Flash^TM MX 2004 at Your Fingertips: Get In, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need

by Sham Bhangal; Jen deHaan

• ISBN13: 9780782142914
• ISBN10: 0782142915
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Sybex

Summary

The Flash Reference You've Been Waiting For--Covers Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004Flash MX 2004 at Your Fingertips is the first ever task-based reference to Flash. Every page of this unique, highly practical guide is focused on giving you immediate access to the information you need to get your work done fast. Inside you'll find:* Complete explanations of the most common authoring and editing tasks and ActionScript techniques* An intuitive organization that lets you search according to what you want to do* Clear, step-by-step instructions* At-a-glance shortcuts and time-saving tips* A visual reference to the Flash MX 2004 interfaceThis groundbreaking book was written by expert authors who share inside knowledge accumulated over years of intensive Flash use. Whatever your field or level of experience, whether working on the Mac or in Windows, you've found the Flash reference you've been waiting for.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xiii
FLASH WORKSPACE	1	(106)
Interface Overview	3	(14)
Overview: Creating Flash Animation	4	(1)
Overview: Testing Flash Content	5	(1)
Overview: Publishing Flash Content	6	(1)
Windows Authoring Interface	7	(1)
Windows Test Interface	8	(1)
Working with Panels (Windows)	9	(2)
Mac OS X Authoring Interface	11	(1)
Mac OS X Test Interface	12	(1)
Working with Panels (Mac)	13	(1)
Interface Objects	14	(3)
Menus	17	(16)
Menu Overview	18	(1)
File Menu	19	(1)
Edit Menu	20	(1)
View Menu	21	(2)
Insert Menu	23	(1)
Modify Menu	24	(1)
Text Menu	25	(1)
Commands Menu	26	(1)
Control Menu	27	(2)
Debug Menu	29	(1)
Window Menu	30	(1)
Help Menu	31	(1)
Contextual Menus	32	(1)
Toolbars and Tools	33	(28)
Toolbars Overview	34	(1)
Main Toolbar	35	(1)
Controller Toolbar	36	(1)
Edit Bar	37	(1)
Tools Overview	38	(1)
Selection (Arrow) Tool	39	(2)
Subselection Tool	41	(1)
Line Tool	42	(1)
Lasso Tool	43	(1)
Pen Tool	44	(1)
Text Tool	45	(2)
Oval Tool	47	(1)
Rectangle Tool	48	(1)
Pencil Tool	49	(1)
Brush Tool	50	(1)
Free Transform Tool	51	(1)
Fill Transform Tool	52	(1)
Ink Bottle Tool	53	(1)
Paint Bucket Tool	54	(1)
Eyedropper Tool	55	(1)
Eraser Tool	56	(1)
Hand Tool	57	(1)
Zoom Tool	58	(1)
Color Control and Palettes	59	(1)
Color Swatches	60	(1)
Timelines and Screens	61	(8)
Timeline Overview	62	(1)
Layer Options	63	(1)
Timeline Options	64	(1)
Timeline Menus and Modes	65	(2)
Screens	67	(1)
Slides and Forms	68	(1)
Panels	69	(24)
Align Panel	70	(1)
Color Mixer Panel	71	(1)
Color Swatches Panel	72	(1)
Info Panel	73	(1)
Scene Panel	74	(1)
Transform Panel	75	(1)
Actions Panel	76	(1)
Behaviors Panel	77	(1)
Components Panel	78	(1)
Component Inspector Panel	79	(1)
Debugger Panel	80	(1)
Output Panel	81	(1)
Web Services Panel	82	(1)
Accessibility Panel	83	(1)
History Panel	84	(1)
Movie Explorer	85	(1)
Strings Panel	86	(1)
Common Libraries	87	(1)
Project Panel	88	(1)
Panel Sets	89	(1)
Arranging Windows	90	(1)
Property Inspector	91	(1)
Help Panel	92	(1)
Preferences and Printing	93	(14)
Preferences Overview	94	(1)
General Preferences	95	(1)
Editing Preferences	96	(1)
Clipboard Preferences	97	(1)
Warnings Preferences	98	(1)
ActionScript Preferences	99	(1)
ActionScript Settings Preferences	100	(1)
Keyboard Shortcuts Dialog	101	(1)
Customize Tools Panel	102	(1)
Font Mapping	103	(1)
Publish Settings	104	(2)
Printing and Sending Files	106	(1)
AUTHORING TASKS	107	(166)
Flash File Operations	109	(16)
Opening New Files	110	(2)
The Start Page	112	(1)
Starting Flash Documents	113	(1)
Starting Flash Slide Presentations or Form Applications	114	(1)
Starting ActionScript, Communication, or Flash JavaScript Files	115	(1)
Starting Flash Projects	116	(1)
Opening from Templates	117	(1)
Opening from Sites	118	(1)
Printing from Movies	119	(1)
Using Rulers, Guides, Grids, and Snap	120	(2)
Changing Movie Properties	122	(1)
Saving Files or Templates	123	(1)
Exporting Movies	124	(1)
Selections and Groups	125	(8)
Selecting with the Selection Tool	126	(1)
Selecting with the Lasso or Free Transform Tool	127	(1)
Editing a Stage Selection	128	(1)
Making and Editing Groups	129	(1)
Using Groups	130	(2)
Breaking Apart Stage Elements	132	(1)
Drawing and Shape Creation	133	(30)
Basics of Primitives	134	(2)
Understanding Strokes and Fills	136	(1)
Understanding Color and Gradients	137	(1)
Creating Fills and Strokes	138	(2)
Moving Fills and Strokes	140	(1)
Creating Faux Perspectives with the Distort Tool	141	(1)
Conforming Primitives to Curves with the Envelope Tool	142	(2)
Deleting Shapes, Strokes, and Areas	144	(1)
Creating Bezier Curves	145	(1)
Editing Vector Points with the Subselection Tool	146	(1)
Smoothing and Straightening Vectors	147	(1)
Converting Lines to Fills	148	(1)
Expanding and Softening Fill Edges	149	(1)
Optimizing Vector Shapes	150	(1)
Working with Depth	151	(2)
Assigning Colors	153	(1)
Creating Linear Gradients	154	(1)
Creating Radial Gradients	155	(1)
Adding Colors and Gradients to the Palette	156	(1)
Changing Fill Color and Gradient	157	(1)
Changing Stroke Color and Thickness	158	(1)
Transforming Gradients	159	(1)
Transforming Gradients	160	(1)
Simulating Lighting with Gradients	161	(1)
Using Pattern Fills	162	(1)
Working with Timelines	163	(38)
Understanding Animation	164	(2)
Animation Concepts in Flash	166	(2)
Navigating between Timelines	168	(1)
Making Frame Selections	169	(1)
Adding and Deleting Frames and Keyframes	170	(1)
Moving and Copying Frames and Layers	171	(1)
Changing Frame View Attributes	172	(1)
Creating Frame-by-Frame Animation	173	(1)
Adding Shape Tweens	174	(1)
Controlling Shape Tweens with Hints	175	(1)
Adding Motion Tweens	176	(1)
Using Motion Tween Color and Alpha Effects	177	(1)
Testing Animations in the Authoring Environment	178	(1)
Using Center Frame	179	(1)
Using Onion Skinning and Edit Multiple Frames	180	(1)
Adding Sound to a Timeline	181	(2)
Understanding Timeline Effects	183	(1)
Adding and Removing Timeline Effects	184	(1)
Adding Video to a Timeline	185	(1)
Adding Layers	186	(1)
Setting Layer Properties and Layer Types	187	(1)
Using Layer Folders	188	(1)
Creating and Using Guide Layers	189	(1)
Creating Motion Tweening with Motion Paths	190	(1)
Creating and Using Masks and Masked Layers	191	(1)
Working with Scenes	192	(1)
Setting Screen Properties and Parameters	193	(2)
Building Slide Presentations	195	(1)
Building Form Applications	196	(3)
Controlling Screens and Adding Transitions	199	(2)
Symbols and Behaviors	201	(28)
Understanding Symbols	202	(3)
Understanding Behaviors	205	(1)
Creating Graphics	206	(1)
Using the Color Instance Effects	207	(1)
Using Graphics in Tween Animations	208	(1)
Creating Movie Clip Animations	209	(1)
Using Movie Clips in Tween Animations	210	(1)
Creating Nested Movie Clips	211	(2)
Navigating Between Nested Movie Clips	213	(1)
Adding Movie Clip Control Using Behaviors	214	(2)
Testing Movie Clips	216	(1)
Creating Movie Clips from Bitmaps	217	(1)
Creating Movie Clips from Videos	218	(1)
Adding Video Control Using Behaviors	219	(2)
Creating Buttons	221	(2)
Adding Basic Button Navigation Using Behaviors	223	(1)
Creating Text Buttons	224	(2)
Creating Buttons with Audible Feedback	226	(1)
Creating Invisible Buttons	227	(1)
Creating Animated Buttons	228	(1)
Managing Symbols	229	(14)
Basics of Symbol Use	230	(2)
Creating and Editing Symbols	232	(2)
Setting the Symbol Registration Point	234	(2)
Changing Stage Symbol Behaviors	236	(1)
Swapping Symbols	237	(1)
Library Symbol Icons	238	(1)
Organizing the Library	239	(1)
Working with Multiple Libraries	240	(2)
Making Your Site Accessible	242	(1)
Importing and Optimizing Media Assets	243	(22)
Media Overview	244	(1)
Importing Bitmaps	245	(1)
Compressing Bitmaps	246	(1)
Importing Sound	247	(2)
Importing Video	249	(2)
Editing Video into Clips	251	(2)
Understanding Video Encoding Settings	253	(1)
Understanding Advanced Encoding Settings	254	(2)
Optimizing Video	256	(1)
Creating Effects with Video	257	(1)
Importing FreeHand Files	258	(1)
Importing Illustrator Files	259	(1)
Importing PDF Files	260	(1)
Importing Photoshop Files	261	(1)
Importing Swift 3D Files	262	(1)
Importing Toon Boom Studio Files	263	(2)
Working with Extensions and Commands	265	(8)
Installing and Using the Extension Manager	266	(1)
Finding Extensions on the Web	267	(1)
Installing and Uninstalling Extensions	268	(1)
Installing and Uninstalling Components	269	(1)
Installing and Uninstalling Commands and Behaviors	270	(1)
Installing the FLV Exporter and Understanding Codecs	271	(1)
Exporting FLV Files	272	(1)
SCRIPTING TASKS	273	(166)
Working with Basic Scripts	275	(18)
Script Overview	276	(1)
Understanding Scripted Animation vs. Timeline Animation	277	(2)
Adding a Frame Label or Comment	279	(1)
Adding an Instance Name	280	(1)
Entering Code in the Actions Panel	281	(2)
Basic Syntax	283	(1)
Dot Notation	284	(1)
Attaching a Script	285	(1)
Controlling Timeline Flow with Scripts	286	(1)
Error Checking and Formatting Scripts	287	(1)
Working with Properties	288	(1)
Using External Clips with #include	289	(2)
Managing Scripts with the Movie Explorer	291	(1)
Best Practices in Flash Coding	292	(1)
Working with Variables and Objects	293	(16)
Understanding Variables	294	(1)
Understanding Variable Types	295	(2)
Understanding Scope and Dot Notation	297	(1)
Creating Local Variables	298	(1)
Creating Timeline Variables	299	(1)
Creating Global Variables	300	(1)
Understanding Classes, Objects, Methods, and Properties	301	(1)
Using Flash Classes	302	(1)
Using Flash Instances	303	(1)
Creating and Using Arrays	304	(1)
Creating and Using Custom Classes	305	(1)
Understanding Flash MX 2004 Class-Based File Structures	306	(1)
Creating Flash MX 2004 Classes	307	(2)
Code Structures	309	(14)
Overview of Code Structures	310	(1)
The if, else..if, and else Statements	311	(2)
The switch and case Statements	313	(2)
The for Statement	315	(1)
The for..in Statement	316	(1)
The while Statement	317	(2)
The do..while Statement	319	(2)
Using Functions	321	(1)
The try, catch, and finally Keywords	322	(1)
Working with Events	323	(14)
Understanding Event-Driven Code	324	(1)
Attaching Scripts to Buttons or Movie Clips	325	(2)
Attaching Scripts to Events Using Functions	327	(1)
Attaching Scripts to Events Using Callback Functions	328	(1)
Writing Button Scripts for Flash Movie Navigation	329	(1)
Writing Button Scripts for Web Navigation	330	(1)
Writing Button Scripts for Interactive Control and Animation	331	(2)
Creating Scripts for Runtime Symbol Creation	333	(1)
Understanding Listeners	334	(1)
Creating Listeners	335	(2)
Setting Up and Using Components	337	(24)
Introducing v2 Components	338	(1)
Using Components	339	(1)
Changing a Component's Appearance	340	(1)
Adding Data to the List and ComboBox	341	(2)
Adding Basic Event Handling	343	(1)
Adding Listener-Based Event Handling	344	(1)
Setting Up Symbols as Component Icons	345	(2)
Using the Button Component	347	(1)
Using the CheckBox Component	348	(1)
Using the ComboBox Component	349	(1)
Using the List Component	350	(1)
Using the Loader Component	351	(1)
Using the NumericStepper Component	352	(1)
Using the ProgressBar Component	353	(1)
Using the RadioButton Component	354	(2)
Using the ScrollPane Component	356	(1)
Using the DepthManager Class	357	(1)
Using the FocusManager Class	358	(1)
Using the PopUpManager Class	359	(2)
Input and Output Using Text and the Mouse	361	(30)
Understanding Browser Focus and Input Focus	362	(1)
Understanding Text in Flash	363	(1)
Setting Text Fonts	364	(1)
Setting Text Style and Alignment	365	(1)
Setting Text Formatting	366	(1)
Setting Alias Text	367	(1)
Working with Static Text	368	(1)
Creating Hyperlinks with Static Text Fields	369	(1)
Creating Dynamic Text Fields	370	(1)
Creating Input Text Fields	371	(1)
Using the Label Component	372	(1)
Using the TextInput Component	373	(1)
Using the TextArea Component	374	(1)
Creating Text Fields Using ActionScript	375	(1)
Restricting Input Characters	376	(2)
Accessing Text Instances Using ActionScript	378	(1)
Formatting Text Fields Using CSS	379	(1)
Using External Style Sheets with Flash	380	(1)
Using Inline Style Sheets with Flash	381	(1)
Formatting XML with Style Sheets	382	(1)
Using the Selection Class	383	(1)
Using the Strings Panel	384	(1)
Spell Checking Flash Documents	385	(1)
Embedding Font Outlines	386	(1)
Using the PrintJob Class	387	(1)
Using ActionScript to Find the Mouse Position	388	(1)
Capturing the Mouse Scroll Wheel	389	(1)
Creating a Custom Mouse Pointer	390	(1)
Time and Timing	391	(8)
Time Overview	392	(2)
Retrieving and Displaying the Time of Day	394	(1)
Retrieving and Displaying the Date	395	(1)
The Flash Timer	396	(1)
Creating a setInterval Timed Event	397	(1)
Clearing a setInterval Timed Event	398	(1)
Fundamentals of Scripted Animation	399	(20)
Animating via Scripted Property Changes	400	(1)
Attaching Events Dynamically	401	(1)
Attaching and Duplicating Movie Clips to the Stage	402	(2)
Simulating Random Motion	404	(1)
Creating User-Triggered Motion	405	(1)
Simulating Target-Driven Motion	406	(2)
Creating Drag-and-Drop Animations	408	(1)
Using Dynamic Masking	409	(1)
Using Collision Detection	410	(1)
Changing Color via Scripts	411	(1)
Creating Scripted Lines	412	(1)
Creating Scripted Curves	413	(1)
Creating Scripted Filled Shapes	414	(1)
Creating Gradient Fills	415	(2)
Animation and the Drawing API	417	(2)
Interactive Sound and Video	419	(20)
Understanding Flash Sound and Video Classes	420	(1)
Defining a Sound Instance	421	(1)
Starting and Stopping a Sound	422	(1)
Setting Volume for a Single Sound	423	(1)
Setting Volume for a Flash Site	424	(1)
Setting Sound Panning	425	(1)
Creating Sound Effects with Sound Transforms	426	(2)
Working with Dynamically Loaded Sound	428	(1)
Creating Sequenced Sound	429	(1)
Retrieving MP3 Sound Meta Tags	430	(2)
Understanding the Flash Player Privacy Settings	432	(1)
Playing Back Captured Sound with the Microphone Class	433	(1)
Reading Microphone Properties and Permissions	434	(1)
Playing Back Captured Video with the Camera Class	435	(2)
Reading Video Properties and Permissions	437	(2)
Runtime Content Delivery	439	(14)
Understanding Content Delivery Strategies	440	(1)
Creating Load Targets and Load Levels	441	(2)
Loading Variables into a Timeline	443	(2)
Creating Font Symbols	445	(1)
Using Shared Fonts	446	(1)
Dynamically Loading Images	447	(1)
Dynamically Loading Video	448	(1)
Using Components to Load External Content	449	(1)
Handling the Loading Process	450	(1)
Using the MovieClipLoader Class	451	(1)
Using Runtime Shared Libraries	452	(1)
Web Services and XML	453	(1)
Defining Web Services	454	(1)
Adding Method Calls to the Flash Document	455	(1)
Creating Bindings	456	(2)
Invoking Web Services Using Behaviors	458	(1)
Loading XML Documents Using the XMLConnector	459	(1)
Importing Schemas	460	(1)
Triggering XML Calls	461	(1)
Loading Content from Different Domains	462	(2)
Using the DataHolder Component	464	(1)
Calling Web Services Using ActionScript	465	(1)
Calling Web Services Using Flash Remoting	466	(1)
Formatting Results Using the Bindings Tab	467	(1)
Debugging Web Service and XML Documents	468
TESTING AND PUBLISHING TASKS	439	(58)
Testing and Debugging the Movie	471	(12)
Using the Test Environment	472	(1)
Using the Bandwidth Profiler	473	(2)
Debugging with the Output Panel	475	(2)
Using the Debugger Panel	477	(3)
Using Breakpoints	480	(3)
Publishing and Deploying Flash Content	483	(14)
Understanding the Files Created by Flash	484	(1)
Choosing Publishing Options	485	(1)
Publishing for the Web	486	(2)
Publishing for the Desktop	488	(1)
Publishing Bitmap Formats	489	(2)
Publishing QuickTime Movies	491	(1)
Creating Sites	492	(1)
Detecting Flash Player	493	(2)
Creating Projects	495	(1)
Publishing Projects	496	(1)
WHAT'S NEW	497	(2)
Appendix What's New in Flash MX 2004	499	(4)
Index	503