Adobe Flash CS3Chapter 1Spring 2013

Adobe FlashAdobe Flash is a development tool

that allows you to create compelling interactive experiences, often by using animation.

Flash can be used for the following:◦Create Web Sites including◦E-commerce◦Entertainment◦Education◦Personal Use

Adobe FlashFlash is known as a tool for

creating complex animations for the Web.

However, it can be used as excellent drawing tools and as tools for creating navigation buttons

Flash provides the ability to incorporate sounds and video easily into an application

Organizing the Flash WorkspaceAs a designer, one of the most

important things for you to do is to organize your workspace – that is, to decide what to have displayed.

Flash is a powerful program with many tools and it is easy for your workspace to become cluttered.

It is important to only display tools that you are currently working with.

The Development ProcessFlash operates according to a

movie metaphor: you create scenes on a stage; these scenes run in frames on a timeline.

As you work you are creating a movie by arranging objects on the stage and then animating objects using the Timeline.

The StageThe stage contains all of the objects that are

part of the movie that will be seen by your viewers.

You can resize the stage.You can change the background of the stage.You can draw objects directly on the stage or

drag them from the Library panel to the stage.

The gray area surrounding the stage is the Pasteboard. You can place objects on the pasteboard but they will not appear in the movie.

The TimelineThe timeline is used to organize and

control the movie’s contents by specifying when each object appears on the stage.

The images are contained within frames, which are segments of the timeline.

When a flash movie is played, a playhead moves from frame to frame causing the contents to appear on the stage in a linear sequence.

Layers/PanelsLayers help to organize the objects on

the stage. You can draw and edit objects on one layer without affecting objects on other layers. Layers allow you to stack objects so they can overlap and give a 3D appearance.

Panels are used to view, organize, and modify objects and features in a movie.

The most commonly used panels are the Tools panel, Properties panel, and Library panel.

Opening a Movie in FlashFlash files are called documents

and have an .fla file extension.In order to view a Flash movie,

computers must have Flash player installed.

After opening a movie, you can preview it by playing the frames by directing the playhead to move through the timeline, and you watch the movement on the stage.