Flash 5 Advanced for Windows and Macintosh: Visual Quickpro Guide

by Chun, Russell

• ISBN13: 9780201726244
• ISBN10: 0201726246
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-01
• Publisher: Pearson P T R

Summary

Flash, Macromedia's vector-based Web animation and authoring tool, is ideal for delivering dynamic content on the Web. Many corporate Web sites use Flash to communicate their brands; movie studios promote theatrical releases with Flash; and online games and videos provide rich user experiences with Flash. Not surprisingly, the popularity of Flash content on the Web has generated an enormous demand for advanced Flash developers. Flash 5 Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide is geared for developers who are already familiar with the basics of Flash and are ready to build more complex projects. Russell Chun, an experienced Flash instructor, sidesteps "cool effects" and specific case studies in favor of demonstrating basic ways to approach animation and interactivity in Flash. By presenting material in a logical fashion that emphasizes method and problem-solving approaches, this book encourages readers to begin to "think" in Flash and truly understand its flexibility and functionality. The text is divided into three sections: advanced animations, advanced navigation, and advanced interactivity. All of Flash 5's new features are covered, including its improved interface, Freehand import ability, Bezier pen tools, and the Movie Explorer. The companion CD-ROM includes a demo copy of Flash 5 and links to useful Flash Web sites, tutorials, and Flash examples.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Who Should Use This Book	x
Goals of This Book	x
What's New in Flash 5	xii
Part I: Approaching Advanced Animation	1	(50)
Building Complexity	3	(26)
Motion Tweening Strategies	4	(9)
Shape Tweening Strategies	13	(5)
Animating Your Masks	18	(11)
Working with Video and 3D	29	(22)
Integrating Flash and Quick Time	30	(8)
Rotoscoping	38	(3)
Simulating Video	41	(6)
Simulating 3D	47	(4)
Part II: Understanding Actionscript	51	(22)
Getting a Handle on ActionScript	53	(20)
About Objects and Classes	54	(1)
About Methods and Properties	55	(1)
Writing with Dot Syntax	56	(2)
More on Punctuation	58	(1)
The Actions Panel	59	(7)
Using Objects	66	(5)
Using Comments	71	(2)
Part III: Navigating Timelines and Communicating	73	(98)
Advanced Buttons and User Input	75	(24)
Invisible Buttons	76	(3)
Tweening Buttons	79	(1)
Animated Buttons and the Movie Clip Symbol	80	(4)
Complex Buttons	84	(4)
Event Handlers	88	(2)
Button Tracking Options	90	(3)
Keyboard Input	93	(6)
Managing Flash Communication	99	(30)
Navigating Timelines with Movie Clips	100	(1)
Naming Instances	101	(2)
Target Paths	103	(3)
Absolute and Relative Paths	106	(6)
Using the With Action to Target Movie Clips	112	(2)
The Slash Notation and Tell Target	114	(2)
Movie Clips as Containers	116	(3)
Clip Events	119	(4)
Preloaders	123	(6)
Managing Outside Communication	129	(42)
Communicating Through the Web Browser	130	(18)
Communicating with External Movies	148	(11)
Communicating with Generator	159	(2)
Projectors and the Fscommand	161	(4)
Communicating with the Printer	165	(6)
Part IV: Transforming Graphics and Sound	171	(68)
Controlling the Movie Clip	173	(42)
Dragging the Movie Clip	174	(5)
Setting the Movie-Clip Properties	179	(5)
Modifying the Movie-Clip Color	184	(5)
Swapping Overlapping Movie Clips	189	(3)
Detecting Dropped Movie Clips	192	(4)
Detecting Movie-Clip Collisions	196	(3)
Getting the Boundaries of Movie Clips	199	(2)
Duplicating and Removing Movie Clips	201	(4)
Attaching Movie Clips	205	(4)
Customizing Your Pointer	209	(3)
Beginning to Animate with ActionScript	212	(3)
Controlling Sound	215	(24)
The Sound Object	216	(2)
Attaching Sounds	218	(2)
Playing Sounds	220	(3)
Modifying Sounds	223	(3)
Modifying Independent Sounds	226	(3)
Transforming Sounds	229	(3)
Creating Dynamic Sound Controls	232	(5)
Managing Sounds as External Files	237	(2)
Part V: Working with Information	239	(150)
Controlling Information Flow	241	(34)
Initializing Information	242	(5)
Using Variables and Expressions	247	(5)
Loading External Variables	252	(3)
Modifying Variables	255	(3)
Concatenating Variables and the Eval Function	258	(3)
Testing Information with Conditional Statements	261	(3)
Providing Alternatives to Conditions	264	(3)
Branching Conditional Statements	267	(3)
Combining Conditions with Logical Operators	270	(2)
Looping Statements	272	(3)
Controlling Text	275	(40)
Input Text	276	(4)
Dynamic Text	280	(2)
Concatenating Text	282	(3)
Displaying HTML	285	(3)
Tweening Dynamic Text	288	(2)
Controlling Text Box Scrolling	290	(4)
Manipulating Strings	294	(1)
The Selection Object	294	(1)
Controlling the Selection Within Text Boxes	295	(3)
Controlling the Focus of Text Boxes	298	(4)
The String Object	302	(1)
Analyzing Strings with the String Object	303	(5)
Rearranging Strings with the String Object	308	(5)
Modifying Strings with the String Object	313	(2)
Manipulating Information	315	(44)
Calculations with the Math Object	316	(1)
Calculating Angles with the Math Object	317	(7)
Using Sine and Cosine for Directional Movement	324	(4)
Calculating Distances with the Math Object	328	(3)
Generating Random Numbers	331	(3)
Ordering Information with Arrays	334	(7)
Using the Date and Time	341	(8)
Building Reusable Scripts	349	(5)
Building Custom Classes with Functions	354	(5)
Managing Content and Trouble-Shooting	359	(30)
Creating Shared Libraries	360	(4)
Sharing Fonts	364	(2)
Editing ActionScript	366	(3)
Including External ActionScript	369	(2)
Using the Movie Explorer	371	(4)
Listing Variables and Objects in the Output Window	375	(3)
Tracing Variables in the Output Window	378	(3)
Using the Debugger	381	(4)
Optimizing Your Movie	385	(3)
Avoiding Common Mistakes	388	(1)
Appendix A Summary of Object Methods and Properties	389	(8)
Appendix B Keyboard Keys and Matching Key Codes	397	(2)
Appendix C Summary of the Actions Category	399	(8)
Index	407