book

Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional Bible

Name: Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional Bible
ISBN: 9780470119372

by Robert Reinhardt, Snow Dowd

October 2007

Intermediate to advanced

1248 pages

36h 58m

English

Wiley

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Copyright
About the Authors
About the Technical Editor
Credits
Preface
How to Get the Most out of this BookIcons: What Do They Mean?How This Book Is OrganizedPart I: An Introduction to Flash Web ProductionPart II: Mastering the Flash EnvironmentPart III: Creating Animation and EffectsPart IV: Integrating Media Files with FlashPart V: Adding Basic Interactivity to Flash MoviesPart VI: Distributing Flash MoviesPart VII: Approaching ActionScriptPart VIII: Applying ActionScriptPart IX: Integrating Components and Data-BindingPart X: AppendixesGetting in Touch with UsAdobe Wants to Help You
Acknowledgments
I. An Introduction to Flash Web Production
1. Understanding the Flash CS3 Framework
1.1. The Key Is Integration1.1.1. The topography of Flash CS31.1.2. File types in Flash CS31.1.2.1. Flash documents1.1.2.2. Flash movies1.1.2.3. Flash ActionScript files1.1.2.4. Flash Video files1.1.2.5. Flash Debug files1.1.2.6. Flash Component files1.1.2.7. Flash Project files1.2. The Many Faces of Flash CS31.2.1. Bitmap handler1.2.2. Vector-based drawing program1.2.3. Vector-based animator1.2.4. Video engine1.2.5. Audio player1.2.6. Multimedia authoring program1.2.7. Animation sequencer1.2.8. Programming and database front end1.3. Summary
2. Exploring Web Technologies
2.1. Contextualizing Flash in the Internet Evolution2.1.1. High expectations for Web experiences2.1.2. To Flash or not to Flash?2.1.2.1. An effective use of Flash2.1.2.2. When not to use Flash2.1.3. Alternative methods of multimedia authoring2.1.3.1. Dynamic HTML2.1.3.2. XML and XSL2.1.3.3. Macromedia Director2.1.3.4. Macromedia Authorware2.1.3.5. Scalable Vector Graphics2.1.3.6. Microsoft PowerPoint2.1.3.7. SMIL, Real Systems RealPlayer, and Apple QuickTime2.2. Exploring Companion Technologies2.2.1. HTML is here to stay2.2.2. Client-side scripting using JavaScript2.2.3. The world of Web Services2.2.4. Adobe server technologies2.3. Recognizing Project Potential2.3.1. Linear presentations2.3.2. Interactive presentations2.3.3. Data-driven presentations2.3.4. Data-driven applications (or Rich Internet Applications)2.4. Summary
3. Planning Flash Projects
3.1. Workflow Basics3.1.1. Phase I: Establishing the concept and goals3.1.1.1. Defining the problem3.1.1.2. Determining the project's goals3.1.1.3. Creative exploration: Producing a solution3.1.1.4. Approving a final concept and budget3.1.2. Phase II: Producing, testing, and staging the presentation3.1.2.1. Assembling assets3.1.2.2. Making the Flash architecture3.1.2.3. Staging a local test environment3.1.2.4. HTML page production3.1.2.5. Staging a server test environment3.1.2.6. Quality assurance testing3.1.2.7. Maintenance and updates3.2. Using the Project Panel in Flash CS33.2.1. 1. Establishing a project and a site3.2.2. 2. Adding files to the project3.2.3. 3. Committing and editing files in the project3.2.4. 4. Publishing the entire project3.3. Summary

II. Mastering the Flash Environment
4. Interface Fundamentals
4.1. Getting Started4.1.1. Welcome to Flash CS34.1.2. Start Page4.1.3. Help menu options4.1.4. The Flash CS3 interface on Macintosh and Windows4.1.5. What to expect from the Property inspector4.2. Managing Windows and Panels4.2.1. Contextual menus4.2.2. Floating and docking panels4.2.3. Focus: Making panels or windows active4.2.4. Creating custom Workspace layouts4.2.5. Keyboard shortcuts4.3. The Tools Panel4.3.1. Controlling the Tools panel4.3.2. Reading the Tools panel4.3.3. Using Tool options4.3.4. Customizing the Tools panel4.4. The Document Window4.4.1. Controlling the Document window4.4.2. Reading the Document window4.4.2.1. Stage view control4.4.2.2. Edit options4.4.3. Using scenes4.4.4. Using Document window menu options4.4.5. Working with Flash templates4.5. The Timeline Window4.5.1. Controlling the Timeline window4.5.2. Using the Timeline Controller toolbar4.5.3. Reading the Timeline4.5.3.1. Visual display of time4.5.3.2. Visual display of depth4.5.3.3. Timeline window features4.5.3.3.1. Window features4.5.3.3.2. Layer controls4.5.3.3.3. Frame controls4.5.3.3.4. Timeline Status displays4.5.4. Editing frames and layers4.5.4.1. Frame specifics4.5.4.2. Layer specifics4.5.4.3. The Layers contextual menu4.5.5. Using Frame View options4.6. Printing4.7. Summary
5. Drawing in Flash
5.1. Using Geometric Shape Tools5.1.1. The Oval tool5.1.2. The Oval Primitive tool5.1.3. The Rectangle tool and Rectangle Primitive tool5.1.4. Flash 8 Join and Miter settings5.1.5. The PolyStar tool5.1.6. The Line tool5.2. Using Drawing Tools5.2.1. The Pencil tool5.2.2. The Brush tool5.2.2.1. The Brush mode menu5.2.2.1.1. Paint Normal mode5.2.2.1.2. Paint Fills mode5.2.2.1.3. Paint Behind mode5.2.2.1.4. Paint Selection mode5.2.2.1.5. Paint Inside mode5.2.2.2. Brush size and shape options5.2.2.3. Additional Brush options for drawing tablets5.2.3. The Eraser tool5.3. Creating Precise Lines with the Pen Tool5.4. Using Fill and Stroke Controls5.4.1. Choosing colors5.4.2. Choosing line styles5.4.3. Controlling Stroke Scale behavior5.5. Optimizing Drawings5.6. Putting Selection Tools to Work5.6.1. The Selection tool5.6.1.1. Moving multiple elements with the Selection tool5.6.1.2. Modifying Selection preferences5.6.1.3. Using Selection-tool arrow states to adjust or move drawings5.6.1.4. Knowing your Selection tool options5.6.2. The Lasso tool5.6.2.1. Polygon mode5.6.2.2. The Magic Wand option and Magic Wand properties5.6.3. The Subselection tool5.7. Designing and Aligning Elements5.7.1. Simplifying snapping settings5.7.1.1. Snap Align5.7.1.2. Snap to Objects5.7.1.3. Snap to Grid5.7.1.4. Snap to Guides5.7.1.5. Snap to Pixels5.7.2. Design panels5.7.2.1. The Align panel5.7.2.2. The Info panel5.7.2.3. The Transform panel5.7.3. The Edit menu5.8. Summary
6. Symbols, Instances, and the Library
6.1. Understanding the Document Library6.1.1. Working with Common Libraries and External Libraries6.1.2. Working with multiple Document Libraries6.1.3. Reading the Library6.1.4. Organizing the Library6.2. Defining Content Types6.2.1. Raw data6.2.2. Drawing Objects and Shape Primitives6.2.3. Groups6.2.4. Native symbols6.2.4.1. Graphic symbols6.2.4.2. Movie Clip symbols6.2.4.3. Button symbols6.2.4.4. Components6.2.5. Imported media elements6.2.5.1. Bitmaps6.2.5.2. Vector graphics6.2.5.3. Sounds6.2.5.4. Video assets6.2.5.5. Font symbols6.3. Editing Symbols6.3.1. Modifying a symbol in Edit mode6.3.2. Editing a symbol in a new window6.3.3. Editing a symbol in place6.3.4. Editing symbols from the Library6.3.5. Returning to the Main Timeline or scene6.3.6. Working with Timeline Effect symbols6.4. Modifying Instance Properties6.4.1. Applying basic color effects to symbol instances6.4.2. Changing the symbol behavior of an instance6.4.3. Swapping symbols6.5. Building Nested Symbol Structures6.5.1. Converting a raw shape into a Graphic symbol6.5.2. Using Graphic symbols in a Button6.5.3. Animating Graphic symbols in a Movie Clip6.5.4. Adding a Movie Clip to a Button symbol6.5.5. Modifying a Movie Clip instance6.6. 9-Slice Scaling for MovieClip Backgrounds6.7. Using the Movie Explorer6.7.1. Filtering buttons6.7.2. The Display List6.7.3. The Movie Explorer Options menu6.7.4. The contextual menu6.8. Using Authortime Shared Libraries6.9. Summary
7. Applying Color
7.1. Introducing Color Basics7.1.1. Discussing Web-safe color issues7.1.2. Using hexadecimal values7.1.3. Using color effectively7.2. Working in the Swatches Panel7.2.1. Swatches panel options7.2.2. Importing custom palettes7.2.2.1. Loading a custom GIF color palette7.2.2.2. Creating and loading a custom Color Table7.3. Using the Color Panel7.3.1. Adjusting fill and stroke transparency7.3.2. Working with gradient fills7.3.3. Controlling gradient fill colors7.3.4. Using Alpha settings with gradients7.3.5. Selecting bitmap fills7.4. Working with Droppers, Paint Buckets, and Ink Bottles7.5. Summary
8. Working with Text
8.1. Considering Typography8.2. Text Field Types in Flash8.2.1. Static text boxes8.2.2. Editable text fields: Dynamic and Input8.3. The Text Tool and the Property Inspector8.3.1. Working with the Text tool8.3.1.1. Creating Static text boxes8.3.1.2. Modifying or deleting text8.3.2. Setting text attributes in the Property inspector8.3.2.1. Static text options8.3.2.2. Application menu commands8.3.2.3. Vertical text options8.3.2.4. Editable text options8.4. Font Export and Display8.4.1. Smoothing text with antialias settings8.4.2. Rendering outlines with the Bitmap text setting8.4.3. Understanding device fonts8.4.4. Working with the Use Device Fonts setting8.4.5. Troubleshooting font display8.4.6. Controlling font substitution8.5. Font Symbols and Shared Font Libraries8.5.1. Creating a Font symbol8.5.2. Updating Font symbols at author-time8.5.3. Using Font symbols in runtime Shared libraries8.6. Modifying Text8.6.1. Editing text manually8.6.1.1. Scaling text8.6.1.2. Sampling and sharing text attributes8.6.1.3. Converting text into vector shapes8.6.2. Using Timeline Effects on Static text8.6.3. Moving beyond the box with Filter effects8.7. Summary
9. Modifying Graphics
9.1. Sampling and Switching Fills and Strokes9.1.1. The Eyedropper tool9.1.2. The Ink Bottle tool9.1.3. The Paint Bucket tool9.1.4. Using the Paint Bucket Gap size option9.1.5. Using the Paint Bucket Lock Fill option9.2. Transforming Gradients and Bitmap Fills9.2.1. Adjusting the center point with the Gradient Transform tool9.2.2. Rotating a fill with the Gradient Transform tool9.2.3. Adjusting scale with the Gradient Transform tool9.2.4. Setting gradient fill overflow styles9.2.5. Skewing a bitmap fill with the Gradient Transform tool9.3. Gradient Transform Used for Lighting Effects9.4. Applying Modify Shape Menu Commands9.4.1. Convert Lines to Fills9.4.2. Creating scalable artwork9.4.3. Expand Fill9.4.4. Soften Fill Edges9.5. Free Transform Commands and Options9.5.1. The Transform panel9.5.2. The Modify Transform menu9.5.3. The Free Transform tool9.5.4. Transforming shapes, symbols, text, and groups9.5.4.1. Free Transform limit options9.5.4.2. Free Transform special shape options9.6. Modifying Item Types9.6.1. Stacking order9.6.2. Grouping9.6.3. Applying Break apart9.6.3.1. Breaking apart text9.6.3.2. Breaking apart bitmaps9.6.4. About the Magic Wand option9.6.4.1. Magic Wand Threshold setting9.6.4.2. Magic Wand Smoothing setting9.6.5. Tracing bitmaps9.7. Working with Drawing Objects and Combine Object Commands9.8. Working with Compound Shapes9.9. Editing with Find and Replace9.10. Using the History Panel9.10.1. Replay Steps9.10.2. Copy Steps9.10.3. Clear History9.10.4. History View9.10.5. Save As Command9.11. Summary
III. Creating Animation and Effects
10. Animation Strategies
10.1. Establishing Ground Rules10.2. Defining Variables10.2.1. The environment10.2.2. The materials10.2.3. The motion10.3. Adding Personality10.4. Manipulating Perception and Illusion10.4.1. Viewpoint, framing, and depth10.4.2. Anticipation10.4.3. Secondary motion10.5. Understanding the Laws of Nature10.5.1. Law #1: Inertia10.5.2. Law #2: Acceleration10.5.3. Law #3: Action/reaction force pairs10.6. Summary
11. Timeline Animation
11.1. Basic Methods of Flash Animation11.2. Frame-by-Frame Animation11.2.1. Adding keyframes11.2.2. Creating frame-by-frame animation11.3. Modifying Multiframe Sequences11.3.1. Onion skinning11.3.2. Editing multiple frames11.4. Using Tweens for Animation11.4.1. Shape tweening11.4.2. Adding Shape Hints11.4.3. Motion tweening11.4.4. Adjusting tweens with Custom Easing11.4.5. Using multiple Custom Easing curves11.5. Integrating Multiple Animation Sequences11.5.1. Moving tweens onto symbol timelines11.6. Organizing Symbol Instances on the Main Timeline11.7. Reusing and Modifying Symbol Instances11.7.1. Controlling symbol instances with ActionScript11.7.2. Transforming symbol instances11.7.3. Reversing tweens to create smooth loops11.8. Duplicating Tweened Animation Properties with the Copy Motion Command11.8.1. Using Copy and Paste Motion11.8.2. Transferring select properties with Paste Motion Special11.8.3. Make Flash work for you11.9. Summary
12. Applying Filters and Effects
12.1. Applying Filters in Flash12.1.1. Adding and adjusting filters12.1.2. Creating dimensional shadows12.1.3. Combining filters and saving custom presets12.1.4. Animating filters with motion tweens12.1.5. Using Custom Easing to control filter interpolation12.2. Controlling Color: Properties versus Filters12.2.1. Adjust Color filter12.2.2. Color properties12.2.3. Using Advanced Color Effects: Understanding relative and absolute color settings12.2.3.1. Relative color control12.2.3.2. Absolute color control12.3. Layering Graphics with Blend Modes12.3.1. Understanding blend modes12.3.2. Applying basic blends12.3.3. Applying compound blend modes: Alpha and Erase12.3.4. Creating an animated Alpha blend12.4. Using Timeline Effects for Graphics and Animation12.4.1. Timeline effect limitations12.4.2. Timeline effect options12.4.3. Applying a static Timeline effect12.4.4. Applying an animated Timeline effect12.4.5. Modifying Timeline effect symbols12.5. Summary
13. Applying Layer Types
13.1. Guide Layers13.2. Motion Guides13.2.1. Applying a Motion guide13.2.2. Adding control to animation along a path13.2.3. Using Orient to Path13.2.4. Registration and center point alignment13.3. Mask Layers13.3.1. Masking with a filled shape13.3.2. Masking with a group13.3.3. Masking with a symbol instance13.3.4. Masking text13.4. Motion Guides and Movie Clip Masks13.5. Using Distribute to Layers13.6. Summary
14. Character Animation Techniques
14.1. Working with Large File Sizes14.1.1. Storyboarding scenes and shots14.1.2. Flash Scenes and project files14.1.3. Voices, sound effects, and ambient sound14.2. Some Cartoon Animation Basics14.2.1. Expressing motion and emotion14.2.2. Anticipation14.2.3. Weight14.2.4. Overlapping actions14.2.5. Blurring to simulate motion14.3. Animator's Keys and Inbetweening14.3.1. Walk cycles (or walk loops)14.3.2. Repeaters14.3.3. Types of walks14.4. Coloring the Art14.4.1. The model sheet14.4.2. Gap problems14.4.3. Speed coloring14.4.4. Temporary backgrounds14.5. Flash Tweening14.5.1. Panning14.5.2. Instance swapping14.5.3. Motion guides14.6. Lip-syncing14.6.1. Shape morphing is not for lip-syncing14.6.2. Expression and lip-syncing14.6.3. Lip-sync tricks14.6.4. Syncing with music and sound effects14.7. Backgrounds and Scenery14.7.1. Runtime bitmap caching14.7.2. Bitmaps14.7.3. QuickTime limitations14.7.4. Building layered backgrounds in Photoshop14.7.5. Flash Mask layers14.7.6. Long pans14.7.7. Multiplane pans14.7.8. Blurring to simulate depth14.8. Finishing Up14.8.1. Final output14.9. Summary
IV. Integrating Media Files with Flash
15. Adding Sound
15.1. Identifying Sound File Import and Export Formats15.1.1. Import formats15.1.2. Export formats15.2. Importing Sounds into Flash15.3. Assigning a Sound to a Button15.4. Adding Sound to the Timeline15.5. Organizing Sounds on the Timeline15.5.1. Enhanced viewing of sound layers15.5.2. Organizing sound layers with a layer folder15.6. Synchronizing Audio to Animations15.6.1. Event15.6.2. Start15.6.3. Stop15.6.4. Stream15.7. Stopping Sounds15.7.1. Stopping an Event sound15.7.2. Stopping a single instance of a Stream sound15.7.3. Stopping all sounds15.8. Applying Behaviors That Control Sound15.8.1. Load Sound from Library behavior15.8.2. Load streaming MP3 file behavior15.8.3. Play Sound15.8.4. Stop All Sounds15.9. Editing Audio in Flash15.9.1. Sound-editing controls15.9.2. Applying effects from the Effect menu of the Property inspector15.9.2.1. Creating a custom Fade In or Fade Out15.9.2.2. Other controls in the Edit Envelope control15.9.2.3. The Repeat/Loop option15.10. Sound Optimization Overview15.11. Publish Settings for Audio15.11.1. The Set options15.11.2. Supporting audio and MP3 playback15.12. Fine-Tuning Sound Settings in the Library15.12.1. Settings for audio in the Library15.12.2. Combining methods for controlling sounds15.13. Final Sound Advice and Pointers15.13.1. VBR (Variable Bit Rate) MP315.13.2. Optimizing sounds for bandwidth usage15.13.3. Extracting a sound from a Flash document15.14. Summary
16. Importing Artwork
16.1. Defining Vectors and Bitmaps16.2. Knowing the File Formats for Import to Flash16.3. Preparing Bitmaps16.4. Preserving Bitmap Quality16.5. Importing and Copying Bitmaps16.5.1. Importing sequences16.5.2. Working with layered bitmap files16.5.2.1. Importing Photoshop (PSD) files16.5.2.2. Importing Fireworks (PNG) files16.5.3. Copying and pasting a bitmap into Flash16.5.4. Applying Alpha, Color Effects, and Filters to bitmaps16.6. Setting Bitmap Properties16.6.1. Being prepared for common problems16.6.2. Cross-browser consistency16.7. Using the Bitmap Buttons in the Property Inspector16.7.1. Swap16.7.2. Edit16.8. Making Sense of Bitmap Compression16.8.1. 24-bit or 32-bit lossless source files16.8.2. 8-bit lossless source files16.8.3. Source files with lossy compression16.9. Converting Rasters to Vectors16.10. Using External Vector Graphics16.11. Importing Vector Artwork16.11.1. Copying and Pasting a vector image into Flash16.11.2. Importing Adobe Illustrator files16.12. Animating Imported Vector Graphics16.13. Optimizing Vectors16.13.1. Interpreting complex vector artwork16.13.2. Converting text to outlines16.13.3. Optimizing curves16.13.4. Runtime Bitmap caching16.14. Summary
17. Displaying Video
17.1. Integrating Video: The Solutions17.1.1. Loading a Flash Video file at runtime17.1.2. Real-time streaming a Flash Video file at runtime17.1.3. Embedding video into a Flash movie17.1.3.1. Linking video with QuickTime Flash17.2. Importing the Video17.2.1. An overview of codec options17.2.2. Compressing video with Flash CS317.2.2.1. Choosing a target Flash Player version17.2.2.2. Choosing a source clip: The Select Video screen17.2.2.3. Picking a distribution method: The Deployment screen17.2.2.4. Formatting the video content: The Embedding screen17.2.2.5. Editing the video: The Split Video screen17.2.2.6. Compressing the video: The Encoding screen17.2.2.6.1. Video tab17.2.2.6.2. Audio tab17.2.2.6.3. Cue Points tab17.2.2.6.4. Crop and Resize tab17.2.2.7. Reviewing your settings: The Finish Video Import screen17.2.2.8. Walking through the video import procedure for embedded video17.2.3. Extracting .flv files from Embedded Video symbols17.2.4. Deploying existing .flv files with Flash CS317.3. Using the FLVPlayback Component (AS3)17.3.1. Working with the Component parameters17.3.2. Using FLVPlayback Custom UI components17.4. Working with Cue Points17.4.1. Creating .flv files with embedded cue points17.5. Working with the Flash CS3 Video Encoder17.6. Using the FLV QuickTime Export Plug-in17.7. Using Sorenson Squeeze for Flash Video17.7.1. Choosing a Flash output file type17.7.1.1. Flash Video17.7.1.2. Flash movie17.7.2. Compressing video with Sorenson Spark Pro and On2 VP6 codecs17.8. Working with Video Alpha Channels17.8.1. Live action footage17.8.2. 3-D modeling footage17.9. Summary
V. Adding Basic Interactivity to Flash Movies
18. Understanding Actions and Event Handlers
18.1. Actions and Event Handlers18.1.1. What are behaviors?18.1.2. What is ActionScript?18.1.3. Navigating the Actions panel18.1.4. A brief primer on code syntax18.1.4.1. White space18.1.4.2. Parentheses18.1.4.3. Semicolons and curly braces18.2. Your First Five Actions18.2.1. gotoAndPlay and gotoAndStop18.2.2. nextFrame and prevFrame18.2.3. nextScene and prevScene18.2.4. play and stop18.2.5. stopAllSounds18.2.6. getURL18.3. Making Actions Happen with Event Handlers18.3.1. Combining an action with an event handler to make a functioning button18.3.2. The Flash event handlers18.3.2.1. Working with mouse events and buttons18.3.2.1.1. press18.3.2.1.2. release18.3.2.1.3. releaseOutside18.3.2.1.4. rollOver18.3.2.1.5. rollOut18.3.2.1.6. dragOver18.3.2.1.7. dragOut18.3.2.2. Capturing keyboard input18.3.2.3. Capturing time events with keyframes18.4. Creating Invisible Buttons and Using getURL18.5. Summary
19. Building Timelines and Interactions
19.1. Movie Clips: The Key to Self-Contained Playback19.1.1. How Movie Clips interact within a Flash movie19.1.2. One movie, several timelines19.2. Targets and Paths Explained19.2.1. Paths: Absolute and relative modes19.3. Targeting Movie Clips in Flash CS319.4. Targeting Movie Clips with Behaviors19.5. Integrating Behaviors with Movie Clips19.5.1. Overview of the pianoKeys Movie Clip19.5.2. Creating sound instances with a behavior19.5.3. Targeting the sounds with more behaviors19.6. Summary
20. Making Your First Flash CS3 Project
20.1. The Main Timeline as the Site Layout20.1.1. Creating a plan20.1.2. Determining Flash movie properties20.1.3. Mapping presentation areas to keyframes20.1.4. Creating content for each area20.2. Adding Navigation Elements to the Main Timeline20.2.1. Creating text buttons for a menu20.2.2. Browsing the video items20.3. Text Scrolling with the TextArea Component20.4. Using the Custom BlurFader Component20.5. Adding Named Anchors20.6. Making the Movie Accessible20.7. Summary
VI. Distributing Flash Movies
21. Publishing Flash Movies
21.1. Testing Flash Movies21.1.1. Using the Test Scene or Test Movie command21.1.1.1. Test Movie21.1.1.2. Test Scene21.1.2. Using the Bandwidth Profiler21.1.2.1. View menu21.1.2.2. Control menu21.1.2.3. Debug menu21.1.3. Using the size report21.2. Publishing Your Flash Movies21.3. Publish Settings21.3.1. Selecting formats21.3.2. Using the Flash settings21.3.3. Using the HTML settings21.3.4. Using the GIF settings21.3.5. Using the JPEG settings21.3.6. Using the PNG settings21.3.7. Creating Windows and Mac projectors21.3.8. Using the QuickTime settings21.4. Publish Preview and Publish Commands21.4.1. Using Publish Preview21.4.2. Using Publish21.5. Using Publish Profiles21.6. Summary
22. Integrating Flash Content with Web Pages
22.1. Writing Markup for Flash Movies22.1.1. Using the <object> tag22.1.2. Using the <embed> tag22.2. Detecting the Flash Player22.2.1. Plug-in versus ActiveX: Forcing content without a check22.2.2. Detecting the Flash Player with Flash CS322.2.3. Detecting the Flash Player with SWFObject22.2.3.1. Reviewing the content22.2.3.2. Creating the HTML document22.3. Using Flash Movies with JavaScript and DHTML22.3.1. A word of caution to Web developers22.3.2. Understanding how Flash movies work with JavaScript22.3.3. Changing HTML attributes22.3.3.1. Adding ExternalInterface actions to a Flash movie22.3.3.2. Enabling JavaScript for Flash movies22.3.4. Adding a percentLoaded() method22.4. Summary
23. Using the Flash Player and Projector
23.1. Using the Stand-Alone Flash Player and Projector23.1.1. Creating a projector23.1.1.1. Method 1: Using the Publish command23.1.1.2. Method 2: Using the Stand-alone Flash Player23.1.2. Distribution and licensing23.1.3. Distribution on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM23.1.4. fscommand actions23.1.5. Using a behavior to toggle the screen mode23.2. Stand-Alone Limitations and Solutions23.2.1. File sizes23.2.2. File locations23.3. Using the Flash Player Plug-in for Web Browsers23.3.1. Supported operating systems23.3.2. Supported browsers23.3.3. Plug-in and Flash movie distribution on the Web23.3.4. Plug-in installation23.4. Using the Settings in Flash Player 6 and higher23.4.1. Privacy23.4.2. Local Storage23.4.3. Microphone23.4.4. Camera23.5. Alternative Flash-Content Players23.5.1. RealOne Player with Flash playback23.5.2. QuickTime Player23.5.3. Shockwave Player23.6. Player Utilities23.7. Summary
VII. Approaching ActionScript
24. Knowing the Nuts and Bolts of Code
24.1. Breaking Down the Interactive Process24.1.1. Define your problems24.1.2. Clarify the solution24.1.3. Translate the solution into the interactive language24.2. The Basic Context for Programming in Flash24.2.1. Accessing ActionScript commands24.2.2. Actions list organization in the Actions panel24.2.3. The Help panel24.2.4. ActionScript 1.0 and 2.024.3. One Part of the Sum: ActionScript Variables24.3.1. String literals24.3.2. Expressions24.3.2.1. Array access operators24.3.2.2. eval() function and Flash 4's Set Variable24.3.3. Variables as declarations24.3.4. Variables as text fields24.4. Declaring Variables in ActionScript24.4.1. Using actions to define variables24.4.2. Loading variables from a predefined source24.4.3. Sending variables to URLs24.4.4. Establishing variables with HTML24.5. Creating Expressions in ActionScript24.5.1. Operators24.5.1.1. General and numeric operators24.5.1.2. String operators24.5.1.3. Logical operators24.5.2. Checking conditions: if . . . else actions24.5.3. Branching conditions with switch() and case24.5.4. Loops24.5.4.1. while (condition) { actions }24.5.4.2. do { actions } while (condition);24.5.4.3. for (initialize; condition; next) { actions }24.5.4.4. for (variableIterant in object) { actions }24.5.4.5. break24.5.4.6. continue24.5.4.7. Adding a loop to your actions list24.5.5. Properties24.5.6. Built-in functions24.5.7. Creating and calling subroutines24.6. Creating a Login Sequence with Variables24.7. Summary
25. Controlling Movie Clips
25.1. Movie Clips: The Object Overview25.1.1. Movie Clip properties25.1.2. Movie Clip methods25.1.3. onClipEvent: The Flash Player 5 Movie Clip handler25.1.4. Event methods: The more flexible Movie Clip handler25.1.5. Other classes and functions that use the MovieClip object25.1.5.1. ColorTransform class25.1.5.2. Sound class25.1.5.3. Mouse class25.1.5.4. PrintJob API25.1.5.5. with() action25.1.5.6. tellTarget() action25.2. Working with Movie Clip Properties25.2.1. Positioning Movie Clips25.2.2. Scaling Movie Clips25.2.3. Rotating Movie Clips25.3. Creating Draggable Movie Clips25.3.1. Drag-and-drop basics25.3.1.1. Lock mouse to center25.3.1.2. Constrain to rectangle25.3.2. Detecting the drop position: Using _droptarget25.3.3. Making alpha, scale, and blur sliders25.3.3.1. Assembling the parts25.3.3.2. Building the sliders25.3.3.3. Checking the positions of the sliders25.3.3.4. Removing Movie Clips25.4. Summary
26. Using Functions and Arrays
26.1. What Are Data Types?26.1.1. String26.1.2. Number26.1.3. Boolean26.1.4. MovieClip26.1.5. Object26.1.6. Function26.1.7. undefined26.1.8. Checking data types with typeof26.1.9. Checking class type with instanceof26.2. Overview of Functions as Procedures26.2.1. What functions do26.2.2. When to create a function26.2.3. How to define a function26.2.4. How to execute a function26.3. Managing Related Data: The Array Class26.4. Creating a Dynamic Reusable Flash Menu26.5. Functions as Methods of Objects26.6. Functions as Constructors for Objects26.6.1. Function definition26.6.2. Object creation and assignment26.6.3. Sound object method execution26.6.4. Converting the function definition to a class definition26.7. Summary
27. Interacting with Movie Clips
27.1. Movie Clip Collision Detection27.1.1. Using _droptarget27.1.2. Collision detection with hitTest()27.2. Using the Mouse Class27.3. Manipulating Color Attributes27.3.1. Creating a ColorTransform object27.3.2. Setting multiplier and offset values27.4. Enabling Sound with ActionScript27.4.1. Creating sound libraries with ActionScript27.4.2. Creating a soundTransformObject27.4.3. Creating volume and balance sliders for sounds27.5. Printing with ActionScript27.6. Summary
VIII. Applying ActionScript
28. Animating with ActionScript
28.1. Copying Motion as ActionScript 3.028.1.1. Creating the designer's tween28.1.2. Moving the tween to ActionScript 3.028.2. Controlling Properties with the Tween Class28.2.1. Reviewing the Tween parameters28.2.2. Making an object move back and forth28.2.3. Following the mouse cursor28.3. Summary
29. Sharing and Loading Assets
29.1. Managing Smooth Movie Download and Display29.2. Preloading a Flash Movie29.3. Preloading a Flash Movie Containing Components29.4. Loading Flash Movies29.4.1. Basic overview of Flash site architecture29.4.2. Storing multiple movies29.4.3. Loading an external .swf file into a movie29.4.4. How Flash handles loaded movies of differing dimensions29.4.5. Placing, scaling, and rotating externally loaded Flash movies29.4.6. Communicating between multiple movies on different levels29.4.7. Unloading movies29.4.8. loadMovie() as a method for Movie Clip targets29.5. Loading Images into Flash Movies29.6. Loading an Asset with the MovieClipLoader API29.7. Loading MP3 Audio into Flash Movies29.8. Loading a Flash Video into a Flash Movie29.9. Displaying a Flash Video at Its Native Size29.9.1. Adjusting video size with metadata29.9.2. Setting the video size without metadata29.10. Using a Preloader for External Assets29.11. Using the Loader and ProgressBar Components29.11.1. Adding a Loader component to your Flash movie29.11.2. Dynamically changing the source of a Loader component29.11.3. Applying the ProgressBar component29.12. Accessing Items in Shared Libraries29.12.1. Setting up a shared library file29.12.2. Assigning names to assets29.12.3. Specifying the shared library's location29.12.4. Publishing the shared library movie file29.12.5. Linking to assets from other movies29.12.6. Updating shared assets29.13. Summary
30. Sending Data in and out of Flash
30.1. Using Text Fields to Store and Display Data30.1.1. Input text fields30.1.2. Dynamic text fields30.2. Defining a Data Process with States30.2.1. Input state30.2.2. Send state30.2.3. Wait state30.2.4. Output state30.3. Creating a User Comment Form30.4. Using XML Data in Flash Movies30.4.1. Understanding XML30.4.2. Loading an XML document into a Flash movie30.4.2.1. The XML object30.4.2.2. The load method of the XML object30.4.2.3. The onLoad() method of the XML object30.5. Summary
31. Applying HTML and Text Field Formatting
31.1. Exploring HTML Usage in Text Fields31.1.1. Supported HTML tags31.1.1.1. Font and paragraph styles31.1.1.2. URL and ActionScript linking31.1.2. Formatting text with the Property inspector31.1.3. Inserting HTML tags into Text Fields with ActionScript31.1.4. Formatting fields with the TextFormat object31.1.5. Applying style sheets to text fields31.1.5.1. Making the style sheet31.1.5.2. Loading the style sheet into a Flash movie31.1.5.3. Applying the styles to Flash text31.1.6. Inserting images into text fields31.1.7. Using asfunction in anchor tags31.2. Controlling Text Field Properties31.2.1. Scroll properties31.2.2. Text rendering properties31.2.2.1. Working with author-time TextField instances31.2.2.2. Controlling antialiasing with runtime TextField instances31.2.2.3. Comparing antialiasing effects31.3. Pixel-based Text Scrolling with Movie Clips31.4. Manipulating Text with the Selection Class31.4.1. getBeginIndex()31.4.2. getEndIndex()31.4.3. getCaretIndex()31.4.4. getFocus()31.4.5. setFocus()31.4.6. setSelection()31.5. Summary
32. Creating a Game in Flash
32.1. The Game Plan: Four Phases of Game Design32.1.1. Game design32.1.2. Interaction design32.1.3. Visual and sound design32.1.4. Programming32.2. Building the Project32.3. Scripting the Game32.4. Initializing the Game32.4.1. Main Timeline overview32.4.1.1. actions32.4.1.2. The shared font layer32.4.1.3. The gameController instance32.4.1.4. The gameView instance32.5. Building the Interface32.5.1. Creating text fields32.5.2. Creating the alphabet32.6. Starting the Game32.6.1. Display the letters of the alphabet32.6.2. Choose a random word32.6.3. Create the letters of the displayed word32.7. The User Input32.8. Interpreting the User Input32.8.1. Was the letter selected before?32.8.2. Is the letter part of the word?32.9. Checking the Status of the Game32.9.1. Is the word complete?32.9.2. Is the hangman complete?32.9.3. Are there more words to guess?32.9.4. How do you end the round?32.9.5. Removing the hangman32.9.6. Reset the game or just the round?32.10. Added Feature: Storing User and Game Information32.11. Summary
33. Managing and Troubleshooting Flash Movies
33.1. Customizing the Actions Panel33.1.1. Code hints33.1.2. Syntax coloring33.2. Managing Your Code33.2.1. Using Replace in the Actions panel33.2.2. How and where to place your code33.2.3. Centralized code33.2.4. Naming conventions33.2.5. Commenting33.2.6. Strong (or strict) typing33.3. Using the Output Panel33.3.1. trace() action33.3.2. List Objects and List Variables33.4. Knowing the Flash Debugger panel33.4.1. Displaying and modifying variables33.4.1.1. Displaying a variable33.4.1.2. Modifying a variable33.4.2. The Watch list33.4.2.1. Adding a variable to the Watch list33.4.2.2. Removing a variable from the Watch list33.4.3. Editing and displaying movie properties33.5. Assigning Breakpoints33.5.1. Adding or removing breakpoints in the Actions panel33.5.2. Adding and removing breakpoints in the Debugger panel33.5.3. Stepping through your code33.6. Debugging a Flash Movie Remotely33.6.1. Testing across mediums33.6.2. Testing matrix33.7. Storing Code in External Files33.7.1. The #include command33.7.2. Import Script command33.7.3. Export Script command33.7.4. Team environments33.7.5. ActionScript libraries and classes33.8. Troubleshooting Guidelines33.8.1. Good practices33.8.2. General troubleshooting checklist33.8.3. Designer troubleshooting checklist33.8.4. Developer troubleshooting guidelines33.9. Community Help33.10. Summary
IX. Integrating Components and Data-Binding
34. Using Components
34.1. What Are Components?34.2. Why Use Components?34.2.1. Compiled Clips: A specific component format34.3. How to Add a Component34.4. Where to Find Components, Assets, and Parameters34.4.1.34.4.1.1. Components panel34.4.1.2. Property inspector34.4.1.3. Component Inspector panel34.4.1.4. Library panel34.4.1.5. Actions panel and ActionScript34.5. Modifying Component Color Properties and Parameters34.6. Removing Components from Your Movie34.7. Components in Flash CS334.7.1. Button component34.7.1.1. Parameters34.7.1.2. How it works34.7.2. CheckBox component34.7.2.1. Parameters34.7.2.2. How it works34.7.3. ComboBox component34.7.3.1. Parameters34.7.3.2. How it works34.7.4. List component34.7.4.1. Parameters34.7.4.2. How it works34.7.5. RadioButton component34.7.5.1. Parameters34.7.5.2. How it works34.7.6. ScrollPane component34.7.6.1. Parameters34.7.6.2. How it works34.7.7. TextArea component34.7.7.1. Parameters34.7.7.2. How it works34.7.8. UIScrollBar component34.7.8.1. Parameters34.7.8.2. How it works34.8. Understanding the Listener Event Model for Components34.8.1. What a typical listener looks like34.8.2. Letting the component know who its listeners are34.9. Using the Delegate Class to Control Scope with Listeners34.10. Using Components in Your Movie34.11. Modifying Components34.11.1.34.11.1.1. Global style formats34.11.2. Changing styles for a component class34.11.3. Changing styles for individual instances34.12. Using Embedded Fonts with Components34.13. Replacing AS2 Component Skins34.14. Custom Components34.14.1. Live preview34.14.2. Exchanging and acquiring components34.15. Summary
35. Binding Data and Events to AS2 Components
35.1. What Is Data Binding?35.2. Working with Visual Data Binding: Building a Video Clip Selector35.2.1. Preparing the assets35.2.2. Making an XML file35.2.3. Constructing the Flash movie35.3. Providing Data and Event Handlers for Components35.3.1. Adding code to movies using visual data binding35.3.2. Making a list of cue points for a video clip35.3.3. Creating lists with the DataGrid component35.4. Summary
36. Building an Image Gallery Component
36.1. Creating a Plan36.1.1. Describing the feature set36.1.2. Determining the server-side scripting requirements36.1.2.1. files.php36.1.2.2. resize.php36.1.2.3. JPEG-Meta.php36.2. Phase 1: Setting Up the Gallery Class36.2.1. Reviewing the starter files36.2.1.1. Proxy.as36.2.1.2. EasyFilter.as36.2.1.3. main_starter.fla36.2.2. Constructing the Gallery component36.3. Phase 2: Loading Thumbnails into the ScrollPane36.3.1. Uploading scripts and images to your Web server36.3.2. Building data properties for the Gallery class36.3.3. Creating thumbnail holders in the Gallery class36.4. Phase 3: Displaying the Full-size JPEG Image36.4.1. Loading the full-size image36.4.2. Updating the scroll bar and auto-loading the first image36.5. Phase 4: Enhancing the Thumbnail and Image States36.5.1. Framing the selected thumbnail with the BevelFilter class36.5.2. Creating a loading transition with the BitmapData and BlurFilter classes36.5.3. Transitioning thumbnail states with the Tween and ColorMatrixFilter classes36.5.4. Setting the image caption36.5.5. Completing the thumbnail button handlers36.5.6. Building a right-click download menu item for the full-size JPEG36.6. Phase 5: Finalizing the Component36.6.1. Adding the component definition36.6.2. Changing script paths for final deployment36.7. Summary
X. Appendixes
A. Using the CD-ROM
A.1. Reviewing Example .swf and .fla FilesA.2. Installing and Using Plug-Ins and ApplicationsA.3. Source Files and ApplicationsA.4. TroubleshootingA.5. Customer Care
B. Guest Experts' Information
C. Digital Audio Basics
C.1. Understanding the Basics of Sampling and QualityC.1.1. What is sound?C.1.2. What affects the quality and size of sound files?C.1.2.1. Sample rateC.1.2.2. Bit resolutionC.1.2.3. ChannelsC.2. Getting Tips on Production
D. Digital Video Basics
D.1. Garbage In, Garbage Out: Knowing What Affects a Video's QualityD.1.1. Source formatD.1.2. Image qualityD.1.3. Sound qualityD.1.4. Subject matterD.2. Editing FootageD.3. Choosing an Import Format
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Two of the savviest Flash experts in the industry show you how to add impact to your Web content. Robert Reinhardt and Snow Dowd know all the techniques and tricks, and they take you under the hood in this one-stop total reference guide to Flash CS3 Professional. Follow their tutorials, learn from cool examples, and discover insider secrets you won't find in any other book. Don't miss the special 16-page color insert loaded with spectacular examples. Also includes a CD-ROM.

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