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Adobe 8 Saw User Manual

1. Encode a video file The first thing you will do is convert a QuickTime video file MOV to a Flash video file FLV To convert the video file 1 Start the Flash Video Encoder application 2 Drag the cafe_townsend_chef mov file from the cafe_townsend folder onto the Flash Video Encoder application window IE Flash A Video Gnceder Pe Est ep og ri Ma nio Pe let er chen hed to start e Eam Ten ibepe p i am cee eed E ee E E Hedu Duty aces The Flash Video Encoder window 3 Click Settings 4 In the Flash Video Encoding Settings dialog box select Flash 8 Medium Quality 400kbps from the Flash Video Encoding Profile menu This setting is the default This action applies only a small amount of compression to the file 132 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Piaeh Videt Encoding sotmi Pes Hiei a Pash ies eia orcs Fo E Pep Qty kbs Wiss eak fer place eth Pesh Pl 5 Video codec Gril v4 Yaiba eF Le MEg Ariy osier PPIG Leper I Mea Aui bup ha inia Foa dere Sethe Click OK to close the Settings dialog box Click Start Queue The Flash Video Encoder converts the file and saves it in the same folder as the original cafe_townsend_chef mov file You are now ready to use the FLV file in a Flash document Close the Flash Video Encoder application Create a new Flash document Now it s time to create your own Flash document Open a new document Now you re
2. JF FLASHProfessional What s New in Flash 8 October 16 2005 Josh Cavalier Lodestone Digital LLC www lodestone com josh lodestone com Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Unit 1 Overview of the Session Unit Objectives After this unit you will e Describe the course objectives e Know what the prerequisites of the class are e Know the content of each unit for the course e Understand the course materials Unit Topics e About the Course e Course Format e Course Objectives e Course Prerequisites e Course Outline Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 About the Course What s New in Flash 8 provides Macromedia Flash 8 users with the hands on instruction that will help them become competent with all the new expressiveness features in Flash 8 By the end of the course students should be able to use what they learned here to build rich user experiences that include new features like complex gradients blends filters Flash Video and mobile device emulation The methodology for the course includes the following Clearly stated learning objectives Each unit in this course starts with the objectives for that unit Presentation of material to support the learning objectives The instructor uses slides and other media to get across concepts Model uses of new material The instructors for this course demonstrate the use of the product Feedback from stu
3. reflect var interpolationMethod String linearRGB Var Local PointRatro Number 0 9 with gradient mc 4 beginGradientFill fillType colors alphas ratios matrix spreadMethod interpolationMethod focalPointRatio moveTtTo lOo0 LOO lineTo 100 300 Linero 300 300 kinero 300 LOG lineTo 100 100 endFill The preceding ActionScript code uses the Drawing API to create a square on the Stage and calls the beginGradientFill method to fill the square with a red and blue circular gradient 3 Save the Flash document and select Control gt Test Movie to view the Flash file 61 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 f radialgradient swf BEE File View Control Debug Using Script Assist with Gradients Script Assist mode A new assisted mode in the Actions panel allows you to create scripts without detailed knowledge of ActionScript For users who are new to ActionScript or for those who want to add simple interactivity without having to learn the ActionScript language and its syntax you can opt to use Script Assist to help you more easily add ActionScript to your Flash documents NOTE Script Assist is intended to help you format your scripts in such a way as to avoid the syntax and logic errors a novice user might encounter when writing ActionScript However to use Script Assist you must become familiar with ActionScript and Know what methods functions and variables to use when cr
4. and draw a shape with a radial gradient fill Select the Gradient Transform tool i 2 Click an area filled with a gradient or bitmap fill A bounding box with editing handles is displayed When the pointer is over any one of these handles it changes to indicate the function of the handle Center point Select and move the center point handle to change the center point of the gradient The rollover icon for the center point handle is a four way arrow Focal point Select the focal point handle to change the focal point of a radial gradient The focal point handle is displayed only when you select a radial gradient the rollover icon for the focal point handle is an inverted triangle Size Click and move the middle handle icon on the edge of the bounding box to adjust the size of the gradient The rollover icon for the size handle is a circle with an arrow inside of it Rotation Click and move the bottom handle on the edge of the bounding box to adjust the rotation of the gradient The rollover icon for the rotation handle is four arrows in the shape of a circle Width Click and move the square handle to adjust the width of the gradient The rollover icon for the width handle is a double ended arrow 46 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Center point Focal point Rotation Press Shift to constrain the direction of a linear gradient fill to multiples of 45 Reshape the gradient or fill in any of the
5. j 7 prendMode 0p push datat subtract Taber sublract t blendMode cb dataProvider blendMode dp NN NN m m _ m NNO var mclListener Object new Object melitstener conLoadinai T netion target mesMovieciip 4 var blendModeClip MovieClip target _mc createEmptyMovieClip blendModeType mc 20 with blendModeClip f begin Fa El Ox999999 gt mMovelocOy 0J lanelo earget mos width 7 2p 0 LineTo target mc width 2 target mc height Tinello Ur target me Herein linesTo 0 Ul endFill target mc x Stagevwidth target mes width 2 target mec y Stage height target mc height 7 2 blendModeClip blendMode blendMode cb value by Lhis cr atlekmptyMovieCl ip img mo 10 var img mcl MovieClipLoader new MovieClipLoader img McCl addhistener mclirstener gt img mel loadClip http www helpexamples com flash images imagel jpg img mc function cbhListener eventObj Ob ject Void 4 img me blendMode Type me blendMode eventoby targerzvalue blendMode cb addEvenvthistener change chlistener 19 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 This ActionScript code populates the combo box with each type of blending mode so the user can view each effect on the dynamically loaded image A listener object is created which is used with a MovieClipLoader instance The listener object defines a single event listener onLoadiInit which is i
6. or to store objects that do not have a graphical representation during playback such as data components Animating item of the stage is easier than ever NOTE The only time the Stage will expand is when an object goes beyond the 2880 pixel limitation Viewing the Expanded Stage Area 1 In Flash select View gt Work Area 2 Using the Zoom Out tool A Zoom out al the way so you can see the entire grey work area 3 With the Selection tool k click on the 8ball movie clip and drag it outside of the current grey workspace limit area 4 Notice how the workspace now expands Move the 8ball movie clip outside of the current limit area 29 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Customizing the Flash Tools Panel You can customize the Tools panel to specify which tools appear in the authoring environment You use the Customize Tools panel dialog box to add or remove tools from the Tools panel You can display more than one tool in one location When more than one tool is displayed in a location the top tool in the group the most recently used is displayed with an arrow in the lower right corner of its icon When you press and hold the mouse button on the icon the other tools in the group appear in a pop up menu You can then select a tool from the menu To customize the Tools panel 1 To display the Customize Tools panel dialog box do one of the following o Windows Select Edit gt Customize Tools
7. s New In Flash 8 Publishing the File with HTML and Version Detection When you finish your Flash document you are ready to publish it so it can be viewed in a browser When you publish a FLA file Flash compresses it into the SWF file format This is the format that you place in a web page The Publish command can automatically generate an HTML file with the correct tags in it for you To publish the Flash file and view it in a browser 1 Select File gt Publish Settings 2 Inthe Publish Settings dialog box select the Formats tab and verify that only the Flash and HTML options are selected This action causes Flash to publish only the Flash SWF file and an HTML file The HTML file is used to display the SWF file in a web browser Publish Settings Current profile Default Formats Flash HTML Type File Flash swf SmoleFiash swt HTML htm Sere he GIF Image gi SmpleMlash gif JPEG Image jpg Smpierash Jpg PNG Image png SimpleFiash png C Windows Projector exe SimpleFlash exe _ Macintesh Projector SmpleFiash hgx C QuickTime mov SimpleFlash mov Use Default Names The Flash and HTML options on the Formats tab 3 Inthe Publish Settings dialog box select the HTML tab and verify that Flash Only is selected in the Template pop up menu 14 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 ee 2S a S 10 This template creates a simple HTML file that contains
8. that is move that corner and the adjoining corner an equal distance and in the opposite direction from each other The adjoining corner is the corner on the same axis as the direction you drag Control click to drag Windows or Command click to drag a middle point on an edge to move the entire edge freely You can distort graphic objects by using the Distort command You can also use the tool options on the tool panel Options To distort graphic objects 1 Select a graphic object or objects on the Stage 2 Select Modify gt Transform gt Distort 3 Place the pointer on one of the transformation handles and drag 4 Toend the transformation click outside the selected object or objects 67 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Modifying Shapes with the Envelope Modifier The Envelope modifier lets you warp and distort objects An envelope is a bounding box that contains one or more objects Changes made to an envelope s shape affect the shape of the objects contained within the envelope You edit the shape of an envelope by adjusting its points and tangent handles To modify a shape with the Envelope modifier 1 Select a shape on the Stage NOTE The Envelope modifier cannot modify symbols bitmaps video objects sounds gradients object groups or text If a multiple selection contains any of these only the shape objects are distorted To modify text first convert the characters to shape o
9. you can more easily customize the scale of an object so it appears to be moving away from the viewer then coming closer and then moving away again Color Specifies custom ease settings for color transitions applied to an animated object Filters Specifies custom ease settings for filters applied to an animated object For example you can control the ease setting of a drop shadow that simulates a change in the direction of a light source Play and Stop buttons These buttons let you preview an animation on the Stage using all the current velocity curves defined in the Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box Reset button This button lets you reset the velocity curve to the default linear state Position of the selected control point In the lower right corner of the dialog box a numeric value displays the keyframe and position of the selected control point If no control point is selected no value appears To add a control point to the line click the diagonal line once This adds a new control point to the line By dragging the positions of the control points you can achieve a precise degree of control over the motion of an object Using frame indicators represented by square handles you click where you want an object to slow down or speed up Clicking the handle of a control point the square handles selects that control point and displays the tangent points on either side of it Tangent points are represented by hollow circles You
10. 120 15 Select the Selection tool in the Tools panel 16 Double click the Stage twice to exit the white circle group and the eight ball group 17 Select File gt Save to save your FLA file Apply a linear gradient to the highlight In this section you will apply a linear gradient 1 Click the red X icon in the layer named Highlight to reveal the shape in that layer The shape appears at the top of the eight ball 2 With the Selection tool double click the highlight shape to edit its group 3 Select the highlight shape 4 Inthe Color Mixer select Linear from the Type menu 58 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 5 Select Non repeating from the Overflow menu 6 Drag the left gradient color swatch all the way to the left and double click it 7 Select the color white HFFFFFF from the Color Picker 8 Set the Alpha value for the left swatch to 0 9 Drag the right gradient color swatch all the way to the right and double click it 10 Select the color white from the Color Picker 11 Set the Alpha value for the right swatch to 75 Your gradient settings should match those in the following illustration Color Mixer 7 A Type Linear I E Overflow f 3 AE C Linear RGB Ri 4 Ri 53 af Alpha 75 m FFFFFF The Color Mixer with the correct settings for the gradient on the highlight shape 12 With the highlight shape still selected select the Gradient Transform
11. 4 Notice how the same Library stays open 5 Deselect the Pin and switch between files Notice how the Library Panel changes To resize the Library panel do any of the following 1 Drag the lower right corner of the panel 2 Click the Wide State H button to enlarge the Library panel so it shows all the columns 3 Click the Narrow State I button to reduce the width of the Library panel 4 Tochange the width of columns 5 Position the pointer between column headers and drag to resize NOTE You cannot change the order of columns Using Tabbed Panels Improved Panel Management Group panels together and navigate between panels with tabs like other graphic applications This is a old throwback that is a worthwhile addition to the Flash 8 environment To display multiple panels in a single panel window 1 Click a panel s pop up menu 2 Select the Group Panel Name With option 3 Select another panel to add the current panel to from the submenu The first panel is added as a tab to the second panel 37 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Y Library amp Movie Explorer i Movie Explorer Show A G A pl a Find H creme al Achons for Frame 1 ES Symbal 1 A tabbed panel showing the Library and Movie Explorer panels Additional Interface Items Drag and Drop Components to Library Panel If you want to add a component to your Library you can just drag it in the Library There
12. 8 Flash ignores all other blending modes imported from Fireworks The blending modes that are not supported in Flash are Average Negation Exclusion Soft Light Subtractive Fuzzy Light Color Dodge and Color Burn Using the New Easing In Easing Out Controls A tween is the application of a change to a graphic object over a period of time For example you could tween the location of a picture of a car from one side of the Stage to the other to make the car move from side to side To ease a tween is to control the rate at which the change is applied to the object New easing controls in Flash allow you to precisely control how tweens that you apply in the timeline affect the appearance of tweened objects on the Stage With the new controls you can make an object move back and forth on the Stage within a single tween or create other complex tween effects Custom Easing Controls with Various Properties You have complete control over acceleration and deceleration for motion tweens You can also set easing for position rotation scale color and even filters separately This is really an amazing feature and it will soeed along animation development Applying custom ease in ease out to motion tweens The Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box displays a graph representing the degree of motion over time Frames are represented by the horizontal axis and the percentage of change is represented by the vertical axis The first keyframe is represented
13. 9ball instance should still be selected on the Stage 7 Open the Transform panel Windows gt Transform 8 Inthe Transform panel click the Constrain check box 9 Double click the Width text box and enter 140 85 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 10 This makes the Yball instance appear larger than the 8ball instance on the Stage 11 Reposition the 9ball instance so it slightly overlaps the right edge of the 8ball instance on the Stage Apply a filter The next step is to apply a blur filter to the 9ball movie clip to make it appear out of focus as if it is in the foreground of the Stage 1z 2 3 With the 9ball instance still selected click the Filters tab in the Property inspector In the Filters tab click Add Filter and select Blur from the pop up menu Drag the BlurX slider until the BlurX and BlurY value is 19 The BlurX and BlurY values are constrained to each other by default Click the lock icon if they are not Click the Properties tab of the Property inspector In the Property inspector enter the following values in the W H X and Y text boxes W 210 H 235 X 315 Y 155 Click outside the Stage to deselect the 9ball instance Apply filters and blends to the cue ball The last step is to use a color effect and a filter to make the cue ball appear to be in the background of the Stage 1 2 Drag the CueBall movie clip from the Library panel to the upper left cor
14. Macintosh You can copy and paste the ease curve The copied curve remains available until you exit the Flash application Follow the Bouncing Text Well let s get rolling on our animated bouncing text effect To get started just open Flash 8 and create a new document I ve also provided the finished FLA file for your reference you can download it from the sample files download link at the beginning of this article Creating the Text Launch Flash 8 and create a new Flash document from the start screen named my file bouncing _text fla but you can name your file whatever you like e Create a new Symbol in Flash Select Insert gt New Symbol Name the symbol gr_text and select Graphic as the behavior type in the Create New Symbol dialog box Click the OK button T Maronia t hanh Oy utewniaoeaal ecu egg Leet Fa h neg a is T TO han EL E aan j 4 i 1a i wh a F P p oO n r D A one Fr H o blong 3 eo mit gt FZ i oa rarr cr eee A ea ere Hie tins Figure 1 Creating the new text symbol 93 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Now you ll create the text for the animation In the Tools panel select the Text tool T 1 In the Properties panel make sure that Static Text is selected Select a bold font like Arial Black but you can pick any font you like Next set the font size to 80 and set the text fill color to FF0000 Red 2 Still in
15. PI Nokia 6631 Fl Nokia 7610 F Nokia N Gage Al Nokia N Gage OD Click OK to close the Device Settings dialog box Save the file as cafe_tutorial fla or another name of your choosing Now that you ve selected the test devices and content type you re ready to start creating the application In the next section you ll create the menu for the application s main screen Creating the Menu for the Main Screen In this section you ll create the menu for the application s main screen The menu consists of two options Specials and Reservations The Specials option takes the user to a screen to view images and descriptions of specials at the cafe The Reservations option initiates a phone call to the cafe so that the user can make reservations The menu consists of two standard Flash buttons that define up over and down states The user gives focus to one of the buttons by pressing the Up or Down Arrow keys on their device When a button has focus it displays its over state The button that has focus generates a button press event when the user presses the Select key on the device This default tab navigation provides an easy way to create a simple user interface for a Flash Lite application To create the main screen s menu 1 Inthe Timeline window Window gt Timeline select Frame 1 on the menu layer 2 Tocreate the menu open the Library panel Window gt Library and drag an instance of the button symbol called Specials to the Stag
16. available globally while others are available only in specific geographic regions or from specific mobile operators Some devices come with Flash Lite pre installed from the device manufacturer or mobile operator while on others it can be installed after purchase NOTE For the most current list of devices that support Flash Lite see the Supported Devices page located at www macromedia com mobile supported_devices Globally available devices that support Flash Lite include the Symbian Series 60 based devices from Nokia Sendo and Seimens and the Symbian UIQ based devices from Sony Ericcson The stand alone player installs as a top level application that a user can start from the device s application menu just like a text messaging application or a mobile web browser for example 18 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Regionally available devices that support Flash Lite comprise a larger group of devices than are available globally As of this writing these devices are available primarily in Japan and come with Flash Lite pre installed On these devices Flash Lite enables several different types of content such as Flash screen savers or animated ring tones About Flash Lite Content Types Before you start developing a Flash Lite application you need to know the following e The device or devices on which the content will be running or target devices The Flash Lite player is installed on a variety of devic
17. box is set to Flash Lite 1 0 or Flash Lite 1 1 26 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Unit 3 Interface Improvements Unit Objectives After this unit you will be able to Describe the new interface features in Flash 8 Use the new Property Inspector Work with the Expanded Stage Area Customize the Flash Toolbar Use the new Preferences panel Use the new Library Panel and Tabbed Panels Unit Topics Working with the Property Inspector Viewing the Expanded Stage Area Customizing the Flash Toolbar Modifying the Property Inspector Changing Preferences Using the Flash 8 Library Panel Using Tabbed Panels 27 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Working with the Property Inspector The Property inspector simplifies document creation by making it easy to access the most commonly used attributes of the current selection either on the Stage or in the Timeline You can make changes to the object or document attributes in the Property inspector without accessing the menus or panels that also control these attributes Depending on what is currently selected the Property inspector displays information and settings for the current document text symbol shape bitmap video group frame or tool When two or more different types of objects are selected the Property inspector displays the total number of objects selected Open a Sample File and View the Property Inspector 1 In Fla
18. browser settings This document is generated automatically by the Publish command from HTML parameters in a template document The template document can be any text file that contains the appropriate template variables including a plain HTML file one that includes code for special interpreters such as ColdFusion or a template included with Flash You can customize a built in template or manually enter HTML parameters for Flash using any HTML editor HTML parameters determine where the Flash content appears in the window the background color the size of the SWF file and so on and set attributes for the object and embed tags You can change these and other settings in the HTML panel of the Publish Settings dialog box Changing these settings overrides options you ve set in the SWF file NOTE Flash Version Detection configures your document to detect the version of Flash Player that the user has and shows the user to alternate HTML code if the user does not have the targeted player Currently Flash uses JavaScript to detect the Flash player and to display some simple HTML content You will notice that the Content and Alternate file options have been eliminated from Flash 8 For a more sophisticated experience you can download the Flash Detection Kit This contains three ways of detecting the Flash player e ActionScript Detection ActionScript solution e Client Side Detection JavaScript VB Script solution that comes with Fla
19. changed In this new keyframe you will change the circle s location SimpleFiash fa VT Timeline Scene 1 40 5 5 J pies Tre a Gb at T 2 120i e e Inserting a keyframe in Frame 20 5 With Frame 20 still selected in the Timeline drag the circle to just right of the Stage area 12 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 6 Select Frame 1 of Layer 1 in the Timeline 7 Inthe Property inspector its default location is at the bottom of the Flash application window select Motion from the Tween pop up menu i reco SEEN oe ant tere Emm g Edt ah Effect Late hype Dsl dyin yr Cre Evera Fenai l peita sye Smp fio sound selected Selecting a motion tween in the Property inspector An arrow appears in the Timeline in Layer 1 between Frame 1 and Frame 20 Uintted 1 Timeline f Scene 1 Rag 5 10 15 20 25 FF Layer i ficsse a 4 4344 E i alm Be 1 120fps 00s The Timeline with an arrow indicating a motion tween This step creates a tweened animation of the circle moving from its position in the first keyframe in Frame 1 to its new position in the second keyframe in Frame 20 8 Inthe Timeline drag the red playhead back and forth from frame 1 to frame 20 to preview the animation 9 Select File gt Save 10 Select Control gt Test Movie to test the FLA file 11 Close the Test Movie window 13 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What
20. following ways To reposition the center point of the gradient or bitmap fill drag the center point To change the width of the gradient or bitmap fill drag the square handle on the side of the bounding box This option resizes only the fill not the object containing the fill I To change the height of the gradient or bitmap fill drag the square handle at the bottom of the bounding box Q 47 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 To rotate the gradient or bitmap fill drag the circular rotation handle at the corner You can also drag the lowest handle on the bounding circle of a circular gradient or fill To scale a linear gradient or a fill drag the square handle at the center of the bounding Dox To change the focal point of a circular gradient drag the middle circular handle on the bounding circle z To skew or slant a fill within a shape drag one of the circular handles on the top or right side of the bounding box 48 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 New Gradient Color Options The Color Mixer provides options for changing the color of strokes and fills as well as creating multicolor gradients You can use gradients to produce a wide range of effects such as giving an illusion of depth to a two dimensional object For example you can use a gradient to transform a simple two dimensional circle into a sphere with the illu
21. highlights and lens flares e subtract Commonly used to create an animated darkening dissolve effect between two images 78 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Applying Blending Modes with ActionScript The following procedure loads a dynamic image and lets you apply different blend modes to the image by selecting a blending mode from a combo box on the Stage To apply different blending modes to an image 1 Create a new Flash document and save it as blendmodes fla 2 Drag a ComboBox component instance onto the Stage and give it an instance name of blendMode _cb 3 Add the following ActionScript to Frame 1 of the Timeline var blendMode dp Array new Array blenoMode dpspush dataz aca labels aaar bleneMode dp puship data alpna Label alpha iy plendMode dpepusi 1 Gate darken dabel darken 7 bbendModevdp push data dirr Teren ey danel datrerence blengMode dp push adta erase dabel erase 7 blendMode dp zpush data hardlignty y label hardliagnu i blendMede dp push datar invert dabel invert IF blendMode dp pusn i Gata Leyer Label layer 7 7 DblendMode dp pushtidatas laghten labels Lighten blendMode dp push data multiply labels multiply p blenoMode dpspush Gata normal Tabel normal E bleneMode Gp push i Gata overlay label everlay Ii bleneMode dp push 1Gatar screen Mapek sereen
22. interfere with other shapes on the Stage When you create a shape with the new Object Drawing model the shape does not cause changes to other shapes that exist underneath the new shape Flash provides two drawing models that give you a great deal of flexibility when drawing shapes Merge Drawing model automatically merges shapes that you draw when you overlap them If you select a shape that has been merged with another and move it the shape below it is permanently altered For example if you draw a square and overlay a circle on top of it and then select the circle and move it the portion of the square that overlaid the circle is removed Object Drawing model lets you draw shapes as separate objects that do not automatically merge together when overlaid This lets you overlap shapes without altering their appearance should you choose to move them apart or rearrange their appearance Flash creates each shape as a separate object that you can individually manipulate In previous versions of Flash to overlap shapes without having their appearance altered you had to draw each shape on its own layer When you select a shape created using the Object Drawing model Flash surrounds the shape with a rectangular bounding box You can use the Pointer tool to move the object by clicking the bounding box and dragging the shape anywhere you d like to position it on the Stage 42 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 NO
23. is at the end of the animation sequence Flash does the following to prevent motion tweens from functioning incorrectly in the event of a missing filter at one end of the tween or filters applied in a different order at each end If you apply a motion tween to a movie clip that has filters applied to it when you insert a keyframe at the opposite end of the tween the movie clip automatically has the same filters with the same stacking order on the last frame of the tween as it did at the beginning of the tween If you place movie clips on two different frames with different filters applied to each and you apply a motion tween between the frames Flash first processes the movie clip with the most filters Flash then compares the filters applied to the first movie clip against those used by the second movie clip If no matching filters are found in the second movie clip Flash generates a dummy filter with no parameters and the color of the existing filters If a motion tween exists between two keyframes o If you add a filter to the object in one keyframe Flash automatically adds a dummy filter to the movie clip when it reaches the keyframe at the other end of the tween o Ifyou remove a filter from an object in one keyframe Flash automatically removes the matching filter from the movie clip when it reaches the keyframe at the other end of the tween If you set filter parameters inconsistently between the beginning and end of a moti
24. line of code When Script Assist in enabled the Actions panel user interface and behaviors change in the following ways e The Add button functions differently in Script Assist mode When the focus is on the ActionScript window it adds the selection after the currently selected text block If the focus is in the edit pane the selection is added to that text block 63 E gt lll lt Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 The Remove button lets you remove the current selection in the scrolling text area The Up and Down Arrow buttons let you move the current selection in the scrolling text area forward or backward within the code The Check Syntax Auto Format Show Code Hint and Debug Options buttons and menu items normally visible in the Actions panel are disabled as they do not apply to Script Assist mode The Insert Target button is disabled unless you are editing a field Clicking Insert Target places the resulting code in the current edit field To view a description of an action do one of the following Click a category in the Actions toolbox to display the actions in that category and click an action Select a line of code in the Script pane The description appears at the upper left of the Actions panel beginning with the Property or Event name Change the Values of the Gradient using Script Assist 1 Click on the following line of code var COlOrSssArray
25. of the original image size e If you are done specifying advanced encoding settings click Next to move to the next panel of the Video Import wizard or select either the Cue Point or the Crop and Trim tab to further modify the video s encoding settings Specifying advanced audio encoding settings The audio encoding settings portion of the dialog box is automatically selected when an audio only file is added to the encoding list this portion of the dialog box is disabled when encoding video content without a combined audio track NOTE You can select an encoding profile from the Flash Video encoding profile pop up menu which will set a corresponding profile for the audio only encoding format To specify custom audio encoding settings If the Encode Audio check box is not selected select it to activate the advanced audio encoding options The Encode Audio check box should be selected by default The default audio codec is MP3 NOTE If the source video file has no audio track or if you are encoding MPEG 1 files on a Macintosh the audio encoding settings portion of the dialog box is disabled Select a data rate from the Data rate pop up menu The data rate is the bit rate of the MP3 audio stream Better quality audio tracks such as music and significant background noise require a higher bit rate Simple dialogue such as with a talking head shot can be compressed to a much higher degree Higher bit rate settings encoded at 80 Kb
26. option for selected text e Inthe Property inspector choose one of the following options from the Anti Aliasing pop up menu Use Device Fonts specifies that the SWF file use the fonts installed on the local computer to display the fonts Although this option has the least impact on the size of the SWF file it also forces you to rely on the fonts installed on the user s computer for font display For example if you specify the font Times Roman as a device font the Times Roman font must be installed on the computer playing back the content for the text to display For this reason when using device fonts choose only commonly installed font families Bitmap Text No Anti Alias turns off anti aliasing and provides no text smoothing The text is displayed using sharp edges and the resulting SWF file size is increased because the font outlines are embedded in the SWF Bitmap text is sharp at the exported size but scales poorly 102 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Macromedia n Actions iv Properties Filters Parameters acter Ales sv mB I AY o v a S Anti alias for Anti alias for readability icon 20 5 a O aa Target Anti Alias for Animation creates a smoother animation This is possible in part because Flash ignores alignment and kerning information Specifying Anti Alias for Animation creates a larger SWF file because font outlines are embedded hll il 4 ed ka NOTE Fonts rendered
27. or FTP from the Connection menu Enter the location information for the Local Network path or for the FTP connection and skip the next step 7 To specify a Visual SourceSafe database select SourceSafe Database from the Connection menu Because we do not have VSS installed just click OK NOTE SourceSafe database support is available for Windows only You must have Microsoft Visual SourceSafe Client version 6 installed 24 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA Site Definition 8 Site Name Sample Flash Local Root C Documents and Settings Josh Cavalier Desktop Email josh lodestone com Check Out Name Josh Cavalier Connection Microsoft Visual Sources Version 1 021 Description Provides access to any Microsoft Visual SourceSafe database readable by Microsoft Visual SourceSafe Client version 6 Cancel What s New In Flash 8 In the Flash Project panel Window gt Project select Settings from the Project pop up menu or context menu SimpleFiash fla SimpleFlash html SimpleFlash swf 25 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 9 In the Project Settings dialog box select the site definition from the Site menu in the Version Control section Click OK 10 In the Project pop up menu select Check In Flash checks all files in the current project into the site LAB e Create a new Flash movie e Add a motion tween e Setup the Publishi
28. panel o Macintosh Select Flash gt Customize Tools panel The Available Tools menu indicates the tools that are currently available in the Flash The Current Selection menu indicates the tool or tools currently assigned to the selected location in the Tools panel NOTE If more than one tool is assigned to one location in the Tools panel a small arrow appears in the lower right corner of the tool This arrow indicates that additional tools are present in a pop up menu The same keyboard shortcut functions for all tools in the pop up menu 2 Click a tool in the Tools panel image or use the arrows to cycle through the tools to specify the location to which you want to assign another tool Customize Tools Panel Available tools Current selection f Brush Tool B A Selection Tool v 2 Eraser Tool E A Eyedropper Tool D Free Transform T gt gt Add gt gt Add gt gt Gradient Transfor at Hand Tool H Ff Ink Bottle Tool 5 Lasso Tool L Z Line Tool M Restore Default 3 To add a tool to the selected location select the tool in the Available Tools list and click the Add button It is possible to assign a tool to more than one location 4 To remove a tool from the selected location select the tool in the Current Selection scroll list and click the Remove button 30 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 5 Click OK to apply your changes and close the Cust
29. rectangles you can specify the width and height in pixels the radius of the rectangle corners for rounded corners and whether to draw the rectangle from the center Oval Settings Width Draw from center For the Line tool Shift drag to constrain the angle of lines to multiples of 45 69 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Using the Stroke Color and Fill Color controls in the Property inspector To change the stroke color style and weight for a selected object you can use the Stroke Color controls in the Property inspector For stroke style you can choose from styles that are preloaded with Flash or you can create a custom style To select a solid color fill you can use the Fill Color control in the Property inspector To select a stroke color style and weight using the Property inspector 1 PA Select an object or objects on the Stage or draw a new shape To select a stroke style click the triangle next to the Style pop up menu and select an option from the menu To create a custom style select Custom from the Property inspector and then select options in the Stroke Style dialog box and click OK Also try to give the stroke a gradient fill To select a stroke weight click the triangle next to the Weight pop up menu and set the slider at the weight you want Specify a stroke height by doing one of the following e Select one of the preset values from the height pop up menu P
30. the Flash Lite emulator handles the code In this example we are going to a simple video game The Blocks Game is a classic Tetris or Minesweeper type of block game The idea is to choose blocks that are surrounded and connected to blocks of a similar color Choosing these blocks removes them from the stage and drops any blocks above them down to fill their empty spaces The goal is to have as few blocks remaining at the end as possible The source file is made up of two frames on the main timeline One is a welcome screen the next is the game interface screen The game interface screen starts by duplicating a template block and randomly changing its properties until the board is full You will open up the FLA file and test the game in the Flash Lite emulator To view the completed application in the emulator In Macromedia Flash Professional 8 open the file named blocks fla located in the Unit_8 Blocks folder e Choose Control gt Test Movie to start the application in the emulator To interact with the application do the following e On the main screen click the Play key on the emulator s keypad to Start the game e On the game screen click the Right Left up and Down soft keys on the emulator to change the block selection Click the Center soft key to start eliminating blocks The emulator cannot close the application so the Done button will not work 154
31. to black in the highlight on the top of the eight ball e A subtle gradient on the white circle surrounding the number 8 e A radial gradient in the shadow beneath the eight ball Close the completed FLA file Open the starter document Now that you have seen the completed file it is time to create your own Flash document To get started you ll open a starter file that contains a few graphics to which you will apply gradients 1 In Flash select File gt Open 2 Navigate to the following directory o In Windows Unit_4 folder Gradients gradients_start fla 3 Open the gradients_start fla file Apply a linear gradient In this section you will add a linear gradient to the background 1 Click the Selection tool in the Tools panel 2 Select the gray box in the layer named Background 3 Select Window gt Color Mixer to display the Color Mixer panel 4 Inthe Color Mixer s Type pop up menu select Linear 5 Double click the right gradient color swatch and select the color green 006600 52 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Color Mixer E FAFA Type Linear ine 5E Overflow i v ra Linear RGB Ro S a E j e 000000 Selecting the color green 006600 in the Color Picker 6 Double click the left gradient color swatch and select the color black 000000 7 Select the Gradient Transform tool from the Tools panel The Gradient Transform controls appear on the Stage around th
32. tool from the Tools panel 13 Drag the Gradient Rotate control 90 counterclockwise 14 Drag the Gradient Scale control downward until it touches the top of the highlight shape The Gradient Scale control Dragging the Gradient Scale control downward to touch the highlight shape 15 Select the Selection tool from the Tools panel 59 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 16 Double click outside the Stage twice to deselect the highlight group The finished Flash illustration looks like this 17 Select File gt Save to save your FLA file To close the document select File gt Close 60 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Using Complex Gradient Fills with ActionScript The Flash Drawing API supports gradient fills as well as solid fills The following procedure creates a new movie clip on the Stage use the Drawing API to create a square and then fills the square with a radial red and blue gradient To create a complex gradient 1 Create a new Flash document and save it as radialgradient fla in the Unit 4 folder 2 Add the following ActionScript to Frame 1 of the Timeline Chi S CrearermpeyMovieCliap oracdient mo LO var fillType String radial var colors Array OxFFOO00 Ox0OO0OOOFF var alphas Array 100 100 Var Patios Array U UXEF 7 Var Matlrux2Ob ecu farZ00 D70 C0 O20 2200 fiU G 200 K200 ae es var spreadMethod String
33. using Anti Alias for Animation are less legible at smaller font sizes for this reason it is recommended that you use 10 point or larger type when specifying Anti Alias for Animation Anti Alias for Readability uses a new anti aliasing engine that improves the readability of fonts particularly at small sizes Specifying Anti Alias for Readability creates a larger SWF file because font outlines are embedded In order to use the Anti Alias for Readability setting you must publish to Flash Player 8 NOTE Anti Alias for Readability creates a highly legible typeface even at small sizes However it animates poorly and may cause performance problems If you intend to animate text use Anti Alias for Animation Custom Anti Alias Flash Professional only lets you modify the font s properties as you see fit The custom anti aliasing properties are as follows Sharpness determines the smoothness of the transition between the text edges and the background Thickness determines how thick the font anti aliasing transition appears Larger values cause the characters to look thicker Specifying Custom Anti Alias creates a larger SWF file because font outlines are embedded In order to use the Custom Anti Alias setting you must publish to Flash Player 8 and author your Flash content using Flash Professional 8 103 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Upgrading Flash 7 content to use Flash 8 anti aliasing options When you
34. video in the Unit_7 video_spin folder There s a video with an alpha channel New Feature Summary e The New On2 VP6 Video Codec e Alpha Channels with video e Embedding Cue Points 138 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Unit 8 Mobile Phone Workflow Unit Objectives After this unit you will be able to e Describe the new mobile phone features in Flash 8 e Set up a document for Flash Lite delivery e Build an application with common mobile device functionality e Use the Flash Lite emulator Unit Topics e What s New in Flash Lite e Workflow Authoring for Mobile Devices e Review the Cafe Application e Creating the Caf Application e Previewing the Cafe Application e Previewing a Mobile Video Game 139 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 What s New in Flash Lite Authoring Flash Professional 8 includes the following new features to help developers create Flash Lite applications Flash Lite emulator The Flash Lite emulator lets you preview your content as it will function on an actual device The emulator can configure itself to mimic the features available on any supported device The emulator also provides debugging information that alerts you to potential problems and incompatibilities on the target device Device Settings dialog box You use the Device Settings dialog box to select your test devices and Flash Lite content type When you test your content in the F
35. will notice that in Flash 8 that now when you test your swf file a Flash Player window will appear This will give you a better representation of your final output 10 Close the test movie by clicking the close window button Well have to admit that this animation is really nothing to write home about That is all going to change when we add a bounce effect to our animation Using Custom Ease In Ease Out Finally we are going to modify our existing animation by giving it a bounce effect with the new Ease In Ease Out controls This is another great new feature in Flash 8 that will add sophistication to your animation without the use of additional keyframes 11 With your Selection tool V choose Frame 1 from the Flash Text layer 12 In the Property Inspector click on the Edit button next to the Ease drop down menu 13 The Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box appears See Figure 7 Custom Ease In Ease Out V Use one setting for all properties 97 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 14 Figure 7 The Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box 15 Click the Ease In Ease Out line to add and edit node at Frame 10 16 Take the new node and drag it up to a Teen value of 80 This represents the completion value of the entire motion tween from frame 1 to frame 30 17 Click the Ease In Ease Out line to add a second edit node at Frame 20 18 Take the new node and drag it down to a Teen v
36. workspace Flash Professional 8 or ActionScript Flash Basic 8 and Flash Professional 8 At runtime multiple graphics are merged as one shape For this reason you cannot apply different blend modes to different graphic symbols Blend modes involve combining the colors of one image the base image with the colors of another image the blend image to produce a third image Each pixel value in an image is processed with the corresponding pixel value of the other image to produce a pixel value for that same position in the result The MovieClip blendMode property supports the following blend modes e add Commonly used to create an animated lightening dissolve effect between two images e alpha Commonly used to apply the transparency of the foreground on the background e darken Commonly used to superimpose type e difference Commonly used to create more vibrant colors e erase Commonly used to cut out erase part of the background using the foreground alpha e hardlight Commonly used to create shading effects e invert Used to invert the background e layer Used to force the creation of a temporary buffer for pre composition for a particular movie clip e lighten Commonly used to superimpose type e multiply Commonly used to create shadows and depth effects e normal Used to specify that the pixel values of the blend image override those of the base image e overlay Commonly used to create shading effects e screen Commonly used to create
37. 0 6620 a Ga Fl 6630 N Gage OD A 6670 7 7610 Pl N Gage 1 N Gage QO Siemens G Sony Ericsson a Selected device harne Available stage Supported platforms The Device Settings dialog box adji 20 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 The Property inspector contains a section that provides information about your current device settings as well as a button that lets you open the Device Settings dialog box This button is active only when your document s Version setting on the Flash tab of the Publish Setting dialog box is set to Flash Lite 1 0 or Flash Lite 1 1 I b Actions lY Properties Parameters Fikers Output Doumerk 6 Lintitled 2 Publish things Player FlashLite 1 1 Profile Defauk Test device 7610 176 x 205 pixels Device Settings button Current content type and test device Setting the Publishing Settings for Mobile Devices 1 Make sure you have the SimpleFlash fla file still open 2 Inthe Property inspector click the Device Settings button Because our current Publishing settings are set to Flash Player 8 you will see the following message Flash amp This feature is not supported by Flash Player 8 To use this feature you must target Flash Lite 1 0 Flash Lite 1 1 Publish Settings 3 Click the Publishing Settings button 4 Select the Flash Tab 5 Change your Flash player version to Flash Lite 1 1 Cl
38. 005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Building a Video Player This tutorial guides you through the process of creating a simple video player by using some of the authoring features in Macromedia Flash 8 After it is created you can deploy the video player in a web page In this tutorial you will complete the following tasks e Review your task e Examine the completed application e Create a working folder e Encode a video file e Create a new Flash document e Adda media component e Publish your document Review your task In this tutorial you will create a type of application known as a flexible messaging area or FMA An FMA is a common type of Flash application used for displaying content that conveys some kind of informational or marketing message to the audience In this case the FMA displays photographs of items from the restaurant menu At Macromedia s website an FMA is used to display information about new software products and other advertising messages These are called flexible messaging areas because they usually occupy an area of the web page that is set aside for content that can change depending on the needs of the business or website For example if Cafe Townsend has a special event planned the FMA could change to display the details of that event instead of the restaurant s menu items In this tutorial after examining an existing Flash document you ll begin by creating a new Flash document and end by publishi
39. DUXFFOOOU Ox0000UFFE Change the first color value to OxFFCC66 Don t delete the brackets Test your movie Control gt Test Movie 64 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA f radialgradient swf Fie View Control Debug You gradient color changes What s New In Flash 8 65 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 New Drawing Items In Flash 8 Transforming objects freely You can use the Free Transform tool to freely transform objects groups instances or text blocks You can perform individual transformations or combine several transformations such as moving rotating scaling skewing and distortion To transform freely 1 Select a graphic object group instance or text block on the Stage No Movie clips 2 Click the Free Transform tool Moving the pointer over and around the selection changes the pointer to indicate which transformation function is available 3 Drag the handles to transform the selection as follows O To move the selection position the pointer over the object within the bounding box and drag the object to a new position Do not drag the transformation point To set the center of rotation or scaling drag the transformation point to a new location To rotate the selection position the pointer just outside a corner handle and drag The selection rotates around the transformation point Shift drag to rotate in 45 increments Alt drag Windows or Option dra
40. New In Flash 8 72 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Unit 5 Expressiveness Features and Animation Unit Objectives After this unit you will be able to e Use Blend Modes and Filters e Use ActionScript to Control Expressiveness Features e Import Blends and Filters from Fireworks e Work with the new Easing In Easing Out Controls Unit Topics e Working with Blends e Programming Blends e Working with Filters e Programming Filters e Importing From Fireworks e Using the New Easing In Easing Out Controls 73 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Working with Blends Blend Modes Blend two movie clips or buttons together using the following modes layer darken multiply lighten screen overlay hardlight add subtract difference invert aloha and erase Again straight out of Photoshop Graphic designers will love this feature but not as much as filters In Flash blend modes let you create composite images Compositing is the process of varying the transparency or color interaction of two or more overlapping objects Blending modes also add a dimension of control to the opacity of objects and images You can use Flash blending modes to create highlights or shadows that let details from an underlying image show through or to colorize a desaturated image About blend modes Blend modes let you create composite images Compositing is the process of varying the t
41. Save Save As and Save and Compact When you save a file Flash does not analyze all the data before creating an optimized version of the document Instead the changes you make to the document are appended to the end of the FLA file s data which shortens the time it takes to save the document When you select Save As and 22 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 type a new name for the file Flash writes a new and optimized version of the file which results in a smaller file size When you select Save and Compact Flash creates a new optimized file and deletes the original file Caution When Saving When you select Save and Compact you cannot undo any changes you made before you saved the file If you select Save when working with a document you can undo changes made prior to that save point Because Save and Compact deletes the earlier version of the file and replaces it with the optimized version you cannot undo earlier changes Remember to use Save As frequently and to type a new file name for your document after every milestone in your project if you are not using version control software to create backups of your FLA file If you encounter major problems while working on the document you have an earlier version to use instead of losing everything There are many software packages that let users use version control with their files which enables teams to work efficiently and reduce errors Such as overwriting file
42. Select the keyframe on Frame 50 select the images movie clip and set its y coordinate to 400 in the Property inspector Select the keyframe on Frame 10 and select Motion from the Tween pop up menu in the Property inspector This tweens the images movie clip s position between the keyframes on Frames 10 and 20 RHO 5 15 20 25 30 z 40 aE S Li Images Wio Oe jt a Ole To create transitions between the other images repeat step 11 for the keyframes located on Frames 20 30 and 40 To create the mask layer select the Images layer in the Timeline and then select Insert gt Timeline gt New Layer or click the Insert Layer button in the Timeline Insert a keyframe on Frame 10 of the new mask layer Using the Rectangle tool in the Tools palette create a rectangle over the first top most image in the images movie clip It doesn t matter what fill color you use for the rectangle but it must be completely opaque 148 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Masking rectangle To make sure the rectangle covers the entire image area double click the rectangle to select it and then use the Property inspector to set its x and y coordinates both to 0 its width to 176 and its height to 100 Right click Windows or Control click Macintosh the Image Mask layer in the Timeline and select Mask from the context menu The layer is converted to a mask layer indicated by a mask layer icon The l
43. Sir N r j Tam je L liada Tyge oe aE f ai Ery Co a mag Srenge ote iw ae a gt Guairi ter Figure 3 Setting the Bevel Filter attributes in the Property inspector Bamse j pe 1 Click the Add icon to expose the filter menu Select the Bevel option You can add additional effects to your objects For this project we ll stick with just one 2 Change the following Bevel attributes See Figure 3 e BlurX 3 e BlurY 3 e Quality High e Distance 2 e Keep the other settings to their default values 2 Notice that the text now takes on a 3 D effect that was too easy Having the ability to add these Filters in Flash 8 will save you plenty of time See Figure 4 3 Finally select Scene 1 in Timeline panel to jump out of the gr_text symbol Now we are ready to animate our text with a motion tween gt bi n ee 0 gt De e 0 ypg Bx P s Sap m r ee mE am e o M n D t 0 amp ih a e ies P oy wat ar 2 Lo ee 1 oe a t Doe at D Coke pias i on ni Figure 4 The text now has a Bevel Filter applied to it 95 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Create the Motion Tween 1 In the tools panel choose the Selection tool V In the Timeline double click the name Layer 1 to rename it to Flash Text From the Library Panel drag and instance of the gr_text symbol to the stage At this point we have our symbo
44. TE You can set preferences for contact sensitivity when selecting shapes created using the Object Drawing model The new object drawing mode has to be enabled when using a drawing tool by pressing the J key or by pressing the Object Drawing button next to the magnet in the Tools panel Options EJA Use the Object Drawing Model 1 Create a new Flash Document File gt New Choose Flash Document Save the file as Objects fla in the Unit 4 folder Draw any shapes that you want on top of each other Pull the shapes apart by using the Selection tool Notice how the artwork is still destructive Click on the Object Drawing button Draw a few more shapes on top of each other oe eS eS oa Try pulling them apart They are now all seen as grouped objects 43 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Object Level Undo Mode You can now choose to keep track of the changes you make in Flash on a per object basis When you use this mode each object on the Stage and in the library has its own undo list This allows you to undo the changes you make to an object without having to undo changes to any other object Using the Undo Redo and Repeat menu commands The Edit gt Undo and Edit gt Redo commands let you undo and redo steps as you work on Flash documents The name of the command switches between Undo and Redo depending on the action that was last performed Flash lets you specify either object level or d
45. Void var low Number 30 xmouse Stage width var high Number 200 ymouse Stage height Status txtylext lows a Mache round tow pop Ragmi F Math round high noiseBmp noise Math round Math random 100000 low high Sy Erue This code creates a text field with the instance name status_ txt which follows the mouse pointer and displays the current values for the high and low parameters for the noise method The setlinterval function changes the noise effect which is updated every 100 milliseconds 1 10 of a second by continuously calling the updateNoise function The high and low parameters for the noise method are determined by calculating the pointer s current position on the Stage 3 Select Control gt Test Movie to test the document Moving the mouse pointer along the x axis affects the low parameter moving the mouse pointer along the y axis affects the high parameter The BitmapData class also lets you distort a dynamically loaded image by using a combination of a perlinNoise method effect and a displacement map filter The following procedure shows this 114 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Using the Displacement Map Filter The DisplacementMapFilter class uses the pixel values from the specified BitmapData object called the displacement map image to perform a displacement of an instance that s on the Stage such as a movie clip instance or a bitmap da
46. W F MetaData You can now add metadata to Flash files so that you can search more effectively for these files using Internet search engines such as Google com You can give your Flash content a search engine friendly description and title Search engines that look inside a SWK file can then better rank your Flash content To embed metadata within your SWF files improving the ability of web based search engines to return meaningful search results for Flash content do the following e Enter a descriptive title in the Title text box Modify gt Document e Enter a description in the Description text box Descriptions can contain searchable keywords author and copyright information and short descriptions about the content and its purpose Document Properties Tite Simple Flash File Description THis is a really basic FLash file for training Dimensions 550 px width x height Match Printer Contents Default Background color Frame rate fps Make Default Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 The search metadata is based on the RDF Resource Description Framework and XMP Extensible Metadata Platform specifications and is stored in Flash in a W3C compliant format NOTE Flash lets you make the settings you specify in the Document Properties dialog box the default settings for any Flash document that you create The exception to this is the Title and Description which y
47. a MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Current Color Swatch displays the currently selected color If you select a gradient fill type Linear or Radial from the fill Type pop up menu the Current Color Swatch displays the color transitions within the gradient you create Color Picker lets you select a color visually Click the Color Picker and drag the cross hair pointer around until you find the color you want Hexadecimal value displays the current color s hexadecimal value To change the color using the hexadecimal value type in a new value Hexadecimal color values also called hex values are 6 digit alphanumeric combinations that represent a color Brand New in Flash 8 Color Mixer 7B Tye Overflow J a iP BF _ Linear RGB B i i Alpha 100 381243 A fie ff Now you can apply up to 16 colors Overflow lets you control colors applied past the limits of a linear or radial gradient The overflow modes are extend the default mode reflect and repeat e Extend applies the colors you specify past the end of the gradient e Reflect causes the gradient colors to fill the shape using a reflective mirroring effect The gradients you specify are repeated in a pattern of from the beginning of the gradient to the end and then repeated in the opposite sequence from the end of the gradient to the beginning and then back to the beginning of the gradient to the end until the selected shape is
48. acromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 key labeled Home Chinese Woodie Safad Rice noodles iniih gailis sauce thiiake mushim scallions and bok choy Home fal The cafe application s specials screen If the user selects the Reservations option on the main screen the application initiates a phone call to the restaurant Before Flash Lite dials the requested number it always asks the user to confirm that they would like to make the call Viewing the completed application A completed version of the caf application is the Unit_8 folder You can view the completed application in the Flash Lite emulator in Flash 8 If you have the stand alone version of Flash Lite 1 1 installed on a mobile device you can transfer the SWF file to your device to view it there To view the completed application in the emulator In Macromedia Flash Professional 8 open the file named cafe_tutorial_ complete fla located in the Unit_8 Cafe folder e Choose Control gt Test Movie to start the application in the emulator To interact with the application do the following e On the main screen click the Down Arrow key on the emulator s keypad to select the Specials menu item Then click the Select key on the emulator to view the specials screen e On the specials screen click the Right soft key Next on the emulator to view the image and description for each special Click the Left soft key Home to return to the main scree
49. ageLoader addListener mclListener imageLoader loadClip http www helpexamples com flash images im agel jpg shapeClip holderClip var mouseListener Object new Object mouseListener onMouseMove function Void Perl Bmp peril aNoree snapec lips Wrath SshapeC lips Nergnic 10 Math round Math random 100000 false true 1 false 115 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 shapeclip Iiilters displacement Map by Mouse addListener mouseListener This code loads a JPEG image and places it on the Stage After the image is completely loaded this code creates a BitmapData instance and uses the perlinNoise method to fill it with randomly placed pixels The BitmapData instance passes to the displacement map filter which is applied to the image and causes the image to look distorted 3 Select Control gt Test Movie to test the document Move your mouse pointer around the Stage to re create a displacement map by calling the perlinNoise method which changes the appearance of the JPEG image Using the Convolution Filter The ConvolutionFilter class applies a matrix convolution filter effect A convolution combines pixels in a source image that you specify with neighboring pixels to produce an image You can achieve a wide variety of imaging operations by using the convolution filter which includes blurring edge detection sharpening embossing and beveling effects NOTE You c
50. ality high rScommandz TulLlsecreen true gt This code does the following o Stops the playhead at this frame o Disables the yellow focus rectangle that Flash Lite draws by default around the button or input text field with the current focus o Resets the soft keys to their default state Later in the tutorial you ll add code that registers the soft keys for your application to use o Sets the player s rendering quality to high By default Flash Lite renders graphical content at medium quality o Forces the player to display the application full screen To test your work so far select Control gt Test Movie In the emulator click the Up or Down Arrow keys on the keypad with your mouse or press the Up or Down Arrow keys on your computer s keyboard to give focus to the Specials button When the Specials button item gets focus you will see the button s over state Click the Select key on the emulator s keypad or press the Enter key on your keyboard to select the menu item At this point the specials screen contains no features In the next section you ll add interactivity and animation to create the specials screen Creating the Specials Screen In this section you ll create the user interface elements that let the user browse images and descriptions of each special The specials screen consists of the following parts e An animation that transitions between images of each special e Dynamic te
51. alue of 20 See Figure 8 Custom Ease In Ease Out Use one setting for all properties Figure 8 Modify the motion tween by adding edit nodes 19 Click the Play button in the bottom left corner of the dialog box to view your animation Now you can see the bounce effect on your motion tween with no additional reframes added That s really cool 20 Close the Ease In Ease out dialog box and test your movie You have now finished your bouncing text 98 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Lab Create your own Motion Tween and try the custom Easing In and Out features Summary of New Features New Blends modes You can program blends New Graphic Filters You can program Filters Importing From Fireworks retains Filter and Blend attributes New Easing In Easing Out Controls 99 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Unit 6 Text and Graphics Rendering Unit Objectives After this unit you will be able to Use the New Text Handles Use the Various Text Anti Alias Settings Use Bitmap Smoothing Understand How Bitmap Caching Works Load new Graphic Formats Dynamically Create a MovieClip with 9 Slice Scaling Understand the ConvolutionFilter Use Programmatic Bitmap Creation with ActionScript Unit Topics FlashType Overview FlashType Anti Alias Settings Using Bitmaps in Flash 8 Loading Graphics Dynamically Using the New 9 Slice Scaling Feature Using Ac
52. an apply this filter on bitmaps and movie clip instances A matrix convolution is based on an n x m matrix which describes how a given pixel value in the input image is combined with its neighboring pixel values to produce a resulting pixel value Each resulting pixel is determined by applying the matrix to the corresponding source pixel and its neighboring pixels This filter is only available by using ActionScript The following procedure applies the convolution filter to a dynamically loaded JPEG image 116 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 To use the convolution filter to modify an image s color 1 Create a new Flash document and save it as convolution fla 2 Add the following ActionScript to Frame 1 of the Timeline import flash filters ConvolutionFilter import flash display BitmapData eleo ercadatermptyMOvIECLIM Shape me y L7 Shape Mo createEmptyMOVvIeCLIp horder me Ty var imageLoader MovieClipLoader new MovieClipLoader imageLoader loadClip http www helpexamples com flash images im aget JP z Shape Mecho lder MG var matri ixArr Array 1 4 6 4 1 4 16 24 16 4 16 24 30 247 By 16 24 T6 4 dy 4 67 4p Ly yar cCconvol tion Convyol utionk ikter new Convolution witer s 53 matri ixArr snape moi IiLlters Convolution var mouseListener Object new Object mouseListener onMouseMove function Void convolution divisor xmouse Sta
53. ara C linsar RGB R 0 fid Gi ot BA 0 i P Alpha 100 jw 002200 Dragging a gradient color swatch 7 Select the Zoom tool from the Tools panel and click the circle shape to magnify it 8 Select the Gradient Transform tool in the Tools panel 9 Rotate the radial gradient 90 clockwise by dragging the Gradient Rotate handle Dragging to rotate the gradient 90 clockwise 10 Select the Focal Point control and drag it near the top of the circle Dragging the Focal Point control toward the top of the circle shape 99 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 11 12 13 14 15 Select the center control point and drag the entire gradient upward a short distance as shown in the following illustration The mirrored overflow gradient is at the bottom of the circle Dragging the center control point upwards Select the Selection tool in the Tools panel Double click the Zoom tool to return the Stage area to a view of 100 Double click the Stage area to deselect the eight ball group Select File gt Save to save your FLA file Create a Transform Gradient with a Shape In this section you will create a gradient and then use the Free Transform tool to change its shape 1 2 3 9 9 SS YS 10 Select the Shadow layer in the Timeline Select the Oval tool in the Tools panel Hold down Shift and then drag on the Stage with the Oval tool to draw a circle app
54. as 0 and the last keyframe is represented as 100 The rate of change of the object is represented by the slope of the graph s curve When the curve is horizontal no slope the velocity is zero when the curve is vertical there is an instantaneous rate of change The dialog box provides the following additional controls Custom Ease In Ease Out 90 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Use One Setting for All Properties check box The default value for this is selected which means that the displayed curve is used for all properties and the Properties pop up menu is disabled When the check box is not selected the Properties pop up menu is enabled and each property has a separate curve defining the velocity of that property Property pop up menu This menu is enabled only when the Use One Setting for All Properties check box is not selected When enabled a separate curve is maintained for each of the five properties appearing in the menu Selecting a property in the menu displays the curve for that property The properties are Position Specifies custom ease settings for the position of an animated object on the Stage Rotation Specifies custom ease settings for the rotation of an animated object For example you can fine tune how quickly or slowly an animated character turns around to face the user on the Stage Scale Specifies custom ease settings for the scale of an animated object For example
55. ash Video Import wizard lets you encode video clips into the Flash Video FLV format when you import them However the Video Import wizard has limitations in that you can only encode one video clip at a time and the process of encoding can be both time and computing intensive For users who work extensively with video based content Flash Professional 8 includes the Flash 8 Video Encoder and the QuickTime Exporter Flash 8 Video Encoder lets you batch process video clips allowing you to encode several clips at a time without having to interrupt your workflow In addition to selecting encoding options for video and audio content the Flash 8 Video Encoder also lets you embed cue points into video clips you encode and edit the video using crop and trim controls For more information see the online help included with the Flash 8 Video Encoder application FLV QuickTime Export plug in If you have Macromedia Flash Professional 8 and QuickTime 6 1 1 installed on your computer you can use the FLV QuickTime Export plug in to export FLV files from supported video editing applications You can then import these FLV files directly into Flash to use in your Flash documents The following video editing applications are supported by the FLV Export plug in e Adobe After Effects Windows and Macintosh e Apple FinalCut Pro Macintosh e Apple QuickTime Pro Windows and Macintosh e Avid Xpress DV Windows and Macintosh Using the FLV QuickTime Export p
56. ayer immediately below it is linked to the mask layer and its contents show through the filled area on the mask E mask AM Mask layer E images Am w Masked layer EAE i 4 lb E so le Masked region on the Stage Save your changes File gt Save At this point if you were to test the application in the emulator the animation you created would play through to the end and then stop Adding Navigation and Text to the Specials Screen In this section you ll add interactivity to the specials screen that lets the user control the transition between each animation You ll also add dynamic text fields that display the name and description of each image 149 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 To add text to display the names and descriptions of the specials 1 Inthe Timeline select Frame 10 on the Text layer 2 Inthe Tools palette select the Text tool and create a text field below the first masked specials image 3 This text field will display the name of the special whose image is currently being displayed Text field to display name of special With the text field selected on the Stage make the following changes in the Property inspector O O O Select Dynamic Text from the Text Type pop up menu Select Verdana from the Font pop up menu Select the Italics text style option Set the font size to 10 Select Bitmap no anti alias from the Font Renderin
57. bjects 2 Select Modify gt Transform gt Envelope 3 Drag the points and tangent handles to modify the envelope The Envelope in action 68 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Drawing straight lines ovals and rectangles You can use the Line Oval and Rectangle tools to easily create these basic geometric shapes The Oval and Rectangle tools create stroked and filled shapes The Rectangle tool lets you create rectangles with square or rounded corners To draw a Straight line oval or rectangle 1 Select the Line Oval or Rectangle tool 2 Select Window gt Properties and select stroke and fill attributes in the Property inspector 3 For the Rectangle tool specify rounded corners by clicking the Round Rectangle modifier and entering a corner radius value A value of zero creates square corners 4 Drag on the Stage If you are using the Rectangle tool press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys while dragging to adjust the radius of rounded corners For the Oval and Rectangle tools Shift drag to constrain the shapes to circles and squares New in Flash 8 To specify a specific size of Oval or Rectangle in pixels press the Alt key Windows or Option key Macintosh with the Oval or Rectangle tool selected and click the Stage to display the Oval and Rectangle Settings dialog box o For ovals you can specify the width and height in pixels and whether to draw the oval from the center o For
58. cally only the three horizontal segments in the center numbers 4 5 and 6 on a keypad would resize The four corners of the scaling grid are not scaled at all which allows the component to grow without looking like it is being stretched see the following images ss Cd TIP Strokes are created from the edges after the 9 slice scaling transformation and therefore don t deform or lose detail You can enable slice guides for 9 slice scaling in the Flash environment within the Convert to Symbol dialog box or the Symbol Properties dialog box The Enable guides for 9 slice scaling check box is available only if you are publishing for Flash Player 8 and the behavior is set to movie clip The 9 slice scaling guides are not available for earlier versions of Flash or if you are creating a button or graphic symbol 9 slice scaling can be enabled in ActionScript by setting the scale9Grid property on a movie clip instance Whether you created your slice guides by using the user interface or by using ActionScript you can trace the x coordinate y coordinate width and height by tracing the movie clip s scale9Grid property trace my mc scale9Grid x 20 y 20 w 120 h 120 111 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 This snippet of code traces the value of the Rectangle object being used by the scale9Grid property The rectangle has a x and y coordinates of 20 pixels a width of 120 pixels and a height of 120 pixe
59. can drag the control point or its tangent points with the mouse or you can position them using the keyboard s arrow keys 91 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 TIP By default the control points snap to a grid You can turn off snapping by pressing the X key while dragging the control point Clicking an area of the curve away from any control points adds a new control point to the curve at that point without changing the shape of the curve Clicking away from the curve and control points deselects the control point that is currently selected Compatibility with current ease in ease out settings If you apply a custom ease to a frame using the Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box the edit text box that displays the ease value displays If you apply an ease value to a frame with the Edit text box or the pop up slider the Custom Ease graph is set to the equivalent curve and the Use One Setting for All Properties check box is selected Unsupported easing curves Certain types of easing curves are not supported e No part of the graph can represent a nonlinear curve such as a circle e The Custom Ease dialog box automatically prevents moving a control point or a tangent handle to a position that would render an invalid curve e All points must exist on the graph Control points cannot be moved beyond the bounds of the graph e All segments of the curve must exist within the graph The shape of the curve w
60. ch contains the graphic objects you will use with the filter and blend features of Flash 1 In Flash select File gt Open 2 Browse to one of the following locations o In Windows Unit_5 Filters and Blends o On the Macintosh Unit_5 Filters and Blends 3 Select the file named Filters amp Blends_start fla and click Open Apply filters and blends In the following sections you will apply blends and filters to the 9ball and CueBall movie clips found in the Library panel Apply a blend to the 9ball movie clip The first task you must perform in the starter file is to apply a blend effect to an instance of the 9ball outlines movie clip to make its colors combine with the colors of the 9ball movie clip This achieves a realistic shiny pool ball look 1 Open the Library panel Window gt Library 2 Drag the 9Yball movie clip from the Library panel to the lower right corner of the Stage This creates an new instance of the 9Yball movie clip on the Stage 3 Double click the new Qball instance to enter symbol editing mode 4 Drag the Yball outlines movie clip from the Library panel onto the Stage so that it perfectly covers the Yball instance You can use the Arrow keys to make fine adjustments to the placement of the 9ball outlines instance 5 With the 9ball outlines instance still selected go to the Property inspector and select Multiply from the Blend menu 6 Double click outside the Stage to exit symbol editing mode The
61. chunky during the change Hard cuts as opposed to cross dissolves are usually best Video sequences that show an object zooming from behind the first track doing a page turn or wrapping around a ball and then flying off the screen can be eye catching but they usually don t compress well and should be used sparingly Know your audience data rate When you deliver video over the Internet you should produce files at lower data rates Users with fast Internet connections can view the files with little or no wait but dial up users must wait for files to download It is best to make the clips short to keep the download times within acceptable limits for dial up users Select the proper frame rate Frame rate indicates how many frames play each second fps If you have a higher data rate clip a lower frame rate can improve playback on lower end computers For example if you are compressing a talking head clip with little motion cutting the frame rate in half will probably save you only 20 percent of the data rate However if you are compressing high motion video reducing the frame rate has a much greater effect on the data rate Because video looks much better at native frame rates Macromedia recommends leaving the frame rate high if your delivery channels and playback platforms allow it However if you need to reduce the frame rate the best results come from dividing the frame rate by whole numbers NOTE If you intend to embed video clip
62. d in the same folder as the video_pod swf file in order for the video controls to appear when you play the SWF file 2 In your web browser select File gt Open 3 Navigate to the cafe_townsend folder and open the video_pod htm file The HTML file opens in the web browser and displays your Flash document The next steps Now that you have completed the Flash video player you would normally insert the SWF file into a real world web page This illustration demonstrates what a web page containing the video_pod swf file might look like We rll Ciel pa Cuisine Chef Ipsum Chef ipaum Chef Ipsem releases a new DD Artiches ba hut four Oy bee cele legend Chef Ipsum shows you how Special Events to be a werid cleee chef Thin BED Flees perom E Location Bhowcenes roma of Chef jemun kenu lair apti afd tudes solid instrucbon io give pou tre gardanga pou need ts brng cut Four Inner chei Youd mecene IPE ame trqining um Che jppum proweles for ete A hea lamou Cal Toensend restaurants Dont iid cut aa Chel japim whip up en of hig Geerd sinning EOTS a before p pell pul croed The Oy b eluded amp revealing t5 mrute bonus rternnee where Chef pnm talks about het hormble beginnegs acd hee culeery reiia Tha OD Pas tomala for BYES T The video _pod swf file inserted in a web page 137 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Lab e Examine the
63. dents The instructors for this course test for understanding during and after each unit Guided practice Each unit in this course has a series of walkthroughs that you perform along with your instructor so that you get familiar with new skills Independent practice Each unit in this course concludes with a hands on lab that lets you practice a set of new skills on your own in context Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Course Format This course is divided into 8 units most of which present new information and contain demonstrations walkthroughs and a lab where you can practice you new skills You will experience the following learning techniques to better understand the course e Concepts introduce new information e Demonstrations illustrate new concepts e Walkthroughs guide you with the instructor s assistance through procedures e Labs let you practice new skills on your own e Summaries provide a brief synopsis of the unit s content Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Course Objectives After completing the course you will be able to use the following new features in Flash 8 e Toolbar Settings e The Object Drawing Model e Text and Graphic Rendering Options e Ease In Ease Out Animation Options e Flash Video Components for Flash 8 e Blends and Filters e Mobile Device Settings Course Prerequisites To get the most from this class you should already be familiar w
64. deo clip If you need to select a custom keyframe placement value be aware that the smaller the keyframe interval the larger the file size Specify the quality of the video from the Quality pop up menu The quality setting determines the data rate or bit rate of the encoded video The higher the data rate the better the quality of the encoded video clip To specify a quality setting do one of the following Select a preset quality setting Low Medium or High to automatically select a Data Rate value When you select Low Medium and High from this menu the Maximum Data Rate text box updates to reflect the specified value Select Custom and enter a value in Kilobits Sec in the Maximum Data Rate text box NOTE If you find that the preset quality settings are not working with your particular source footage try specifying a custom maximum data rate For more information on data rate and how it affects video quality see About encoding video To resize the video clip do the following e Select the Resize video check box e Optional Select the Maintain Aspect Ratio check box to keep the aspect ratio the same as the original video clip 126 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 NOTE If you resize a video clip s frame size and do not select the Maintain Aspect Ratio check box the video may become distorted e Specify values for Width and Height You can specify a frame size in pixels or as a percentage
65. dience set the quality level to low to maximize playback performance Applying Filters You can apply one or more filters to selected objects using the Property inspector Each time you add a new filter to an object it is added to the list of applied filters for that object in the Property inspector You can apply multiple filters to an object as well as remove filters that have been previously applied Lili properties Parameters Fiters Output Presets d Click the button to add fiters Remove Al Enable All Disable All rag the items in the list to reorder them Drop Shadow Blur Glow Bevel Gradient Glow Gradient Bevel Adjust Covor The Add Filter menu in the Property inspector To apply a filter 1 Select a movie clip button or text object on the Stage that you want to apply a filter to You can apply filters only to text button and movie clip objects 2 Select the Filter tab in the Property inspector 3 Click the Add Filter button and select a filter from the Filters pop up menu The filter you select is applied to the object and the controls for the filter settings appear in the Property inspector Experiment with the settings until you get the look you want The different types of Filters include the following O O Drop shadow Blur Glow Bevel Gradient Glow 82 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 o Gradient Bevel o Adjust Color To remo
66. e 144 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Position the button beneath the text field already in place that introduces the restaurant Drag an instance of the button symbol named Reservations to the Stage and position it below the Specials button as the following image shows LA Soft key labels eit Dur name comas Fram our first restaurant located in a historig building on Towngend Street iin San Francesca Specials TO j ed Reserv ations T5 Select the Specials button and open the Actions panel Window gt Actions Add the following code to the Actions panel on press gotoAndStop specials This event handler code sends the playhead to the frame labeled specials when the user selects this button You ll create the content for that frame in the next section On the Stage select the Reservations button and open the Actions panel again In the Actions panel enter the following code on press Je CURL tel Isdaan When the user selects the Reservations menu item Flash Lite initiates a phone call to the specified number Flash Lite always prompts the user to allow or deny a request from a SWF file to dial a number In the Timeline select Frame 1 on the Actions layer Open the Actions panel and enter the following code Stop 145 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 OCUSKSCE false fscommand2 resetsoftkeys fscommand2 Setqu
67. e during playback when the event will be triggered Flash Video Encoder also displays a pop up menu that lets you select the type of cue point to embed A cue point marker is displayed on the slider control at the point where the cue point was embedded You can use the cue point marker to adjust the placement of the cue point Specify the type of cue point you want to embed an event cue point or a navigation cue point Event cue points are used to trigger ActionScript methods when the cue point is reached and let you synchronize the video playback to other events within the Flash presentation Navigation cue points are used for navigation and seeking and to trigger ActionScript methods when the cue point is reached Embedding a navigation cue point inserts a keyframe at that point in the video clip Enter parameters for the selected cue point Parameters are a set of key value pairs that you can add to the cue point The parameters are passed to the cue point event handler as members of the single parameter object Video alpha channel support You can now use an alpha channel with video objects allowing you to create transparency effects To use a video file to create the alpha effect in Flash the video file must contain an alpha channel In general the video file must meet the following requirements e 32 bit video with million colors e Includes a color key background e ls encoded to enable the alpha channel 129 Macromedia MAX 2
68. e gradient e The Gradient Transform tool 8 Drag the Gradient Rotate handle to rotate the linear gradient clockwise as shown p The Gradient Rotate handle 53 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Rotating the gradient clockwise 9 Lock the Background layer in the Timeline to prevent further changes to this layer 10 Select File gt Save to save your FLA file Create a Radial Gradient Next you will add a radial gradient to the black eight ball 1 Double click the black circle in the layer called Ball This opens the group containing the eight ball shape 2 Select the black circle shape You will apply a gradient to this shape Do not select the number 8 on the eight ball 3 Inthe Color Mixer panel select Radial from the Type pop up menu Select Mirror Overflow mode from the Overflow pop up menu Type Radial vi Overflow i i J y The correct Radial Type and Mirror Overflow settings 4 Double click the left gradient color swatch and select the color black 000000 5 Double click the right gradient color swatch and type 002200 into the color text box Press Enter 54 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 6 Drag the left gradient color swatch to the right about three fourths of the way as shown in the following illustration This makes the green part of the gradient appear only in the outer 25 of the ball shape rara Type Radial sm mE g n
69. e target device as well as the content type To select your application s test devices and content type 1 Open the partially completed source file named cafe_tutorial_start fla located in the Unit_8 folder 2 Inthe Property inspector click the Device Settings button to open the Device Settings dialog box 3 Select Standalone Player from the Content Type pop up menu 4 Inthe list of available devices double click the Symbian folder to expand it double click the Series 60 folder and then double click the Nokia folder 5 With the Nokia folder selected click Add to add all the Nokia Series 60 devices to your list of test devices 6 When you test your application in the emulator you ll be able to test your application against any of your test devices for the selected content type 143 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA Device Settings Content type Standalone Player What s New In Flash 8 Standalone Player Current stage size 550 x 400 pevcels content type selected Available devices Test devices oe E Name E a Nokia 3600 Ee Nokia 3620 Symbian Nokia 3650 9 Series 60 Nokia 3660 All Symbian Series a E Nokia Nokia 6260 60 Nokia devices Fl Nokia 3600 Nokia 6600 added to list of test F Nokia 3620 devices Notda 6630 Fl Nokia 3650 Nokia 6670 Fl Nokia 2660 Nokia 6680 Fl Nokia 6260 Nokia 6681 Fl Nokia 6600 _ ha Fl Nokia 6620 aaae FI Nokia 6630 Nokia N Gage OD Fl Nokia 6670 Fl Nokia 6690
70. e the second shape by the same amount By default Flash supports 100 levels of undo for the Undo menu command You can select the number of undo and redo levels from 2 to 9999 in Flash Preferences Set Up Your Undo Editing Preference 1 Select Edit gt Preferences General Category Preferences Category General ActionScript On launch Show Start Page Auto Format Clipboard Drawing Undo Sse Y Text Warnings levels Printing Disable PostScript Test Movie F Open test movie in tabs Selection w Shift select Show tooltips Contact sensitive Selection and Lasso tools Timeline _ Span based selection _ Named anchor on Scene 2 Click the Undo Dropdown and change it to Object Level Undo 3 You will see the following dialog box 45 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Flash 8 A Switching between documentfevel and objectfevel Undo will delete your current undo history Your file will not change but you will lose your current Undo history 4 Click OK Transforming gradient and bitmap fills You can transform a gradient or bitmap fill by adjusting the size direction or center of the fill To transform a gradient or bitmap fill you use the Gradient Transform tool One of the new features of Flash 8 is adjusting the Focal Point of a gradient To adjust a gradient or bitmap fill with the Gradient Transform tool 1 Create a new Flash Document File gt New
71. eating your scripts 62 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Using Script Assist to view ActionScript To add an action to a Flash document you must attach it to a button or movie clip or to a frame in the Timeline The Actions panel lets you select drag and drop rearrange and delete actions 1 To write ActionScript using Script Assist 1 Select Window gt Actions 2 The Actions panel appears 3 Click the Script Assist button KN Script Assist Zot Build scripts by selecting items from the Actions toolbox 4 The Actions panel enters Script Assist mode NOTE If the Actions panel contains ActionScript code when you click the Script Assist button Flash compiles the existing code If there are errors in the code you will not be able to use Script Assist until you fix the current code selection 5 Click on each line of code Notice how Script Assist gives you the details call function createEmptyMovieClip Parameters gradient_mc 10 1e a J5 Y A Script Assist 1 fthis createEmptyMovieClin gradient me 10 H var CillType S5tring radial e8 var colors Array OxFFOOOO al ee S var alphas Array 100 100 me Var ratios Array 0 OFF me Var matrixz Object a 200 b 0 0 d 0 e 200 0 g 200 bh 200 1 1 E var spreadMethod String reflect e var interpolationMethod String linear kGB Script Assist giving specific information on each
72. ee Components in the Library panel in Using Components 33 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 The Library panel displays a scroll list with the names of all items in the library which lets you view and organize these elements as you work An icon next to an item s name in the Library panel indicates the item s file type The Library panel has an options menu with commands for managing library items You can open the library of any Flash document while you are working in Flash to make the library items from that file available for the current document You can create permanent libraries in your Flash application that is available whenever you start Flash Flash also includes several sample libraries containing buttons graphics movie clips and sounds that you can add to your Flash documents The sample Flash libraries and permanent libraries that you create are listed in the Window gt Common Libraries submenu For more information see Working with common libraries You can export library assets as a SWF file to a URL to create a runtime shared library This lets you link to the library assets from Flash documents that import symbols using runtime sharing For more information see Using shared library assets Single Library panel You can now use a single Library panel to view the library items of multiple Flash files simultaneously You can switch back and forth as you edit multiple files View the Single Libra
73. eight ball and one to make a highlight on the top of the eight ball Apply a gradient to the white circle on the eight ball Next you will add a gradient to the white circle on the eight ball graphic 1 2 3 4 5 O p ee Select the Selection tool from the Tools panel Double click the eight ball group to edit the group Double click the white circle group Select the white circle shape In the Color Mixer panel assign the white circle shape a linear gradient by selecting Linear from the Type menu Select Nonrepeating from the Overflow menu Drag the left gradient color swatch all the way to the left and double click it Select the color white FFFFFF from the Color Picker Set the Alpha value for the white color swatch to 100 10 Drag the right color swatch all the way to the right and double click it 57 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 11 Select the color black 000000 from the Color Picker 12 Set the Alpha value for the black color swatch to 100 Your gradient settings should match those in the following illustration Color Mixer Fa Fa Type Linear WF AR C Linear RGB Ra 0 w amp 0 a B 0 sl 4 Alpha L00 w 000000 The Color Mixer with the correct settings for the gradient on the white circle 13 Select the Gradient Transform tool from the Tools panel 14 Drag the Gradient Rotate handle approximately 120 clockwise The gradient rotated
74. eim CA What s New In Flash 8 3 Select from the respective options to view the new way the panel is set up 4 In the General section under Project choose the Save files on test or publish project checkbox Using the Flash 8 Library Panel The Library panel is where you store and organize symbols created in Flash as well as imported files including bitmap graphics sound files and video clips The Library panel lets you organize library items in folders see how often an item is used in a document and sort items by type Library Untitled 3 e Unttec 3 le Mee One item in library Ho gs The Library panel showing a movie clip symbol To display the Library panel do one of the following Select Window gt Library Press Control L Windows or Command L Macintosh Managing media assets with the library The library in a Flash document stores media assets that you create or import for use in a Flash document The library stores imported files such as video clips sound clips bitmaps and imported vector artwork as well as symbols A symbol is a graphic button or movie clip that you create once and can reuse multiple times You can also create a font symbol For information on symbols see Using Symbols Instances and Library Assets and Creating font symbols The library also contains components that you have added to your document Components appear in the library as compiled clips For more information s
75. em in the Property inspector When you remove a filter the object returns to its previous appearance You can view the filters applied to an object by selecting it doing so automatically updates the filters list in the Property inspector for the selected object About importing filters and blends from Fireworks PNG files Flash Professional only Flash Professional 8 provides support for Fireworks filters and blending modes When you import Fireworks PNG files you can retain many of the filters and blending modes applied to objects within Fireworks and continue to modify those filters and blends using Flash Professional 8 Flash only supports modifiable filters and blends for objects imported as text and movie clips If an effect or blend mode is not supported Flash will rasterize or ignore it when it is imported If you want to import a Fireworks PNG file that contains filters or blends that Flash does not support you must rasterize the file during the import process After this operation you will not be able to edit the file 80 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Animating Filters You can animate filters in the Timeline Objects on separate keyframes joined by a tween have the parameters for corresponding filters tweened on intermediate frames If a filter does not have a matching filter a filter of the same type at the opposite end of the tween a matching filter is added automatically to ensure that the effect
76. er Flash Lite 1 0 or Flash Lite 1 1 The Flash Lite emulator and test window let you test your content as it will run and appear on an actual device A settings pane in the Flash Lite test window lets you select a different test device view information about your application and set emulator debug output options 19 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA cafe tutorial4 swt Device emulation Test device Nokia 7610 176 x 208 pixels SWF 176x 206 peels 63 55 KB Qutpit Trace e information Warnings Sommer salad Butter lettuce wiih apples blood orange Segment gorgonzola amd j Faspoerny wind igi tHe Home in The Flash Lite emulator and test window What s New In Flash 8 The Device Settings dialog box lets you select the test devices and Flash Lite content type that you want to test against in the Flash Lite emulator Different devices support different media types for example different types of device sound formats as well as different Flash Lite content types such as stand alone player screensaver or browser When you preview your application in the Flash Lite test window the emulator mimics the features available to the selected test device running as the selected content type Device Settings Content type Standalone Player Current stage size 176 x 208 preels Available devices Test devices a Name p 3600 4 T Mobile 3550 Noka 2660 3600 6260 pr ey eed e670 6600 761
77. es For a full list of devices with Flash Lite installed see the Supported Devices page on the Macromedia website at www macromedia com mobile supported_devices e The Flash Lite content types supported by the target devices Each Flash Lite installation supports one or more application modes or content types For example some devices use Flash Lite to enable Flash based screen savers or animated ring tones Others use Flash Lite to render Flash content that is embedded in mobile web pages Not all content types support all Flash Lite features Each Flash Lite content type paired with a specific device defines a specific set of Flash Lite features that are available to your application For example a Flash application that s running as a screen saver is not typically allowed to make network connections or download data The Flash Lite testing features in Macromedia Flash Professional 8 let you test against multiple devices and different Flash Lite content types This lets you determine if your application uses features that aren t available for the type of content that you are developing Flash Lite authoring features in Flash Professional 8 This section discusses the features in Flash Professional 8 designed specifically for Flash Lite developers With the exception of the device templates feature the following features are only available when your document s Version setting on the Flash tab of the Publish Setting dialog box is set to eith
78. filled e Repeat repeats the gradient from the beginning of the gradient to the end until the selected shape is filled Linear RGB creates an SVG compliant Scalable Vector Graphics linear or radial gradient 50 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Building the 8 Ball with Gradients As you examine the finished version of an application you ll create you will also look at the Flash workspace In this section you will complete the following tasks e Open the authoring document e Review the completed FLA file e Close the completed FLA file Open the authoring document It s helpful to analyze the completed authoring document which is a FLA file to see how the author designed the illustration and understand what you are going to create On most computers you will find the Gradients tutorial folder in the following locations e In Windows Unit_4 folder Gradients gradients_finish fla Double click the file to open it in Flash You now see the completed tutorial file in the Flash authoring environment Review the completed FLA file In the completed FLA file you will see the combined effects of several gradients The illustration looks like this 51 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 There are five gradients in the illustration e Agradient from black to green on the background e Agradient from black to green to black on the bottom of the eight ball e Another from white
79. g Macintosh to rotate around the opposite corner To scale the selection drag a corner handle diagonally to scale in two dimensions To scale in the respective direction only drag a corner handle or a side handle horizontally or vertically Shift drag to resize proportionally To skew the selection position the pointer on the outline between the transformation handles and drag To distort shapes press Control Windows or Command Macintosh and drag a corner handle or a side handle Shift Control click to drag Windows or Shift Command click to drag Macintosh a corner handle to taper the object to move the selected corner and the adjoining corner equal distances from their origins NOTE The Free Transform tool cannot transform symbols bitmaps video objects sounds gradients or text If a multiple selection contains any of these only the shape objects are distorted To transform a text block first convert the characters to shape objects 66 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 4 Toend the transformation click outside the selected object group instance or text block Now you can taper shapes This text was broken apart before transforming Distorting Objects When you apply a Distort transformation to a selected object dragging a corner handle or an edge handle on the bounding box moves the corner or edge and realigns the adjoining edges Shift drag a corner point to taper the object
80. g Method pop up menu Type title in the Var text box This is the variable name assigned to the dynamic text field Create another text field below the first one to display a short description of the specials being viewed by the user Using the Selection tool resize the text field so that it s about three times as tall as the other text field 150 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Text field to display description of special With the text field selected on the Stage make the following changes in the Property inspector o Select Dynamic Text from the Text Type pop up menu o Select Multiline from the Line Type pop up menu o Select Verdana from the Font pop up menu o Set the font size to 10 o Select Bitmap no anti alias from the Font Rendering Method pop up menu o Type description in the Var text box In the Timeline select the keyframe on Frame 10 on the Actions layer Open the Actions panel and add the following code title Summer salad description Butter lettuce with apples blood orange segments gorgonzola and raspberry vinaigrette fscommand2 SetSoftKeys Home Next Stop This code displays the name and description of the special that the user is currently viewing and stops the playhead The SetSoftKeys command registers the device s soft keys that will let the user return to the home screen as well as navigate between specials On the Actions layer selec
81. g caching does not improve performance or even decrease it This section describes scenarios in which caching should be used and when to use regular movie clips Overall performance of cached data depends on how complex the vector data of your instances are how much of the data you change and whether or not you set the opaqueBackground property If you are changing small regions the difference between using a surface and using vector data could be negligible You might want to test both scenarios with your work before you deploy the application When to use bitmap caching The following are typical scenarios in which you might see significant benefits when you enable bitmap caching Complex background image An application that contains a detailed and complex background image of vector data perhaps an image where you applied the trace bitmap command or artwork that you created in Adobe Illustrator You might animate characters over the background which slows the animation because the background needs to continuously regenerate the vector data To improve performance you can select the content store it in a movie clip and set the opaqueBackground property to true The background is rendered as a bitmap and can be redrawn quickly so that your animation plays much faster Scrolling text field An application that displays a large amount of text in a scrolling text field You can place the text field in a movie clip that you set as scrol
82. g profile pop up menu or create your own custom encoding profile using the encoding options in the Encoding tab For information on specifying the custom video encoding settings see Encoding video Click the Cue Points tab The Cue Points settings are displayed Encoding Cue Points Crop and Trim Name Time Fade to_black 00 00 02 570 Flaming _pan 00 00 06 293 Salmon 00 00 19 411 Plate 00 00 24 197 Use the playback head to locate a specific frame point in the video where you want to embed a cue point For greater precision select the playback head and use the left and right arrow keys to locate specific points within the video To locate a specific frame use the pointer to move the playback head to the point in the video where you want to embed a cue point The video preview window lets you visually identify points in the video at which to insert a cue point You can also use the elapsed time counter located beneath the video preview window to locate specific points in time at which to embed cue points When the playback head is positioned on a frame where you want to embed a cue point click the Add Cue Point button Flash Video Encoder embeds a cue point on that frame of the video and populates the cue point list 128 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 with a placeholder for the name of the new cue point and the elapsed time and video frame at which the cue point is located this is the tim
83. ge width 271 convolution bias ymouse Stage height 100 Snape Mest liters Leconvelucron 7 Er Mouse addL i istener mouseListener The preceding code is separated into three sections The first section imports two classes ConvolutionFilter and BitmapData The second section creates a nested movie clip and uses a movie clip loader object to load an image into the nested movie clip A convolution filter object is created and applied to the shape _mc movie clip The final section of code defines a mouse listener object that modifies the convolution filter s divisor and bias properties based on the current position of the mouse pointer and reapplies the convolution filter to the shape _ mc movie clip 3 Select Control gt Test Movie to test the Flash document Moving the mouse pointer along the x axis of the Stage modifies the filter s divisor whereas moving the mouse pointer along the y axis of the Stage modifies the filter s bias 117 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Lab e Create some text convert it into a symbol and apply a filter e Animate the text and try the new ease in ease out controls New Features Summary e Blends e Programming Blends with ActionScript e Filters e Programming Filters with ActionScript e Importing From Fireworks e Bitmaps in Flash 8 e Using the New Easing In Easing Out Controls 118 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Un
84. hange the pointer to the horizontal or vertical guide pointers that indicate that a drag operation will move the position of the guide Drag and release the pointer The new position of the guide is updated in the library preview for the symbol Using ActionScript to Modify Bitmaps Creating Bitmaps with the BitmapData Class The BitmapData class lets you create arbitrarily sized transparent or opaque bitmap images then manipulate them in various ways at runtime When you manipulate a BitmapData instance directly by using ActionScript you can create very complex images without incurring the overhead of constantly redrawing the content from vector data in Flash Player The methods of the BitmapData class support a variety of effects that are not available through the Filters tab in the Flash workspace A BitmapData object contains an array of pixel data This data either can represent a fully opaque bitmap or a transparent bitmap that contains alpha channel data Either type of BitmapData object is stored as a buffer of 32 bit integers Each 32 bit integer determines the properties of a single pixel in the bitmap Each 32 bit integer is a combination of four 8 bit channel values from O to 255 that describe the alpha transparency and the red green and blue ARGB values of the pixel You can find a sample source file that uses the BitmapData class to manipulate an image Find the file called BitmapData fla in the Samples folder on your hard dis
85. hard disk e In Windows browse to boot drive Program Files Macromedia Flash 8 Samples and Tutorials Samples ActionScript Flash Type e On the Macintosh browse to Macintosh HD Applications Macromedia Flash 8 Samples and Tutorials Samples ActionScript FlashT ype When to avoid using bitmap caching Misusing this feature could negatively affect your SWF file When you develop a FLA file that uses surfaces remember the following guidelines e Do not overuse surfaces movie clips with caching enabled Each surface uses more memory than a regular movie clip which means that you should only enable surfaces when you need to improve rendering performance A cached bitmap can use significantly more memory than a regular movie clip instance For example if the movie clip on Stage is 250 pixels by 250 pixels in size when cached it might use 250 KB instead of 1 KB when it s a regular uncached movie clip instance e Avoid zooming into cached surfaces If you overuse bitmap caching a large amount of memory is consumed see previous bullet especially if you zoom in on the content e Use surfaces for movie clip instances that are largely static nonanimating You can drag or move the instance but the contents of the instance should not animate or change a lot For example if you rotate or transform an instance the instance changes between the surface and vector data which is difficult to process and negatively affects your SWF file e lf
86. hen you use the global loadMovie or loadMovieNum function specify the target level or clip as a parameter The following example loads the Flash application contents swf into the movie clip instance named image_mc loadMovie contents swf image_mc You can use MovieClip loadMovie to achieve the same result image_mc loadMovie contents swf The following example loads the image1 jog JPEG image into the image_mc movie clip instance image_mc loadMovie http www helpexamples com flash images image 1 jpg 109 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Using the New 9 Slice Scaling Feature You can use 9 slice scaling Scale 9 to specify component style scaling for movie clips This lets you Create movie clip symbols that scale appropriately for use as user interface components as opposed to the type of scaling typically applied to graphics and design elements The movie clip is conceptually divided into nine sections with a grid like overlay and each of the nine areas is scaled independently To maintain the visual integrity of the movie clip corners are not scaled while the remaining areas of the image are scaled as opposed to being stretched larger or smaller as needed When a movie clip symbol has 9 slice scaling applied it appears in the Library panel preview with the guides displayed 9 slice scaling is visible only in the Test Movie window you cannot view 9 slice scaling on the Stage Understa
87. hough frame rates and sizes of Internet video are usually smaller than those of television computer monitors have much better color fidelity saturation sharpness and resolution than conventional televisions Even with a small window image quality can be more important for digital video than for standard analog television Artifacts and noise that would hardly be noticeable on TV can be quite obvious on a computer screen Remove noise and interlace After you capture your video content you might need to remove noise and interlacing Follow the same guidelines for audio The same considerations exist for audio production as for video production To achieve good audio compression you must begin with clean audio If you are encoding material from a CD try to record the file using direct digital transfer instead of through the analog input of your sound card The sound card introduces an unnecessary digital to analog and analog to digital conversion that can create noise in your source audio Direct digital transfer tools are available for Windows and Macintosh platforms If you must record from an analog source you should use the highest quality sound card available 123 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Flash 8 Video Encoder A new video encoder application is included with Flash Professional 8 It is a separate application that provides an easy way to convert video files into the Flash Video FLV format The applicat
88. ick OK The Device setting dialog box appears 6 Select Browser from the Content Type pop up menu 7 Inthe list of available devices double click the NTT DoCoMo folder to expand it double click the Panasonic folder 21 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 8 With the Panasonic folder selected click Add to add all the Panasonic devices to your list of test devices 9 Test your application Control gt Test Movie When you test your application in the emulator you ll be able to test your application against any of your test devices for the selected content type 10 Close the emulator window Saving and Version Control When you save your FLA files it is important to consider using a consistent naming scheme for your documents This is particularly important if you save multiple versions of a single project Use intuitive easy to read names for your files Do not use spaces capitalization or special characters Only use letters numbers dashes and underscores If you save multiple versions of the same file devise a consistent numbering system such as site_menu01 swf site _menu02 swf and so on Many designers and developers choose to use all lowercase characters in their naming schemes Many Flash designers and developers adopt a naming system that uses a noun verb or adjective noun combination for naming files Two examples of naming schemes are as follows class_planning swf and my_project swf Av
89. ick Save 6 Find the exported file in the folder you selected and open the file in a web browser 7 To print the file use the browser s Print command Lab No lab for this unit Lets move on to Drawing New Features Summary e Working with the Property Inspector There is a new Filter Tab and other goodies e Viewing the Expanded Stage Area Place objects as far out as you want e Customizing the Flash Toolbar Modify your tools e Changing Preferences New format easier to read e Using the Flash 8 Library Panel One Panel for all your files e Using Tabbed Panels Organize for easier panel access 39 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 40 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Unit 4 Drawing Improvements Unit Objectives After this unit you will be able to Understand and use the new Object drawing model Use the Gradient Tool Create new Gradients with ActionScript Use the new Shape tool Features Use the Free Transform Tool Use Enhance Strokes Unit Topics The Object Drawing Model Using Gradients in Flash 8 Building an 8 Ball with Gradients New Drawing Features in Flash 8 41 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Object Drawing Model Previously in Flash all shapes in the same layer on the Stage could affect the outlines of other overlapping shapes You can now create shapes directly on the Stage that do not
90. ill be flattened to prevent it from extending beyond the bounds of the graph To use the Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box 1 Select a layer in the Timeline that has a motion tween applied to it 2 Click the Edit button next to the Ease slider in the frame Property inspector The Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box appears Optional Deselect the Use One Setting for All Properties check box and select a property in the menu to display the curve for that property For more information about the properties you can specify see Applying custom ease in ease out to motion tweens Flash Professional only In the Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box Control click Windows or Command click Macintosh on the diagonal line to add a control point Drag the control point up to increase the speed of the object or drag it downwards to slow down the speed of the object Drag the vertex handles to further adjust the ease curve and fine tune the ease value of the tween View the animation on the Stage by clicking the play button in the lower left corner of the Custom Ease In Ease Out dialog box Adjust the controls until you achieve the effect you want 92 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 To copy and paste an ease curve e Copy the current ease curve by pressing Control C Windows or Command C Macintosh e Paste the copied curve into another ease curve by pressing Control V Windows or Command V
91. ilter is enabled and all others filters in the list are disabled To enable or disable all filters applied to an object e Click the Add Filter button in the Property inspector and then select Enable All or Disable All from the pop up menu 83 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Apply Graphic Filters and Blends This tutorial guides you through the process of creating eye catching graphic effects using some of the authoring features in Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Filters are not available in Flash Basic By using the graphic filters and blend modes available in Flash you can transform ordinary graphic objects into much more visually compelling content Review your task In this tutorial you will add some graphics to the Stage and apply filters to them to create a realistic looking image of a pool table with a narrow depth of field The balls in the foreground and background will appear out of focus as if seen through a camera The completed FLA file To see the completed FLA file Filters amp Blends_finished fla browse to one of the following locations e In Windows Unit_5 Filters and Blends e Onthe Macintosh Unit_5 Filters and Blends 84 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Open the starter document Now that you have seen the document you will create it is time to create your own version of the document The first thing to do is open the starter document whi
92. ion also allows you to perform batch processing of video files a FLASH Video Selecting a video encoding profile Flash provides several preconfigured encoding profiles that you can use to encode your video In the Encoding panel you can select an encoding profile to determine the level of compression to be applied to the video clip ncoder The encoding profiles are based on the Flash Player version you intend to publish content for and the data rate at which you want your video content to be encoded If you choose an encoding profile using Flash Player 8 the On2 VP6 video codec is used to encode the video If choose an encoding profile using Flash Player 7 the Sorenson Spark video codec is used to encode the video For more information on supported video codec s and Flash Player compatibility see About the On2 VP6 and Sorenson Spark video codecs To select a video encoding profile In the Encoding panel select an encoding profile from the Flash Video encoding profile pop up menu Verify that the encoding profile you ve selected is appropriate for your intended application The text box below the Flash Video encoding profile pop up menu displays the Flash Player version video codec video bitrate and audio encoding information for the selected encoding profile 124 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Flash Video Encoding Settings Please select a Flash Video encoding profile a a a Fla
93. it 7 Using Video in Flash 8 Unit Objectives After this unit you will be able to e Import Video with the New Video Encoder e Work with Alpha Channels e Batch Process Video e Use the New On2 VP6 Video Codec e Embed Cue Points e Build a Video Player in Flash 8 Unit Topics e Video Improvements e Importing Video e Working with Alpha Channels e The New On2 VP6 Video Codec e Embedding Cue Points e Building a Flash Video Player 119 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Video improvements The list of improvements to video includes e Anew video codec On2 VP6 for better quality video and smaller video file size e Improved video import wizard e Stand alone video encoder e Alpha channel support e Embedded cue points for triggering events from specific points in a video Comparing the On2 VP6 and Sorenson Spark video codecs The On2 VP6 codec is the default video codec to use when encoding FLV content for use with Flash Player 8 The On2 VP6 codec provides e Higher quality video when compared to the Sorenson Spark codec encoded at the same data rate e Support for the use of an alpha channel to composite video In order to support better quality video at the same data rate the On2 VP6 codec requires noticeably slower to encode and requires more processor power on the client computer to decode and play back For this reason you should carefully consider the lowest common denominator of compu
94. ith e The Windows XP operating system e Basic Flash functionality including the interface animation and ActionScript Course Outline This one day class contains the following 8 Units e Unit 1 Overview of the Session e Unit 2 Setting up your Flash 8 Document e Unit 3 Interface Improvements e Unit 4 Drawing Improvements e Unit 5 Expressiveness Features and Animation e Unit 6 Text and Graphics Rendering e Unit 7 Using Video in Flash 8 e Unit 8 Mobile Phone Workflow Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Unit 2 Setting Up the Flash 8 Document Unit Objectives After this unit you will be able to Set up your document for web and mobile output Modify your document properties Define a Site in Flash 8 Upload a Site via Flash 8 Save versions of your FLA file Unit Topics Document Setup Document Setup for Flash Lite Mobile Devices Defining a Site Uploading a Site Version Control Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Setting Up Your Flash Document In this unit you will set up a simple Flash document and examine some of the new features of setting up a FLA file Creating a Simple Flash Document To illustrate the basic steps of creating any Flash document this section guides you through the process in a simple tutorial The first step is to create a new document in Flash and explore on of the new features SWF MetaData Setting Up a Document with S
95. k e In Windows browse to boot drive Program Files Macromedia Flash 8 Samples and Tutorials Samples ActionScript BitmapData e On the Macintosh browse to Macintosh HD Applications Macromedia Flash 8 Samples and Tutorials Samples ActionScript BitmapData The following procedure dynamically loads a JPEG image onto the Stage and uses the BitmapData class to create a noise effect similar to static on a television The noise effect is redrawn with a random pattern every 100 milliseconds 1 10 of a second Moving the mouse pointer along the x axis and y axis affects how much static is drawn at every interval To create a noise effect with the BitmapData class 1 Create a new Flash document and save it as noise fla 2 Add the following ActionScript to Frame 1 of the Timeline 113 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 import flash display BitmapData Lt Secreace exer rela CY StalusS TX 907 Oy Up L007 207 Scarus txt SeleCctaDbile false Status tzt Dackground QXFFFEFE Status Ta O ze eT T function onMouseMove 4 SEAGUS EXE K KMOUSG Status Cet y ynouse 207 updateAfterEvent j EMS vereacermpeyMovieC lip amg me LOJ img mc loadMovie http www helpexamples com flash images imagel Jpg var noiseBmp BitmapData new BitmapData Stage width Stage height true this attachBitmap noiseBmp 20 setInterval updateNoise 100 var grayScale Boolean true function updateNoise
96. l on frame 1 Next let s add a keyframe to frame 30 Select frame 30 on the Flash Text layer From the Insert menu select Insert gt Timeline gt Keyframe 3 Silman j aah Paitai t i Bs id Ere bhua pit Tg Au v ieej ji fens Ba A x ogee d ioe roe bei S a J gy j Pa a e PE j p 3 3 ai L 7 P F 3 1 pP aA Flash 8 vf 7 ka aw l E gt Gi weit D amp i 2 Dite Le i n Jo ai oa P i n ps Flash 8 n Die st gt Ace ee i eee Sew Figure 5 Place the symbol on the stage and add a keyframe Select Frame 1 in the Flash Text layer In the Property Inspector choose the Motion option from the Tween drop down menu We don t have an animation just yet We need to make another adjustment to Frame 1 While still in Frame 1 take your Selection tool V and click on the graphic symbol to select it We are going to scale the text down by selecting Modify gt Transform gt Scale and Rotate In the Scale and Rotate dialog box set the scale value to 10 and click the OK button At this point you can now click on the playback head in the timeline and scrub back and forth to see the animation effect 96 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Scale and Rotate Scale 10 Rotate 0 i degrees Figure 6 Modify the scale of the symbol in frame one 9 Test you movie by selecting the Control menu Control gt Test Movie You
97. lable with scrolling bounds the scrollRect property This enables fast pixel scrolling for the specified instance When a user scrolls the movie clip instance Flash shifts the scrolled pixels up and generates the newly exposed region instead of regenerating the entire text field Windowing system An application with a complex system of overlapping windows Each window can be open or closed for example web browser windows If you mark each window as a surface set the cacheAsBitmap property to true each window is isolated and cached Users can drag the windows so that they overlap each other and each window doesn t need to regenerate the vector content All of these scenarios improve the responsiveness and interactivity of the application by optimizing the vector graphics You can find a sample source file that shows you how bitmap caching can be applied to an instance Find the file called cacheBitmap fla in the Samples folder on your hard disk e In Windows browse to boot drive Program Files Macromedia Flash 8 Samples and Tutorials Samples ActionScript CacheBitmap e On the Macintosh browse to Macintosh HD Applications Macromedia Flash 8 Samples and Tutorials Samples ActionScript CacheBitmap 106 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 You can also find a sample source file that shows you how to apply bitmap caching to scrolling text Find the sample source file flashtype fla in the Samples folder on your
98. lash Lite emulator you can choose the test device you want the emulator to mimic Device document templates Flash Professional 8 includes document templates to let you quickly start creating content for specific devices and content types Workflow for Authoring Flash Lite Applications The process for creating Flash Lite content is an iterative one that involves the following steps Identify your target device s and Flash Lite content type Different devices have different screen sizes support different audio formats and have different screen color depths among other factors These factors may influence your application s design or implementation In addition different devices support different Flash Lite content types such as screen savers stand alone applications or animated ring tones The content type for which you are developing also determines the features that are available to your application Create and test your application in Flash Flash Professional 8 includes a Flash Lite emulator that lets you test your application without having to transfer it to a device You use the Flash Lite emulator to refine your application design and fix any problems before you test it on a mobile device Test the application on your target device or devices This step is important because the emulator doesn t emulate all aspects of the target device such as its processor speed color depth or network latency For instance an animation that ru
99. liasing is supported for static dynamic and input text if the user has Flash Player 7 or later It is Supported only for static text if the user has an earlier version of Flash Player A new feature in Flash 8 is FlashType a new text rendering engine that provides improved anti aliasing and readability of fonts When using small text in a Flash document keep in mind the following guidelines e Sans serif text such as Helvetica or Arial appears clearer at small sizes than serif text e Some type styles such as bold and italic can reduce text readability at small sizes e n some cases text appears somewhat smaller than text of the same point size in other applications Setting anti aliasing options for text Flash provides improved font rasterization that lets you specify the anti aliasing properties for fonts The improved anti aliasing capabilities are available only when publishing SWF files for Flash Player 8 If you are publishing files for use with Flash Player 7 or earlier versions you can only use the Anti Alias for Animation feature You apply anti aliasing for each text field rather than each character Also when you open existing FLA files in Flash 8 the text is not automatically updated to the Advanced Anti Alias option you must select individual text fields and manually change the anti aliasing settings For more information see Upgrading Flash 7 content to use Flash 8 anti aliasing options To select an anti aliasing
100. ls Library Slice9 fla Shoe fla 2 items Editing movie clip symbols with 9 slice scaling By default slice guides are placed at 25 or 1 4 of the symbol s width and height from the edge of the symbol When you are in symbol editing mode the slice guides appear with dotted lines superimposed on the symbol on the main Stage The guides do not appear when the symbol is in edit in place mode Slice guides don t snap when you drag them in the workspace To enable 9 slice scaling for an existing movie clip symbol 1 With the source document open select Window gt Library to display the Library panel 2 Select a movie clip button or graphic symbol in the Library panel 3 Select Properties from the Library options menu 4 Select the Enable Guides for 9 slice Scaling check box The slice guides are superimposed on the symbol on the Stage To edit a movie clip symbol using 9 slice scaling 1 Enter symbol editing mode by doing one of the following o Select an instance of the symbol on the Stage and right click Windows or Control click Macintosh and select Edit from the context menu o Select the symbol in the Library and right click Windows or Control click Macintosh and select Edit from the context menu o Double click the symbol in the Library 112 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 The slice 9 guides appear 2 Move the pointer over any of the four guides in the workspace to c
101. lug in to export FLV files from either Flash 8 Video Encoder or video editing applications significantly streamlines the process of working with FLV files in your Flash documents With the FLV Export plug in you can select encoding options for video and audio content as you export including frame rate bit rate quality and other options You can import FLV files directly into Flash without needing to re encode the video after import 121 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Tips for creating Flash video How you compress your video is largely determined by the content of the video A video clip of a talking head with little action and only short bursts of moderate motion compresses differently from footage of a soccer match Follow these guidelines to deliver the best possible Flash video Whenever possible always encode a file from its uncompressed form If you convert a precompressed digital video format into the FLV format the previous encoder can introduce video noise The first compressor has already performed its encoding algorithm on the video and has already reduced its quality frame size and rate It may have also introduced some of its own digital artifacts or noise This additional noise affects the FLV encoding process and may require a higher data rate to play back a good quality file Strive for simplicity Avoid elaborate transitions they don t compress well and can make your final compressed video look
102. ly click OK 10 Save the file as SimpleFlash fla in the Unit 2 folder Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Drawing a circle After you ve created your document you are ready to add some artwork for the document To draw a circle on the stage 1 Select the Oval tool from the Tools panel gt o r o Ro f amp ZO ale 7 Q Colors PA CF Lie a Options A Kel aoe 0 w The Oval tool in the Tools panel 2 Select the No Color option from the Stroke Color Picker Colors Aram SS eoo0000 Alpha 100 a el i fit Selecting the No Color option in the Stroke Color Picker Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 3 Select a color of your choice from the Fill Color Picker Make sure the fill color contrasts well with the Stage color 4 Draw a circle on the Stage by selecting the Oval tool and Shift dragging on the Stage Holding the Shift key constrains the Oval tool to a circle The circle shape drawn on the Stage Creating a symbol You can turn your new artwork into a reusable asset by converting it to a Flash symbol A symbol is a media asset that can be reused anywhere in your Flash document without the need to re create it To create a symbol 1 Click the Selection tool in the Tools panel H H E eaXLO gt VEY Se Q The Tools panel with the Selection tool selected 2 Click the circle on the Stage to select i
103. mponents in Flash are prebuilt objects that you can use in your own Flash documents Most components are user interface elements such as buttons menus and so on Some are not meant to be seen on the Stage and are used instead to perform data handling functions By using a component you can avoid the need to build complex user interface elements yourself Components are implemented in Flash as movie clips with their own internal ActionScript code 134 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 You use the Components panel to set the properties of the component This tells Flash how you want the component to behave For the FLVPlayback component you will tell Flash the location of the FLV file you want to play and how you want the playback controls to appear To add a media component 1 Select Window gt Components to open the Components panel 2 Inthe Components panel click the plus sign next to the FLV Playback Player 8 category Components E g Data E GM FLV Custom UI Player 8 E g FLV Playback Player amp E QW Media Player amp 7 F gh User Interface 3 Drag an FLVPlayback component to the Stage The new component remains selected on the Stage by default 4 With the new component still selected on the Stage enter the following values in the Property inspector o W 360 o H 240 o X0 135 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 o Y 0 This makes the com
104. n e Back on the main screen select the Reservations menu item to start a phone call to the restaurant 142 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Creating the Mobile Application This section contains step by step procedures that show you how to recreate the cafe application The tutorial is divided into three parts e Selecting your test devices and content types In this section you ll configure your Flash document s publish settings document settings and device settings e Creating the menu for the application s main screen From this screen the user can select from a simple menu to view images and descriptions of the day s specials or to call the restaurant to make a reservation e Creating the specials screen On this screen users can press the device s Left soft key to navigate between images and descriptions for each lunch special at the cafe or press the Right soft key to return to the main screen Selecting Your Test Devices and Content Type In this section you select the test devices and content type for the application For this application you ll target the family of Symbian Series 60 devices from Nokia that support the stand alone version of Flash Lite 1 1 You use the Device Settings dialog box to select the device s and content type that you are targeting When you test your application in the Flash Lite emulator the emulator configures itself to match the configuration of the player on th
105. n the loadClip method see MovieClipLoader loadClip in the ActionScript 2 0 Language Reference For image files Flash Player 8 supports the JPEG progressive and non progressive image file type GIF images transparent and non transparent although only the first frame of an animated GIF will be loaded and PNG files transparent and non transparent To load a SWF or image file into a level in Flash Player use the loadMovieNum function To load a SWF or image file into a movie clip target use the loadMovie function or method In either case the loaded content replaces the content of the specified level or target movie clip When you load a SWF or image file into a movie clip target the upper left corner of the SWF file or image is placed on the registration point of the movie clip Because this registration point is often the center of the movie clip the loaded content might not appear centered Also when you load a SWF file or image to a root timeline the upper left corner of the image is placed on the upper left corner of the Stage The loaded content inherits rotation and scaling from the movie clip but the original content of the movie clip is removed You can optionally send ActionScript variables with a loadMovie or loadMovieNum call This is useful for example if the URL you re specifying in the method call is a server side script that returns a SWF or image file according to data passed from the Flash application W
106. nding how 9 slice scaling works The easiest way to explain how 9 slice scaling works is to look at an example of how 9 slice scaling works in Flash To understand scaling in Flash 1 Create a new Flash document and save it as dynmask fla 2 Drag a copy of the Button component to the Stage from the Components panel Window gt Components 3 Increase the Stage s zoom level to 400 by using the Zoom tool By default the Button component instance is 100 pixels wide by 22 pixels high 4 Resize the Button component instance to 200 pixels width by 44 pixels high by using the Property inspector 110 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Button You can see that even though the component resized the Button s border and text label do not distort The button s label remained centered and maintained its font size Although components of version 2 of the Macromedia Component Architecture do not use 9 slice scaling components handle scaling in the version 2 component architecture so the outlines do not change size as shown in the next figure Imagine that the button instance is sliced into 9 separate pieces or a 3 by 3 grid similar to a keypad on a telephone or keyboard When you resize the button instance horizontally only the three vertical segments in the center numbers 2 5 and 8 on a keypad stretch so your content doesn t appear distorted If you resized the button instance verti
107. ner of the Stage With the new CueBall instance still selected on the Stage go to the Transform panel and enter 70 in the W Width and H Height text boxes This makes the CueBall instance appear smaller than the 8ball instance With the CueBall instance still selected on the Stage go to the Property inspector and select Brightness from the Color menu A Brightness Amount slider appears to the right of the Color menu Drag the Brightness Amount slider until the value is 48 86 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 9 Enter the following values in the W H X and Y text boxes W 105 H 115 X 95 Y 105 With the CueBall instance still selected on the Stage click the Filters tab in the Property inspector Click Add Filter and select Blur from the Filter pop up menu Drag the BlurX slider until the BlurX and BlurY values are each 13 These text boxes are constrained to match each other by default Click the lock icon if they are not Click outside the Stage to deselect the CueBall instance You have now applied the graphic effects to create a realistic look of depth 87 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Programming Filters Working with filters using ActionScript The flash filters package contains classes for the bitmap filter effects that are new in Flash Player 8 Filters let you use ActionScript to apply rich visual effects such as blur bevel glow and d
108. ng Setting for any Sony cell phone New Features Summary e SWF file metadata You can now add metadata to Flash files so that you can search more effectively for these files using Internet search engines such as Google com e Flash Player Detection Currently Flash 8 uses JavaScript to detect the Flash player and to display some simple HTML content You will notice that the Content and Alternate file options have been eliminated from Flash 8 For a more sophisticated experience you can download the Flash Detection Kit This contains three ways of detecting the Flash player e ActionScript Detection ActionScript solution e Client Side Detection JavaScript VB Script solution that comes with Flash 8 e Express Detection Installs the player directly from the Macromedia website You can find the kit at http www macromedia com software flashplayer download detection_kit e The Flash Lite emulator and test window let you test your content as it will run and appear on an actual device A settings pane in the Flash Lite test window lets you select a different test device view information about your application and set emulator debug output options e The Property inspector contains a section that provides information about your current device settings as well as a button that lets you open the Device Settings dialog box This button is active only when your document s Version setting on the Flash tab of the Publish Setting dialog
109. ng the application for web playback The tutorial should take approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete Run the completed application To better understand the type of application you ll create as you work through this tutorial you can look at a completed FLA file version of the application in the Flash authoring tool FLA files are the files you work on in Flash You can also play the SWF version of the file in Flash Player The SWF version is the version of the file that you would publish in a web page To play the SWF version of the file in Flash Player 1 In Flash select File gt Open 2 Use one of the following paths to browse to the completed file 130 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 a In Windows browse to Unit_7 cafe_townsend completed files flash and double click video_pod _finished swf 3 The completed application runs in Flash Player Click the playback controls at the bottom of the window to watch the video 4 After viewing the application close the Flash Player window Open the authoring document It s helpful to look at the completed authoring FLA file to see how the author designed the application To view the authoring version of the file in Flash 1 In Flash select File gt Open 2 Browse to the authoring document using one of the following paths o In Windows browse to Unit_7 cafe_townsend completed files flash and double click video_pod _finished fla o On the Maci
110. ns smoothly on the emulator might not run as quickly on the device due to its slower processor speed Or a color gradient that appears smooth in the emulator may appear banded when viewed on the actual device After testing your application on a device you may find that you need to refine the application s design in the Flash authoring tool The following figure illustrates the iterative development and testing process described above 140 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Testing in the Flash Lite emulator Editing the FLA file in Flash Professional 8 Testing ona device Walkthrough Cafe Application Overview The caf application s initial screen contains some introductory text about the restaurant and a menu listing two options Specials and Reservations The user selects a menu item by pressing the Up and Down arrows on their device to set the focus and then pressing the Select key to confirm the selection Our mane comes from our first restaurant located in a historic building on Townsend Street in qan France ma Specials TS Reservations ba The caf application s main screen If the user selects the Specials menu option a screen for navigating a list of today s specials appears To browse images and descriptions of the specials the user presses the device s Right soft key labeled Next To return to the main application the user presses the Left soft 141 M
111. ntosh browse to Macintosh Unit_7 cafe_townsend completed_files flash and double click video_pod_finished fla You now see the completed tutorial application in the Flash authoring environment 3 After you have the file open you can explore the Stage Library panel and the Timeline o On the Stage you will see a FLVPlayback component which you will learn more about later in this tutorial o Inthe Library panel you will see a list of symbols or reusable assets that the document uses o Inthe Timeline you will see a representation of how and when those symbols appear on the Stage You will learn more about the role of each of these parts of Flash as you complete the tutorial Create a working folder Before you begin you must create a working folder that includes the sample files used in the tutorials in this guide Getting Started with Flash This task consists of creating the working folder on your hard disk and copying the sample files from the Flash application folder to the working folder 1 Create a new folder called local sites in the Unit 7 folder For example create a folder called local_ sites in either of the following locations 2 Locate the cafe_townsend folder in the Flash application folder on your hard disk If you installed Flash to its default location the path to the folders is as follows 131 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 3 Copy the cafe_townsend folder to your new folder
112. nvoked when the image is completely downloaded and is initialized by Flash The event listener creates a new movie clip named blendModeType_mc and uses the Drawing API to draw a rectangular shape over the left half of the image The currently selected blending mode for the ComboBox instance is then applied to the blendModeType_mc movie clip The rest of the code sets up the MovieClipLoader instance which is responsible for loading the specified image into a movie clip on the Stage Finally a listener is defined for the blendMode_cb ComboBox instance which applies the selected blending mode whenever a new item is selected from the ComboBox instance 4 Select Control gt Test Movie to test the document Working with Filters About Filters Filters let you add interesting visual effects to text buttons and movie clips and are most often associated with applying drop shadows blurs glows and bevels to graphic elements A feature unique to Flash is that you can animate the filters you apply using motion tweens For example if you Create a ball or sphere with a drop shadow you can simulate the look of the light source moving from one side of the object to another by changing the position of the drop shadow from its beginning and ending frames in the Timeline After you apply a filter you can change its options any time or rearrange the order of filters to experiment with a combined effect You can enable or disable filters or delete th
113. o apply blends to selected movie clips NOTE Multiple graphic symbols are merged as a single shape when you publish the SWF For this reason you cannot apply different blend modes to different graphic symbols To apply a blend mode to a movie clip 1 Create a new Document and save it as blend_test fla Draw a red square and convert it to a movie clip Draw a blue circle beside the red square and convert it to a movie clip Select the blue circle movie clip instance Adjust the color and transparency of the movie clip instance using the Color pop up menu in the Property inspector Select a blend mode from the Blend pop up menu in the Property inspector for movie clips The blend mode is applied to the selected movie clip instance LU e coors Awewe Mies E 5 ia 3 Meroe les Paweh moe m Dakr tiers a k am mie mt Serag we OTS aro sad a o ia a OS WSs Le unbes bebe adeg Position the movie clip with the blend mode over the graphic symbol whose appearance you want to modify Verify that the blend mode you selected is appropriate to the effect you re trying to achieve You might need to experiment with both the color and transparency settings of the movie clip and the different blend modes to achieve the effect you want 17 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Programming Blends About blending modes You can apply blend modes to movie clip objects by using the Flash
114. ocument level Undo and Redo commands This lets you undo or redo actions on individual objects or all objects within the current document The default behavior is document level Undo and Redo You cannot undo the following actions when using object level Undo e Enter Edit mode Exit edit mode Select unused library items Select library items Add library items Delete library items Duplicate library item Modify library item Modify library symbol behavior Rename library items Move library items Edit library items Import to library Create font symbols Create library folders Expand all library folders Create video stream symbols e Convert to compiled clip e JSFL library edits e Modify bitmap symbol properties e Modify sound symbol properties Modify library item linkage Convert to symbol Create new symbol Run JSFL command Run JSEL file Modify movie properties Import e Create scene 44 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Delete scene Duplicate scene Rename scene Move scene To remove deleted items from a document after using the Undo command you use the Save and Compact command See Saving documents when you undo steps You can use the Repeat command to reapply a step to the same object or to a different object For example if you move a shape named shape_A you can select Edit gt Repeat to move the shape again or you can select another shape shape_B and select Edit gt Repeat to mov
115. oid cryptic file names It is good practice to save new versions of a FLA file when you build an extensive project The following are different ways that you can save new versions of files Select File gt Save As and save a new version of your document Use version control software such as SourceSafe CVS or Subversion to control your Flash documents NOTE SourceSafe on Windows is the only supported version control software that integrates with the Project panel You can use other version control software packages with FLA documents but not necessarily in the Project panel Some problems might occur if you work with only one FLA file and do not save versions during the process of creating the file It is possible that files might bloat in size because of the history that s saved in the FLA file or that a file might become corrupt as with any software you use while you are working on it If any of these unfortunate events occur you have other versions of your file to use if you save multiple versions throughout your development You might also encounter problems when you create an application Perhaps you made a series of changes to the file and you do not want to use these changes Or you might delete parts of the file that you want to use later in your development If you save multiple versions while developing you have an earlier version available if you need to revert There are several options that you can use to save a file
116. omize Tools panel dialog box 6 Notice now that when you have added tools they appear as a drop down menu selection jay fa w iP Oval Tool 0 E Rectangle Tool R gt PolyStar Tool Here the Rectangle and PolyStar tool were added to the Oval Tool e Try to make a few more changes to the toolbar You can even try the example above To restore the default Tools panel layout e Click Restore Default in the Customize Tools panel dialog box 31 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Changing Preferences Improved Preferences dialog box Macromedia streamlined the design of the Preferences dialog box and reorganized it for improved clarity and ease of use Flash lets you set preferences for general application operations editing operations and Clipboard operations Capra eevee inio Pnie 7 Gentle pi Test Pace oF gers n te Selector Seylt select E Show Sotto m Carrier seratiee Tmas _ Soar based seecton ppp cre oe Serre highlight coir Co Lee lever coker Progect Chose fies arth project Shirase ra Set Re or aah iari The General category in the Preferences dialog box To set preferences 1 Select Edit gt Preferences Windows or Flash gt Preferences Macintosh 2 Inthe Category list select the one of the following o General o ActionScript o Auto Format o Clipboard o Drawing o Text o Warning 32 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anah
117. on tween Flash applies the filter settings of the starting frame to the interpolated frames Inconsistent settings occur when the following parameters are set differently between the beginning and end of the tween knockout inner shadow inner glow and type of gradient glow and gradient bevel For example if you create a motion tween using the drop shadow filter and apply a drop shadow with a knockout on the first frame of the tween and an inner shadow on the last frame of the tween Flash corrects the inconsistent use of the filter in the motion tween In this case Flash applies the filter settings used on the first frame of the tween a drop shadow with a knockout Filters and Flash Player performance The type number and quality of filters you apply to objects can affect the performance of SWF files as you play them The more filters you apply to an object the greater the number of calculations Macromedia Flash Player must process to correctly display the visual effects you ve created For this reason Macromedia recommends that you apply only a limited number of filters to a given object 81 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Each filter includes controls that let you adjust the strength and quality of the applied filter Using lower settings improves performance on slower computers If you are creating content for playback on a wide range on computers or are unsure of the computing power available to your au
118. only your SWF file when displayed in a browser window Publish Settings Current profile Default A h i O Formats Flash HTML Template v Detect Flash Version Version amp atch Mowe F Width Height x pixels Playback _ Paused at start Display menu Loop Device font Quality High j Window Mode Window wi HTML alignment Default O N Scale Default Show all Horizontal vertical Flash alignment Center i k Center Show warning messages Choosing Flash Only from the Template menu Click Detect Flash Version Keep the value at 8 0 0 Click OK Select File gt Publish and open your web browser Select File gt Open in the web browser Navigate to the folder where you saved your FLA file in the Unit 2 folder The SimpleFlash swf and SimpleFlash html files are there Flash creates these files when you click Publish Select the file named SimpleFlash html Click Open Your Flash document is displayed in the browser window Congratulations You have now completed your first Flash document 15 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Specifying Publish Settings with HTML and Version Detection Let s go back and revisit our Detect Flash Version settings and how Flash will publish your HTML template Playing Flash content in a web browser requires an HTML document that activates the SWF file and specifies
119. open a FLA file created for use with Flash Player 7 or earlier the text Property inspector sets the anti alias option to its equivalent anti aliasing option from Flash MX 2004 Text from older FLA files can be anything except for Anti Alias for Readability and Custom Anti Alias To upgrade Flash 7 content to use the Advanced or Custom Anti Alias options Open a FLA file created for use with Flash 7 or earlier Open the Publish Settings dialog box File gt Publish Settings and select Flash Player 8 from the Version pop up menu Select the text field to which you want to apply the Anti Alias for Readability or Custom Anti Alias option In the Property inspector select Anti Alias for Readability or Custom Anti Alias from the Font Rendering Method pop up menu Adding text You can add several types of text to a Flash document static text dynamic text or input text Static text is useful when you need to add decorative text to the Stage or any text that doesn t need to change or load from an external source Use dynamic text when you need to load text from a file database or change the text when the SWF file plays in Flash Player Use input text when you want the user to type into a text field You can take that text and send it to a database have it manipulate something in the SWF file and more You can add any of these types of text using the Text tool For this exercise you will add some static text to the Stage for decorative purp
120. oses To add static text follow these steps Open a new Flash document and name it text_test fla in the Unit_5 folder 1 With your text tool draw a text block and type in the words Macromedia Flash 2 Inthe Property inspector change the following font properties e Font Your choice e Size 60 e Color Red Macromedia X Flash 3 Change each of the Anti alias settings to view the subtle visual changes 104 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Using Bitmaps in Flash 8 Setting bitmap properties You can apply anti aliasing to an imported bitmap to smooth the edges in the image You can also select a compression option to reduce the bitmap file size and format the file for display on the web To set bitmap properties Select a bitmap in the Library panel If you don t have one import one in Do one of the following Click the properties icon at the bottom of the Library panel Right click Windows or Control click Macintosh the bitmap s icon and select Properties from the context menu Select Properties from the options menu in the upper right corner of the Library panel In the Bitmap Properties dialog box select Allow Smoothing to smooth the edges of the bitmap with anti aliasing For Compression select one of the following options Photo JPEG compresses the image in JPEG format To use the default compression quality specified for the imported image select Use Documen
121. ou need to specify for each Flash document that you create To set properties for a new or existing document in the Document Properties dialog Dox 1 Select File gt New 2 With the document open select Modify gt Document The Document Properties dialog box appears 3 To embed metadata within your SWF files improving the ability of web based search engines to return meaningful search results for Flash content do the following o Enter a descriptive title in the Title text box o Enter a description in the Description text box Descriptions can contain searchable keywords author and copyright information and short descriptions about the content and its purpose 4 The search metadata is based on the RDF Resource Description Framework and XMP Extensible Metadata Platform specifications and is stored in Flash in a W3C compliant format 5 For Frame Rate enter 30 frames per second 6 For Dimensions specify the Stage size in pixels enter values of 240 width and 270 height 7 Toset the background color of your document click the triangle in the Background Color box and select a color from the palette Pick any color you like 8 To specify the unit of measure for rulers that you can display along the top and side of the application window select an option from the pop up menu in the upper right We ll leave it pixels for this and future files 9 To make the new settings the default properties for your new document on
122. param name movie value Untitled 2 swf gt lt param name quality value high gt lt param name bgcolor value ffLfFLFLE gt lt embed src Untitled 2 swf guality high bgcolor ffffft 17 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 width 550 height 400 name Untitled 2 align middle play true loop false quality high allowScriptAccess SameDomain type application x shockwave flash pluginspage http www macromedia com go getflashplayer gt lt embed gt lt 7ObDjeCu gt 5 document write oeTags embed the flash movie else flash is too old or we can t detect the plugin fi e lt SCrIpL gt lt noscript gt Provide alternate content for browsers that do not support Scripting or for those that have scripting disabled Alternate HTML content should be placed here This content requires the Macromedia Flash Player lt a href http www macromedia com go getflash gt Get Flash lt a gt lt ROSCript gt lt body gt 3 Since the Flash 8 player has already been installed on your machine you will not see the alternate content 4 Close out of the browser and go back into Flash 8 Document Setup for Mobile Devices Flash Lite 1 0 and Flash Lite 1 1 are supported on a variety of mobile devices that are available in a number of different geographic regions and markets Some of these devices are
123. ponent the same size as the Stage and centers it on the Stage 7 Propertes Parameters Output Instance of FLVPlayback W 360 0 x 0 0 H 230 0 Y 0 0 The Property inspector with the proper values entered 5 With the new component still selected on the Stage select Window gt Component Inspector to open the Component inspector 6 In the Component inspector s Parameters tab click the contentPath parameter 7 Click the magnifying glass icon that appears next to it slri Skin ar Cesira are 8 Inthe Content Path dialog box enter cafe_townsend_chef flv and click OK 9 Still in the Component inspector set the autoRewind parameter to false 10 Save your work 11 To test your document select Control gt Test Movie The document plays in the Test Movie window You can control the playback of the video file with the controls at the bottom of the Stage Publish your document The next step is to publish your FLA file as a SWF file that can be displayed in a web browser To publish your Flash document 1 Select File gt Publish 136 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Flash saves a SWF version of your file and a simple HTML file in the cafe_ townsend folder where you saved the video_pod fla file Flash also saves a SWF file called ClearOverPlaySeekMute swf that contains the graphics for the video controller overlay that appears on top of the video This SWF file must be locate
124. ps or higher are encoded in stereo while lower bit rate settings encoded at 64 Kbps or lower are encoded in mono Click Next to move to the next panel of the Video Import wizard or select another of the Advanced Settings tabs to further modify the video clip 127 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Embedding Cue Points Cue points cause the video playback to trigger other actions within the presentation For example you can create a Flash presentation that has video playing in one area of the screen while text and graphics appear in another area A cue point placed in the video triggers an update to the text and graphic letting them remain relevant to the content of the video Each cue point consists of a name and the time at which it occurs You specify cue point times in hour minute second milisecond format the default frame rate is 30 frames per second fps You can specify cue point times with any frame rate and also express them in milliseconds rather than frame numbers To define and embed cue points you must either use Flash Video Encoder or import a video clip using the Video Import wizard For information on importing video using the Video Import wizard see Importing video using the Video Import wizard To define and embed cue points in a video clip From the Encoding panel of the Video Import wizard click Show Advanced Settings Select a predefined encoding profile from the Flash Video encodin
125. ransformed text that is scaled and rotated NOTE While the text can be scaled or rotated it must remain flat for example untransformed For example if you skew the fonts or otherwise manipulate the font shapes FlashType automatically is disabled e All font families including bold italic and so on e Display sizes up to a size of 255 points NOTE Because magnification affects the display size of the text when you zoom in the text redraws at larger point sizes thereby disabling the anti aliasing for readability font rendering once a size of 255 points is reached e Exporting to most non Flash file formats GIF or JPEG FlashType is disabled under the following conditions e Flash Player 7 or earlier is the selected version of Flash Player e An anti aliasing option other than Anti Alias for Readability or Custom Anti Alias is selected e Text is skewed or flipped e The FLA file is exported to a PNG file 101 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 FlashType Anti Alias Settings Anti aliasing lets you smooth text so that the edges of characters displayed onscreen look less jagged The anti aliasing options makes text more readable by aligning text outlines along pixel boundaries and is particularly effective for more clearly rendering smaller font sizes When anti aliasing is enabled all text in the current selection is affected Anti aliasing operates with text of all point sizes in the same way Anti a
126. ransparency or color interaction of two or more overlapping objects Blending lets you create unique effects by blending the colors in overlapping movie clips A blending mode contains these elements e Blend color is the color applied to the blend mode e Opacity is the degree of transparency applied to the blend mode e Base color is the color of pixels underneath the blend color e Result color is the result of the blend s effect on the base color Blend modes in Flash Since blend modes depend on both the color of the object you re applying the blend to and the underlying color you must experiment with different colors to see what the result will be Macromedia recommends that you experiment with the different blend modes to achieve the effect you want Flash provides the following blend modes Normal applies color normally with no interaction with the base colors Layer lets you stack movie clips on top of each other without affecting their color Darken replaces only the areas that are lighter than the blend color Areas darker than the blend color don t change Multiply multiplies the base color by the blend color resulting in darker colors Lighten replaces only pixels that are darker than the blend color Areas lighter than the blend color don t change Screen multiplies the inverse of the blend color by the base color resulting in a bleaching effect 74 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Overla
127. ready to create your own version of the FMA To create a new document 1 2 3 4 5 Start Flash Select File gt New In the New Document dialog box select Flash Document and then click OK Select File gt Save Name the file video_pod fla and save the file in the cafe_ townsend folder you copied to your hard disk Define document properties Configuring document properties is a common first step in authoring You can change the document properties at any time but it is helpful to make certain decisions such as the Stage size and background color at the beginning of the process 133 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Document properties are properties that affect the entire Flash document You can use the Property inspector to specify these settings To define document properties 1 Ifthe Property inspector isn t open select Window gt Properties gt Properties 2 Inthe Property inspector click Size 3 In the Document Properties dialog box enter the following values o Width 360 o Height 240 4 Click OK Document Properties Dimensons 360 ox width x 240 ox height Match Printer Default Background color Frame rate Ruler urets Make Default 5 Save your work Add a media component Next you will add a media playback component to the Stage This component will contain the video display and provide playback controls About components Co
128. renson Spark codec if you are authoring for Flash Player 8 choose the On2 VP6 codec Select a frame rate By default Flash Video Encoder uses the same frame rate as the source video Macromedia recommends using the default frame rate unless you are very experienced with video encoding and have a specific application that requires modifying the source video s frame rate If you need to alter the frame rate be sure you understand how modifying the frame rate affects the video quality NOTE If you intend to embed video clips within the SWF file the frame rate of the video clip must be the same as that used by the SWF Using the Advanced Video Encoding settings in the Video Import wizard you can encode video using the same frame rate as the FLA file For more information see About embedding video in a SWF file Select the keyframe placement for the video Keyframes are video frames that contain complete data For example if you specify a keyframe interval of 30 Flash Video Encoder encodes a complete frame every 30 frames in the video clip For frames between keyframe intervals Flash stores only the data that changes from the preceding frame By default Flash Video Encoder places a keyframe every two seconds of playback time For example if the video you re encoding has a frame rate of 30 fos a keyframe will be inserted every 60 frames In general the default keyframe value provides a reasonable level of control when seeking within a vi
129. reset values appear in points e New Flash 8 Feature Type a value from O0 to 200 in the height text box and press Enter New Flash 8 Feature Select the Stroke Hinting check box to enable stroke hinting Stroke hinting adjusts line and curve anchors on full pixels preventing blurry vertical or horizontal lines New Flash 8 Feature Select a Cap option to set the style for a path end e None is flush with the path s end e Round e Square extends beyond the path by half the stroke width Select a Join option to define how two path segments meet Miter Round or Bevel To change the corners in an open or closed path select a path and select another join option To avoid beveling a Miter join enter a Miter limit 70 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Line lengths exceeding this value are squared off instead of pointed For example a Miter limit of 2 for a 3 point stroke means that when the length of the point is twice the stroke weight Flash removes the limit point Lab e Draw some text and distort it using the Envelope tool You will need to Break the text apart Remember no objects when distorting New Features Summary e Object Drawing Mode e Object Level Undo e 16 Colors in Gradients e Modify Gradients e Program Gradients with ActionScript e New Script Assist Tool e Free Distort and Envelope e Caps Joins and Miter on Strokes 71 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s
130. rop shadow to text movie clip and button instances You can also use the Flash authoring tool to apply filter effects to objects such as text images and video Flash has nine filter effects although only seven are accessible by using the user interface in Flash Professional 8 The ConvolutionFilter and DisplacementMapFilter filters are only available by using ActionScript code NOTE All filters are availabe by using ActionScript in both Flash Basic 8 and Flash Professional 8 The following procedure loads a semitransparent PNG image and applies a GlowFilter effect to the nontransparent portion of the image To apply filters to semitransparent images 1 Create a new Flash document and save it as transparentlmg fla 2 Add the following ActionScript to Frame 1 of the Timeline import flash filters GlowFilter System security allowDomain http www helpexamples com var mclListener Object new Object melita stener cnleadinit Tuncr1on target me MovieCilap 4 target mc x Stage width target mc width 2 target mc y Stage height target mc height 2 var glow GlowFilter new GlowFilter target mcC fillers glow by t iscreateEmptyMovieclip iImg me 1077 var amd molMoviecLlipblhoader new MovieClipihoader img mcl addListener mclListener img mcl loadClip http www helpexamples com flash images logo p ng img _ mc This code uses a movie clip loader instance to load a semi transparen
131. roximately 150 pixels square This should be about the same diameter as the eight ball In the Color Mixer s Type menu select Radial Move the left gradient color swatch all the way to the left You should have one swatch all the way to the left and one all the way to the right Double click the left swatch and select the color black 000000 in the Color Picker Double click the right swatch to display the Color Picker Select the color black 000000 In the Color Picker drag the Alpha slider down to zero This creates a gradient from black to transparent allowing the green background to show through the edge of the circle you just drew Select the Gradient Transform tool from the Tools panel and drag the Focal Point control of the gradient back to the center of the circle 56 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 11 Select the Free Transform tool and scale the circle along the y vertical axis by dragging the top center handle downward as shown in the following illustration The gradient is transformed along with the shape transformation 12 Select the Selection tool from the Tools panel 13 Drag the shadow shape under the eight ball with the Selection tool 14 Click outside the Stage to deselect the shadow 15 Select File gt Save to save your FLA file Apply the Finishing Touches To complete the illustration you will apply two more linear gradients one to the white circle on the
132. ry Function 1 Select File gt New and make a blank Flash Docment 2 Save the file as Test fla in the Unit 3 folder 34 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 i blackBall Graphic gE POOL_ BR WAV Sound af SHOT18 WAV Sound The new Library Panel in Flash 8 3 Click the drop down menu in the Library panel to toggle between the Libraries 4 Copy and Paste a symbol into the Test fla Library In the animation_and_gradients fla Library select the 8ball movie clip 5 In Windows Right click and select Copy 6 Switch to the Test fla Library and Right click again to Paste the symbol 35 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA Y Library test fla What s New In Flash 8 ee on 3 items k 3 Bball fi blackBall Name Type Graphic Movie Clip Graphic The 8ball movie clip has been copied to Test fla Notice it s associated Graphic symbols came along for the ride To Pin the Library Panel 1 Switch back to the animation _and_gradients fla Library using the drop down menu 2 Click the Pin button on the Library Panel aball png blackBall gE POOL_ BR WAV a SHOT18 WAV Graphic Sound Sound 3 Switch between your files by clicking on the file name tab 36 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 test fa Timeline Scene 1 sso 5 F if O 9444 tm m Switch between files to see how the Library stays pinned
133. s Masking layer object Tween direction Duplicated image In the last section of the tutorial you ll add ActionScript and user interface elements that let the user control the animation sequence To create the image animation 1 Inthe Timeline select the keyframe on Frame 10 on the layer named Images 2 Open the Library panel and drag the symbol named Specials Images movie clip to the Stage 3 The rest of this tutorial refers to this movie clip simply as the images movie clip 4 With the new movie clip instance selected set the movie clip s x and y coordinates both to 0 in the Property inspector 5 This aligns the top left corner of the images movie clip with the top left corner of the Stage 147 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 6 On the Images layer insert keyframes on Frames 20 30 40 and 50 as the following image shows agi s 10 i5 20 25 30 35 4 45 L Images Bio C S ________ _______ In the Timeline select the keyframe on Frame 20 On the Stage select the images movie clip and set its y coordinate to 100 in the Property inspector This moves the movie clip upward on the Stage 100 pixels Select the keyframe on Frame 30 in the Timeline select the images movie clip and set its y coordinate to 200 in the Property inspector Select the keyframe on Frame 40 select the images movie clip and set its y coordinate to 300 in the Property inspector
134. s no need to place one on the stage until you need it Macintosh document tabs You can now open multiple Flash files in the same Flash application window and choose among them by using the document tabs at the top of the window Export Keyboard Shortcuts as HTML You can select keyboard shortcuts in Flash to match the shortcuts you use in other applications or to streamline your Flash workflow By default Flash uses built in keyboard shortcuts designed for the Flash application You can also select a built in keyboard shortcut set from one of several popular graphics applications including Macromedia Fireworks Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop To create a custom keyboard shortcut set you duplicate an existing set and then add or remove shortcuts from the new set You can also delete custom shortcut sets To view or print the current set of keyboard shortcuts 1 Select Edit gt Keyboard Shortcuts 2 In the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box select the shortcut set you wish to view from the Current pop up menu 3 Click the Export Set as HTML button 38 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Keyboard Shortcuts Current i 0 1 Standan Commands Moble Henu Commands ov H File E View The Export Set as HTML button 4 Inthe Save As dialog box that appears select a name and location for the exported HTML file The default file name is the name of the selected shortcut set 5 Cl
135. s or working on old versions of a document Popular version control software programs include CVS Subversion and SourceSafe As with other documents you can use these programs to organize the Flash documents outside Flash Using Version Control with Projects Version control in Flash Professional 8 lets you ensure that each author working in a project file is always using the latest version of a file and that multiple authors do not overwrite each other s work To use version control features you must define a site for the project You can specify a local network or FTP connection or you can specify custom plug ins for version control systems On Windows you can use Flash projects with SourceSafe You must have Microsoft Visual SourceSafe Client version 6 installed To define a site for version control 1 Create a new project Window gt Project and save it as SimpleFlash flp in the Unit 2 folder 2 Add the SimpleFlash fla SimpleFlsh swf and SimpleFlash html files from the Unit 2 folder 23 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 2 Project To work with Flash Projects 1 Create a new project or 2 Open an existing project 3 Select File gt Edit Sites 4 Inthe Edit Sites dialog box click New 5 Inthe Site Definition dialog box enter the site name the local root path and the e mail address and name of the user 6 To specify a local network or FTP connection select Local Network
136. s within the SWF file the frame rate of the video clip must be the same as that used by the SWF Using the Advanced Video Encoding settings in the Video Import wizard you can encode video using the same frame rate as the FLA file Select a frame size that fits your data rate As with the frame rate the frame size for your document is important for producing high quality video At a given data rate connection speed increasing the frame size results in decreased video quality When you select the frame size for your document you must consider frame rate source material and personal preferences The following list of common frame sizes in pixels can be used as a guideline You can experiment to find the best setting for your project e Modem 160 x 120 e Dual ISDN 192 x 144 e 11 DSL cable 320 x 240 122 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Know progressive download times You should know how long it is going to take to download your video While your video clip downloads you might want to have other content that appears and disguises the download For short clips you can use the following formula Pause download time play time 10 of play time For example if your clip is 30 seconds long and it takes one minute to download you should give your clip a 33 second buffer 60 seconds 30 seconds 3 seconds 33 seconds Use clean video The higher the quality of the original the better the final result Alt
137. sh select File gt Open 2 Use one of the following paths to browse to the completed file o In Windows browse to Unit_3 AnimationandGradients double click animation_and_gradients fla Test the movie Control gt Test Movie You can see some of the blends and easing animation techniques that we will learn later 3 After viewing the application close the Flash Player window 4 Click on the black ball on the Stage area This is the 8ball movie clip 5 At the bottom of the Flash 8 interface locate the Property Inspector dL HOY Properties Filters Parameters Blur X o v Color _ Knockout Blur Ww E Inner shadow Strength 12 g Angle we Hide object Quality Distance we The Property inspector showing the properties for the MovieClip 8ball c ii 28 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 6 Notice the new Filter Tab in the Property Inspector 7 Have some fun and modify the drop shadow settings We will learn more about Filter settings later on Let s take a look at another new feature Viewing the Expanded Stage Area Expanded Stage Work Area You can use the area around the Stage to store graphics and other objects without having them appear on the Stage when you play the SWF file Macromedia expanded this area called the work area to allow you to store more items there Flash users often use the work area to store graphics they plan to animate on the Stage later
138. sh 8 e Express Detection Installs the player directly from the Macromedia website You can find the kit at http www macromedia com software flashplayer download detection_kit 16 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 File Edit View Favorites Tools Help x E fl po Search Links F Alternate HTML content should be placed here This content requires the Macromedia Flash Plaver Get Flash i Internet This is the window that appears if you use the JavaScript detection and the user needs the Flash Player Detection Code Let s take a close look at the source code that s used in our current document 1 2 In the Browser select View gt Source IE or View gt Page Source FireFox The alternate content that will be displayed is highlighted in the source code below You can change this code to customize the user s experience lt body bgcolor ffffff gt lt url s used in the movie gt lt text used in the movie gt lt script language JavaScript type text javascript gt re var hasRightVersion DetectFlashVer requiredMajorVersion requiredMinorVersion requiredRevision if hasRightVersion if we ve detected an acceptable version var oeTags lt object classid clsid D27CDB6E AE6D 11cf 96B8 444553540000 width 550 height 400 codebase http download macromedia com pub shockwave cabs flash swflash Cab gt lt
139. sh 8 Medium Quality 400kbps fs 7 Modem Quality 40kbps lies OWN SEND Low Quality 150kbps Medium Quality 400kbps Show Advanced Settings 00 00 00 000 Do one of the following e Click Show Advanced Settings to further adjust the encoding settings or to modify the video clip s size or playback length using the crop and trim controls e Click Continue to encode the video Specifying advanced encoding settings The Video Import wizard and the FLV QuickTime Export plug in let you create your own video encoding settings to fine tune the quality and download size of video clips For information on importing video using the Video Import wizard see Importing video using the Video Import wizard For information on the FLV QuickTime Export plug in see About encoding video To specify advanced video encoding settings Encoding Cue Points Crop and Trim Encode k Video codec On2 VP6 k Quality _ Encode alpha channel Frame rate Same as source fps d Resize video i Encode audio Audio codec MPEG Layer ITI MP3 Data rate 96 kbps stereo w Cancel 125 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 The Encode Video check box should be selected by default If it is not select it to activate the advanced encoding options Select a video codec with which to encode your content from the Video codec pop up menu If you are authoring for Flash Player 6 or 7 choose the So
140. sion of light illuminating the surface at one angle and casting a shadow to the opposite side of the sphere Ser 3 Fa EF Typer ltir s EN E Over ow f l PI BoP Linear RGB ce eo 5 G Si v cE mage 4 100 103338 f E O The Color Mixer with the gradient controls displayed The Color Mixer has the following options Stroke color changes the color of the stroke or the border of a graphic object Fill Color changes the color of the fill The fill is the area of color that fills up the shape Type pop up menu changes the fill style e None removes the fill e Solid provides a solid single fill color e Linear produces a gradient that blends on a linear path e Radial produces a gradient that blends outward in a circular path from a central focal point e Bitmap lets you tile the selected fill area with a bitmap image that you can select When you choose Bitmap a dialog box lets you select a bitmap image on your local computer and add it to the library You can apply this bitmap as a fill the appearance is something similar to a mosaic tile pattern with the image repeated within the shape RGB let you change the density of the red blue and green RGB colors in a fill Alpha sets the opacity for a solid fill or the currently selected slider for a gradient fill An alpha value of 0 creates an invisible or transparent fill an aloha value of 100 creates an opaque fill 49 Macromedi
141. t 10 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 3 With the circle still selected select Modify gt Convert to Symbol 4 Inthe Convert to Symbol dialog box type my_circle into the Name text box The default behavior is now Movie Clip 5 Click OK A square bounding box appears around the circle You have now created a reusable asset called a symbol in your document 6 The new symbol appears in the Library panel If the Library panel is not open select Window gt Library Animating the Circle Now that you have some artwork in your document you can make it more interesting by animating it to move across the Stage To create an animation with the circle 1 Drag the circle to just left of the Stage area The circle shape moved to the left of the Stage area 2 Click Frame 20 of Layer 1 in the Timeline 11 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Smokin fic Timeline Scene 1 peo alol i a aot oo Selecting Frame 20 of Layer 1 in the Timeline 3 Select Insert gt Timeline gt Frame Flash adds frames to Frame 20 which remains selected SrgkFach fa Gi EE a Er a l Teire 4 Grei 474352 4 BO T ops is g Frames inserted in the Timeline 4 With Frame 20 still selected select Insert gt Timeline gt Keyframe A keyframe is added in Frame 20 A keyframe is a frame where some property of an object is explicitly
142. t Default Quality To specify a new quality compression setting deselect Use Document Default Quality and enter a value between 1 and 100 in the Quality text box A higher setting preserves greater image integrity but yields a larger file size 6 Lossless PNG GIF compresses the image with lossless compression in which no data is discarded from the image NOTE Use Photo compression for images with complex color or tonal variations such as photographs or images with gradient fills Use Lossless compression for images with simple shapes and relatively few colors 7 Click Test to determine the results of the file compression Compare the original file size to the compressed file size to determine if the selected compression setting is acceptable 8 Click OK NOTE JPEG Quality settings that you select in the Publish Settings dialog box do not specify a quality setting for imported JPEG files You must specify a quality setting for imported JPEG files in the Bitmap Properties dialog box 105 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 When to enable caching Enabling caching for a movie clip creates a surface which has several advantages such as helping complex vector animations to render fast There are several scenarios in which you will want to enable caching It might seem as though you will always want to enable caching to improve the performance of your SWF files however there are situations in which enablin
143. t PNG image After the image finishes loading the image moves to the center of the Stage and a glow filter is applied 3 Select Control gt Test Movie to test the document The glow filter effect is only applied to the opaque nontransparent area of the PNG image 88 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA Importing From Fireworks Fireworks effects supported in Flash What s New In Flash 8 The following Fireworks effects are imported as modifiable filters by Flash Fireworks Effect Flash Filter Drop shadow Solid shadow Inner shadow Blur Blur more Gaussian blur Adjust color brightness Adjust color contrast Blend modes Drop shadow Drop shadow Drop shadow with Inner shadow automatically selected Blur where blurX blurY 1 Blur where blurX blurY 1 Blur Adjust color Adjust color You can achieve a variety of compositing effects by using blend modes to change the way the image of one object on the Stage is combined with the images of any objects beneath it Fireworks blend modes supported in Flash Flash imports the following Fireworks blend modes as modifiable blends Fireworks Blending Mode Flash Blending Mode Normal Darken Multiply Lighten Screen Overlay Hard light Additive Difference Invert Alpha Erase Normal Darken Multiply Lighten Screen Overlay Hard light Add Difference Invert Alpha Erase 89 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash
144. t the keyframe on Frame 20 and enter the following code in the Actions panel title Chinese Noodle Salad description Rice noodles with garlic sauce sShitake mushrooms scallions and bok choy stop 151 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 On the Actions layer select the keyframe on Frame 30 and enter the following code in the Actions panel title Seared Salmon description Filet of wild salmon with caramelized onions new potatoes and caper and tomato Salsa 7 Stop On the Actions layer select the keyframe on Frame 40 and enter the following code in the Actions panel title New York Cheesecake description Creamy traditional cheesecake served with chocolate sauce and strawberries stop On the Actions layer select the keyframe on Frame 50 and enter the following code in the Actions panel GOLOANnCS COR specials This code returns the playhead to the beginning of the animation sequence The first and last images in the animation sequence are the same which creates the illusion of a continuous animation Save your changes Next you ll add navigation to the specials screen that lets the user navigate between images and descriptions of each special To add navigation to the specials screen 1 In the Library panel Window gt Library locate the symbol named Home and drag it to the lower left corner of the Stage 2 Inthe Property inspector set
145. ta instance You can use this filter to achieve a warped or mottled effect on a specified instance This filter is only available by using ActionScript The following procedure loads a JPEG image and applies a displacement map filter to it which causes the image to look distorted Whenever the user moves the mouse the displacement map is regenerated To distort an image with the displacement map filter 1 Create a new Flash document and save it as displacement fla 2 Add the following ActionScript to Frame 1 of the Timeline import flash filters DisplacementMapFilter import Tlash geom Point import Dlash display BitmapbData var perlinBmp BitmapData var displacementMap DisplacementMapFilter var mclListener Object new Object mellListener onhoadinit Tunceron Garget mc MovieClip Void target mc x Stage width target mc width 2 target mc y Stage height target mc height 2 PerlinBip Hew BiemepvatLatrargel Mee width carget mer Negi peri nemp perlinNorse targe mes Width target mes heron LO Math s cound Math random LO00000 p talee true ly faksa displacementMap new DisplacementMapFilter perlinBmp new POE COs sO og Le ty OGy LOU eolor shapeClip filters displacementMap be var shapeClip MovieClip this createEmptyMovieClip shapeClip 1 shapeClip createEmptyMovieClip holderClip 1 var imageLoader MovieClipLoader new MovieClipLoader im
146. ter you intend your viewing audience to use when accessing your Flash Video content If you anticipate a large user base that is using older computers it may be advisable to encode your FLV files using the Sorenson Spark codec About the On2 VP6 and Sorenson Spark video codecs By default Flash Video Encoder exports encoded video using the On2 VP6 video codec for use with Flash Player 8 and the Sorenson Spark codec for use with Flash Player 7 A codec is a compression decompression algorithm that controls how video files are compressed during encoding and decompressed during playback The On2 video codec is the preferred video codec to use when creating Flash content that uses video On2 provides the best combination of video quality while maintaining a small file size If your Flash content dynamically loads Flash video using either progressive download or Flash Communication Server you can use On2 VP6 video without having to republish your SWF for Flash Player 8 as long as users use Flash Player 8 to view your content By streaming or downloading On2 VP6 video into Flash SWF versions 6 or 7 and playing the content using Flash Player 8 you avoid having to recreate your SWF files for use with Flash Player 8 120 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 About encoding video Flash provides several video encoding solutions that let you encode your video clips into the FLV format Flash Video Import wizard The Fl
147. the Home graphic s x coordinate to 0 and its y coordinate to 188 3 Drag the symbol named Next from the Library to the lower right corner of the Stage 4 Inthe Property inspector set the graphic s x coordinate to 120 and its y coordinate to 188 5 The Stage in your application should look something like the following screen shot 152 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 In the Timeline select the keyframe on Frame 10 on the layer named Key Catcher From the Library drag the Key Catcher button symbol and place it in the work area off the Stage Key catcher button Key catcher button Work area Home ta The purpose of this button is to catch ActionScript keypress events initiated by the user and then take the appropriate action Select the key catcher button and in the Actions panel enter the following code Handle right soft key event Next button on keyPress lt PageDown gt play Handle left soft key event Home button on keyPress lt PageUp gt gotoAndStop main The first on keyPress handler advances the image animation to the next image in the sequence the second one sends the playhead to the main application screen Choose Control gt Test Movie to test the final application in the emulator 153 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 LAB Viewing a Video Game with Flash Lite Let s try another application to see how
148. the Properties panel change the Anti alias option to Anti Alias for animation This setting improves the overall motion quality of animated text and its visibility 3 Draw a text area in the middle of the Stage by clicking and dragging with the Text tool T 4 Type in the text Flash 8 See Figure 2 Notice that in Flash 8 the text area now has control points on all four corners You can adjust the width of your text box by selecting any one of the edit nodes and dragging it to the left or right Am 7 ideany beeen a iA E i E oa tag a i Ww i tL a gt i Zz i e panre s 7 Flash 8 Pa b e sim re amp rry a me g F gr E 0a oo fv om 2 Aeru Li as P isa teow w Pa Fab aw r om e z 2 m 7 1 b irre r T bees pereu Aa il a I wae en te sata mg A ww fee Bereeaeaa a bal s v 1 ts i E n F a 4 io om a T g Figure 2 The new Static Text area with the Anti alias for animation setting Adding the Bevel Filter In these next steps we will be adding a Bevel Filter and modifying the Filter s attributes Select the Filters tab in the Property Inspector Filters are another great new feature in Flash 8 that will allow you to add shadows glows and other visual effects to your objects For our text we re going to use a bevel filter 94 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 A r iF
149. tionScript to Modify Bitmaps 100 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 FlashType Overview FlashType is a new text rendering engine that provides clear high quality text rendering both in the Flash authoring environment and in the published SWF files FlashType greatly improves the readability of text particularly when it is rendered at smaller font sizes While FlashType is available in both Flash Basic and Flash Professional the new custom anti aliasing option is available only in Flash Professional Custom anti aliasing lets you specify the thickness and sharpness of fonts used in individual text fields FlashType is automatically enabled whenever Flash Player 8 is the selected version of the player and Anti Alias for Readability or Custom Anti Alias is the selected anti aliasing mode Using FlashType may cause a slight delay when loading Flash SWF files You will notice this delay especially if you are using several different character sets four or five within the first frame of a Flash document so be aware of the number of fonts you use FlashType font rendering may also Cause an increase in the Flash Player s memory usage Using four or five fonts for example can increase memory usage by approximately 4 MB When Flash Player 8 is the selected version of Flash Player and Anti Alias for Readability or Custom Anti Alias is your chosen anti aliasing option FlashType anti aliasing applies to the following e Unt
150. use runtime bitmap caching on static complex movie clips in which the position but not the content of the movie clip changes on each frame in an animation You can only observe on complex content movie clips the playback or runtime performance improvement in using runtime bitmap caching You will not see the performance benefit of runtime bitmap caching when creating simple movie clips NOTE You can only apply the Use Runtime Bitmap Caching check box to movie clip and button symbols Under the following circumstances a movie clip will not use a bitmap even if the Use Runtime Bitmap Caching check box is selected and will instead render the movie clip or button symbol using vector data e The bitmap is too large greater than 2880 pixels in either direction e The bitmap fails to allocate producing an out of memory error e The parent surface uses a vector clipper the parent is partially rotated and scrolled To specify bitmap caching for a movie clip 1 Select the movie clip or button symbol on the Stage 2 Inthe symbol Property inspector select the Use Runtime Bitmap Caching check box 108 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Loading Graphics Dynamically Loading GIF PNG and Progressive JPEGs To load a SWF or image file use the loadMovie or loadMovieNum global function the loadMovie method of the MovieClip class or the loadClip method of the MovieClipLoader class For more information o
151. ve a filter 1 Select the movie clip button or text object that you want to remove a filter from 2 Select the Filter tab in the Property inspector 3 Select the filter you want to remove in the list of applied filters 4 Click the Remove Filter button to remove the filter You can create a filter settings library that lets you easily apply the same filter or sets of filters to an object Flash stores the filter presets you create in the Property inspector on the Filters tab in the Filters gt Presets menu You can delete or rename any presets To apply a preset filter to an object 1 Select the movie clip button or text object that you want to apply a filter preset to 2 Select the Filter tab in the Property inspector 3 Click the Add Filter button and select Presets from the Filters pop up menu 4 Select the filter preset you want to apply from the list of available presets at the bottom of the preset menu NOTE When you apply a filter preset to an object Flash replaces any filters currently applied to the selected object s with the filter s used in the preset To enable or disable a filter applied to an object e Click the enable or disable icon next to the filter name in the Filter list in the Property inspector NOTE Alt click Windows or Option click Macintosh the enable icon in the Filter list to toggle the enable state of the other filters in the list If you Alt click the disable icon the selected f
152. xt fields that display the name and description for each special e User interface elements that let the user navigate between specials and return to the main application screen This section of the tutorial is divided into two parts In the first part you ll create the animation that transitions between images of each special In the second part you ll add user interface elements and ActionScript to let the user navigate between the images and to display each special s name and description 146 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Creating the Image Animation In this section you ll create the tweened animation that transitions between images of each special When you ve completed this section the animation will play through without stopping Later in the tutorial you ll add navigation and ActionScript that lets the user control the animation with the device s Right soft key To create the animation you ll use a prebuilt movie clip that contains images of all the specials arranged in a vertical column You ll use a masking layer to make only one of the images visible Then you ll create a series of tweens that move the movie clip upward so that a different image is visible The last image in the movie clip is a duplicate of the first one so that the animation sequence can return to its initial state after the user has viewed the final image The following image illustrates these concepts Masked movie clip of image
153. y multiplies or screens the colors depending on the base colors Hard light multiplies or screens the colors depending on the blend mode color The effect is similar to shining a spot light on the object Difference subtracts either the blend color from the base color or the base color from the blend color depending on which has the greater brightness value The effect is similar to a color negative Invert inverts the base color Alpha applies an alpha mask NOTE Alpha blend mode requires that a Layer blend mode be applied to the parent movie clip You cannot change the background clip to Alpha and apply it because the object would appear invisible Erase removes all base color pixels including those in the background image NOTE Erase blend mode requires that a Layer blend mode be applied to the parent movie clip You cannot change the background clip to Erase and apply it because the object would appear invisible 19 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Blend mode examples The following examples illustrate how different blend modes affect the appearance of an image Be aware that the resulting effect of a blend mode may be considerably different depending on the color of the underlying image and the type of blend mode you apply Original image Layer Darken 76 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Applying a Blend Mode You use the Property inspector for movie clips t
154. you mix surfaces with vector data it increases the amount of processing that Flash Player and sometimes the computer needs to do Group surfaces together as much as possible for example when you create windowing applications Runtime Bitmap Caching Movie Clip and Button Symbols Runtime bitmap caching lets you optimize playback performance by specifying that a static movie clip for example a background image or button symbol be cached as a bitmap at runtime Caching a movie clip as a bitmap prevents Flash Player from having to continually redraw the image which provides a significant improvement in playback performance For example when creating animations with a complex background you can create a movie clip for the background The background is rendered as a bitmap stored at the current screen depth It can be drawn very quickly letting the animation play both faster and more smoothly because the background doesn t need to continually be redrawn Without the use of bitmap caching the animation might play back too slowly because the background continually would be redrawn from vector data 107 Macromedia MAX 2005 Anaheim CA What s New In Flash 8 Bitmap caching lets you use a movie clip and freeze it in place automatically If a region changes Flash uses vector data to update the bitmap cache This minimizes the number of redraws that Flash Player must perform and provides smoother faster playback performance Only

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