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With Flash 4's slick, fast-loading vector graphics and animation, you can transcend the limits of HTML, building sites as hot as your imagination! Now, learn Flash 4 in a flash from a professional Web designer-through real-world projects you can view live on a linked website! Start with the basics, then master every key technique, from animation through navigation, interactivity through building a complete opening sequence. Best of all, the projects are linked to a live website where you can see (and download) each Flash effect, in each stage of completion. It's all the guidance you'll need-every step of the way!
You'll learn all this, and much more!
Look to Essential Books for ALL the Web Skills You Need!
All these books share the same great format, and the same dynamic website...so once you've used one, learning from the others is a piece of cake!
1. The Basics.
Introduction. Drawing Toolbar. Movie Properties. Work Area and Zoom. Drawing Simple Shapes and Text. Undo Levels. Selecting Graphics. Drawing and Modifying Text. Creating the Text Layer. Setting Text Properties. Creating Title Text. Creating Shadow Text. Linking Text. Moving Text. Drawing and Modifying Shapes. Creating Circles. Duplicating the Circle and Moving the Duplicates. Connecting Circles with Lines. Creating the Background Curve. Creating the Background Fill. Texture Fills and Transparency. Creating New Fill for Circles. Changing Fill of Circles. Creating and Modifying the Transparent Circle. Importing Graphics. Importing an Image. Changing the Photo Settings.
2. Animating the Page.
Timelines and Frames. Creating the Link Text Symbol. Creating the Logo Layer. Adding an Additional Background Layer. Creating Some Layers for the Circles. Frames and Animation. Tweening and Keyframes. Adding Keyframes to the Shelley Biotech Page. Movement Tweening. Animating the Tan Background Curve. A Quick Word about Onion-Skinning. Animating the Link Spheres. Animating the Address Text. Animating the Text Links. Animating the Header Text. Shape Tweening. Creating the Beginning S Shape. Applying Shape Tweening to the S. Adding Shape Hints. Fading. Fading in the White Background. Fading in the Office Photo. Fading in the Logo Lines. Changing the Color of the Text Links. Fading in the Link Spheres. Changing the Color of the Address Text.
3. Making the Page Interactive.
Symbols. Creating Symbols. Using the Library to Access Your Symbols. Editing Symbols. Changing Symbol Types. Creating Buttons. Changing the Link Circle SymbolÕs Properties. Changing the Instance Properties for the Link Spheres. Adding the Web Links to the Buttons. Testing the Links. Button Actions. Opening the Button Frame Action Window. Adding the Keyframes for Button Actions. Creating the Hit Frame. Creating the Over Frame. Creating the Down Frame. Testing the Button Actions. Sound Effects. Adding a Sound to the Library. Using the Macromedia Sound Library. Adding Sound to the Buttons. Testing the Sound Effect.
4. Publishing to the Web.
Finishing Touches. Deciding What Resolution to Use. Deciding Which Platforms to Use. Deciding Which Flash Version or File Type to Use. Publishing. Choosing Format Settings. Choosing Flash Settings. Choosing HTML Settings. Publishing the Movie. Viewing the Size Report. Optimizing the Movie. Writing the HTML for the .swf File. Creating a Non-Flash Version of the Page. A Few Final Web Publishing Issues. Preloading. Adding a Scene to the Current Movie. Modifying the Preload Scene. Creating the Preloading Animation. Adding the Action Code. Putting in a Stop Action. Detecting the Plug-In. Modifying the Movie for Flash Detection. Creating the HTML Page for This Movie. Web Server Settings. Configuring Apache. Configuring IIS 4.0.
5. Fine-Tuning Graphics.
Reshaping. Getting Started. Drawing the Needle Graphic. Filling in Needle Texture. Tilting the Needle. Drawing the Thread. Intersections. Creating the Button Texture. Creating the Buttonholes. Adding the Thread Fill to the Buttonholes. Creating the Text. Coloring the Text. Adding the Photographic Image. Brush Effects. Creating the Shadow for the Button and Photo. Creating Gradient for Shadows. Modifying the Shadow Gradient.
6. Advanced Animation.
Animating Symbols. Creating the Button Symbol. Animating the Button. Creating Other Symbols. Opening Sequence. Getting Started. Moving the Button Image. Fading in the Thread Image. Stitch Text Animation and Fading. Fashion Text Animation and Fading. Blues Text with Motion Layer. Needle Rotation, Fading, and Movement. Text Shadow Movement, Shape, and Tint. Photograph Fade-in. Background Music. Creating the New Movie. Creating the First Button. Creating the Second Button. Creating the Movie Clip. Inserting the Buttons in the Movie. Modifying the Action Layer. Adding the Music Layer. Adding the Clip to the Movie. Adding the Clip to the Splash Screen.
7. Advanced Effects.
Animated Buttons. Creating the Parent Button. Creating the Movie Clip. Adding the Movie Clip to the Button Over State. Transitions. Creating a New Scene. Copying Frames. Fading Out Images. Moving and Resizing the Other Images. Adding More Motion to the Button Symbol. Putting in the Link Buttons. Adding the Articles and Photos. Lengthening the Thread. Stopping the Action at the End of the Menu Scene Animation. Forms. Creating the Form. Setting the Variables. Creating a New Scene. Adding the Actions. Interactive Activity. Getting Started. Adding the Static Elements. Creating a Movie Clip. Adding the Colored Buttons. Adding Some Text Labels. Applying the Action to the First Button. Applying the Action to the Second Button. Applying Actions to the Third and Fourth Buttons. Setting Actions for the First Keyframe. Creating the Movie Clip for the Second Keyframe. Applying the Action to the First Button. Setting Actions for the Second Keyframe. Adding Next and Previous Buttons. Final Production: Publishing.
Appendix A: Flash 4 Reference.
Index.
The first time I tried to create graphics with Flash, I loved it. After one week of experimenting with the program, I was convinced that it was one of the best Web development applications on the market. However, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of resources available for learning how to use it. The tutorials from Macromedia were useful, but they lacked depth. It was then that I realized that a hands-on, step-by-step book describing how to create Flash Web sites would be extremely useful to Web professionals who wanted to learn the essentials of Flash quickly and easily.
Welcome to Essential Flash 4 for Web Professionals! In these pages, you'll learn how to create wonderful Flash animations and interactive activities including:
In addition, we'll discuss how to optimize Flash movies for better download, detect the plug-in, and pre-load Flash.
How to Use This BookThis book consists of step-by-step instructions for creating two hypothetical Web sites. First, we'll create a straight-forward Flash site for Shelley Biotech, with simple vector graphics created in Flash, basic animation, animated buttons, and buttons with sound. Then, we'll design a Web site for Stitch Fashion Journal that includes a splash screen with music and a music on/off control. You'll also learn how to create more advanced graphics and animation, an interactive dressing room, and an e-mail form.
All you need to do is follow the instructions to create the sites. As you work through the steps, you'll be presented with checkpoints where you should save your work. In addition, these checkpoints will provide a URL to the book's Web site, from which you can download the project at various stages of completion. That way, if you have difficulty with portions of the project, you can access the files and learn how to accomplish specific steps. The Web site for this book is located at http://www.phptr.com/essential/
If you have any difficulty with the instructions presented in this book, or if you would just like to drop me a line about it, you can reach me by e-mail at lynn@rainc.com.
About the AuthorLynn Kyle has been a Web professional since 1992. She has worked for the Naval Research Laboratory as a computer scientist and more recently was a Webmaster at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Currently, she is the owner of her own Web design firm, Ricochet Associates. Lynn has received many honors for her Web design, including mention in PC Magazine's Top 100 Web Sites and Point Com's Top 5% of the Web, as well as print recognition in major publications such as the New York Times, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times. Some of her clients include Lloyd's of London, Pfizer, and DeBeers.