© 2011 delmar, cengage learning chapter 1 getting started with flash

© 2011 Delmar, Cengage Learning

Chapter 1

Getting Started with Flash

Chapter 1 Lessons

1. Understand the Flash workspace

2. Open a document and play a movie

3. Create and save a movie

4. Work with the Timeline

5. Distribute an Adobe Flash movie

6. Plan an application or a website

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• Introduction: What is Adobe Flash?– A developmental tool that allows students to create compelling interactive experiences, often by using animation– An excellent program for developing animations that are used in websites, such as product demonstrations and banner ads

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Tools You’ll Use


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• Flash uses vector images.– Vectors are scalable– Reduces the size of graphic files

• Flash provides for streaming content over the Internet.– Does not need to wait for entire contents of

Web page to load to start playing

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Tools panel

A Typical Flash WorkspaceMs. W

Movie Menu bar

Object on the stage

Title Bar

Menu Bar

Object in the Library panelPasteboard

–Stage–

Playhead

Selecting frame 1 displays the object (car) on the Stage

Understand the Flash Workspace

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• You can place objects on the stage and they are incorporated on a timeline.

• You can create a movie by arranging objects on the stage and then animating the objects.

• You can play the movie on the stage using movie controls, such as play, stop, and rewind.

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• There are three parts of the workspace.– Menu bar organizes commands within menus– Stage is where you place objects– Timeline is how you organize and control

objects on the Stage• You can display one or more panels at the

same time.

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• The Stage contains all the objects such as drawings, photos, animations, text, and video.

– Shows how the objects behave within the movie and how they interact with each other

– You can resize and change the background color

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• The Timeline is used to organize and control the movie’s contents by specifying when each object appears on the Stage.

• The images of the Timeline are contained within frames.

• Layers help to organize the objects on the Stage.


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• You can use Panels to view, organize, and modify objects and features in a movie.

• The Tools panel contains a set of tools, used to draw and edit graphics and text.

• The Properties panel is used to display and change the properties of an object, such as size and transparency of a circle.

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Grouped panels

Stand-alone panel

Floating panel

Collapsed panel sets

Stacked panels (Properties/ Library and Color)

Arranging panels


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• The Library panel is used to store and organize the various assets of a movie such as graphics, buttons, sounds, and video.

• You can expand a panel to show all of its features or collapse it to reduce the clutter on a workspace.

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• Floating panels can be resized by dragging the left side, right side, or bottom of the panel.

• Flash provides several preset workspace configurations that provide panels and panel sets most often used.


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Open a Document and Play a Movie

• Flash files are called documents or movies interchangeably.

• To play a Flash movie on computers without Flash, you must change the movie to the Flash Player (.swf) file format.

• Flash players can be downloaded free at www.adobe.com.

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• To preview a movie, you can play the frames by directing the playhead to move through the Timeline, and watch the movement on the Stage.

• You can preview a movie using the Controller. To display the Controller, open the Window menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Controller.

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Control commands


Controller

The Control menu commands and the Controller have buttons that resemble common DVD-type options.

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ShortcutsEnter-PlayTest Scene- Ctrl-Alt-Enter

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• To preview the full functionality of a movie, you need to play it using a Flash Player.

• You can use the Test Movie command on the Control menu to test the movie using a Flash Player.

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Example of an Application19

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• To view a Flash movie on the web, your computer needs to have the Flash Player installed.

• An important feature of Flash Player is that you are able to decompress a compressed file.

• A compressed file is small and delivered more quickly over the Internet.

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Create and Save a Movie

• Creating a Flash Movie.– Flash movies are created by:

1. Placing objects on the Stage

2. Editing the objects

3. Animating the objects

• A keyframe indicates that there is a change in the movie, such as the start of an animation, or the resizing of an object on the Stage.

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Circle object in frame 1

Object on the Stage is in frame 1 on the Timeline

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• Creating an Animation.– The blue background color on the Timeline

indicates a motion animation that starts in frame 1 and ends in frame 24

– The dotted line on the Stage indicates the path the object will follow during animation

– A basic motion animation requires two keyframes: the starting and ending positions

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Motion Animation


Dotted line indicates the path the object will follow during animation

Blue shading indicates a motion tween animation

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• Flash provides a process called motion tweening that makes it relatively simple to move objects.

• Only symbols and text boxes can be motion tweened.

• Tween span is the number of frames in the motion tween.

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• Two important things happen during the motion tween animation process.– The Timeline shows the tween span (also

called the motion span), which is the number of frames in the motion tween

– A dotted line is created, called the motion path, representing the path the object takes from the beginning frame to the ending frame

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• Flash provides several preconfigured motion tweens that you can apply to an object on the Stage.

• You can preview each preset before applying it and you can easily change to a different preset, if desired.

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Panel set with Motion Presets panel active

Note: Your Motion Presets panel may be part of a different panel set or it may be a stand-alone panel

Preview window

Default Presets available, scroll to see more

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• You can animate an object’s appearance.• You can alter the object’s properties as it is

being animated using the motion tween process.

• You can make changes to an object by using the Properties panel.

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Work with the Timeline

• The Timeline organizes and controls a movie’s contents over time.

• By learning how to read the information provided by the Timeline, you can determine and change what will be happening in the movie, frame by frame.

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Elements of the Timeline

Playhead Elapsed time Status bar FramesLayers Frame rateCurrent frame Frame View icon

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• Layers are like transparent sheets of plastic that are stacked on top of each other and can contain one or more objects.

• You can add layers using the Timeline command on the Insert menu or by clicking the New Layer icon on the Timeline.

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• When a new layer is added, Flash stacks it on top of other layer(s).

• You can change the stacking order of layers by dragging them up or down in the list of layers.

• You can name, hide, and lock layers.

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The concept of layers The Stage

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• The Timeline is made up of individual segments called frames.

• The contents of each layer appear as the playhead moves over the frames.

• Frames are numbered in increments of five.

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• If you create a motion tween, the first frame of the tween span will be a keyframe.

• Types of keyframes.– Property keyframe specifies locations on the Timeline

where you want an animation to change– Blank keyframe indicates that no content (objects)

appear on the frame

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The Timeline of a movie with a second object37

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Interpreting the Timeline: What is happening on the Stage is represented by symbols and colors.

Common symbols and colors on the Timeline38

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• The Playhead indicates which frame is playing and can be manually moved by dragging it left or right.

• Dragging the playhead allows you to do a quick check of the movie without having to play it.

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Distribute an Adobe Flash Movie

• You can view Flash movies on the web as part of a website or directly from a viewer’s computer using the Flash Player; they cannot be viewed on the web using the web browser.

• To publish a Flash movie, you must create and save a movie and then select the Publish command on the File menu.

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• Publishing a movie creates two files.– .html—the HTML document– .swf—the Flash Player file

• The HTML document contains the code that the browser interprets to display the movie on the web.

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Sample HTML code

Movie source

Background color

Dimensions

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• Creating a projector file is another way you can distribute a movie that may or may not involve delivery on the web.

• The projector file is an executable file where you can specify the type of file you want to create such as Windows .exe files and Macintosh .app files.

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Plan an Application or a Website

• Use Flash to:– Develop animations that are part of a

product and delivered via the Internet– Create enhancements to web pages, such

as animated logos, interactive navigation buttons, and banner ads

– Create entire websites

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• Planning an application or an entire website should include:

– Stating the Purpose (Goals). “What do we want to accomplish?”

– Identifying the Target Audience. “Who will use our application or website?”

– Determining the Treatment. “What is the look and feel?”

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• Defining Treatment.– Tone: Will the website be humorous, serious,

light, formal, or informal?– Approach: How much direction will be

provided?– Emphasis: How much emphasis will be

placed on various multimedia elements?


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Sample flowchart


A flowchart is a visual representation of how the contents of an application or a website are organized and how various screens are linked.

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• Specifications state what will be included in each screen as well as:


– The Playback System: the choice of what configuration to target for playback

– Elements to include: details about the various elements included in the site

– Functionality: the way the program reacts to an action by a user

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• A storyboard shows the layout of the various screens, often in the form of thumbnail sketches.

• It describes the contents and illustrates how text, graphics, animation, and other screen elements will be positioned.


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• Flowcharts and storyboards make up the user interface (how the objects are arranged on the screen) and the interactivity (how the user navigates through the site or application).


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• Screen design guidelines.– Balance refers to the distribution of optical

weight in the layout of the screen design– Unity helps the screen objects reinforce each

other– Intra-screen unity refers to how the various

screen objects relate and how they all fit


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Sample Storyboard


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• Screen design guidelines.– Inter-screen unity refers to the design that

viewers encounter as they navigate from one screen to another, and how it provides consistency throughout the entire application or site

– Movement refers to the way the viewer’s eyes move through the objects on the screen


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• Guidelines determine the interactivity of applications.– Simplicity: make it easy so users don’t have

to spend time learning what the application does

– Consistency: build in consistency in the navigation scheme so users don’t get lost

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• Guidelines determine the interactivity of applications.– Feedback: provide feedback to user’s when

completing an action, such as changing the color of a clicked box

– User control: allow the user to skip long introductions and provide controls for starting, rewinding, and skipping animations


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• Guidelines for a general workflow process.– Create/acquire the elements to be used in the application– Arrange the elements and create animations– Apply special effects– Create the interactivity– Test and publish the application

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• Project Management.– Develop a project plan that provides the

project scope and identifies the milestones, including analyzing, designing, building, testing, and launching

– Identify personnel and resources needs, budget, tasks, and schedules

– Successful projects are a team effort

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© 2011 delmar, cengage learning chapter 1 getting started with flash

Documents

flash slide

typical flash workspace

adobe flash movie

panel floating panel

w movie menu bar object

w floating panels

tools panel

objects timeline