Flash 8 Cookbook

by Lott, Joey

• ISBN13: 9780596102401
• ISBN10: 0596102402
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-30
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

This title, covering the newest version of Flash, is perfect for those already working with Flash. Flash developers have little time to dedicate to research on best to get something done for a project. The Cookbbook format (Problem; Solution; Discussion) provides accessible, usable solutions that are easily ported to a developer's unique project needs. Flash 8 Cookbook is aimed squarely at the most under-resourced Flash market: experienced developers. Author Joey Lott is one of the most visible and highly regarded Flash experts in the world; people talk him up online and customers go looking for his books and webposts.

Author Biography

Joey Lott is the author of ActionScript Cookbook (O'Reilly), Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Flash MX 2004 (Lynda.com/Pearson), Complete Flash Remoting MX (Wiley), and is co-author of Flash MX 2004 ActionScript Bible (Wiley). Joey spends much of his time writing, and doing consulting and project development on his own, as well as interfacing with the flash development community (Macromedia, other experts, fans and users, media, interested corporate clients, and friends). You can learn more about Joey and follow his contributions to the Flash community by checking out his wsebsite and his blog: http://www.person13.com/

Table of Contents

Preface	xv
Drawing in Flash	1	(37)
Drawing Straight Lines	3	(2)
Drawing Curved Lines	5	(2)
Modifying Curves	7	(1)
Selecting a Line	8	(1)
Applying Line Styles	8	(1)
Controlling How Lines Scale	9	(1)
Customizing Line Caps	10	(1)
Customizing Join Styles Between Line Segments	10	(1)
Creating Effects with Strokes	11	(1)
Drawing Primitive Shapes	12	(1)
Drawing Regular Polygons	13	(1)
Drawing Stars	14	(1)
Drawing Other Assorted Shapes	14	(1)
Building Complex Shapes from Simple Shapes	15	(2)
Drawing Complex Lines and Shapes	17	(1)
Repositioning Points on Paths	18	(1)
Freehand Drawing	19	(2)
Smoothing and Straightening Lines	21	(1)
Painting Shapes	22	(1)
Tapered Painting Using a Pressure-Sensitive Graphics Tablet	23	(1)
Selecting a Shape and Changing Its Attributes	24	(1)
Applying a Stroke to a Fill	25	(1)
Applying a Fill to a Closed Path	25	(1)
Filling in Paths with Gaps	26	(1)
Mixing Custom Colors	27	(1)
Saving and Reusing Custom Colors	28	(1)
Applying Preset and Custom Gradients	29	(2)
Applying a Fill Across Multiple Elements	31	(1)
Stretching, Rotating, and Repositioning Fills	32	(1)
Scaling Elements	32	(1)
Distorting and Reshaping Elements	33	(2)
Rotating Elements	35	(1)
Creating Mirror Images	36	(1)
Positioning Elements Precisely	36	(1)
Erasing Content	37	(1)
Importing and Exporting Artwork	38	(16)
Importing Assets from Fireworks	38	(2)
Importing Content from Freehand MX	40	(1)
Importing Simulated 3D Shapes from Freehand MX	41	(2)
Importing Acrobat PDF Content	43	(1)
Importing Illustrator AI and EPS Content	44	(1)
Exporting Single-Frame Images	44	(3)
Exporting Animated GIF Files	47	(1)
Exporting Image Maps (HTML Images with Clickable Regions)	48	(6)
Structuring Movies and Laying Out Content	54	(27)
Setting the Background Color	55	(1)
Setting Stage Dimensions	56	(1)
Setting the Frame Rate	57	(2)
Applying New Default Document Settings	59	(1)
Creating Document Templates	59	(1)
Lengthening the Duration of the Movie	60	(2)
Changing Contents on Stage	62	(2)
Managing Content with Layers	64	(2)
Hiding, Locking, and Customizing the Display of Layer Content	66	(2)
Customizing the Display of Layers and Frames	68	(2)
Using Guide Layers	70	(1)
Managing Complex Content with Layer Folders	71	(1)
Laying Out Page Elements Proportionately	72	(2)
Aligning, Distributing, Resizing, and Spacing Elements	74	(2)
Nudging Elements with the Keyboard	76	(1)
Grouping Elements	76	(1)
Reusing Elements: Creating Symbols	77	(4)
Creating Animation	81	(25)
Animating Changes in Location or Appearance	82	(2)
Animating Along Curved Paths	84	(4)
Applying Acceleration and Deceleration with Easing	88	(1)
Applying Advanced Tweening Effects	89	(1)
Animating Rotation	90	(1)
Looping Animations	91	(2)
Previewing Playback	93	(1)
Viewing Multiple Frames Simultaneously	94	(1)
Editing Many Frames Simultaneously	95	(1)
Morphing Graphics with Shape Tweens	96	(1)
Controlling Morphing	97	(2)
Creating Nested Animations	99	(1)
Copying Animations	100	(2)
Changing a Movie Clip's Location at Runtime with ActionScript	102	(1)
Animating Runtime Location Changes with ActionScript	103	(3)
Simulating 3D in Flash	106	(52)
Solutions for Integrating 3D with Flash Projects	107	(9)
Creating 3D Objects	116	(9)
Adding Simple 3D Animation to Flash	125	(9)
Animating a 3D Shape Morph	134	(1)
Vector-Based 3D Graphics	135	(1)
Realistic Raster-Based 3D Graphics	136	(5)
Creating 3D Buttons	141	(5)
Using 3D Models in Flash Not Originally Created in Swift 3D	146	(2)
Creating a 3D Product View from Multiple Angles	148	(5)
Rendering Swift 3D Animations as Flash Video	153	(1)
Adding 3D Graphics Without Leaving Flash	154	(4)
Composing Images with Bitmaps and Masks	158	(18)
Importing Bitmaps	159	(1)
Editing Bitmaps	160	(1)
Fitting Bitmaps Inside Shapes	161	(2)
Converting Bitmaps to Vector Art	163	(3)
Animating Bitmaps	166	(1)
Optimizing Bitmaps for Export	167	(3)
Using Bitmaps with Transparency	170	(1)
Masking Page Elements	171	(2)
Animating Masks	173	(3)
Working with Text Basics	176	(21)
Adding Static Text to the Stage	177	(1)
Changing the Appearance of Text	178	(1)
Making Text Follow a Curve	178	(2)
Adding Drop Shadows to Text	180	(3)
Changing the Width of Static Text Fields (Without Stretching the Text)	183	(1)
Resizing Text Fields (Stretching the Text)	184	(1)
Setting Margins, Indentation, and Leading	184	(2)
Setting Space Between Characters	186	(1)
Optimizing Static Text for Minimum File Size	187	(1)
Superscripting and Subscripting Characters	188	(1)
Making Text Nonselectable	189	(1)
Creating Text Hyperlinks	189	(2)
Adding an Email Link to Static Text	191	(1)
Opening Browser Windows with Specific Parameters Using Static Text	191	(2)
Calling ActionScript Functions from Static Text	193	(1)
Making Small Fonts Readable	194	(1)
Checking Spelling	195	(2)
Working with Dynamic Text	197	(29)
Creating Text that You Can Modify at Runtime	198	(2)
Changing Text at Runtime	200	(1)
Accepting User Input	201	(3)
Accepting Password Input	204	(1)
Limiting the Length of User Input	205	(1)
Setting Allowable Characters for Input	206	(1)
Retrieving User Input	207	(2)
Resizing Dynamic or Input Text Fields	209	(1)
Creating Multiline Text	210	(2)
Creating Scrolling Text	212	(4)
Specifying Wrapping of Multiline Fields	216	(1)
Using HTML Tags in Text	217	(3)
Entering International and Nonstandard Characters	220	(1)
Ensuring that Text Displays in the Original Font	221	(2)
Applying CSS	223	(3)
Adding Interactivity	226	(24)
Creating Buttons from Scratch	226	(3)
Creating Buttons that Animate	229	(3)
Defining the Area that Activates the Button	232	(1)
Creating Hotspots with Invisible Buttons	233	(1)
Making Buttons Respond to Clicks	234	(2)
Making Buttons Respond to Mouse Rollovers	236	(1)
Making Buttons Respond to Dragging and Releasing Off the Instance	236	(1)
Building Menus with Buttons	237	(1)
Using Slider Controls	238	(3)
Using a Dial Control	241	(2)
Creating Custom Cursors	243	(1)
Creating Animated Cursors	244	(1)
Creating Interactive Custom Cursors	244	(2)
Hiding the Hand Cursor	246	(1)
Detecting Keystrokes	247	(3)
Managing Playback	250	(19)
Pausing a Movie After It Loads	251	(2)
Preventing the Movie from Looping	253	(1)
Dividing the Timeline into Segments	253	(3)
Skipping the Playhead to a Different Frame of the Timeline	256	(3)
Creating a Basic Interface to Control Timeline Playback	259	(2)
Playing the Timeline Backward	261	(2)
Creating Seek Buttons	263	(6)
Managing Movie Clips	269	(35)
Performing Actions Repeatedly Over Time	271	(4)
Applying Transparency to Movie Clips	275	(1)
Fading Movie Clip Instances In and Out	276	(5)
Adjusting Movie Clip Instance Color	281	(3)
Animating Color Changes	284	(1)
Brightening Movie Clip Instances	285	(1)
Transforming Movie Clips (Rotation, Scaling, and Skewing)	286	(3)
Moving a Movie Clip in Front of or Behind Another Movie Clip (or a Button or Text Field)	289	(2)
Creating New Movie Clips Based on Existing Movie Clips	291	(3)
Generating Unique Depths	294	(1)
Controlling Movie Clip Playback from Different Timelines	295	(2)
Creating Simple Drag-and-Drop Functionality	297	(1)
Constraining Drag-and-Drop Areas	298	(2)
Changing Movie Clip Visibility	300	(1)
Relocating or Moving Movie Clips	301	(1)
Detecting Collisions (or Overlaps) Between Two Movie Clips	301	(1)
Adding Movie Clips at Runtime	302	(2)
Creating Presentations and Slideshows	304	(15)
Building a Presentation Using the Built-in Template	305	(2)
Building a Presentation Using a Slide Presentation	307	(2)
Adding Back and Forward Buttons to a Slide Presentation	309	(1)
Adding Transitions to Slide Presentations	310	(1)
Building a Presentation Using the Flash 8 Cookbook Components	311	(2)
Adding Buttons to a Presentation Using Flash 8 Cookbook Components	313	(1)
Adding Transition Effects to a Presentation Using the Flash 8 Cookbook Components	314	(1)
Building an Image Slideshow Using a Flash Template	315	(1)
Building an Image Slideshow Using the Flash 8 Cookbook Components	316	(1)
Adding Titles and Captions to a Slideshow Using the Flash 8 Cookbook Components	317	(2)
Building Flash Forms	319	(26)
Adding a Form Control for Gathering Text Information	320	(2)
Adding a Password Form Control	322	(1)
Adding a Menu Form Control	323	(3)
Adding a Checkbox Form Control	326	(1)
Adding a Radio Button Form Control	326	(1)
Adding a Form Control for Gathering Numeric Input	327	(2)
Adding a Clickable Button	329	(1)
Adding a Button that Can Toggle	329	(1)
Adding a Form Control for Collecting Date Information	330	(2)
Performing Actions When the User Clicks a Button	332	(2)
Retrieving Text Field, Text Input, and Text Area Values	334	(1)
Retrieving Combo Box, Single-Select List, and Numeric Stepper Values	335	(1)
Retrieving Values from Multiselect Lists	336	(1)
Retrieving Values from Checkboxes and Toggle Buttons	337	(1)
Retrieving Values from Radio Button Groups	337	(1)
Retrieving Date Values	338	(1)
Submitting Form Data to the Server	339	(3)
A Feedback Form	342	(3)
Building Advanced Flash Forms	345	(10)
Performing Actions When the User Clicks a Checkbox or Radio Button	345	(2)
Performing Actions When the User Makes a Date Selection	347	(1)
Creating a Jump Menu	347	(1)
Preselecting Date Control Values	348	(1)
Preselecting Menu Control Values	349	(2)
Validating Form Data	351	(4)
Customizing UI Components	355	(15)
Applying Individual Component Styles	355	(1)
Applying Styles to Component Groups	356	(1)
Applying Styles to Component Types	357	(2)
Applying Styles Globally	359	(1)
Working with Color Styles	359	(2)
Working with Font and Text Styles	361	(1)
Working with Border and Background Styles	362	(2)
Working with Button and Scrollbar Styles	364	(1)
Working with List Styles	365	(1)
Working with Combo Box Styles	366	(1)
Working with Radio Button, Checkbox, and Arrow Styles	367	(1)
Using Different Artwork Themes	368	(2)
Loading Images and Flash Content	370	(16)
Loading External SWF/Image Content	371	(3)
Loading External SWF/JPEG Content into a Draggable Window	374	(2)
Loading External SWF/JPEG Content into a Scroll Pane	376	(1)
Determining Load Progress	377	(3)
Hiding a Progress Bar When Content Has Loaded	380	(3)
Optimizing Download Time by Sharing Content Among Movies	383	(3)
Working with Sound	386	(15)
Importing Sounds	386	(1)
Updating Imported Sounds (When the Source File Has Been Modified)	387	(1)
Adding a Sound to a Timeline for Playback	388	(2)
Synchronizing Sounds to Animation	390	(1)
Playing a Sound with a Button	390	(1)
Applying Effects to Sounds	391	(2)
Changing the In and Out Points of a Sound	393	(1)
Looping Sounds	394	(1)
Compressing Sounds in Your Movie (Optimizing Quality and File Size)	395	(3)
Starting and Stopping Sounds with Buttons	398	(1)
Stopping All Sounds	399	(1)
Manually Synchronizing Sounds and Visuals	399	(2)
Working with Video	401	(22)
Encoding Video	402	(4)
Deploying Video	406	(3)
Playing Flash Video	409	(2)
Customizing the FLVPlayback Component	411	(2)
Adding Cue Points/Captions	413	(3)
Detecting Bandwidth	416	(3)
Optimizing Video Playback	419	(4)
Using Data	423	(16)
Loading Variables	423	(2)
Sending Variables	425	(2)
Loading Text	427	(1)
Loading XML Data with Components	428	(3)
Calling Web Service Methods with Components	431	(1)
Calling Flash Remoting Methods with Components	432	(2)
Displaying Data with Components	434	(1)
Formatting Data with Data Binding	435	(2)
Sending Data Using Data Binding	437	(2)
Building Preloaders	439	(9)
Determining How a Movie Will Download	440	(2)
Building a Simple Preloader	442	(1)
Building a Preloader that Displays Load Percentage	443	(1)
Using a Progress Bar to Create a Graphical Preloader	444	(1)
Creating Preloaders for Files with Exported Symbols	445	(1)
Creating Preloaders for Files with Components	446	(2)
Publishing Flash	448	(18)
Publishing Flash to the Browser	448	(3)
Making Flash Content that Works with DHTML Menus	451	(1)
Detecting Flash Player Version	452	(1)
Passing Parameters to Flash from HTML	453	(1)
Communicating Between Flash and JavaScript	454	(3)
Integrating Flash with the Browser Back Button	457	(3)
Publishing Projectors	460	(1)
Making Fullscreen Flash Projectors	461	(1)
Printing Flash Content	461	(3)
Hiding the Context Menus	464	(2)
Deploying Flash on Mobile Devices	466	(17)
Creating a Flash Lite Movie	466	(2)
Using the Mobile Emulator	468	(3)
Finding Supported Devices	471	(1)
Playing a Flash Lite Movie on a Device	471	(1)
User Navigation for Flash Lite	472	(3)
Overriding the Default Active Button State	475	(1)
Applying Custom Labels to the Soft Keys	476	(1)
Responding to the Soft Keys	477	(1)
Accessing External Data	478	(2)
ActionScript for Flash Lite	480	(1)
Using Sound in Flash Lite	480	(1)
The Flash Lite Development Community	481	(2)
Making Movies Accessible	483	(14)
Detecting and Redirecting Users with Assistive Devices	486	(1)
Making Content Accessible	487	(2)
Making Animated, Interactive, and Visually Complex Movies Accessible	489	(2)
Creating Accessible Buttons	491	(1)
Making Keyboard-Navigable Movies	492	(2)
Providing Captions	494	(3)
Index	497