Flash Out of the Box

Chapter 1. Getting Started

The best way to get started with Macromedia Flash is to jump right in, so let’s start with something you can show off immediately. We’ll get your brain moving by doing some drawing, creating some funky designs, and learning to reuse graphics. The concepts behind the fun stuff will be discussed at the end of each chapter, but right now, let’s get our hands dirty.

As explained in the Preface, the object of this book is to teach you to use Macromedia Flash to help you accomplish your goals, whatever they may be, and to give you a lot of good information on the basics without drowning you in details. Flash Out of the Box is much shorter than many other introductory books on Flash because it focuses on the information you need to know to accomplish your goals. It isn’t intended as an exhaustive reference of every feature, but rather concentrates on the features you’re likely to use and presents them in an engaging and digestible format. You’ll learn to do what you want to do with Flash, and by the end of this book, you’ll have the skills you need to explore further study or experiment more on your own.

Furthermore, you’ll learn through progressive disclosure, which means the book provides information in the context of an exercise, when and where it’s relevant. For example, this chapter doesn’t cover everything there is to know about Flash’s drawing tools. Instead, I’ll show you how to use a few drawing techniques to create your first design in Flash, add color, ...