Macromedia FLASH 8 User Manual

Flash Tutorials

Trademarks

1 Step RoboPDF, ActiveEdit, ActiveTest, Authorware, Blue Sky Software, Blue Sky, Breeze, Breezo, Captivate, Central,
ColdFusion, Contribute, Database Explorer, Director, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, FlashCast, FlashHelp, Flash Lite,
FlashPaper, Flash Video Encoder, Flex, Flex Builder, Fontographer, FreeHand, Generator, HomeSite, JRun, MacRecorder,
Macromedia, MXML, RoboEngine, RoboHelp, RoboInfo, RoboPDF, Roundtrip, Roundtrip HTML, Shockwave, SoundEdit,
Studio MX, UltraDev, and WebHelp are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. and may be registered in
the United States or in other jurisdictions including internationally. Other product names, logos, designs, titles, words, or phrases
mentioned within this publication may be trademarks, service marks, or trade names of Macromedia, Inc. or other entities and
may be registered in certain jurisdictions including internationally.

Third-Party Information

This guide contains links to third-party websites that are not under the control of Macromedia, and Macromedia is not
responsible for the content on any linked site. If you access a third-party website mentioned in this guide, then you do so at your
own risk. Macromedia provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of the link does not imply that Macromedia
endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content on those third-party sites.

Speech compression and decompression technology licensed from Nellymoser, Inc. (www.nellymoser.com).

Sorenson™ Spark™ video compression and decompression technology licensed from
Sorenson Media, Inc.

Opera ® browser Copyright © 1995-2002 Opera Software ASA and its suppliers. All rights reserved.

Macromedia Flash 8 video is powered by On2 TrueMotion video technology. © 1992-2005 On2 Technologies, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. http://www.on2.com.

Visual SourceSafe is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Copyright © 2005 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. This manual may not be copied, photocopied, reproduced,
translated, or converted to any electronic or machine-readable form in whole or in part without written approval from
Macromedia, Inc. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the owner or authorized user of a valid copy of the software with which
this manual was provided may print out one copy of this manual from an electronic version of this manual for the sole
purpose of such owner or authorized user learning to use such software, provided that no part of this manual may be
printed out, reproduced, distributed, resold, or transmitted for any other purposes, including, without limitation,
commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this documentation or providing paid-for support services.

Acknowledgments

Project Management: Sheila McGinn

Writing: Jay Armstrong, Jen deHaan

Managing Editor: Rosana Francescato

Lead Editor: Lisa Stanziano

Editing: Evelyn Eldridge, Mark Nigara, Lisa Stanziano, Anne Szabla

Production Management: Patrice O’Neill, Kristin Conradi, Yuko Yagi

Media Design and Production: Adam Barnett, Aaron Begley, Paul Benkman. John Francis, Geeta Karmarkar, Masayo Noda,
Paul Rangel, Arena Reed, Mario Reynoso

Special thanks to Jody Bleyle, Mary Burger, Lisa Friendly, Stephanie Gowin, Bonnie Loo, Mary Ann Walsh, Erick Vera, the beta
testers, and the entire Flash and Flash Player engineering and QA teams.

First Edition: September 2005

Macromedia, Inc.
601 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

Contents

Chapter 1: Basic Tasks: Create a Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Take a tour of the user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Change background and Stage size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Change your view of the Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
View the Library panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Add graphics to the Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Add video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
View object properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Add video control behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Use the Movie Explorer to view the document structure . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Test the document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Find help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Chapter 2: Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Examine the completed FLA file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Creating a new document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Changing document properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Importing graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Introducing layers and the timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Test the application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 3: Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . 43

Examine the completed FLA file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Adding text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Creating a symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Adding animation to a timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Creating a button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Writing simple actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Test the application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

3

Chapter 4: Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 3 . . . . . . . . . . .63

Examine the completed FLA file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Considering your audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Checking your publish settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Inserting Flash on a Dreamweaver site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Using roundtrip editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Checking for Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Test the application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter 5: Basic Tasks: Create Accessible Flash Content . . . . . 79

Set up your workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Make your document accessible to screen readers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Provide a document title and description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Provide a title and description for instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Specify that screen readers ignore elements in your document. . . . . 83
Change static text to dynamic text for accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Control the tab order and reading order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
About testing your document with screen readers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Chapter 6: Basic Tasks: Work with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Set up your workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Select a layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Hide and show layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Lock a layer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Add and name a layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Change the order of layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Organize layers in a folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Add a mask layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Add a guide layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Delete a layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Chapter 7: Basic Tasks: Create an Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Set up your workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Copy input and dynamic text fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Name text fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Add and name a Button component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Declare variables and values for the prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Specify values for input text fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

4Contents

Write a function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Write an event handler for the component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Test your application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

Chapter 8: Basic Tasks: Use Layout Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Set up your workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Use guides to align an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Change the Stage size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Resize objects to match the Stage size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Specify snap alignment settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Align an object using the alignment guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Align objects using the Align panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Snap objects to each other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Align objects using the Property inspector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Align objects using the grid and arrow keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter 9: Basic Tasks: Create Symbols and Instances . . . . . . 117

Set up your workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
About creating symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Create a graphic symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Duplicate and modify an instance of a symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
Modify a symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Create a movie clip symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Assign an instance name to the movie clip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Add an effect to the movie clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Chapter 10: Basic Tasks: Add Button Animation
and Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Set up your workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
Create a button from grouped objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Name a button instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
View the hit area by enabling buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Change the hit area of a button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Align buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
Create animation for a button state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
Add an action to a button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Add navigation to a button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Test the SWF file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

Contents 5

Chapter 11: Basic Tasks: Create a Presentation with Screens
(Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Set up your workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
View the screen hierarchy and screen Timelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
View screen properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Add content to a presentation slide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Add screen navigation behaviors to buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Add and name a slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
Select and move slides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
Add content to a new slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Add transition behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Test your presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Chapter 12: Creating Graphics: Draw in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Select a shape tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Select options to create a polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Draw a polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Rotate the shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Use the cutout feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Transform the shape of your drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Copy strokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Draw with the Line tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Select and add a different fill color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Group the shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Create a logo with the Pen tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Chapter 13: Creating Graphics: Create a Timeline Animation . . 153

Create a motion tween . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Create a shape tween . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Copy and paste keyframes in an animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Change the speed of the animation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Test the SWF file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Chapter 14: Creating Graphics: Making Animations with Easing
(Flash Professional only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Examine the completed FLA file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Open the starter document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Test the application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

6Contents

Chapter 15: Creating Graphics: Applying Gradients . . . . . . . . . . 177

Examine the completed FLA file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Open the starter document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Apply a linear gradient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Create a radial gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
Create a transform gradient with a shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186
Apply the finishing touches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Test the application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Chapter 16: Creating Graphics: Apply Graphic Filters and Blends
(Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Review your task. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194
Open the starter document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
Apply filters and blends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195

Chapter 17: Text: Add Text to a Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Set up your workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Create an expanding-width text block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
Create a fixed-width text block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Edit text and change font attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Select device fonts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Add an input text field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Copy a text field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Assign instance names to text fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Create a dynamic text field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Specify format options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
View ActionScript for the dynamic text field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Test the SWF file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Check spelling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Chapter 18: ActionScript: Use Script Assist mode . . . . . . . . . . 209

Examine the completed FLA file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Open the starter document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213
Add a script to a button by using Script Assist mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . .213
Add frame scripts to the Timeline by using Script Assist mode . . . . . 218
Add a frame script to the Title movie clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Test the application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Contents 7

Chapter 19: ActionScript: Write Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Set up your workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Create an instance of a symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Name button instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Initialize the document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Apply ActionScript syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
Locate ActionScript reference documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Add comments to ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Write a function for a button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Copy and modify a button function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
Check syntax and test your application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234

Chapter 20: ActionScript: Add Interactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Set up your workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236
Name button instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Add a scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237
Move between scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
Control the document with a stop() action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
Link a button to a scene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Add navigation to return to Scene 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Play a movie clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Use a behavior to play an MP3 file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243
Test your document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Chapter 21: ActionScript: Create a Form with Conditional Logic
and Send Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Set up your workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246
Add an input text field to collect form data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246
Add a Submit button to the form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247
Add an error message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248
Add a confirmation message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Add a stop() action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Add frame labels for navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Add conditional logic for the Submit button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Pass data out of a SWF file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252
Write a function for the Try Again button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
Test your SWF file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

8Contents

Chapter 22: ActionScript: Work with Objects and Classes . . 255

Set up your workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Learn about classes and object types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Create an object from a class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Create a custom class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Create two objects from the Product class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Learn about extending existing classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Extend the MovieClip class to create a new class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Chapter 23: Data Integration: Overview
(Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Chapter 24: Data Integration: Using the Macromedia Tips Web
Service (Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Connect to a public web service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Create a user interface and bind the components with the web service

274

Chapter 25: Data Integration: Using XML for a Timesheet
(Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Create the user interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Edit the data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Chapter 26: Data Integration: Using XUpdate
to Update the Timesheet
(Flash Professional Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Update the timesheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Contents 9

10 Contents

Introduction

This part of Flash Help includes several step-by-step tutorials, designed to
teach you the fundamentals of Flash. Macromedia recommends that you
go through the lessons using the sample files provided. The path to the
sample file is provided in each lesson.

By completing these hands-on lessons, you’ll learn how to use Flash to add
text, graphics, and animation to your Flash applications. Additionally,
you’ll learn how easy it is to customize your Flash application by using
ActionsScript and behaviors.

The lessons are targeted toward beginners to intermediate-level Flash
designers and developers who want to get up to speed quickly.

Each lesson focuses on a specific Flash design feature or topic and takes
approximately 10–20 minutes to complete, depending on your experience.
In these lessons, you learn how to create a Flash document, write
ActionScript, work with video and video control behaviors, and add a
Flash component.

NOTE

This book is not a comprehensive manual detailing all the features of
Macromedia Flash. For in-depth information about using Flash, from
within the Flash application, select Flash Help (Help > Flash Help).

11

12 Introduction

CHAPTER 1

Basic Tasks: Create a Document

You’re about to experience the power of Macromedia Flash Basic 8 and
Macromedia Flash Professional 8. You’ll see how, in a few minutes, you can
create a compelling web experience that combines video, text, graphics,
and media control behaviors.

You can print this tutorial by downloading a PDF version of it from the
Macromedia Flash Documentation page at www.macromedia.com/go/

fl_documentation.

In this tutorial, you will complete the following tasks:

Take a tour of the user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Select panel sets and arrange panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Change background and Stage size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Change your view of the Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
View the Library panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Add graphics to the Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Add video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
View object properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Add video control behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Use the Movie Explorer to view the document structure. . . . . . . . 22
Test the document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Find help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Before taking this lesson, we recommend that you read Getting Started with
Flash, to learn about the Flash workspace. To access this guide, select

Help > Getting Started with Flash.

1

13

Take a tour of the user interface

First, you’ll open the starting FLA file that you’ll use to complete this
lesson. Each lesson includes one start file, and a finished file that
demonstrates how the FLA file should appear upon completion of the
lessons.

1. To open your start file, in Flash select File > Open and navigate to

the file:

■ In Windows, browse to boot drive\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash

8\Samples and Tutorials\Tutorial Assets\Basic Tasks\Create a
Document and double-click document_start.fla.

■ On the Macintosh, browse to Macintosh HD/Applications/

Macromedia Flash 8/Samples and Tutorials/Tutorial Assets/Basic
Tasks/Create a Document and double-click document_start.fla.

NOTE

The Create a Document folder contains completed versions of the tutorial
FLA files for your reference.

The document opens in the Flash authoring environment. The
document already includes two layers in the Timeline. To learn more
about layers, select Help > Flash Tutorials > Basic Flash > Work with
Layers.

One of the layers is named Guides, which contains items to assist you
in placing objects correctly on the Stage. The other layer is named
Content. This is the layer in which to place the objects that will
compose your document.

2. Select File > Save As and save the document with a new name, in the

same folder, to preserve the original start file.

As you complete this lesson, remember to save your work frequently.

14 Basic Tasks: Create a Document

Select panel sets and arrange panels

The Default Workspace Layout panel set arranges your workspace in a way
that facilitates taking lessons. You’ll use this layout for all lessons that you
take in Flash.

■ Select Window > Workspace Layout > Default.

You can move panels around, and resize them, as follows:

■ You can undock a panel by clicking the upper-left corner of the

panel, in the title bar, and dragging the panel to another location in
the workspace.

If the panel snaps against a border, it is docked in a new location (or
docked in the same location, if you moved it back). Otherwise, the
panel is undocked.

■ You can resize an undocked panel by dragging the lower-right edge

out to enlarge the panel.

Use tools to create Flash content

The white rectangular Stage area is where you can arrange objects as you
want them to appear in your published file.

NOTE

You can open several documents at once and use document tabs, above
the Stage, to navigate between them.

The Tools panel, next to the Stage, offers a variety of controls that let you
create text and vector art. To learn more about tools in the Tools panel,
select Help > Flash Tutorials > Creating Graphics: Draw in Flash and
Help > Flash Tutorials > Text: Add Text to a Document.

1. Click the Pencil tool in the Tools panel. Click the Stroke color box in

the Tools panel colors area, and select any color except white.

2. Drag around the Stage, without releasing the mouse, to draw a line.

You’ve created Flash content. Your finished document will be much
more impressive.

Take a tour of the user interface 15

Undo changes

Flash can undo a series of changes to your document. You’ll undo the
artwork that you just created.

1. To see the undo feature in action, first open the History panel

(Window > Other Panels > History).

The Pencil tool appears in the panel, because using the tool was your
last action.

2. Do one of the following:

■ Select Edit > Undo Pencil Tool.

■ Press Control+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Macintosh).

Your scribbles disappear from the Stage. The History panel now shows
a dimmed Pencil tool, which indicates the undo action was executed.

Flash, by default, is set to undo 100 of your changes, in reverse order of
execution. You can change the default setting in Preferences. To change
your preferences, see “Setting preferences in Flash” in Getting Started
with Flash.

3. To close the History panel, click the pop-up menu in the upper-right

corner of the panel and select Close Panel.

View the Timeline

16 Basic Tasks: Create a Document

Just above the Stage, you see the Timeline and layers. You can create and
name layers, and then add content to frames on layers to organize how
your Flash content plays as the playhead moves across the frames.

■ Move the mouse pointer over the area that separates the Stage from the

Timeline. When the resizing handle appears, drag up or down slightly
to resize the Timeline as necessary.

Playhead

Keyframe

Resizing handle

The playhead (the red indicator line) is on Frame 1 in the Timeline.
The keyframes are designated by small circles in the frames, which are
filled, indicating there’s content in those frames. You can add a
keyframe to a document when you want the Flash content to change in
some way in that frame.

Change background and Stage size

The Stage provides a preview of how your Flash content will appear in your
published file. You’ll change the size of the Stage to accommodate artwork
designed for a larger Stage, and you’ll change the background color of
the Stage.

1. In the Tools panel, click the Selection tool.

2. On the Stage, click anywhere in the gray workspace that surrounds the

Stage, or on the background area of the Stage, so that no objects
are selected.

The Property inspector, under the Stage, displays properties for the
document when no objects are selected.

3. To change the Stage background color, click the Background color box

and select a light shade of gray, such as gray with the hexadecimal value
of #CCCCCC.

4. To change the Stage size, click Size in the Property inspector. In the

Document Properties dialog box, enter 750 for the Stage width, and
then click OK.

The Stage resizes to 750 pixels wide.

Change background and Stage size 17

Change your view of the Stage

You can change your view of the Stage without affecting the actual Stage
size of your document.

1. In the Stage View text box, above the right side of the Stage, enter

500%. Then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).

Your view of the Stage enlarges to 500%.

2. In the Stage View pop-up menu, which you access by clicking the

control to the right of the text box, select 100% to view the Stage in
dimensions that correspond to the size of the published Flash content.

View the Library panel

Flash content that you import or that is a symbol is stored in your Library
panel. To learn more about symbols and instances, select Help > Flash
Tutorials > Basic Tasks: Create Symbols and Instances.

■ To view the Library panel, select Window > Library.

We’ve already imported library items and created symbols for objects
that you’ll use in this lesson.

NOTE

Flash also contains a library of buttons that you can use in your document.
To view this library, after taking this lesson, select Window > Common
Libraries and select the Buttons library.

18 Basic Tasks: Create a Document

Add graphics to the Stage

To add library items to your document, you verify that you’re adding the
object to the correct layer, and then drag the item from the Library panel to
the Stage.

1. In the Timeline, click the Content layer name to select that layer. With

the Selection tool selected, drag the Title movie clip, which contains a
bitmap image and vector graphic, from the Library panel to the Stage
and align it on top of the gray bar at the top of the Stage that contains
the word Title.

In Flash, you can work with bitmap images, which describe graphics
using pixels, and vector art, which uses mathematical representation to
describe art. For more information, see “About vector and bitmap

graphics” in Using Flash.

2. With the Content layer still selected, drag the text symbol from the

Library panel to Stage, and align it with the Trio ZX2004 text that’s
already in place as a guide. You can use your keyboard arrow keys to
nudge the text into place.

The title text is actually a graphic created from text.

Add video

The Library panel includes an imported Flash video file (FLV). You’ll add
the video to your document, and Flash will add the necessary frames to
play the video.

To learn more about using video in Flash, see “Working with Video” in
Using Flash.

1. Verify that the Content layer is still selected in the Timeline. From the

Library panel, drag the ggb_movie_for_trio_new video to the dark gray
Video guide on the Stage.

2. A dialog box appears that indicates Flash will add 138 frames to the

Timeline for the video. Click Yes.

3. Drag the playhead across the Timeline to view the video.

Add video 19

View object properties

When you add an object to the Stage, you can select it, and then view and
change its properties in the Property inspector. The type of object selected
determines which properties appear. For example, if you select a text object
(not a text graphic, which you use in this lesson), the Property inspector
displays settings such as font, type size, and paragraph formatting, which
you can either view or change. If no object is selected, the Property
inspector displays properties for the entire document.

1. On the Stage, with the Selection tool selected, click the Title graphic.

The Property inspector (Window > Properties) shows specifications,
such as height, width, and Stage coordinates, for the movie clip.

2. On the Stage, click the bounding box for the video movie clip that you

dragged to the Stage and view its attributes in the Property inspector.

3. In the Instance Name text box of the Property inspector, enter video as

the instance name.

NOTE

An instance is an occurance of a symbol on the Stage. Because
ActionScript, the Flash scripting language, often refers to instance names
in order to perform operations on instances, it is a good practice to name
the instances you create. To learn more about naming instances, select
Help > Flash Tutorials > ActionScript: Write Scripts.

20 Basic Tasks: Create a Document

Add video control behaviors

Behaviors let you add complex functionality to your document easily,
without having to know ActionScript, the Flash scripting language. You’ll
now add behaviors for video control.

1. In the Timeline, click Frame 1 of the Content layer to select it, if it’s not

already selected.

2. On the Stage, click the Play movie clip instance (which looks like a play

button) to select it. In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click
Add (+) and select Embedded Video > Play. To learn more about
symbols and instances, select Help > Flash Tutorials > Basic Tasks:
Create Symbols and Instances.

3. In the Play Video dialog box, verify that Relative is selected. Select

video, which is the instance name that you gave to the video clip, and
click OK.

4. On the Stage, click the Pause movie clip instance to select it. In the

Behaviors panel, click Add (+) and select Embedded Video > Pause.

5. In the Pause Video dialog box, again select the video movie clip, and

click OK.

6. On the Stage, click the Rewind movie clip instance to select it. In the

Behaviors panel, click Add (+) and select Embedded Video > Rewind.

7. In the Rewind Video dialog box, select Video.

8. In the Number of Frames to Step Back text box, enter 20.

The Number of Frames to Step Back text box indicates how many
frames the playhead should move back when the user clicks the
Rewind button.

NOTE

Additional video control behaviors let you fast-forward, hide, and show a
video.

Add video control behaviors 21

Use the Movie Explorer to view the document structure

The Movie Explorer helps you arrange, locate, and edit media. With its
hierarchical tree structure, the Movie Explorer provides information about
the organization and flow of a document.

1. Select Window > Movie Explorer.

If necessary, enlarge the Movie Explorer to view the tree structure
within the pane.

The Movie Explorer filtering buttons display or hide information.

2. Click the pop-up menu in the title bar of the Movie Explorer, and select

Show Movie Elements and Show Symbol Definitions, if they’re not
already selected.

3. Configure the filtering buttons, along the top of the Movie Explorer, so

the only ones selected are Show Buttons, Movie Clips, and Graphics;
Show Action Scripts; and Show Video, Sounds, and Bitmaps.

If you move your mouse pointer over a button, a tooltip displays the
name of the button.

Examine the list to view some of the assets included in the document,
and to see their relationship to other assets.

4. In the Movie Explorer pane, expand Actions for Play to view

ActionScript that Flash created when you added the Play video
control behavior.

5. To close the Movie Explorer, click its close box.

22 Basic Tasks: Create a Document

Test the document

As you author a document, you should save and test it frequently to ensure
the Flash content plays as expected. When you test the SWF file, click
the video control buttons to see if the video stops, plays, and rewinds
as expected.

1. Save the document (File > Save) and select Control > Test Movie.

The Flash content plays in a SWF file window. Although .fla is the
extension for documents in the authoring environment, .swf is the
extension for tested, exported, and published Flash content.

2. When you finish viewing the SWF content, close the SWF file window

to return to the authoring environment.

Find help

The lessons provide an introduction to Flash, and suggest ways that you
can use features to create exactly the kind of document required. For
comprehensive information about a feature, procedure, or process
described in the lessons, see the Help tab of the Help panel
(Help > Flash Help).

Summary

Congratulations on creating a Flash document that includes graphics, a
video, and video control behaviors. In a few minutes, you learned how to
accomplish the following:

■ Tour the user interface

■ Dock and undock panels

■ Change the background and Stage size

■ Change your view of the Stage

■ View your document library

■ Add graphics to the Stage

■ Add video

Summary 23

■ View object properties

■ Add video control behaviors

■ Use the Movie Explorer to view the document structure

■ Tes t t h e d oc um e n t

■ Find help

To learn more about Flash, take another lesson.

24 Basic Tasks: Create a Document

CHAPTER 2

Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 1

Macromedia Flash Basic 8 or Macromedia Flash Professional 8 can seem
like a very complex programs to learn. One reason for this seeming
complexity is that you can use it for so many different things, such as
cartoon animations, media players, and sophisticated software. This
tutorial is suitable for you if you're opening Flash 8 for the first time. This
tutorial shows you some of the fundamental aspects of the program, and
how to get started using them to build a real project. You don't need to
know anything about Flash or animation to complete this tutorial; in fact,
you'll discover how easy it is to start using Flash 8 to add elements to your
web pages.

This is Part 1 of a three-part tutorial on how to build a simple animated
banner in Flash and add it to a web page using Macromedia Dreamweaver.
You'll learn how to create a file and modify its settings, import and add
graphics to the Stage from the library, and create layers in Part 1. In Part 2
and Part 3, you'll add an animation and create a button that opens a
browser window. Then you'll specify publish settings, and add the banner
to a web page.

“Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 1” on page 25: You learn how to

create and structure the banner application.

“Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 2” on page 43: You learn how to add

animation, create a button, and write basic scripts.

“Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 3” on page 63: You learn how to

publish your SWF file, and insert the file into a Dreamweaver website.

You do not need any prerequisite knowledge to complete these tutorials.

2

25

In Part 1 of this tutorial, you will complete the following tasks:

Examine the completed FLA file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Creating a new document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Changing document properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Importing graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Introducing layers and the timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Test the application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

The tutorial workflow includes the following tasks:

■ “Examine the completed FLA file” on page 27 lets you view the

completed Flash document.

■ “Creating a new document” on page 29 shows you how to create a FLA

file that you’ll use to create the banner throughout the three parts of
this tutorial.

■ “Changing document properties” on page 30 shows you how to change

the dimensions of your SWF file.

■ “Importing graphics” on page 33 shows you how to import assets into

your document’s library.

■ “Introducing layers and the timeline” on page 36 shows you how to

create and manipulate layers in the main Timeline.

■ “Test the application” on page 40 shows you how to export and test

your document’s SWF file, which lets you test your progress so far.

26 Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 1

Examine the completed FLA file

As you examine the finished version of an application that you’ll create,
you’ll also look at the Flash workspace.

In this section, you will complete the following tasks:

■ “Open the authoring document” on page 163

■ “Review the completed FLA file” on page 28

■ “Close the completed FLA file” on page 28

In subsequent sections you’ll go through the steps to create the application
yourself starting with a brand new FLA file.

Open the finished FLA file

It’s helpful to analyze the completed authoring document, which is a FLA
file, to see how the author designed the application. You should examine
what kinds of scripts were used to add interactivity, and understand what
you are going to create.

The files for this tutorial are located in the Samples and Tutorials folder in
the Flash installation folder. For many users, particularly in educational
settings, this folder is read-only. Before proceeding with the tutorial, you
should copy the entire FlashBanner tutorial folder to the writable location
of your choice.

On most computers, you will find the Flash Banner tutorial folder in the
following locations:

■ In Windows: boot drive\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash 8\Samples

and Tutorials\Tutorial Assets\Basic Tasks\FlashBanner\.

■ On the Macintosh: Macintosh HD/Applications/Macromedia Flash 8/

Samples and Tutorials/Tutorial Assets/Basic Tasks/FlashBanner/.

Copy the FlashBanner folder to another location on your hard disk to
which you have access. Inside this folder are three directories for each part
of this tutorial: Part1, Part2, and Part3. In the FlashBanner/Part1 folder,
you will find a Flash file called banner1_complete.fla. Double-click the file
to open it in Flash. You now see the completed tutorial file in the Flash
authoring environment.

Examine the completed FLA file 27

Review the completed FLA file

In the completed FLA file, you will see the structure that makes up the
finished SWF file for Part 1 of this tutorial. The application, a Flash
banner for a gnome website, looks like this at the end of Part 1:

The completed banner at the end of Part 1.

By the end of Part 3 of this tutorial, you will add the graphics, animation,
and interactivity to the banner. Then, you’ll insert the banner on a website
using Dreamweaver.

Close the completed FLA file

To close the document, select File > Close.

If you prefer to keep the finished file open as a reference while working
with your banner file, be careful not to edit it or save any changes to it.

Now you’re ready to start creating your own banner file in the next section,

“Creating a new document”.

28 Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 1

Creating a new document

You can create all kinds of different elements for the web or for CD-ROMs
and devices using Flash 8. First, you create a file in the Flash authoring
tool, which you use to output SWF files. SWF files are the files that you
can put online when you embed it in a web page. The Macromedia Flash
Player plug-in then displays the SWF file, so your website visitors can view
or interact with the content.

Your SWF file can contain video, MP3 sound, animations, images, data,
and so forth. The benefit of using an SWF file over other formats is that
the Flash Player plug-in is incredibly common. Let's start building a
banner.

1. Open the Flash application.

By default, Flash displays the Start Page (see the following figure),
which enables you to select a recently edited document, create a new
Flash document or ActionScript file, or create a new document using a
pre-built template. If you use Flash Professional 8, you can create
additional kinds of files.

By default, Flash displays the Start Page when it’s started. This figure shows
the options available in Flash Professional 8.

Creating a new document 29

2. Click Flash Document from the Create New column on the Start Page

to create a blank document.

NOTE

If Flash doesn’t display the Start Page (the feature might have been
disabled earlier if you share a computer) you can select File > New from the
main menu to create a new document. Make sure the General tab is active,
select Flash document, and click OK.

3. Select File > Save As from the main menu.

4. Name the file banner.fla, find or create a new directory to save your

project in, and click Save when you're done.

Flash saves editable documents as FLA files. From the FLA file, you
export (or compile) SWF files that you can embed in an HTML page.
Flash Player, installed on most computers, plays the SWF files that you
export from Flash.

NOTE

It's a good idea to save a new document when you start working with it
(and often thereafter) so you don't lose any of your hard work.

After you finish saving the file, proceed to the following exercise,

“Changing document properties”.

Changing document properties

At this point you're looking at a blank canvas surrounded by many controls
(see the next figure). The large white square is called the Stage, and it's
where you place assets you want to display in the SWF file, such as images,
buttons, text, or animations. The Stage and panels are commonly called
the Flash workspace or authoring environment. The Flash environment
consists of the Stage and a variety of panels, tools, and the Timeline above
the Stage. For detailed information on each part of the workspace, see

“Take a tour of the user interface” on page 14.

30 Basic Tasks: Creating a banner, Part 1