Basic Concepts:

Read this about the Flash interface.Read this about symbols.

To change background color and frame rate - go to: MODIFY>DOCUMENT

TERMS TO KNOW:

Action Script - Used to control the playback head (and other things later on). Can be put on objects or frames. We will be using action scripting 1 & 2, not 3.

Animation - Can be tweened (you create the first and last frame, the computer creates the in between frames) or frame by frame (you create each frame in the timeline individually).

.FLA -This is a flash file extension for your flash file. Save the file like this to work on it again in Flash.This is like a Photoshop file with all the layers.

Frame by Frame Animation - This is like traditional animation. You create something new in each frame. When you play all of the frames they are perceived as moving or changing.

Instance - When you drag something from the library to the stage, the thing on the stage is an instance.Kind of like a short-cut for an application.

Label - Used to name frames. Always use these instead of frame names in your navigation.

Levels - Kind of like invisible Flash movies that play over the top of your main Flash movie.This is an independent .swf file. It needs to be linked to your main movie file. Useful if you want to play music over the top of multiple scenes. Main movie is level 0, next level would be level 1, then level 2, etc.

Library - This is where objects in you Flash projects are stored.

Movie - Flash projects are called movies. Flash uses the movie metaphor for describing different portions of the flash interface (movie, frame, stage, scene, etc.).

Movie Clip - A small animation used as a symbol.

Playback Head - When you play a flash project you see on the stage what is under it.

Scene - You can divide your timeline into scenes. If your movie has a lot of frames, scenes can make the project easier to manage.

Scene Panel - Where you can manage your scenes.You can also duplicate scenes here.

Stage - Flash project area. Like the canvas in Photoshop. This is where you build your Flash project.

.SWF -This is the file extension for your Flash movie. Save the file like this to put your project on a web page. This can not be edited in Flash again.This is like a jpeg from Photoshop.

Scenes - Think of scenes as individual sections of a timeline. They are useful if you need a really long timeline. Scenes can be problematic. When you save your finished Flash movie the scenes all come together in one big timeline for playback. If you use frame labels for navigation you will have less headaches.

Shape - Something you make on the stage before it becomes a symbol.

Symbols - Can be graphic, buttons, and movie (short animations that play within animations).

Timeline - Where the layers are. Layers work the same way they work in Photoshop. Also where the playback head and frames are. You see on the stage what the playback head is over in the timeline.

Tween(ing) - You make the first and last frame of an animation - the computer makes the in beTWEEN frames.

You can find free legal sounds here.

DOCUMENT SET UP:

GO to MODIFY>DOCUMENT.

Choose a document size. Think about this the same way you would if you were designing a web page in HTML.

Choose a background color.

Choose frame rate. The faster the framerate,the swoother the animation, but more frames mean larger file sizes. Leave it on 12 for now.

BASIC DOCUMENT LAYER TIPS:

A good place to start when setting up your layers (starting with the top layer):

Labels

Scripts

Audio

Buttons

And then anything else that is in your project. Try to keep each object that will be animated on its own layer.

SOUND INFO.

Sounds can be:

Event - an event sound will play in its entirety.If you have a 30 second sound, once it starts, even if you stop the playback head, the sound will keep playing for 30 seconds. Something to watch out for - if you start the sound a second time you will still hear the first version, kind of like an echo.

Start - Same as event but the first version of the sound will stop.

Stop - Will stop all sound

Stream - Sound stops playing when the playback head stops.

To add sound to a project:
Import sound to the library: FILE>IMPORT>IMPORT TO LIBRARY. Create a new layer. Select the layer. Drag the sound from to library to the stage. You will see a straight or squiggly line in the frames indicating the sounds wave form.

To add sound to a project with multiple scenes:
This is a little complicated.You will need to 2 Flash movies for this: the main movie with all of your buttons, graphics, scenes,etc., and a movie with just the music in it.This is only if you want the music to keep playing independently of what scene you are in.

1.Finish your main movie. Leave the first frame of the first scene blank, or drag the label from frame 1 to frame 2. The music needs to load one time only or it will play on top of itself (will sound like an echo).

2.Make a new Flash movie. Import the music into this movie .Make a small loop to keep it playing. Go to FILE>EXPORT>EXPORT MOVIE>FLASH MOVIE (SWF file).This file needs to be next to the main Flash file. Have them both in a folder.

3. Go back to the main Flash movie. The key to making this work is to put a loadmovie action on the first frame. The concept is: when the main movie loads, the first thing it does is load the music movie in frame one. This is a level 1 movie meaning it will play over the top of all of the scenes in the movie. You don't want the playback head to hit it again so make sure your button loop only goes back to frame 2.

This is the script to use: loadMovie("music.swf",1);   You can find it under browser/network. In my example here: music.swf is the name of my music movie, be sure the name is in quotation marks, followed by a comma, then the number 1 (for level 1). This goes in the first frame of the first scene of the main movie.

I know this is pretty complicated. You only need to do this if your movie has multiple scenes and you want music to play over the top of all scenes without stopping or reloading. This isn't required I just know this is something some people will want to do.

Adding sound to a button:

1. Select the button in the Library panel.
2. Select Edit from the Panel menu in the upper-right corner of the panel.
3. In the button’s Timeline, add a layer for sound (Insert > Timeline > Layer).
4. In the sound layer, create a regular or blank keyframe to correspond with the button state to which you want to add a sound (Insert > Timeline > Keyframe or Insert > Timeline > Blank Keyframe).
For example, to add a sound that plays when you click the button, create a keyframe in the frame labeled Down.
5. Click the keyframe you created.
6. Select Window > Properties > Properties.
7. In the Property inspector, select a sound file from the Sound pop-up menu.
8. Select Event from the Sync pop-up menu.

To add a different sound with each of the button’s keyframes, create a blank keyframe and add another sound file for each keyframe. You can also use the same sound file and apply a different sound effect for each button keyframe.

Layers and Layouts: Watch this tutorial video

Scripts: Watch this tutorial video

Buttons: Watch this tutorial video

ADDING TEXT

To add regular text:

Select the text tool. Make a layer for the text. With the text layer selected, drag a text box with the text tool. Select static text in the properties pallet. Type.

To make scrollable text box:

Select the text tool. Make a layer for the text. With the text layer selected, drag a text box with the text tool. Keep the text box selected throughout this process. Select dynamic text in the properties pallet. Be sure multiline is selected in the properties pallet.

Go to WINDOW< COMPONENTS. Open the USER INTERFACE options. Find UIScrollbar. Drag it to your stage. Align it with the right side of your text box. It is hard to attach. Drag it a little inside the text box. When it attaches it will span the length of the box. Type or past your text in the text box. Test movie.

If you want the text box to be a different color or value: make a new layer, place a colored box on it behind the text box.

Text blurring in:

To have text start out blurry and get clear:

Create text on stage. Create a keyframe. Go to FILTERS pallet (WINDOW>PROPERTIES>FILTERS). Click on X, go down to BLUR. Adjust blur in blur x and blur y boxes. Create a keyframe where you want the text to be clear. Adjust blur to zero. Click between keyframes. Create a motion tween.

ADDING PICTURES: FILE>IMPORT>IMPORT TO LIBRARY. Drag picture from library to stage.

HANDY SCRIPTS:

These two scripts will be very useful:

1.On release, go to and play (incorrect syntax) - Put this on a button to make the playback head go to a specific place on the timeline.

2.Go to and play (incorrect syntax) - placed on the timeline to create loops.

I'll show you how to create the real scripts in class.

SCRIPT TIPS

Be sure to put quotation marks around label names in scripts (the label name will turn green).

MASKING A LAYER:

Important mask concept: the mask is like a window that you look through.If you are masking a layer you will only be able to see what is under the mask.

Create two layers.
Name the top layer "mask" and the layer below "background".
Import your picture to the "background" layer.
Using Oval tool from your tool box, draw a circle in your "Mask" layer and delete it's border.
Drag the circle to one end of your picture.
Now go to"frame 40" of your "Mask" layer and press "F6" to insert a new keyframe.
Now go to "frame 40" of your "background" layer and press "F5" to insert frames, so that your background image is available all through your mask.
Select "frame 40" of your "Mask" layer, that is your new keyframe, Keeping the playback head on "frame 40" of "Mask" layer, drag the circle to other end of your picture.
Now go back to "frame 1" of your "Mask" layer, keeping the playhead on "frame 1" of your "Mask" layer, select Shape tween in your properties window.
Right click on the "Mask" layer (the area where you named the layer not where the frames exist) and select Mask.

That's it.

The above example is just one use of  a mask. A common technique is to use a mask to reveal text. See an example of using a mask to change the color of text here.

SIMPLE MOTION TWEEN

Placeorcreate a shape or symbol in the first frame of the animation (first keyframe). Make a keyframe in the last frame of the animation. With the last frame of the animation selected, move the object where you want it to be at that point (last frame). Now right click in one of the frames between the first and last keyframe. Select "CREATE MOTION TWEEN".

GUIDE LAYER FOR MOTION PATHS (from the Flash help menu):

Using a symbol, create a motion-tweened animation sequence.

Add a guide layer (click on the add guide layer icon at the bottom of the layers pallet - see illustration below.

Use the Pen, Pencil, Line, Circle, Rectangle, or Brush tool to draw the desired path in the animation guide layer.

Select the first keyframe in you animation.

Snap the center to the beginning of the line in the first frame.

Select the last keyframe and drag the symbol to the end of the line. It needs to snap to the beginning and end of the line.

Drag the playback head to test.

Tips: For best snapping results, drag the symbol by its registration point.Create a motion-tweened animation sequence using a symbol. If you select Orient To Path, the baseline of the tweened element orients to the motion path. If you select Snap, the registration point of the tweened element snaps to the motion path.

MAKING AND USING LABELS:

Labels are much better to us than frame numbers for navigation. Use them in your scripts instead of frame numbers.

Select a frame. Go to the properties pallet. Type in a label where it says: FRAME.

When using labels in your scripts always put "quotation marks" around the label name.

Be sure you don't accidently place a space after your label name.

FADING IN/OUT:

Select the symbol on the stage. Make a keyframe. Look at properties pallet. In color area select ALPHA.Drag slider to zero. Go to frame where you want symbol to appear. Create keyframe. Drag alpha to 100. Make a motion tween between the keyframes.

MOVIE CLIPS:

Movie clips are self contained animated symbols that use their own timeline. They can be animated, sized, and rotated on the stage. You can then drag the clip from the library and use in in your flash project.

To make a movie clip:

1. Go to the insert menu, select NEW SYMBOL

2. In the Create New Symbol dialog, enter a name for the animation and select Movie clip as the behavior.

3. Flash enters Edit mode opening a new Timeline. Notice that over the Timeline, the name of the movie clip appears. By default, the movie clip starts with one layer, called Layer 1.

4. You create the movie clip just as you would any animation on the Main Timeline. Insert and name layers, drag instances of objects onto the Stage from the library, or create new objects. Remember that converting all your new objects to symbols, and then naming each instance of the symbol on the Stage, will save you a lot of problems later on.

5.When you’ve finished creating the animation, exit Edit mode by clicking the name of the scene under the layers section.

6. The movie clip you created is now in the library. Use it as you would use any other symbol.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

Be sure there are no blank spaces after label names.

If an action scripts isn't performing as you anticipate, try deleating and trying again.

Useful links:

Flashkit