Flash CS3: The Missing Manual

by E. A. Vander Veer, Chris Grover

Overview

Flash CS3 is the premier tool for creating web animations and interactive web sites, can be intimidating to learn. This entertaining reference tutorial provides a reader-friendly animation primer and a guided tour of all the program's tools and capabilities. Beginners will learn to use the software in no time, and experienced users will quickly take their skills to the next level. The book gives Flash users of all levels hands-on instructions to help them master:

• Special effects
• Morphing
• Adding audio and video
• Introducing interactivity
• And much more

With Flash CS3: The Missing Manual you'll be able to turn an idea into a Flash animation, tutorial, or movie. This book will help you create online tutorials, training materials and full-blown presentations. It also teaches design principles throughout and helps you avoid elements that can distract or annoy an audience.

This is the first new release of Flash since Adobe bought Macromedia, which means that it's the first version that will integrate easily with other Adobe products. It's a whole new ballgame when it comes to Flash, and Flash CS3: The Missing Manual offers you complete and objective coverage. It's the perfect companion to this powerful software.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780596555115
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/24/2007
Series:	Missing Manual Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	530
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

E.A. Vander Veer started out in the software trenches, lexing and yaccing and writing shell scripts with the best of them. She remained busy and happy for years writing C++ programs and wresting data from recalcitrant databases. After a stint as an Object Technology Evangelist (yes, that's an actual job title), she found a way to unite all of her passions: writing about cool computer stuff in prose any human being can understand. Books followed-over a dozen so far-including Facebook: The Missing Manual, PowerPoint 2007: The Missing Manual, JavaScript for Dummies, and XML Blueprints. She lives in Texas with her husband and daughter. Email: [e-mail].

Christopher Grover received degrees in Creative Writing and Film from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He's worked as a technical writer, advertising copywriter and product publicist for more than 25 years. His freelance articles have been published in a variety of magazines from Fine Homebuilding to CD-ROM World. Chris's latest project is launching Bolinas Road Creative (http://www.bolinasroad.com), an agency that helps small businesses promote their products and services. He is also the author of Word 2007: The Missing Manual, and co-author of Digital Photography: The Missing Manual.

Table of Contents

The Missing Credits;
About the Authors;
About the Creative Team;
Acknowledgements;
The Missing Manual Series;
Introduction;
Flash CS3 Professional for Everyone;
What's New in Flash CS3;
Anatomy of an Animation;
Flash in a Nutshell;
The Very Basics;
Macintosh and Windows;
About This Book;
About the Outline;
About → These → Arrows;
Flash Examples;
About MissingManuals.com;
Safari® Enabled;
Part I: Creating a Flash Animation;
Chapter 1: Getting Around Flash;
1.1 Starting Flash;
1.2 A Tour of the Flash Desktop;
1.3 Toolbars;
1.4 Panels;
1.5 The Timeline;
1.6 The Flash CS3 Test Drive;
1.7 Opening a Flash File;
Chapter 2: Creating Simple Drawings;
2.1 Planning Pays Off;
2.2 Preparing to Draw;
2.3 Creating Original Artwork;
2.4 Copying and Pasting Drawn Objects;
2.5 Adding Color;
Chapter 3: Animating Your Drawings;
3.1 Frame-by-Frame Animation;
3.2 Adding Layers to Your Animation;
3.3 Animating Automatically (Tweening);
Part II: Advanced Drawing and Animation;
Chapter 4: Organizing Frames and Layers;
4.1 Working with Frames;
4.2 Adding Content to Multiple Layers;
4.3 Viewing Layers;
4.4 Working with Layers;
4.5 Organizing Layers;
Chapter 5: Advanced Drawing and Coloring;
5.1 Selecting Graphic Elements;
5.2 Manipulating Graphic Elements;
5.3 Adding Text to Your Drawing;
5.4 Advanced Color and Fills;
5.5 Creating Custom Colors;
5.6 Saving Color Swatches;
5.7 Importing a Custom Color Palette;
5.8 Copying Color with the Eyedropper;
Chapter 6: Adding Special Effects;
6.1 Built-in Timeline Effects;
6.2 Spotlight Effect Using Mask Layers;
Chapter 7: Reusable Flash: Symbols and Templates;
7.1 Symbols and Instances;
7.2 Templates;
Chapter 8: Incorporating Non-Flash Media Files;
8.1 Incorporating Graphics;
8.2 Incorporating Sound;
8.3 Incorporating Video;
Part III: Adding Interactivity;
Chapter 9: Automating Flash with ActionScript;
9.1 How ActionScript Works;
9.2 Adding an Action;
9.3 Adding a Prebuilt Behavior;
Chapter 10: Controlling Animation;
10.1 Slowing Down (or Speeding Up) Animation;
10.2 Organizing an Animation;
10.3 Looping a Series of Frames;
10.4 Reversing a Series of Frames;
Chapter 11: Interacting with Your Audience;
11.1 Dynamic Text;
11.2 Input Text;
11.3 Tying Actions to Events;
Chapter 12: Components for Interactivity;
12.1 The Built-in Components;
12.2 Adding Components;
12.3 Customizing Components;
12.4 Finding Additional Components;
Part IV: Delivering Your Animation to Its Audience;
Chapter 13: Testing and Debugging;
13.1 Testing Strategies;
13.2 Testing on the Stage;
13.3 Testing in Flash Player;
13.4 Testing Inside a Web Page;
13.5 Testing Download Time;
13.6 The Art of Debugging;
Chapter 14: Publishing and Exporting;
14.1 Optimizing Flash Documents;
14.2 Publishing Your Animations;
14.3 Exporting Flash to Other Formats;
Part V: appendixes;
Appendix A: Installation and Help;
.1 Installing and Activating Flash CS3;
.2 Getting Help from Flash;
.3 Getting Help from Adobe;
.4 Finding Flash Gurus;
Appendix B: Flash CS3, Menu by Menu;
B.1 File;
B.2 Edit;
B.3 View;
B.4 Insert;
B.5 Modify;
B.6 Text;
B.7 Commands;
B.8 Control;
B.9 Debug;
B.10 Window;
B.11 Help;
Colophon;