Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Classroom in a Book

Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Classroom in a Book

Released October 2008
Publisher(s): Adobe Press
ISBN: 9780321606600

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Book description

The fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe Flash CS4 Professional.

Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Classroom in a Book contains 10 lessons. The book covers the basics of learning Adobe Flash CS4 Professional and provides countless tips and techniques to help you become more productive with the program. You can follow the book from start to finish or choose only those lessons that interest you.

Learn how to design Flash projects with sophisticated animation, import video and sound files, and integrate buttons with compelling interactivity using ActionScript 3.0. Powerful features such as the new Motion Editor, inverse kinematics, and support for 3D will make developing your Flash sites fast, easy, and fun.

“The Classroom in a Book series is by far the best training material on the market. Everything you need to master the software is included: clear explanations of each lesson, step-by-step instructions, and the project files for the students.” —Barbara Binder, Adobe Certified Instructor, Rocky Mountain Training

Classroom in a Book®, the best-selling series of hands-on software training workbooks, helps you learn the features of Adobe software quickly and easily. Classroom in a Book offers what no other book or training program does—an official training series from Adobe Systems Incorporated, developed with the support of Adobe product experts.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. What’s on the Disc
    1. Lesson files ... and so much more
  3. Getting Started
    1. About Classroom in a Book
    2. Prerequisites
    3. Installing Flash
    4. Optimizing Performance
    5. How to Use These Lessons
    6. Copying the Lesson Files
    7. About Copying the Sample Movies and Projects
    8. Additional Resources
    9. Adobe Certification
  4. 1. Getting Acquainted
    1. Starting Flash and Opening a File
    2. Getting to Know the Work Area
      1. About the Stage
      2. Changing the Stage Properties
    3. Working with the Library Panel
      1. About the Library Panel
      2. Importing an Item to the Library Panel
      3. Adding an Item from the Library Panel to the Stage
    4. Understanding the Timeline
      1. Renaming a Layer
      2. Adding a Layer
      3. Inserting Frames
      4. Creating a Keyframe
      5. Moving a Keyframe
    5. Organizing Layers in a Timeline
      1. Creating Layer Folders
      2. Adding Layers to Layer Folders
      3. Changing the Appearance of the Timeline
    6. Using the Property Inspector
      1. Positioning an Object on the Stage
    7. Using the Tools Panel
      1. Selecting and Using a Tool
    8. Undoing Steps in Flash
    9. Previewing Your Movie
    10. Publishing Your Movie
    11. Finding Resources for Using Flash
    12. Checking for Updates
    13. Review Questions
    14. Review Answers
  5. 2. Working with Graphics
    1. Getting Started
    2. Understanding Strokes and Fills
    3. Creating Rectangles
      1. Adding a Bitmap Fill
      2. Specifying Stroke Properties
      3. Modifying Objects
    4. Using a Gradient Fill
      1. Customizing Gradient Transitions
      2. Using the Gradient Transform Tool
    5. Making Selections
      1. Selecting Sections of a Fill and Grouping Objects
      2. Using the Lasso Tool
    6. Drawing Ovals
    7. Making Patterns
      1. Creating a Symbol for the Pattern
      2. Using the Deco Tool
      3. Aligning Objects
      4. Breaking Apart and Grouping Objects
    8. Creating Curves
      1. Using the Pen Tool
      2. Editing Curves with the Selection and Subselection Tools
      3. Deleting or Adding Anchor Points
    9. Creating Transparencies
      1. Modifying the Alpha Value of a Fill
      2. Matching the Color of an Existing Object
    10. Creating and Editing Text
      1. Using the Text Tool
      2. Editing Text
      3. Hyperlinking Text
      4. Adding Special Effects with Filters
    11. Review Questions
    12. Review Answers
  6. 3. Creating and Editing Symbols
    1. Getting Started
    2. Importing Illustrator Files
    3. About Symbols
      1. Movie Clip Symbols
      2. Button Symbols
      3. Graphic Symbols
    4. Creating Symbols
    5. Importing Photoshop Files
    6. Editing and Managing Symbols
      1. Adding Folders and Organizing the Library
      2. Editing a Symbol from the Library
      3. Editing a Symbol in Place
      4. Breaking Apart a Symbol Instance
    7. Changing the Size and Position of Instances
    8. Changing the Color Effect of Instances
      1. Changing the Brightness
      2. Changing the Transparency
    9. Understanding Blend Effects
    10. Applying Filters for Special Effects
      1. Applying a Blur Filter
    11. Positioning in 3D Space
      1. Changing the 3D Rotation of an Object
      2. Changing the 3D Position of an Object
      3. Resetting the Rotation and Position
      4. Understanding the Vanishing Point and the Perspective Angle
    12. Review Questions
    13. Review Answers
  7. 4. Adding Animation
    1. Getting Started
    2. About Animation
    3. Understanding the Project File
    4. Animating Position
    5. Changing the Pacing and Timing
      1. Changing the Animation Duration
      2. Adding Frames
      3. Moving Keyframes
    6. Animating Transparency
    7. Animating Filters
    8. Animating Transformations
    9. Changing the Path of the Motion
      1. Moving the Path of the Motion
      2. Changing the Scale or Rotation of the Path
      3. Editing the Path of the Motion
      4. Orienting Objects to the Path
    10. Swapping Tween Targets
    11. Creating Nested Animations
      1. Creating Animations Inside Movie Clip Symbols
    12. Using the Motion Editor
      1. Setting the Motion Editor Display Options
      2. Changing Property Values
      3. Inserting Keyframes
      4. Editing Keyframes
      5. Resetting Values and Deleting Properties
    13. Easing
      1. Setting Eases of a Motion Tween
      2. Using Preset Eases
    14. Animating 3D Motion
    15. Previewing the Animation
    16. Review Questions
    17. Review Answers
  8. 5. Articulated Motion and Morphing
    1. Getting Started
    2. Articulated Motion with Inverse Kinematics
      1. Defining the Bones
      2. Inserting Poses
      3. Isolating the Rotation of Individual Nodes
    3. Constraining Joints
      1. Constraining the Rotation of Joints
      2. Constraining the Translation of Joints
    4. Inverse Kinematics with Shapes
      1. Defining Bones Inside a Shape
      2. Editing the Shape
      3. Editing the Bones and Armature
    5. Armature Options
      1. Authortime and Runtime Armatures
      2. Controlling Easing
    6. Morphing with Shape Tweens
      1. Establish Keyframes Containing Different Shapes
      2. Apply the Shape Tween
    7. Using Shape Hints
      1. Adding Shape Hints
      2. Removing Shape Hints
    8. Review Questions
    9. Review Answers
  9. 6. Creating Interactive Navigation
    1. Getting Started
    2. About Interactive Movies
    3. Designing a Layout
      1. Adding a Simple Design Element
      2. Adding a Title and Introductory Text
    4. Creating Buttons
      1. Creating a Button Symbol
      2. Duplicating Buttons
      3. Swapping Bitmaps
      4. Placing the Button Instances
      5. Naming the Button Instances
    5. Understanding ActionScript 3.0
      1. About ActionScript
      2. Understanding Scripting Terminology
        1. Variable
        2. Keyword
        3. Parameters
        4. Function
        5. Objects
        6. Methods
        7. Properties
      3. Using Proper Scripting Syntax
      4. Navigating the Actions Panel
    6. Adding a Stop Action
    7. Creating Event Handlers for Buttons
      1. Adding the Event Listener and Function
      2. Checking Syntax and Formatting Code
    8. Creating Destination Keyframes
      1. Inserting Keyframes with Different Content
      2. Using Labels on Keyframes
    9. Playing Animation at the Destination
      1. Creating Transition Animations
      2. Using the gotoAndPlay Command
      3. Stopping the Animations
    10. Animated Buttons
      1. Creating the Animation in a Movie Clip Symbol
    11. Review Questions
    12. Review Answers
  10. 7. Working with Sound and Video
    1. Getting Started
    2. Understanding the Project File
    3. Using Sounds
      1. Importing Sound Files
      2. Placing Sounds on the Timeline
      3. Adding Frames to the Timeline
      4. Clipping the End of a Sound
      5. Changing the Volume of a Sound
      6. Deleting or Changing the Sound File
      7. Increasing the Quality of the Sounds
      8. Adding Sounds to Buttons
    4. Understanding Flash Video
    5. Using the Adobe Media Encoder
      1. Adding a Video File to the Adobe Media Encoder
      2. Converting Video Files to Flash Video
    6. Understanding Encoding Options
      1. Cropping Your Video
      2. Adjusting Video Length
      3. Setting Advanced Video and Audio Options
      4. Saving Advanced Video and Audio Options
    7. Playback of External Video
      1. Controlling the Video Playback
    8. Working with Video and Transparency
      1. Importing the Video Clip
    9. Embedding Flash Video
      1. Encoding the FLV for Embedding
      2. Embedding an FLV on the Timeline
      3. Using Embedded Video
    10. Review Questions
    11. Review Answers
  11. 8. Using Components
    1. Getting Started
    2. About Components
    3. Adding a Text Component
      1. Dragging a Component to the Stage
      2. Inserting Text in the Component
      3. Modifying a Component’s Parameters
    4. Using Components to Create Interactivity
      1. Configuring Component Parameters
      2. Enhancing Components with ActionScript
    5. Review Questions
    6. Review Answers
  12. 9. Loading and Controlling Flash Content
    1. Getting Started
    2. Loading External Content
    3. Removing External Content
    4. Controlling Movie Clips
    5. Creating Masks
      1. Define the Mask and Masked Layers
      2. Create the Mask
    6. Review Questions
    7. Review Answers
  13. 10. Publishing Flash Documents
    1. Getting Started
    2. Testing a Flash Document
    3. Understanding the Bandwidth Profiler
      1. View the Bandwidth Profiler
      2. Test Download Performance
    4. Adding Metadata
    5. Publishing a Movie for the Web
      1. Specifying Flash File Settings
      2. Detecting the Version of Flash Player
      3. Changing Display Settings
      4. Changing Playback Settings
    6. Alternative Publishing Options
      1. Saving Frames as Images
      2. Creating a Projector
    7. Review Questions
    8. Review Answers
  14. Hexadecimal Color Codes

Product information

  • Title: Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Classroom in a Book
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: October 2008
  • Publisher(s): Adobe Press
  • ISBN: 9780321606600