1 Part One: Creating a Flash Animation Chapter 1: Getting Around Flash.. Recent and upcoming titles include: Access 2007: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald Access 2010: The Missing
Trang 3Flash CS5 THE MISSING MANUAL
The book that
should have been
Trang 5Flash CS5
Beijing • Cambridge • Farnham • Köln • Sebastopol • Taipei • Tokyo
Chris Grover
Trang 6by Chris Grover
Copyright © 2010 Chris Grover All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North,
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May 2010: First Edition
The Missing Manual is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media, Inc The Missing Manual logo, and “The book that should have been in the box” are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc Many
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as trademarks Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media is aware of a trademark claim, the designations are capitalized
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained in it
This book uses a durable and flexible lay-flat binding
ISBN: 978-1-449-38025-0
[M]
Trang 7Table of Contents
The Missing Credits xv
Introduction 1
Part One: Creating a Flash Animation Chapter 1: Getting Around Flash 13
Starting Flash 13
A Tour of the Flash Workspace 18
Menu Bar 20
The Stage 20
The Timeline 21
Panels and Toolbars 22
Toolbars 24
Tools Panel 25
Properties Panel 27
Library Panel 28
Other Flash Panels 29
The Flash CS5 Test Drive 32
Open a Flash File 32
Explore the Properties Panel 33
Resize the Stage 34
Zoom In and Out 36
Make It Move 37
Play an Animation 38
Save a File 39
Chapter 2: Creating Simple Drawings 41
Plan Before You Draw 41
Creating a Storyboard 42
Five Questions for a Better Result 43
Trang 8vi table of contents
Setting Document Properties 46
Adding Measurement Guides 49
Drawing a Shape 50
Choosing a Drawing Mode 53
Merge Drawing Mode 53
Object Drawing Mode 55
Using Merge Mode and Object Mode Together 57
Selecting Objects on the Stage 58
Essential Drawing Terms 60
Creating Original Artwork 61
Drawing and Painting with Tools 62
Aligning Objects with the Align Tools 74
Erasing Mistakes with the Eraser Tool 75
Copying and Pasting Drawn Objects 78
Adding Color 79
Changing the Color of a Stroke (Line) 80
Changing the Color of a Fill 83
Chapter 3: Animate Your Art 87
Frame-by-Frame Animation 87
Creating a Frame-by-Frame Animation 88
Test Your Frame-by-Frame Animation 92
Editing Your Frame-by-Frame Animation 93
Selecting Frames and Keyframes 94
Inserting and Deleting Keyframes and Frames 95
Making It Move with Motion Tweens 98
Tweening a Symbol’s Dimension Properties 102
Copying and Pasting Frames 104
Reversing Frames in a Frame Span 106
Editing the Motion Path 107
Moving the Motion Path 107
Adding Curves to the Motion Path 108
Moving End Points on the Motion Path 109
Copying and Pasting a Motion Path 109
Copying and Pasting Properties 110
Shape Tweening (Morphing) 111
Shape Hints 115
Using Multiple Layers for Shape Tweens 117
Classic Tween 118
Trang 9Part Two: Advanced Drawing and Animation
Chapter 4: Organizing Frames and Layers 121
Working with Frames 121
Copying and Pasting Frames 121
Moving Frames and Keyframes 124
Editing Multiple Frames 126
Working with Multiple Layers 129
Showing and Hiding Layers 133
Working with Layers 135
Renaming Layers 136
Copying and Pasting Layers 138
Reordering (Moving) Layers 139
Deleting a Layer 140
Locking and Unlocking Layers 141
Organizing Layers 142
Outline View 142
Organizing Layers with Folders 143
Spotlight Effect Using Mask Layers 145
Chapter 5: Advanced Drawing and Coloring 149
Selecting Graphic Elements 149
The Selection Tool 151
The Subselection Tool 156
The Lasso Tool 159
Manipulating Graphic Elements 163
Modifying Object Properties 163
Moving, Cutting, Pasting, and Copying 164
Transforming Objects 166
Moving and Rotating Objects in 3-D 173
Stacking Objects 178
Converting Strokes to Fills 181
Aligning Objects 183
Spray Painting Symbols 187
Drawing with the Deco Tool 188
Advanced Color and Fills 190
Color Basics 190
RGB and HSB 191
Creating Custom Colors 191
Specifying Colors for ActionScript 195
Saving Color Swatches 196
Using an Image As a Fill “Color” 197
Trang 10viii table of contents
Importing a Custom Color Palette 203
Copying Color with the Eyedropper 204
Chapter 6: Choosing and Formatting Text 209
Text Questions 210
Choosing TLF or Classic Text 210
Choose a Text Type 211
About Typefaces and Fonts 213
Adding Text to Your Document 213
Changing Text Position, Height, and Width 216
Rotating, Skewing, and Moving in 3-D 217
Changing Text Color 217
Creating a Text Hyperlink 218
Creating a Hyperlink Using Classic Text 219
Choosing and Using Text Containers 220
Creating Vertical Text Containers 221
Multiline and Single-Line Text Containers 222
Applying Advanced Formatting to Text 223
Create a Multi-Column Text Container 224
Flow Text from One Container to Another 225
Animating Text Without ActionScript 226
Experimenting with Animated Text 230
Moving Text in Three Dimensions 230
Text Properties by Subpanel 232
Text Engine Properties 232
Position and Size 232
3D Position and View (TLF Text Only) 233
Character 233
Advanced Character (TLF Text Only) 235
Paragraph 236
Options (Classic Text Only) 236
Container and Flow (TLF Text Only) 236
Color Effect (TLF Text Only) 237
Display (TLF Text Only) 237
Filters 237
Chapter 7: Reusable Flash: Symbols and Templates 239
Symbols and Instances 240
Graphic Symbols 241
Multiframe Graphic Symbols 255
Movie Clip Symbols 259
Button Symbols 264
Templates 274
Opening a Prebuilt Template 276
Customizing the Photo Album Template 278
Trang 11Chapter 8: Advanced Tweens with the Motion Editor 287
Applying Motion Presets 287
Saving a Custom Motion Preset 290
Modifying a Motion Preset 291
Changing the Motion Path 292
Deleting a Motion Path 294
Copying and Pasting a Motion Path 294
Orienting Tweened Objects to a Motion Path 296
Swapping the Tweened Object 298
Editing a Tween Span 299
Viewing and Editing Property Keyframes in the Timeline 300
Copying Properties Between Property Keyframes 302
A Tour of the Motion Editor 302
Workflow for Common Tweens 304
Adding and Removing Property Keyframes 305
Moving Property Keyframes 306
Fine-Tuning Property Changes 306
Adding and Removing Color Effects 307
Using Filters in Tweens 307
Customizing Your Motion Editor View 308
Changing Transparency with the Motion Editor 310
Easing Tweens 312
Applying an Ease Preset 312
Creating a Custom Ease Preset 315
Chapter 9: Realistic Animation with IK Bones 317
Linking Symbols with Bones 318
Changing the Pose Layer 322
Creating Branching Armatures 324
Controlling the Degree of Rotation 326
Moving Bones 327
Repositioning Symbol Instances 330
Changing the Length of a Bone 330
Deleting Bones 330
Making Shapes Move with Bones 332
Working with Control Points 333
Apply Spring to a Motion 335
Animating an Armature with ActionScript 338
Chapter 10: Incorporating Non-Flash Media Files 339
Importing Graphics 339
Importing Illustrator Graphics Files 343
Importing Photoshop Graphic Files 347
Importing Fireworks Graphics 350
Import Options for Graphics 353
Copying Fireworks Effects and Blends 353
Trang 12x table of contents
Importing a Series of Graphics Files 356
Exporting Graphics from Flash 358
Chapter 11: Incorporating Sound and Video 361
Incorporating Sound 362
Importing Sound Files 362
Adding an Imported Sound to a Frame (or Series of Frames) 364
Editing Sound Clips in Flash 369
Incorporating Video 370
Encoding: Making Flash Video Files 372
Encoding Part of a Video Clip 376
Resizing and Cropping a Video Clip 377
Adding Cue Points to Your Video 380
Choosing a Video Codec 381
Other Techniques for Reducing Video File Sizes 383
Preparing to Import Video Files 384
Importing Video Files 385
Importing a Flash Video File Stored on Your Computer 385
Importing a Flash Video from the Web 391
Customizing the Video Playback Component 391
Part Three: Adding Interactivity Chapter 12: Introduction to ActionScript 3 395
Getting to Know ActionScript 3 396
The Flash/ActionScript Partnership 396
ActionScript 3 397
ActionScript vs JavaScript and Other Languages 397
ActionScript 3 Spoken Here 399
Beginning Your ActionScript Project 400
Writing ActionScript Code in the Timeline 403
Using the Script Pane Toolbar 404
Writing Code in an ActionScript File 405
Object-Oriented Thinking 407
ActionScript Classes 409
Changing an Object’s Properties 409
Functions and Methods Put the Action in ActionScript 413
Events 416
Using Data Types, Variables, and Constants 417
Numbers 417
Strings 419
Boolean 420
Arrays 420
ActionScript Built-in Data Types 421
Trang 13Variables 421
Constants 423
Conditionals and Loops 423
Conditionals: if() and switch() Statements 423
Loops: while() and for() Statements 425
Combining ActionScript’s Building Blocks 427
Chapter 13: Controlling Actions with Events 429
How Events Work 429
Mouse Events 431
Getting Help for Events and Event Listeners 434
Creating a Rollover with a Mouse Event 435
Add Statements to an Event Listener 439
Creating a Tabbed Window with Mouse Events 441
Setting the Stage for Tabbed Folder Display 441
Planning Before Coding 445
Copy-and-Tweak Coding 452
Keyboard Events and Text Events 455
Using Event Properties 456
Capturing Text Input with TextEvent 459
Keeping Time with TimerEvent 460
Removing Event Listeners 461
In Case of Other Events 462
Chapter 14: Organizing Objects with the Display List 463
The Display List: Everything in Its Place 463
When Display Objects are Display Object Containers 464
Adding Objects to the Display List 465
Add a Second Object to the Display List 467
Using trace() to Report on the Display List 470
Placing Objects Inside Display Containers 472
Moving Objects from One Container to Another 476
Removing Objects from the Display List 479
Managing the Stacking Order 481
Adding Display Objects by Index Position 482
Removing Display Objects by Index Position 484
Getting the Name or Index Position of a Display Object 485
Swapping the Position of Two Children 487
Summary of Properties and Methods 487
DisplayObjectContainer Properties 488
DisplayObjectContainer Methods 489
Chapter 15: Controlling the Timeline and Animation 493
Slowing Down (or Speeding Up) Animation 493
Setting a Document Frame Rate 495
Setting a Frame Rate with ActionScript 497
Trang 14xii table of contents
Using ActionScript to Start a Timeline 500
Organizing Your Animation 501
Working with Labeled Frames 502
Working with Scenes 508
Looping a Series of Frames 514
Reversing a Series of Frames 515
Reversing Frames in the Timeline 516
Chapter 16: Components for Interactivity 519
Adding Components 520
Making Button Components Work with ActionScript 526
Modifying Components in the Properties Panel 528
Adding a ColorPicker Component 530
The Built-In Components 533
User Interface Components 534
Finding Additional Components 551
Chapter 17: Choosing, Using, and Animating Text 555
What Font Does Your Audience Have? 555
Embedding Fonts in Your SWF file 556
Controlling Text with ActionScript 559
ActionScript Text: String Theory 559
Creating a New String 560
Joining Strings 560
Using TextField’s appendText() Method 561
Adding Line Breaks to a String 562
Finding a String Within a String 563
Replacing Words or Characters in a String 564
Converting Strings to Uppercase or Lowercase 564
Creating Text Fields with ActionScript 565
Positioning, Sizing, and Formatting a Text Field 566
Formatting the Text Field’s Background and Border 566
Adjust the Space Between Text and Border 567
Autosizing a Text Field 568
Formatting Characters and Paragraphs 569
Formatting with HTML and CSS 572
HTML and CSS Philosophical Differences 572
Using HTML Text in Flash 573
Creating a Hyperlink with HTML 574
Using CSS to Format Classic Text in Flash 574
Formatting Text with an External CSS File 577
Choosing the Right Text Formatting System 580
Trang 15Chapter 18: Drawing with ActionScript 581
What’s the Point? 581
Beginning with the Graphics Class 585
Drawing Lines 586
Drawing Curves 589
Drawing Built-in Shapes 591
Drawing Irregular Shapes 594
Making Drawings Move 595
Using ActionScript’s TimerEvent to Animate Drawings 595
Moving Objects Independently 597
Shape, Sprite, and Movie Clip for Drawings 599
Removing Lines and Shapes 600
Part Four: Debugging and Delivering Your Animation Chapter 19: Testing and Debugging Your Animation 605
Testing Strategies 605
Planning Ahead 606
Techniques for Better Testing 607
Testing on the Stage 609
Testing in Flash Player 611
Testing Inside a Web Page 612
Testing Download Time 615
Simulating Downloads 615
The Art of Debugging 620
Checking with the Syntax Checker 622
Finding Errors with the Compiler Errors Panel 624
Using the Output Panel and trace() Statement 625
Analyzing Code with the Debugger 630
Setting and Working with Breakpoints 632
Chapter 20: Publishing and Exporting 637
Optimizing Flash Documents 638
Ten Optimization Strategies 640
Publishing Your Animations 645
Publishing as a Compiled Flash (.swf) File 647
Publishing As a Web Page 653
Publishing a Frame as a Static Image File 659
Publishing as an Animated GIF 666
Publishing As a Standalone Projector 668
Exporting Flash to Other Formats 669
Exporting the Contents of a Single Frame 669
Exporting an Entire Animation 671
Trang 16xiv table of contents
Meet Adobe AIR 673
Differences Between AIR and Flash 675
Creating Your First AIR Application 676
Create a Code Signing Certificate 678
Convert a Flash Animation to AIR 680
Publish Your AIR Application 683
Manually Install Adobe AIR Runtime 686
Part Five: Appendixes Appendix A: Installation and Help 689
Appendix B: Flash Professional CS5, Menu by Menu 701
Index 739
Trang 17The Missing Credits
About the Author
Chris Grover is a veteran of the San Francisco Bay Area
adver-tising and design community, having worked for over 25 years in print, video, and electronic media He has been using and writing about computers from the day he first fired up is Kaypro II Chris
is the owner of Bolinas Road Creative (www.BolinasRoad.com),
an agency that helps small businesses promote their products and
services He’s also the author of Premiere Elements 8: The Missing Manual, Google
SketchUp: The Missing Manual, Flash CS4: The Missing Manual, and Word 2007:
The Missing Manual.
About the Creative Team
Nan Barber (editor) has been working on the Missing Manual series since its
in-ception She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and various Apple products
Email: nanbarber@oreilly.com.
Julie Van Keuren (copy editor) is a freelance editor, writer, and desktop publisher
who runs her “little media empire” from her home in Billings, Montana In her
spare time she enjoys swimming, biking, running, and (hey, why not?) triathlons
Email: little_media@yahoo.com.
Rachel Monaghan (production editor) lives with her husband, John, in Nashville,
where they enjoy exploring their neighborhood, watching HBO, and harassing
their two cats, Henry and Olive She has been with O’Reilly since 2005 Email:
rachel@oreilly.com.
Trang 18xvi the missing credits
Style
Ellen Troutman Zaig (indexer) is a freelance indexer who has eleven years’ experience
in back-of-the-book indexing She specializes in topics in computer technology; in addition, she has indexed college textbooks in many subject areas
Keith Gladstien (technical reviewer) is a prolific contributor to the Adobe Flash
Forums who has been using Flash since version 4 He has a background in matics (PhD, Purdue) and medicine (MD, Yale) and has created hundreds of Flash
mathe-applications for clients worldwide Website: www.kglad.com.
Tina Spargo (technical reviewer), her husband (and professional musician) Ed, their
preschooler Max, their two silly Spaniels, Parker (Clumber), and Piper (Sussex), all share time and space in their suburban Boston home Tina juggles being an at-home mom with promoting and marketing Ed’s musical projects and freelancing as a virtual assistant Tina has over 20 years’ experience supporting top-level executives in a vari-
ety of industries Website: www.tinaspargo.com.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all the pros on the Missing Manual team who worked to get this book into your hands A special thanks again to Nan Barber, whose skill, patience, and planning has guided several of my books from concept to printing press Thanks also to Karen Shaner who helped coordinate the manuscript files flying back and forth and to Julie Van Keuren for her copy editing eagle eye Speaking of eagle eyes, many thanks to Tina Spargo, one of my technical reviewers, for taking a fresh look at the text and exercises in this book A special thanks to Keith Gladstien for his technical review and thoughts on Flash His experience as a Flash master was much appreciated Thanks again to Joyce, my wife, whose love, proofreading, and understanding help me in everything I do
The Missing Manual Series
Missing Manuals are witty, superbly written guides to computer products that don’t come with printed manuals (which is just about all of them) Each book features a handcrafted index; cross-references to specific pages (not just chapters); and Rep-Kover, a detached-spine binding that lets the book lie perfectly flat without the as-sistance of weights or cinder blocks
Recent and upcoming titles include:
Access 2007: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald Access 2010: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald Buying a Home: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner CSS: The Missing Manual, Second Edition, by David Sawyer McFarland Creating a Web Site: The Missing Manual, Second Edition, by Matthew MacDonald David Pogue’s Digital Photography: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
Trang 19Dreamweaver CS4: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland
Dreamweaver CS5: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland
Excel 2007: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald
Excel 2010: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald
Facebook: The Missing Manual, Second Edition, by E.A Vander Veer
FileMaker Pro 10: The Missing Manual by Susan Prosser and Geoff Coffey
FileMaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual by Susan Prosser and Stuart Gripman
Flash CS4: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover with E.A Vander Veer
Google Apps: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner
The Internet: The Missing Manual by David Pogue and J.D Biersdorfer
iMovie ’08 & iDVD: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
iMovie ’09 & iDVD: The Missing Manual by David Pogue and Aaron Miller
iPad: The Missing Manual by J.D Biersdorfer and David Pogue
iPhone: The Missing Manual, Second Edition, by David Pogue
iPhone App Development: The Missing Manual by Craig Hockenberry
iPhoto ’08: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
iPhoto ’09: The Missing Manual by David Pogue and J.D Biersdorfer
iPod: The Missing Manual, Eighth Edition, by J.D Biersdorfer and David Pogue
JavaScript: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland
Living Green: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner
Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition, by David Pogue
Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore
Microsoft Project 2010: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore
Netbooks: The Missing Manual by J.D Biersdorfer
Office 2007: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover, Matthew MacDonald, and
E.A Vander Veer
Office 2010: The Missing Manual by Nancy Connor, Chris Grover, and Matthew
MacDonald
Office 2008 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual by Jim Elferdink
Palm Pre: The Missing Manual by Ed Baig
Trang 20xviii the missing credits
PCs: The Missing Manual by Andy Rathbone Personal Investing: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual by Lesa Snider Photoshop CS5: The Missing Manual by Lesa Snider Photoshop Elements 7: The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac: The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage PowerPoint 2007: The Missing Manual by E.A Vander Veer
Premiere Elements 8: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover QuickBase: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner
QuickBooks 2010: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore Quicken 2009: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition, by David Pogue Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition, by David Pogue Wikipedia: The Missing Manual by John Broughton
Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual, Second Edition, by David Pogue Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, Second Edition, by David Pogue, Craig
Zacker, and Linda Zacker
Windows Vista: The Missing Manual by David Pogue Windows 7: The Missing Manual by David Pogue Word 2007: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover Your Body: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald Your Brain: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald Your Money: The Missing Manual by J.D Roth
Trang 21Flash’s evolution is unique, even for the fast-changing computer software world
First released in 1996 under the name FutureSplash, it was a tool for creating web-based animations It’s still the “go to” application for that job; however, along the way it’s acquired new capabilities Today, Flash powers video websites
like YouTube and Hulu (Figure I-1) It’s used to develop desktop applications like
eBay Desktop As you read this, Flash/ActionScript pros are developing the next
generation of apps for handheld devices like the Droid and perhaps the iPhone
Flash has grown up with the World Wide Web and managed to carve out an
im-portant niche In fact, there are a whole slew of programs that make use of Flash
technology They include Flex, Flash Builder, and Flash Catalyst Still, if you want to
learn Flash’s design and animation features as well as its programming and
develop-ment features, then Flash Professional CS5 is the place to start
Figure I-1:
Sites like Hulu and YouTube have made great use of Flash’s video abilities You can check any site to see whether it’s using Flash behind the scenes Just right-click (or Control-click)
an image that you think might
be Flash If it says “About Flash Player” at the bottom of the pop-up menu, you guessed right.
Trang 222 Flash CS5: The Missing Manual
Here are just some of the things you can do with Flash:
• Animate You can create original artwork using Flash’s tools, or you can add
images from your other favorite programs Flash recognizes the most common image, video, and sound file formats Once your artwork is in Flash, you can add motion, sound, and dazzling effects Surely you’ve spent some quality time watching JibJab cartoons (Figure I-2)
Figure I-2:
With a little creativity, your Flash animations can capture the public’s atten- tion Just ask the folks at JibJab.
• Multimedia websites Today’s websites aren’t static They include motion, video,
background music, and above all interactive objects Flash’s built-in ming language, ActionScript, was designed to create interactive objects You can create eye-catching, attention-grabbing websites with Flash It’s your choice whether you sprinkle Flash bits on various pages or go whole-hog and develop
program-a 100 percent Flprogram-ash site
• Tutorials Web-based training courses, which often include a combination of
text, drawings, animations, video clips, and voice-overs, are a natural fit for Flash By hooking Flash up to a server on the back end, you can even present your audience with graded tests and up-to-the-minute product information You don’t have to deliver your tutorials over the web, though; you can publish them as standalone projector files (Chapter 20) or AIR applications (Chapter 21) and deliver them to your students via CDs or DVDs
Trang 23• Code snippets are great for when you need to build something quickly
Snip-pets are cut-and-paste bits of code that you can drop into your ActionScript programs Organized by topic and function—like Timeline Navigation, Event Handlers, or Audio and Video—snippets are great learning tools
• Code hinting is another area where ActionScript has improved Turn code
hinting on, and the Actions panel offers truly helpful suggestions as you write your code It’s easy to use the hints or to ignore them It’s your call
• Workflow improvements Adobe wants you to use its entire suite of programs
when you create your masterpiece, so with each version, it improves the way Flash works with other programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign Newer tools like Flex, Flash Builder, and Flash Catalyst make it easier for teams of designers and programmers to divvy up application development chores
• AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) is used to develop desktop applications It’s
now easier to create and publish AIR applications in Flash You’ll find the details
in Chapter 21
• Packaging applications for the iPhone For years, developers have used Flash
to build applications for handheld devices Flash Professional CS5 includes a packager designed specifically for the iPhone It turns out that Apple doesn’t want developers creating apps with tools like Flash, so at the time this was writ-ten, the usefulness of this feature was up in the air
With Flash on your computer, you have the equivalent of a design studio at your fingertips You provide the inspiration, and Flash can help you generate pro-quality animations and full-blown interactive applications
It’s pretty incredible, when you think about it A few hundred bucks and a few hours spent working with Flash, and you’ve got an animation that, just a few years ago, you’d have had to pay a swarm of professionals union scale to produce Sweet! Natu-rally, if you’re new to animation, it will go easier if you learn the basic terms, tricks, and techniques used by Flash animators
Trang 24Introduction
Up To Speed
An Animation by Any Other Name
You may occasionally hear Flash animations referred to (by
books, websites, and even Flash’s own documentation) as
movies Perhaps that’s technically accurate, but it sure can
be confusing.
QuickTime’s mov files are also called movies, and some
people refer to video clips as movies; but to Flash, these
are two very different animals In addition, Flash lets you
create and work with movie clips, which are something else
entirely And “movie,” with its connotations of quietly sitting
in a theater balcony eating popcorn, doesn’t convey one of the most important features Flash offers: interactivity
Here’s the most accurate way to describe what you ate using Flash: a website or program with a really cool, animated interface Unfortunately, that description is a bit long and unwieldy, so in this book, what you create using Flash is called an animation.
cre-Flash in a Nutshell
Say you work for a company that does custom auto refinishing First assignment:
Design an intro page for the company’s new website You have the following idea for
an animation:
The first thing you want your audience to see is a beat-up jalopy limping along a
city street toward the center of the screen, where it stops and morphs into a shiny,
like-new car as your company’s jingle plays in the background A voice-over informs
your audience that your company has been in business for 20 years and offers the
best prices in town
Across the top of the screen, you’d like to display the company logo, as well as a
navigation bar with buttons—labeled Location, Services, Prices, and Contact—that
your audience can click to get more information about your company But you also
want each part of the car to be a clickable hotspot That way, when someone clicks
one of the car’s tires, he’s whisked off to a page describing your custom wheels and
hubcaps; when he clicks the car’s body, he sees prices for dent repair and repainting;
and so on
Here’s how you might go about creating this animation in Flash:
• Using Flash’s drawing tools, you draw the artwork for every keyframe of the
animation—that is, every important image For example, you’ll need to create a
keyframe showing the beat-up junker and a second keyframe showing the
gleam-ing, expertly refurbished result (Chapter 2 shows you how to draw artwork in
Flash; Chapter 3 tells you everything you need to know about keyframes.)
• Within each keyframe, you might choose to separate your artwork into different
layers Like the see-through plastic cels that professional animators used in the
old days, layers let you create images separately and then stack them on top of
one another to make a single composite image For example, you might choose
to put the car on one layer, your company logo on a second layer, and your
Trang 25city-street background on a third layer That way, you can edit and animate each layer independently, but when the animation plays, all three elements appear to
be on one seamless layer (Chapter 4 shows you how to work with layers.)
• Through a process called tweening, you tell Flash to fill in each and every frame
between the keyframes to create the illusion of the junker turning slowly into
a brand-new car Flash carefully analyzes all the differences between the frames and does its best to build the interim frames, which you can then tweak or—if Flash gets it all wrong—redraw yourself (Chapter 3 introduces tweens, and Chapter 8 gives you the lowdown on advanced techniques.)
key-• As you go along, you might decide to save a few of the elements you create (for example, your company logo) so you can reuse them later There’s no sense in reinventing the wheel, and in addition to saving you time, reusing elements actually helps keep your animation files as small and efficient as possible (See Chapter 7 for details on creating and managing reusable elements.)
• Add the background music and voice-over audio clips, which you’ve created in other programs (Chapter 11)
• Create the navigation bar buttons and hotspots and other ways for your ence to interact with your animation (Chapters 12–18)
audi-• Test your animation (Chapter 19) and tweak it to perfection
• Finally, when your animation is just the way you want it, you’re ready to publish
it Without leaving the comfort of Flash, you can convert the editable fla file you’ve been working with into a noneditable swf file and either embed it into
an HTML file or create a standalone projector file that your audience can run
without having to use a browser Chapter 20 tells you everything you need to know about publishing
The scenario described above is pretty simple, but it covers the basic steps you need
to take when creating any Flash animation
The Very Basics
You’ll find very little jargon or nerd terminology in this book You will, however, encounter a few terms and concepts that you’ll use frequently in your computing life:
• Clicking This book gives you three kinds of instructions that require you to use
your computer’s mouse or trackpad To click means to point the arrow cursor at
something on the screen and then—without moving the cursor at all—to press
and release the left clicker button on the mouse (or laptop trackpad) To
double-click, of course, means to click twice in rapid succession, again without moving
the cursor at all And to drag means to move the cursor while pressing the left
button continuously
• Keyboard shortcuts Every time you take your hand off the keyboard to move
the mouse, you lose time and potentially disrupt your creative flow That’s why
Trang 26Introduction
many experienced computer fans use keystroke combinations instead of menu
commands wherever possible Ctrl+B (c-B), for example, is a keyboard
short-cut for boldface type in Flash (and most other programs)
When you see a shortcut like Ctrl+S (c-S) (which saves changes to the current
document), it’s telling you to hold down the Ctrl or c key, and, while it’s down,
type the letter S, and then release both keys
• Choice is good Flash frequently gives you several ways to trigger a particular
command—by choosing a menu command, or by clicking a toolbar button, or
by pressing a key combination, for example Some people prefer the speed of
keyboard shortcuts; others like the satisfaction of a visual command array
avail-able in menus or toolbars This book lists all the alternatives, but by no means
are you expected to memorize all of them
About This Book
Despite the many improvements in software over the years, one feature has grown
consistently worse: documentation With the purchase of most software programs
these days, you don’t get a single page of printed instructions To learn about the
hundreds of features in a program, you’re expected to use online electronic help
But even if you’re comfortable reading a help screen in one window as you try
to work in another, something is still missing At times, the terse electronic help
screens assume you already understand the discussion at hand and hurriedly skip
over important topics that require an in-depth presentation In addition, you don’t
always get an objective evaluation of the program’s features (Engineers often add
technically sophisticated features to a program because they can, not because you
need them.) You shouldn’t have to waste your time learning features that don’t help
you get your work done
The purpose of this book, then, is to serve as the manual that should have been in
the box In this book’s pages, you’ll find step-by-step instructions for using every
Flash feature, including those you may not have quite understood, let alone
mas-tered, such as working with video or drawing objects with ActionScript In addition,
you’ll find clear evaluations of each feature that help you determine which ones are
useful to you, as well as how and when to use them
Note: This book periodically recommends other books, covering topics that might interest Flash designers
and developers Careful readers may notice that not every one of these titles is published by Missing
Manual parent O’Reilly Media While we’re happy to mention other Missing Manuals and books in the
O’Reilly family, if there’s a great book out there that doesn’t happen to be published by O’Reilly, we’ll still
let you know about it
Flash CS5: The Missing Manual is designed for readers of every skill level, except
the super-advanced programmer If Flash is the first image creation or animation
program you’ve ever used, you’ll be able to dive right in using the explanations and
Trang 27examples in this book If you come from an animation or multimedia background, you’ll find this book a useful reference for unique Flash topics such as the motion tweens and the Motion Editor The primary discussions are written for advanced-beginner or intermediate computer users But if you’re a first-timer, special sidebar articles called Up to Speed provide the introductory information you need to under-stand the topic at hand If you’re an advanced user, on the other hand, keep your eye out for similar shaded boxes called Power Users’ Clinic They offer more technical tips, tricks, and shortcuts for the experienced Flash fan The Design Time boxes explain the art of effective multimedia design
The ActionScript programming language is a broad, complex subject This book isn’t
an exhaustive reference manual, but it gives you a great introduction to ActionScript programming, providing working examples and clear explanations of ActionScript principles
Macintosh and WindowsFlash Professional CS5 works almost precisely the same in its Macintosh and Win-dows versions You’ll find the same buttons in almost every dialog box Occasionally, they’ll be dressed up differently In this book, the illustrations have been given even-handed treatment, rotating between Windows 7 and Mac OS X
Shortcut keys are probably the area where the Mac and Windows versions differ the most Often where Windows uses the Ctrl key, Macs use the c key You’ll find some other relatively minor differences, too
Whenever this book refers to a key combination, you’ll see the Windows keystroke listed first (with + symbols, as is customary in Windows documentation); the Macintosh keystroke follows in parentheses (with - symbols, in time-honored Mac fashion) In other words, you might read, “The keyboard shortcut for saving a file is Ctrl+S (c-S).”
About the Outline
Flash CS5: The Missing Manual is divided into five parts, each containing several
chapters:
• Part One: Creating a Flash Animation guides you through the creation of your
very first Flash animation, from the first glimmer of an idea to drawing images, animating those images, and testing your work
• Part Two: Advanced Drawing and Animation is the designer’s feast Here you’ll
see how to manipulate your drawings by rotating, skewing, stacking, and ing them; how to add color, special effects, and multimedia files like audio and video clips; how to slash file size by turning bits and pieces of your drawings into special elements called symbols; and how to create composite drawings using layers Text is an increasingly important part of Flash animations and applica-tions, so this section introduces important text topics In Part Three, you’ll learn
Trang 28Introduction
how ActionScript works with text In this section, you’ll learn about the Motion
Editor and how to use the inverse kinematics (“Bones”) feature (Chapter 9)
• Part Three: Adding Interactivity shows you how to add ActionScript 3.0
actions to your animations, creating on-the-fly special effects and giving your
audience the power to control your animations An entire chapter is devoted to
predesigned components, like buttons, checkboxes, sliders, and scrolling lists
Powerful but easy to use, these components give your animation professional
functions and style This section includes lots of examples and ActionScript
code You can copy and modify some of the practical examples for your own
projects You’ll see how to loop frames and how to let your audience choose
which section of an animation to play, and how to customize the prebuilt
interactive components that come with Flash You’ll find specific chapters on
using ActionScript with text and using ActionScript to draw
• Part Four: Debugging and Delivering Your Animation focuses on testing,
debugging, and optimizing your animation You’ll also find out how to publish
your animation so that your audience can see and enjoy it and how to export an
editable version of your animation so that you can rework it using another
graph-ics, video editing, or web development program The last chapter introduces
Adobe AIR, a system for creating full-blown desktop applications using Flash
• Part Five: Appendixes Appendix A, Installation and Help, explains how to install
Flash and where to turn for help Appendix B, Flash CS5, Menu by Menu,
pro-vides a menu-by-menu description of the commands you’ll find in Flash CS5
About➝These➝Arrows
Throughout this book, you’ll find instructions like, “Open your Program Files➝
Adobe➝Adobe Flash CS5 folder.” That’s Missing Manual shorthand for much
lon-ger sentences like “Double-click your Program Files folder to open it Inside, you’ll
find a folder called Adobe; double-click to open it Inside that folder is a folder called
Adobe Flash CS5; open it, too.” This arrow shorthand also simplifies the business of
choosing menu commands, as you can see in Figure I-3
Figure I-3:
When you see tions like “Choose Text➝Style➝Italic,” think, “Click to pull down the Text menu, and then move your mouse down to the Style command
instruc-When its submenu opens, choose the Italic option.”
Trang 29Living ExamplesThis book is designed to get you started animating faster and more professionally
As you read the book’s chapters, you’ll encounter a number of living examples—
step-by-step tutorials that you can build yourself, using raw materials that you can
download from this book’s “Missing CD” (www.missingmanuals.com/cds) You
might not gain very much by simply reading these step-by-step lessons while ing in your hammock But if you take the time to work through them at the com-puter, you’ll discover that these tutorials give you an unprecedented insight into the way professional designers create animations and applications in Flash
relax-About MissingManuals.com
At www.missingmanuals.com, you’ll find articles, tips, and updates to Flash CS5: The
Missing Manual In fact, we invite and encourage you to submit such corrections and
updates yourself In an effort to keep the book as up to date and accurate as possible, each time we print more copies of this book, we’ll make any confirmed corrections you’ve suggested We’ll also note such changes on the website so that you can mark
important corrections into your own copy of the book, if you like (Go to www.
missingmanuals.com/feedback, choose the book’s name from the pop-up menu,
and then click Go to see the changes.)Also on our Feedback page, you can get expert answers to questions that come to you while reading this book, write a book review, and find groups for folks who share your interest in Flash
We’d love to hear your suggestions for new books in the Missing Manual line There’s
a place for that on missingmanuals.com, too And while you’re online, you can also
register this book at www.oreilly.com (you can jump directly to the registration page by going here: http://tinyurl.com/yo82k3) Registering means we can send you
updates about this book, and you’ll be eligible for special offers like discounts on
future editions of Flash CS5: The Missing Manual.
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Trang 30Part One:
Creating a Flash Animation
Chapter 1: Getting Around Flash
Chapter 2: Creating Simple Drawings
Chapter 3: Animating Your Art
Trang 32chapter
1
Getting Around Flash
As mentioned in this book’s introduction, Flash performs several feats of
audiovisual magic You use it to create animations, to display video on a
web-site, to create handheld apps, or to build a complete web-based application
So it’s not surprising that the Flash workspace is crammed full of tools, panels, and
windows (Figure 1-1) The Flash Pro workspace is more complicated and cluttered
than the average program But don’t be intimidated—you don’t have to conquer these
tools all at once This chapter introduces you to Flash’s main work areas and the
tool-bars and panels you’ll use most often, so you can start creating Flash projects right
away You’ll get to experiment with Flash’s stage and timeline and see how Flash lets
you animate graphics, making them move along a path and change shape
Tip: To get further acquainted with Flash, you can check out the built-in help text by selecting
Help➝Flash Help Once the help panel opens, click Workspace (on the left), and then click “Flash
work-flow and workspace.” You can read more about Flash’s help system in Appendix A, Installation and Help.
Starting Flash
You start Flash just as you would any other program—which means you can do it in
a few different ways, depending on whether you have a PC or a Mac Installing the
program puts Flash CS5 and its related files in the folder with your other programs,
and you can start it by clicking its icon Here’s where it’s usually installed:
• Windows Go to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS5\Flash.exe You can
create a shortcut or drag the file to your taskbar for quicker starting
Trang 33Starting Flash
Figure 1-1:
The Flash sional workspace is divided into three main areas: the stage, the timeline, and the panels dock This entire window, together with the timeline, toolbars, and panels, is sometimes called the Flash desktop, the Flash interface, or the Flash authoring environment.
Profes-Timeline
• Mac Go to Macintosh HD\Applications\Adobe Flash CS5\Adobe Flash CS5 You
can make an alias or drag the file to your Dock for quicker starting
Here are some other Windows ways to start the program:
• From the Vista or Windows 7 Start menu, choose All Programs➝Adobe Flash Professional CS5
• For Windows XP, go to Start➝All Programs➝Adobe➝Adobe Flash sional CS5
Profes-• If you’re a keyboard enthusiast, press the Windows key and begin to type flash
As you type, Windows searches for a match and displays a list with programs
at the top Most likely, the Flash program is at the top of the list and already selected, so just press Enter Otherwise, use your mouse or arrow keys to select and start the program
Here are some Mac options for launching Flash:
• Even if you haven’t added the Flash icon to the Dock, you can still find it in the Dock’s Applications folder Click and hold the Applications folder icon and choose Adobe Flash CS5➝Adobe Flash CS5
Trang 34Chapter 1: Getting Around Flash
• Want to hunt down Flash in the Finder? Most of the time, it’s installed in
Macin-tosh HD➝Applications➝Adobe Flash CS5➝Adobe Flash CS5
• If you’d rather type than hunt, use Spotlight Press c-space and then begin to
type flash As you type, Spotlight displays a list of programs and files that match
Most likely, the Flash program is at the top of the list and already selected, so
just press Return Otherwise, use your mouse or arrow keys to select and start
the program
When you first start Flash, up pops the Welcome screen, as shown in Figure 1-2
When you open the program, you’re most likely to either start a new document or
return to a work in progress This screen puts all your options in one handy place
For good measure, Adobe includes some links to help references and resources on
its website
Figure 1-2:
This Welcome screen appears the first time you launch Flash—
and every subsequent time, too, unless you turn on the
“Don’t show again” checkbox (circled)
If you ever miss the convenience of seeing all your recent Flash documents, built-in templates, and other options in one place, then you can turn it back on by choosing Edit➝Preferences (Windows) or Flash➝Preferences (Mac) On the Gen- eral panel, choose Welcome Screen from the On Launch pop-up menu.
Note: If Flash seems to take forever to open—or if the Flash desktop ignores your mouse clicks or
responds sluggishly—you may not have enough memory installed on your computer See page 689 for
more advice.
Trang 35Starting Flash
When you choose one of the options on the Welcome screen, it disappears and your actual document takes its place Here are your choices:
• Create from Template Clicking one of the little icons under this option lets
you create a Flash document using a predesigned form called a template Using
a template helps you create a Flash animation more quickly because a developer has already done part of the work for you You can find out more about tem-plates in Chapter 7
• Open a Recent Item As you create new documents, Flash adds them to this list
Clicking one of the filename listed here tells Flash to open that file Clicking the folder icon lets you browse your computer for (and then open) any other Flash files on your computer
• Create New Clicking one of the options listed here lets you create a brand-new
Flash file Most of the time, you want to choose the first option, ActionScript 3.0, which is a garden-variety animation file ActionScript is the underlying pro-gramming language for Flash animations The current version of ActionScript
is 3.0, and it’s the version used for the projects in this book You can use the ActionScript 2.0 option if you need to work with a Flash project that was created several years ago For details on the variety of file formats for different Flash projects, see the box on page 17
Note: Old programming pros—you know who you are—may have reasons to prefer Flash File
(Action-Script 2.0) For example, you might choose this option if you’re continuing work on a project created using ActionScript 2.0, if or you’re working with a team using ActionScript 2.0.
• Extend Clicking the Flash Exchange link under this option tells Flash to open
your web browser (if it’s not already running) and load the Flash Exchange site There, you can download Flash components, sound files, and other goodies (some free, some fee-based, and all of them created by Flashionados just like you) that you can add to your Flash animations
web-• Learn As you might guess, these links lead to materials Adobe designed to help
you get up and running Click an option, and your web browser opens to a page
on the Adobe website The first few topics introduce basic Flash concepts like symbols, instances, and timelines Farther down the list, you find specific topics for building applications for mobile devices or websites (AIR) At the bottom
of the Welcome screen, Getting Started covers the very, very basics New tures explains (and celebrates) some of Flash CS5’s new bells and whistles The Developer Center leads to an online magazine with articles and videos with
Fea-an ActionScript programming slFea-ant The Designer Center leads to a similar resource for the Flash graphics and design community
Tip: The options for creating new Flash documents and opening recent documents also appear on the
File menu, as shown in Figure 1-3.
Trang 36As, you can press Ctrl+Shift+S to tell Flash to save your Flash docu- ment On the Mac, the keystroke is Shift-c-S.
FreqUenTly ASked qUeSTion
Understanding Flash File Formats
Why are there so many different options under Create
New on the Welcome screen? What are they all for?
There seem to be a bewildering number of options when
you create a new Flash document As explained on page
16, if you’re just learning Flash, you probably want to use
the first option: ActionScript 3.0 The other options are for
special Flash projects targeted to specific devices, like the
iPhone, or for specific programming needs, like creating an
ActionScript class There are more details in the appropriate
sections of this book, but here’s a quick rundown:
Use Adobe AIR 2 to create desktop applications using the
Adobe Integrated Runtime tools Instead of using Flash
Player, these applications use AIR These programs are
called rich Internet applications or RIA For more details,
see Chapter 21.
Creating an iPhone app? Use the iPhone option Flash
cre-ates a document that’s just the right size and provides gramming options and support for making iPhone apps
pro-Flash Lite 4 is similar to the iPhone format but works for
several other handheld devices
You can also create an ActionScript File (a file containing
nothing but ActionScript, for use with a Flash animation);
a Flash JavaScript File (used to create custom tools,
pan-els, commands, and other features that extend Flash); or
a Flash Project (useful if you’re planning a complex,
multifile, multideveloper Flash production and need sion control)
ver-The last two options, ActionScript 3.0 Class and ActionScript
3.0 Interface, help programmers create reusable objects
that can be used in multiple Flash projects
Trang 37A Tour of the Flash
Workspace
A Tour of the Flash Workspace
The best way to master the Flash CS5 Professional workspace is to divide and conquer That means you first focus on the three main work areas: the stage, the timeline, and the Panels dock Then you gradually learn how to use all the tools in those areas
One of the common problems for Flash newbies is that the Flash workspace can be customized You can open bunches of panels, windows, and toolbars You can move the timeline above the stage, or you can have it floating in a window all its own Once you’re a seasoned Flash veteran, you’ll have strong opinions about how you want to set up your workspace so the tools you use most are at hand If you’re just learning Flash with the help of this book, though, it’s probably best if you set up your work-space so that it matches the pictures in these pages
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to do that Adobe, in its wisdom, created the space Switcher—a tool that lets you rearrange the entire workspace with the click of
Work-a menu The thinking is thWork-at Work-an ideWork-al workspWork-ace for Work-a cWork-artoon Work-animWork-ator is different from the ideal workspace for a rich Internet application (RIA) developer The Work-space Switcher is a menu in the upper-right corner of the Flash window, next to the Search box The menu displays the name of the currently selected workspace; when
you first start Flash, it probably says Essentials That’s a great workspace that displays
some of the most frequently used tools In fact, it’s the workspace used throughout most of this book
Here’s a quick little exercise that shows you how to switch among the different spaces and how to reset a workspace after you’ve mangled it by dragging panels out
work-of place and opening new windows
1 Start Flash.
Flash opens, displaying the Welcome screen Unless you’ve made changes, the Essentials workspace is used See Figure 1-4, top
2 From the Workspace menu near the upper-right corner of the Flash window, choose Classic.
The Classic arrangement harks back to earlier versions of Flash, when the line resided above the stage (Figure 1-4, bottom) If you wish, go ahead and check out some of the other layouts
time-3 Choose the Essentials workspace again.
Back where you began, the Essentials workspace shows the timeline at the tom The stage takes up most of the main window On the right, the Panels dock holds toolbars and panels Now’s the time to cause a little havoc
bot-4 In the Panels dock, click the Properties tab and drag it to a new location on the screen.
Panels can float, or they can dock to one of the edges of the window For this experiment, it doesn’t matter what you choose to do
Trang 38Chapter 1: Getting Around Flash
Workspace
5 Drag the Color and Swatches toolbars to new locations.
The Color toolbar has an icon that looks like an artist’s palette at the top Like
the larger panels, toolbars can either dock or float You can drag them anywhere
on your monitor, and you can expand and collapse them by clicking the
double-triangle button in their top-right corners
6 Go to Window➝Other Panels➝History.
Flash has dozens of windows Only a few are available now, because you haven’t
even created a document yet
Tip: As you work on a project, the History panel keeps track of all your commands, operations, and
changes It’s a great tool for undoing mistakes For more details, see page 31.
Trang 39A Tour of the Flash
Menu BarLike most computer programs, Flash gives you menus to interact with your docu-ments In traditional fashion, Windows menus appear at the top of the program window, while Mac menus are always at the very top of the screen The commands
on these menus list every way you can interact with your Flash file, from creating a new file—as shown on page 16—to editing it, saving it, and controlling how it ap-pears on your screen
Some of the menu names—File, Edit, View, Window, and Help—are familiar to one who’s used a PC or a Mac Using these menu choices, you can perform basic tasks like opening, saving, and printing your Flash files; cutting and pasting artwork
any-or text; viewing your project in different ways; choosing which toolbars to view; ting help; and more
get-To view a menu, simply click the menu’s title to open it, and then click a menu option
If you prefer, you can also drag down to the option you want Let go of the mouse button to activate the option Figure 1-3 shows you what the File menu looks like Most of the time, you see the same menus at the top of the screen, but occasionally they change For example, when you use the Debugger to troubleshoot ActionScript programs, Flash hides some of the menus not related to debugging
Tip: You’ll learn about specific commands and menu options in their related chapters For a quick
refer-ence to all the menu options, see Appendix B, Flash Professional CS5, Menu by Menu.
The Stage
As the name implies, the stage is usually the center of attention It’s your virtual
canvas Here’s where you draw the pictures, display text, and make objects move across the screen The stage is also your playback arena; when you run a completed animation—to see if it needs tweaking—the animation appears on the stage Figure 1-5 shows a project with animated text
Trang 40is being dragged from the work area back to center stage.
Work area (backstage)
Stage
The work area is the technical name for the gray area surrounding the stage,
although many Flashionados call it the backstage This work area serves as a prep
zone where you can place graphic elements before you move them to the stage, and
as a temporary holding pen for elements you want to move off the stage briefly as
you reposition things For example, let’s say you draw three circles and one box
con-taining text on your stage If you decide you need to rearrange these elements, you
can temporarily drag one of the circles off the stage
Note: The stage always starts out with a white background, which becomes the background color for your
animation Changing it to any color imaginable is easy, as you’ll learn in the next chapter.
You’ll almost always change the starting size and shape of the stage depending on
where people will see your finished animation—in other words, your target
plat-form If your target platform is a web-enabled cellphone, for example, you’re going
to want an itty-bitty stage If, on the other hand, you’re creating an animation you
know people will be watching on a 50-inch computer monitor, you’re going to want
a giant stage You’ll get to try your hand at modifying the size and background color
of the stage later in this chapter
The Timeline
When you go to the theater, the stage changes over time—actors come and go, songs
are sung, scenery changes, and the lights shine and fade In Flash, you’re the director,
and you get to control what appears on the stage at any given moment The timeline