| About the Authors | p. xiv |
| About the Technical Reviewer | p. xv |
| About the Cover Image Designer | p. xvi |
| Introduction | p. xvii |
| Flash-the big picture | p. xviii |
| What's significant about Flash 8 | p. xx |
| Our aims and philosophy in this book | p. xxi |
| How to use this book | p. xxii |
| Flash Movie Essentials | p. 1 |
| The authoring environment | p. 2 |
| The stage | p. 5 |
| The work area | p. 6 |
| The Properties panel | p. 6 |
| The size of the stage | p. 7 |
| The movie's background color | p. 9 |
| Default movie settings | p. 10 |
| The Timeline | p. 10 |
| Frames | p. 11 |
| The playhead | p. 11 |
| Keyframes | p. 14 |
| Animation | p. 15 |
| Layers | p. 21 |
| Layer modes | p. 23 |
| Scenes | p. 25 |
| The Movie Explorer | p. 26 |
| Summary | p. 27 |
| The Flash Tools Panel | p. 29 |
| The Tools panel | p. 30 |
| The Selection tool | p. 31 |
| The Zoom tool | p. 38 |
| The Hand tool | p. 39 |
| The Tools panel's drawing and modification tools | p. 39 |
| The Rectangle tool | p. 39 |
| The Oval tool | p. 41 |
| The Line tool | p. 43 |
| The Paint Bucket tool | p. 48 |
| The Ink Bottle tool | p. 49 |
| The Eyedropper tool | p. 49 |
| The PolyStar tool | p. 50 |
| The Pencil tool | p. 51 |
| The Brush tool | p. 52 |
| The Eraser tool | p. 55 |
| The Text tool | p. 55 |
| The Free Transform tool | p. 58 |
| The Pen tool | p. 63 |
| Bezier curves | p. 63 |
| The Subselect tool | p. 64 |
| Beziers and animation | p. 65 |
| Case study | p. 66 |
| Summary | p. 69 |
| Flash Symbols and Libraries | p. 71 |
| Symbol essentials | p. 72 |
| Symbol types | p. 73 |
| Graphic symbols | p. 73 |
| Modifying symbols | p. 79 |
| Working with multiple Libraries | p. 81 |
| Button symbols | p. 83 |
| Button states | p. 84 |
| Movie clip symbols | p. 87 |
| Movie clips and the main Timeline | p. 89 |
| Sharing symbols | p. 90 |
| Case study | p. 92 |
| Summary | p. 94 |
| Managing Content | p. 97 |
| Grouped objects | p. 98 |
| Symbols within symbols | p. 100 |
| Snap Align | p. 105 |
| The grid | p. 108 |
| Rulers and guides | p. 110 |
| Alignment | p. 112 |
| Align panel | p. 112 |
| Stacking order | p. 117 |
| Distribute to Layers option | p. 121 |
| Layer folders | p. 122 |
| History panel | p. 123 |
| Case study | p. 126 |
| Summary | p. 129 |
| Working with Color and Images | p. 131 |
| Color primer | p. 132 |
| Custom colors | p. 133 |
| Persistent custom colors | p. 138 |
| Gradient color | p. 140 |
| Making the gradient | p. 141 |
| Using light and shade with gradients | p. 144 |
| Applying gradients to objects and modifying them | p. 146 |
| Overflowing fills | p. 151 |
| Locking fills | p. 153 |
| Bitmaps | p. 154 |
| Using bitmap images in Flash | p. 154 |
| Tracing bitmaps | p. 158 |
| Optimizing bitmaps | p. 159 |
| GIF files | p. 160 |
| Understanding transparent GIFs | p. 160 |
| Understanding animated GIFs | p. 161 |
| JPEG files | p. 162 |
| Fireworks files | p. 164 |
| Importing vector images into Flash | p. 165 |
| Importing FreeHand files into Flash | p. 165 |
| Importing PDF documents into Flash | p. 166 |
| Vector clip art | p. 168 |
| Fonts and typefaces | p. 169 |
| Working with device fonts | p. 169 |
| Working with text | p. 170 |
| Case study | p. 170 |
| Summary | p. 173 |
| Motion Tweening | p. 175 |
| Animation revisited | p. 176 |
| Motion tweens | p. 177 |
| Scaling objects in motion tweens | p. 179 |
| Easing | p. 181 |
| Options for editing your animations | p. 186 |
| Using onion skins | p. 186 |
| Editing multiple frames | p. 188 |
| Motion tween effects | p. 189 |
| Color change animations | p. 191 |
| Motion guides | p. 193 |
| Case study | p. 200 |
| Summary | p. 205 |
| Shape Tweening | p. 207 |
| Shape tweens | p. 208 |
| How shape tweens work | p. 208 |
| Irregular shapes | p. 210 |
| Common tweening text effects | p. 212 |
| Natural-looking tweens | p. 215 |
| Tweens with color | p. 216 |
| Shape tween modifiers | p. 217 |
| Shape hints | p. 217 |
| Case study | p. 221 |
| Open sequence | p. 225 |
| Close sequence | p. 225 |
| Summary | p. 225 |
| Masks and Masking | p. 225 |
| What is a mask? | p. 228 |
| Animated masks and masking multiple layers | p. 235 |
| Using masks with text | p. 237 |
| A text-shaped mask | p. 238 |
| Case study | p. 241 |
| Summary | p. 246 |
| Advanced Animation, Effects, and Commands | p. 249 |
| Timeline effects | p. 250 |
| Other kinds of timeline effects | p. 256 |
| Assistants | p. 256 |
| Effects | p. 256 |
| Transform/transition | p. 256 |
| Filters | p. 258 |
| Blend modes | p. 268 |
| Nested blend modes | p. 271 |
| Layer blending | p. 271 |
| Alpha blending | p. 272 |
| Erase blends | p. 273 |
| Automated commands | p. 274 |
| Reacquainting yourself with the History panel | p. 274 |
| Creating a reusable command | p. 277 |
| Behaviors | p. 278 |
| Interactivity | p. 279 |
| Events and event handlers | p. 279 |
| Buttons as interactive elements | p. 280 |
| Symbols on their own do not create interactivity | p. 280 |
| Movie clips and buttons only behave on a timeline | p. 281 |
| Creating animated buttons | p. 284 |
| Creating buttons that talk | p. 285 |
| The features of behaviors | p. 286 |
| Attaching behaviors to frames and buttons | p. 289 |
| Case study | p. 292 |
| Summary | p. 298 |
| Actions and Interactions | p. 301 |
| ActionScript vs. behaviors | p. 302 |
| Scripts, programs, and code-it's all Geek/Greek to me | p. 303 |
| Programming and scripting | p. 303 |
| Scripting and animation | p. 304 |
| Understanding scripting | p. 304 |
| Syntax | p. 304 |
| End each line with a semicolon | p. 305 |
| The object, method, and argument | p. 305 |
| The code block | p. 306 |
| Camel case | p. 307 |
| Indenting | p. 307 |
| Use code blocks often | p. 307 |
| The Flash scripting environment | p. 308 |
| Writing your first script | p. 308 |
| Linking your movie to a URL | p. 313 |
| Case study | p. 316 |
| Summary | p. 325 |
| Intelligent Actions | p. 327 |
| The power of ActionScript | p. 328 |
| Dot notation | p. 333 |
| Teaching your movie to think for itself | p. 341 |
| Variables | p. 342 |
| Conditional statements | p. 344 |
| Case study | p. 347 |
| Summary | p. 351 |
| Multimedia: Sound and Video | p. 353 |
| Sound on the Web | p. 354 |
| Flash and MP3 | p. 355 |
| Creating sound | p. 355 |
| Importing and exporting sound with Flash | p. 356 |
| Using sound in Flash | p. 360 |
| Attaching sounds to the Timeline | p. 360 |
| Flash sound issues | p. 363 |
| Integrating sound | p. 364 |
| Video on the Web | p. 370 |
| Creating video | p. 371 |
| Flash-friendly formats | p. 372 |
| Using video with Flash | p. 372 |
| Editing video clips in Flash | p. 377 |
| Case study | p. 385 |
| Importing and placing the videos | p. 386 |
| Summary | p. 388 |
| Optimizing | p. 391 |
| Flash and the Internet | p. 392 |
| The Internet | p. 392 |
| The World Wide Web | p. 393 |
| Bandwidth | p. 393 |
| The end user-your audience | p. 394 |
| Streaming | p. 395 |
| The Bandwidth Profiler | p. 396 |
| Optimizing and fine-tuning Flash movies | p. 401 |
| Structure | p. 402 |
| Use the right components in your movie | p. 402 |
| Optimizing elements | p. 403 |
| Optimizing tricks and tips | p. 404 |
| Loading multimedia on demand | p. 405 |
| Loading video files, MP3s, and JPEGs | p. 407 |
| Video | p. 407 |
| JPEG and PNG | p. 408 |
| MP3 | p. 410 |
| Last-minute checks | p. 410 |
| Case study | p. 410 |
| Summary | p. 413 |
| Publishing | p. 415 |
| Web formats | p. 416 |
| Flash | p. 416 |
| HTML | p. 417 |
| Animated GIFs | p. 418 |
| Quick Time | p. 418 |
| Putting on the show | p. 418 |
| Flash file publishing options | p. 425 |
| HTML file publishing options | p. 426 |
| GIF, JPEG, and PNG | p. 428 |
| Quick Time movies | p. 428 |
| Projector files | p. 429 |
| Uploading your files to the host server | p. 432 |
| Case study | p. 433 |
| Summary | p. 434 |
| Intermediate ActionScript, Part 1 | p. 437 |
| Planning your complex ActionScript: A practical overview | p. 438 |
| Defining a problem | p. 438 |
| Breaking down the Smiler problem | p. 439 |
| Basic input and output | p. 441 |
| Referencing paths with dot notation | p. 445 |
| Many movie clips, many variables | p. 448 |
| Dynamic animation | p. 454 |
| Creating advanced animation communication schemes | p. 461 |
| Making Smiler age-sensitive | p. 464 |
| Case study | p. 468 |
| Summary | p. 470 |
| Intermediate ActionScript, Part 2 | p. 473 |
| Making coffee | p. 474 |
| To make a cup of Cafe au Lait (coffee with milk) and sugar | p. 474 |
| A bottom-up cup of coffee | p. 474 |
| Creating the super class | p. 477 |
| Reviewing the solution | p. 480 |
| Flash and the built-in classes | p. 482 |
| A simple mouse trail | p. 483 |
| Putting it all together | p. 488 |
| Possible improvements and modifications to your game | p. 502 |
| Summary | p. 503 |
| High-Level Site Design | p. 505 |
| The principles of good design | p. 506 |
| File structure and file size | p. 506 |
| Preloaders | p. 507 |
| Basic: Timeline-based loader | p. 507 |
| Intermediate: ActionScript-based loader | p. 507 |
| Intros | p. 508 |
| Tailoring your designs | p. 508 |
| Timeframe | p. 508 |
| Style | p. 508 |
| Content | p. 508 |
| Navigation | p. 508 |
| Case study 1: online showcase | p. 509 |
| Storyboarding | p. 509 |
| Content | p. 510 |
| Integration | p. 511 |
| Summary | p. 512 |
| Case study 2: my Flash home site interface | p. 512 |
| Random idea #1 | p. 513 |
| Random idea #2 | p. 513 |
| Integration | p. 514 |
| Summary | p. 514 |
| Dynamic websites | p. 515 |
| Case study 3: a dynamic visual guestbook | p. 515 |
| Suggested sites | p. 516 |
| Summary | p. 517 |
| Futurescape | p. 519 |
| Where next? | p. 520 |
| Using and improving your Flash skills | p. 520 |
| Flash site design | p. 521 |
| Flash games and toys | p. 521 |
| Flash cartoons | p. 521 |
| Using Flash with other software | p. 521 |
| 3D in Flash | p. 522 |
| AdvancedAction Script-based Flash interface designs | p. 522 |
| Dynamic content | p. 522 |
| XML | p. 522 |
| Starting a career in Flash | p. 523 |
| HTML | p. 523 |
| Graphic design | p. 523 |
| Getting in | p. 523 |
| Flash farewell-for now | p. 524 |
| Index | p. 527 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
