Adobe Flash Professional CS5 As with most software, Adobe Flash Professional CS5 is launched by locating the application in your Programs folder (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac OS). If you are not familiar with starting the program, follow these steps to start the Adobe Flash Professional CS5 application: Windows 1 Choose Start > All Programs > Adobe Flash Professional CS5. 2 Close the Welcome Screen when it appears. You are now ready to use Adobe Flash Professional CS5. Mac OS 1 Open the Applications folder, and then open the Adobe Flash CS5 folder. 2 Double-click on the Adobe Flash CS5 application icon. 3 Close the Welcome Screen when it appears. You are now ready to use Adobe Flash Professional CS5. 2 Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

23 Resetting the Flash workspace Menus and commands are identifi ed throughout the book by using the greater-than symbol (>). For example, the command to print a document appears as File > Print. Resetting the Flash workspace To make certain that your panels and working environment are consistent, you should reset your workspace at the start of each lesson. To reset your workspace, choose Window > Workspace > Reset Essentials. Loading lesson files The Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom DVD includes files that accompany the exercises for each of the lessons. You may copy the entire lessons folder from the supplied DVD to your hard drive, or copy only the lesson folders for the individual lessons you wish to complete. For each lesson in the book, the files are referenced by the file name of each file. The exact location of each file on your computer is not used, as you may have placed the files in a unique location on your hard drive. We suggest placing the lesson files in the My Documents folder (Windows) or at the top level of your hard drive (Mac OS), or on your desktop for easy access. Copying the lesson files to your hard drive: 1 Insert the Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom DVD supplied with this book. 2 On your computer desktop, navigate to the DVD and locate the folder named fllessons. 3 You can install all of the files, or just specific lesson files. Do one of the following: Install all lesson files by dragging the fllessons folder to your hard drive. Install only some of the files by creating a new folder on your hard drive named fllessons. Open the fllessons folder on the supplied DVD, select the lesson you wish to complete, and drag the folder(s) to the fllessons folder you created on your hard drive. Starting up 3

24 Working with the video tutorials Unlocking Mac OS files Macintosh users may need to unlock the files after they are copied from the accompanying disc. This only applies to Mac OS computers and is because the Mac OS may view files that are copied from a DVD or CD as being locked for writing. If you are a Mac OS user and have difficulty saving over the existing files in this book, you can use these instructions so that you can update the lesson files as you work on them and also add new files to the lessons folder Note that you only need to follow these instructions if you are unable to save over the existing lesson files, or if you are unable to save files into the lesson folder. 1 After copying the files to your computer, click once to select the fllessons folder, then choose File > Get Info from within the Finder (not Flash). 2 In the fllessons info window, click the triangle to the left of Sharing and Permissions to reveal the details of this section. 3 In the Sharing and Permissions section, click the lock icon, if necessary, in the lower right corner so that you can make changes to the permissions. 4 Click to select a specific user or select everyone, then change the Privileges section to Read & Write. 5 Click the lock icon to prevent further changes, and then close the window. Working with the video tutorials Your Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom DVD comes with video tutorials developed by the authors to help you understand the concepts explored in each lesson. Each tutorial is approximately five minutes long and demonstrates and explains the concepts and features covered in the lesson. The videos are designed to supplement your understanding of the material in the chapter. We have selected exercises and examples that we feel will be most useful to you. You may want to view the entire video for each lesson before you begin that lesson. Additionally, at certain points in a lesson, you will encounter the DVD icon. The icon, with appropriate lesson number, indicates that an overview of the exercise being described can be found in the accompanying video. 0 DVD video icon. 4 Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

25 Setting up for viewing the video tutorials Hosting Your Flash content and web sites The DVD included with this book includes video tutorials for each lesson. Although you can view the lessons on your computer directly from the DVD, we recommend copying the folder labeled Videos from the Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom DVD to your hard drive. Copying the video tutorials to your hard drive: 1 Insert the Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom DVD supplied with this book. 2 On your computer desktop, navigate to the DVD and locate the folder named Videos. 3 Drag the Videos folder to a location onto your hard drive. Viewing the video tutorials with the Adobe Flash Player The videos on the Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom DVD are saved in the Flash projector format. A Flash projector file wraps the Digital Classroom video player and the Adobe Flash Player in an executable file (.exe for Windows or.app for Mac OS). Note that the extension (on both platforms) may not always be visible. Projector files allow the Flash content to be deployed on your system without the need for a browser or prior standalone player installation. Playing the video tutorials: 1 On your computer, navigate to the Videos folder you copied to your hard drive from the DVD. Playing the videos directly from the DVD may result in poor quality playback. 2 Open the Videos folder and double-click the FLvideos_PC.exe (Windows) or FLvideos_Mac.app (Mac OS) to view the video tutorial. 3 Press the Play button to view the videos. The Flash Player has a simple user interface that allows you to control the viewing experience, including stopping, pausing, playing, and restarting the video. You can also rewind or fast-forward, and adjust the playback volume. A B C D E F A. Go to beginning. B. Play/Pause. C. Fast-forward/rewind. D. Stop. E. Volume Off /On. F. Volume control. Playback volume is also aff ected by the settings in your operating system. Be certain to adjust the sound volume for your computer, in addition to the sound controls in the Player window. Starting up 5

26 Hosting Your Flash content and web sites Hosting Your Flash content and web sites While you can work on everything in this book using only your computer, you will eventually want to post your Flash content to the Web and create sites to share with the world. To do this, you will need to put your web site on a computer connected to the Internet that is always accessible. This is known as a web server. If you don t want to get involved in hosting a web site, you can pay a company to provide space on their web servers for you. A good place to look for a hosting provider is here: If you want to set up your own computer for hosting a web server on your own, and you are using a Windows computer, you can turn it into a web server at no cost by using the Web Platform Installer available at: If you are a Mac OS user, you can get Mac OS X server from Apple to use a Mac OS computer as a web server. If you are just getting started, you don t need to worry about web hosting just yet. But you ll find this information useful once you start creating sites and content as you progress through this book. Additional resources The Digital Classroom series goes beyond the training books. You can continue your learning online, with training videos, at seminars and conferences, and in-person training events. Book series Expand your knowledge of creative software applications with the Digital Classroom training series. Learn more at digitalclassroombooks.com. Training & Professional Development The authors of the Digital Classroom seminar series frequently conduct in-person seminars are available for in-person training and professional development for your organization, company, school, or university. Learn more at agitraining.com. Resources for educators Visit digitalclassroombooks.com to access resources for educators, including instructors guides for incorporating Digital Classroom into your curriculum. 6 Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

27 Lesson 1 What you ll learn in this lesson: Using Flash s key features and capabilities Exploring the Flash Player Saving and opening documents Examining the Flash workspace Flash CS5 Jumpstart Understanding illustration and animation essentials This lesson takes you through the basics you ll need to get up-and-running with Flash Professional CS5. Starting up In this lesson, you will set up a new Flash document and work with several prepared files to explore Flash s tools and features. If you haven t done so already, install Flash Professional CS5 and the Adobe Media Encoder. Instructions for installation, system requirements, and information on how to use lesson files from the included DVD are in the Starting up section on page 3 of this book. Before starting, make sure that your tools and panels are consistent by resetting your workspace. See Resetting the Flash workspace on page 3. You will work with several files from the fl01lessons folder in this lesson. Make sure that you have loaded the fllessons folder onto your hard drive from the supplied DVD. See Loading lesson files on page 3. Lesson 1, Flash CS5 Jumpstart 7

28 1 What is Flash? 1 See Lesson 1 in action! Use the accompanying video to gain a better understanding of how to use some of the features shown in this lesson. The video tutorial for this lesson can be found on the included DVD. What is Flash? You may have heard about Flash and seen it on eye-catching web sites, online games, and banner advertisements. But did you know that you can use Flash for more than creating animated graphics? With Flash CS5 Professional, you can also manipulate video and sound, and even connect to databases to build web-based applications, such as shopping carts, or display news feeds of continuously updated information. There are four key feature areas in Flash CS5 Professional: Drawing environment. Flash features a complete set of drawing tools to handle intricate illustration and typography. Like its cousin, Adobe Illustrator CS5, Flash is a native vectordrawing application where you ll create rich, detailed, and scalable digital illustrations. Flash supports Illustrator and Photoshop files in their native file formats,.ai and.psd, making it easy to work with your favorite applications. All the content you create in Flash or these other programs can be brought to life through animation and interactivity. Animation. Flash creates lightweight animation that incorporates images, sound, and video, and can be quickly downloaded through the web. It has become a favorite and essential tool among web designers and developers who want to take their creativity to a whole new level. Flash animation is featured on web sites, CD-ROMs, and interactive games, and has become very popular for developing interactive, web-based advertisements. Flash s compact files make it the ideal application for creating animated content, games, and applications for mobile phones and PDAs. 8 Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom

29 What is Flash? 1 Flash supports traditional frame-by-frame animation as well as its own method of animation, known as tweening. With tweening, you specify an object to animate, create starting and ending frames, and Flash automatically creates the frames in between (hence tween) to create slick motion, color, and transformation effects. You ll design your own Flash animations in Lesson 5, Creating Basic Animation. Flash s animation tweening generates slick animation between starting and ending frames. Layout. The Flash Stage gives you the flexibility to create extraordinary web site layouts without the design restrictions that are typical of HTML-based web pages. You can position content anywhere on the Flash Stage with flexibility and precision, taking your layouts far beyond the limitations of static web pages. Flash movies can also include any typefaces you choose, allowing you to use fancy typography and unusual fonts freely on your web pages, which is typically difficult outside of Flash. Lesson 1, Flash CS5 Jumpstart 9

30 1 Flash file types Programming. Hidden beneath the beauty of Flash Professional CS5 is the brain of ActionScript, a powerful, built-in scripting language that extends your capabilities beyond simple design and animation. With basic ActionScript, which you ll learn about in Lesson 9, Introducing ActionScript, you can control movie playback or give functionality to buttons. If you venture deeper, ActionScript can turn Flash into a full-fledged, application-building environment to create shopping carts, music players, games, and mobile phone applications. Flash can develop lightweight games for phones, PDAs, and other consumer devices. About Flash Player The Flash Player is a standalone application found most often as a plug-in to such popular browsers as Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox. The Flash Player is required to play compressed Flash movies (.swf files), much like a movie projector is needed to play film reels. The Flash Player is much more than just a playback machine, however. It reads instructions written in ActionScript to add rich interactivity to your movies. As of this writing, the Flash Player is installed on more than 99 percent of Internet-enabled computers, so a majority of your online audience is already equipped to view your Flash creations. For users who do not have Flash Player installed, it is available as a free download from the Adobe web site, adobe.com. Flash Player 10, including both a standalone application and browser plug-in, is automatically installed with the Flash Professional CS5 application. 10 Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Digital Classroom