Getting Started with Flash CS5:

Photo credit: Amir Jina, uploaded via Flickr, Creative Commons License

Flash Assignment 1:

1. From the Adobe Flash CS5 - Learn by Video DVD (Core Training in Rich Media Communications):
1. Getting Started with FLASH CS5
2. Make frequent blog posts explaining all learning as you go along include screencaptures using JING to further explain learning.

1.1             Introduction:

Flash is a development tool used for creating video, animation and interactive content on the web, as well as stand-alone desktop applications and widgets. 

Flash is what’s known as an integrated development environment (IDE).

1.2             File Formats and Icons:

Flash file formats include:

• .fla – Native Flash file format. The .fla file is the project file.  It stores all the information used to create your final product.  This file is used during development only, and is not published with the final product.
• .swf – Compiled .fla for deployment. Most common output format.
• The .swf file can also be enclosed with a container file, such as a .jpeg, .gif, .png or .html.
• .as – ActionScript code file.
• .air – Desktop application.
• .ipa – Application for jail-broken iPhones (Steve Jobs does not allow Flash-developed apps on the iPhone).
• .fxg – XML-based graphics interchange.
• .xfl – Underlying structure of .fla in a text format.  Edits to this file can be made using only a text editor.*
• .flv or .f4v – Video formats.

*Note that when saving a project file in an uncompressed .xfl format, a directory structure is created, which includes, inter alia, an .fla file linked to the corresponding .xfl file, such that editing the .xfl file will result in the changes being apparent upon reopening the .fla file.

Also created within this directory structure will be a bin folder, contain binary data; a LIBRARY folder, containing icons and other graphics assets, and a META-INF folder containing meta data about the file, in .xml text format.

Static image files may be published from within a flash project.  This is accomplished by selecting the appropriate frame from the Flash timeline, and selecting the File à Publish Settings dialogue, than selecting the desired image format.  Further options for selecting the relevant image attributes will become available on a dialogue box tab, depending on the format chosen.  Note that the default location for the published images is the same as the same directory containing the source .fla file.

A screen shot of the Publish Settings dialogue, PNG format tab appears here: http://screencast.com/t/4GFuOgGXd

1.3             Planning Your Project:

Begin your project planning by researching who your intended audience is, what type of experience you want to create for them, and which type of rich media content is appropriate for that purpose. 

Honestly, this section of the tutorial has apparently been authored by the marketing department.  There are multiple references here to things like client and target demographic and proactively leveraging the synergistic outside-the-box paradigm…OK, I just made-up that last one, but you get the drift. 

As an aside, we do learn that we can generate and run a .swf file from our open project (.fla) file with Ctrl+Enter.

1.4             Introducing the Flash Interface:

Please refer to the Flash interface screen shot here: http://screencast.com/t/G148rFk8mY0M

In addition to the familiar menu bar, the Flash interface consists of the work area, as well as multiple panels.  The panels can be displayed or hidden via the window menu, and once displayed, can be collapsed by double-clicking on the panels tab.  A single click of the tab expands a collapsed panel. 

Inside the work area exists an area called the stage.  The stage represents the screen area that will be visible in the published content.

Above the work area we see the edit bar.  This allows us to select different scenes and symbols to work with in our work area, by means of the edit scene and edit symbol buttons.

Still further above the work area and other panels, we have a drop-down box to the right of the menu bar.  This is the workspace selector.  The workspace selector is means by which to easily select different configurations of panels and tools displayed within the interface to suit different tasks.  Mighty handy, eh?

We are also introduced to the welcome screen in this section of the tutorial.  Here we find familiar welcome screen elements, such as design templates, recently used files, and links to useful reference materials.

Next, we take a walk through the menu-bar menus, and gather an overview of the many commands, and some examples of their various use cases.

We then take a closer look at a particular panel called the tool bar.  This offers a palette of drawing and selection tools that will appear familiar to anyone who has used any graphic design or photo editing applications. 

Another panel of interest is the properties panel.  Here we can view and adjust the properties of objects selected within our work area, or those of the entire stage itself.

Looking at panels more generally, we see that our panel layouts are highly customizable.  Panels can be expanded and collapsed, stacked, grouped, docked or floated in myriad ways to achieve the layout most convenient to the user’s particular needs.  Better yet, we can also save our custom layouts as preset spaces that appear in our workspace selector, so it’s easy to get them back when we need them again.

1.5             Test Yourself:

How did I do on the section 1 test?  See it right here: http://screencast.com/t/C5pGeYGxKFT