MACROMEDIA FLASH MX LECTURE

Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash) It is a multimedia platform that is popular for adding animation and interactivity to web pages. Flash was introduced in 1996, and is currently developed and distributed by Adobe Systems. Flash is commonly used to create animation, advertisements, and various web page Flash components, to integrate video into web pages, and more recently, to develop rich Internet applications.

PARTS OF THE INTERFACE

The Flash application consists of four main areas:

The Stage The Timeline The Toolbox Panels The Property Inspector

Untitled 1 default filename 2 Flash files .fla extension file upon editing .swf (shock wave file) SHORTCUT COMMANDS F6 F8 Ctrl F8 F11 Ctrl+Enter Ctrl G Ctrl B insert keyframe - convert to symbol new symbol - library test movie Group break apart (ungroup)

Stage working area Is where you draw and import artwork, add text and sounds. Work Area. The Work Area is the grey section surrounding the Stage. Work Area, which surrounds the Stage,

Layer Properties
Layer Properties gives you control over the display and behaviour of layers.

Creating a New Layer

There are three ways to create a new layer:

Toolbox
Overview
There are a number of diverse drawing tools at your disposal to assist you in creating graphics for your Flash movies. We'll learn how to use the tools and how to apply colour to the objects you create.
Toolbox contains tools to create, place and modify text and graphics.

Click on the Add Layer button (pictured below) Right-click (Ctrl-click) on an existing layer and select Insert Layer from the context menu Insert> Layer

The three icons above the layers represent layer modes:

Eye icon: Show/Hide layers Padlock icon: Lock/Unlock layers Outlines icon: display layers as outlines
Zoom Tool is used to change the magnification of the Stage and Work Area. Hand Tool Drag the Stage around with the Hand tool to view the parts that are off the screen. Arrow Tool (black arrow tool) is the primary selection tool in Flash. It's used to select objects for the purpose of changing them in some way. It can also be used to modify the shape of drawn objects. Oval and Rectangle Tools You've already had some practice using these tools so this lecture will be mainly a review. Line Tool Draw perfectly straight lines by using the Line tool.

Timeline organizes and control a movies content over time.

Timeline devided into 2 parts: Layer help to organize the content for a specific frame Frames

Pencil Tool The Pencil tool is used to draw freeform lines but it has some magical properties that can transform the shakiest drawing style into an acceptable drawing. Pen Tool and Subselect Tool If you've ever used a drawing program that employs the use of Bezier curves, then you have a head start on the Pen and Subselect tools. These two tools provide a unique way to draw and to customize basic shapes. Brush Tool The Brush tool is like painting with a paint brush. You can sweep the Brush around the Stage using brushes of varying sizes and shapes. Eraser Tool For those occasions when you need to erase part of a drawing or all drawings on a layer, the Eraser tool does the job. Toolbox Colour Controls Delve more deeply into the Toolbox colour controls and learn how to edit gradient fills. Ink Bottle Tool The Ink Bottle tool is used to apply or change stroke attributes. Paint Bucket Tool The Paint Bucket tool is used to apply solid and gradient fills to enclosed areas. Dropper Tool The Flash Dropper is a unique tool that copies stroke and fill attributes from one object and applies them to another in a very efficient fashion.

Property Inspector displays the most frequently used settings for a tool or object.

Colors the color boxes to choose fill or stroke colors

Panel assist you in working with objects on the stage, the entire document, the timeline and actions