Understand the Macromedia Flash environment

Open a document and play a movie

Create and save a movie

Work with layers and the timeline

Plan a Web site

Distribute a Macromedia Flash movie.

Unit Lessons

What is Flash MX?– A animation and interactive authoring

program– Has tools for complex animation, as

well as excellent drawing tools

Using Flash MX

What can Flash MX be used for?– Web sites– Web-based applications– CD-Rom and interactive applications– Video

Using Flash

Optimized for the web

Flash’s Native format is vector images, which reduce the size of graphic files.– Vectors are scalable

Flash provides streaming content over the internet– instead of waiting for the entire contents

of a web page to load.

The Development Environment

You can customize your workspace

Flash works on a movie metaphor– Create Scenes on a Stage– Scenes run in frames on a timeline– You create a movie by arranging

objects on the stage– You can play the movie on the stage

using VCR-like controls

Playback of Flash contentMovies are viewable through a browser

Macromedia Flash Player is required– Free download from Macromedia’s

Web site

Movie’s can be played through the browser, the player, or as a stand-alone “projector”

How Flash Starts upThree parts to the Development Environment

– Stage– Timeline– Workspace

You can display other parts of the program

– The toolbox– The properties panel

toolbox

stage

timeline

panels

The Stage

Contains all objects that are seen by the viewer in the final movie

You can draw objects on, or import objects to the stage

The TimelineUsed to organize and control the movie’s content by specifying when each object appears on the stage

Images are contained within frames, which are units of the timeline.

The timeline has separate layers

The timeline has a playback head

The ToolboxContains a set of tools used to draw and edit graphics and text

Divided into four sections: Tools, View,Colors, Option

Panels, such as the Properties Panel are used to organize and modify objects and features in a movie

Opening a movie in Flash

The .fla extension is native, and can only be opened in Flash

Flash exports web-ready files as .swf

.swf files should be tested before being published

Always keep the original .fla file

Previewing a movie

Flash movies can be previewed in the development environment

Control menu commands:– Play, rewind, step forward, step

backward.

The Controller acts similar to a VCR Controller

Testing a movie

When previewing a movie, some interactive functions do not work unless the movie is played using the Flash Player.

Use Control > Test Movie to test using the Flash player

Creating a Macromedia Flash Movie

Movies are created by placing objects on the stage, editing these objects, animating them and adding interactivity

You can create graphics in Flash,or import them from another program such as Photoshop

Creating a Macromedia Flash Movie

Objects placed on the stage are automatically placed in a layer, and in the currently selected frame of the timeline

A keyframe represents a frame which contains an object.– Always the first frame of every

animation

An object in a keyframe

Object on the stage

Keyframerepresentingobject

Creating an animation

A basic animation requires two keyframes– The first keyframe sets the starting

position– The second keyframe sets the ending

position

The number of frames between two keyframes determines the length of the animation

Motion animation

Arrow between keyframes indicates motion animation

Adding an Effect to an Object

In addition to animating an objects location, you can also animate an objects appearance– Shape– Color– Brightness– Transparency– Rotation

Understanding the Timeline

Playhead FramesFrame View

Icon

Status BarLayers

Understanding how to read the timeline can help you determine what’s happening in your movie frame by frame

Layers

Like transparent acetate sheets of content stacked on top of one another

Adding a layer causes it to be placed on top of the other layers

Can be re-ordered by dragging up or down

Using Frames

The timeline is made up of individual units called frames

Content is displayed in frames as the playhead moves over them when the movie plays

The status bar indicates current frame the playhead is on

Using the Playhead

The playhead indicates which frame is playing

Can be dragged left or right

Dragging back and forth allows you to check some animations in Flash without exporting to swf

Understanding Scenes

A section of the timeline designated for a specific part of the movie.

You can create and name scenes as you wish

Great way to manage your flash movie production

Adjusting the Timeline view

Modifying the frame rateChange movie dimensions

Adjust theframe rate

Adjust theBackgroundcolor

Plan a Web site

First step in any site production

Step 1: State the Purpose(Goals)

Step 2: Identify the Target Audience– Who will use the Web site?

Plan a Web site

Step 3: Determining the Treatment– What is the look and feel?

– Tone

– Approach

– Emphasis

Plan a Web site

Step 4: Develop the Specifications– Playback System

– Elements to Include

– Functionality

– User Interface

Create a Storyboard

Using Screen Design guidelines

Balance

Unity

Movement

User Interface

Using Interactive Design guidelines

Make it simple, easy to understand

Build in consistency in the navigation scheme

Provide feedback

Give the user control

Distributing Flash Movies

File > Publish to export movies out of Flash

Export to .swf format

Generate the HTML code that references the Macromedia Shockwave file

HTML code

Code specifying the Macromedia Shockwave Movie that the browser will play

.swf extension indicates aMacromedia Shockwave file

Other Publish options

Stand-alone Projector Files

Quicktime .mov files

Unit TasksUnderstand the Macromedia Flash environment

Open a document and play a movie

Create and save a movie

Work with layers and the timeline

Plan a Web site

Distribute a Macromedia Flash movie.