Adobe Flash CS5: Introduction

Course Description:

This Adobe authorised course is designed for new users of Flash who wish to create visually engaging rich media content using the powerful design and animation tools available in Flash CS5. Flash has become a web standard - fusing animation and powerful interactivity with video and audio to create web content that attracts and engages users. Combined with Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder, Adobe Flash is also widely used for developing banners, e-learning content, games and desktop applications.

This extremely popular two day course has proved to be the most effective way of getting up and running in Adobe Flash quickly and easily. This course covers Flash basics, importing, creating and editing vector graphics and working with text as well as creating animations, building a navigational system, creating interactive elements using built-in ActionScript behaviours, incorporating sound and video and publishing and testing your Flash movies.

This course includes the following modules:

Flash essentials

• The Adobe Flash interface
• Customising the interface
• Creating a new Flash document
• Setting stage dimensions
• Working with panels and panel layouts
• Custom panel sets
• Setting preferences
• Identifying the development cycle
• Testing a file

Vectors and bitmaps

• Object and shape draw modes
• Vector draw tools
• Alignment
• Rules, guides and grid
• Working with layers
• Masking techniques
• Gradient colours
• Importing and saving swatches
• Deco tool and custom presets
• Importing bitmaps
• Importing from Photoshop and Illustrator

Using text effectively

• The new text engine in CS5 (TFL)
• Using the text tool
• Adding and formatting static text
• Anti-alias options
• Font properties
• Using threaded text boxes
• Working with text overflows
• Text effects and filters
• Creating multiple text columns
• Static, input and dynamic text
• Embedded vs device fonts

Creating animations

• Working with the Timeline
• Using keyframes, blank keyframes and frames
• Cell animation
• Shape tweens
• Classic tweens
• Classic motion guides
• Motion tweens
• Easing
• Motion presets

Motion editor essentials

• Custom eases
• Symbols: graphic, MovieClip and button
• Library best practice
• The 3D rotation tool
• The 3D translation tool
• Understanding Inverse Kinematics using the Bone tool
• Using Spring to add character to your animations

Adding sound and video

• Importing sound
• Changing sound properties
• Adding sound to a timeline
• Embedding video in a timeline
• Using the FLVPlayback component

Interactivity

• About ActionScript
• Applying Actions with Code Snippets
• Frame labels
• Create linear navigation
• Loading external SWFs

Publishing Flash documents

• Using different publishing formats
• Exporting to Flash Catalyst
• Exporting to Flash Builder
• Adding Flash Player detection
• Publishing for deployment
• Adobe Device Central