Flash 5 Magic

For courses in Flash. Flash 5 contains further improvements in content creation, interactivity, and portability. Those designers not currently using Flash will find version 5 a must-have product and they will need a professional tutorial approach on how to maximize their use of Flash 5. The authors present two dozen projects created with Macromedia Flash 5, all designed to show the considerable power and flexibility of the program.

Table of Contents:
I. NAVY BAY ENTERTAINMENT. 1. Integrating Flash and QuickTime Video. Importing QuickTime into Flash. Adding Flash Playback Controls. Incorporating Subtitles. Publishing the Movie. How It Works. 2. Printing with Flash. Preparing Frames for Printing. Determining the Print Area. Creating Print Buttons. How It Works. 3. Creating a Smart Clip Calendar Control. Scripting the Calendar. Preparing a Custom User Interface. Moving from Movie Clip to Smart Clip. Setting Smart Clip Parameters. How It Works. 4. Using External Script Files and the Debugger. Using the #include Directive. Creating External Scripts. Diagnosing Errors with the Debugger Panel. How It Works. II. FISHSTIK EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE. 5. Working with Arrays. Positioning One- and Two-Dimensional Arrays. Creating Question and Answer Arrays. Randomizing an Array. How It Work. 6. Handling Keyboard Input. Placing the Letters. Creating the Key Captures for All the Letters. Creating a Lookup Array. How It Works. 7. A Modular Approach to Programming Games. Initializing the Game. Trapping Keys for the Standalone Player. Setting Variables. Setting Up Keyboard-Controlled Steering. How It Works. 8. Programming with Trigonometry. Using Trigonometry to Calculate Movement. Using Cosine and Sine Functions. Using Screen Wrapping. How It Works. 9. Programming the Collision Detection of Multiple Projectiles. Preparing for Associative Arrays. Duplicating Bubbles and Associating Them to an Array. Moving the Bubbles. Inserting the ActionScript for the Actual Collision Detection. Reusing Code. How It Works. 10. Working with the Color Object and Cursors. Initializing the Paint Program. Creating the Sliding Color Chooser. Scripting the Tool Buttons. Scripting the Paint Tools. How It Works. III. SPLENDOS.COM. 11. Creating Scripted Animations. Using ActionScript to Make an Object Zoom In and Out. Setting Up Rotation Upon Command. Using ActionScript to Tint a Movie Clip. Creating a Random Background Animation. How It Works. 12. Using Shared Libraries to Manage Assets. Designing a Shared Library. Setting Up a Shared Library. Adding Shared Symbols to a New File. Replacing Existing Symbols with Shared Ones. How It Works. 13. Working with Form Elements and ASP. Creating a Basic Form in Flash. Creating a Single or Multilined Text Field. Adding the Date Object. Creating Check Boxes. Adding Radio Buttons. Hiding Values in the Dynamic Text Fields. Creating a Drop-Down Box. Creating the Database (ODBC Talk). Creating the ASP Pages. Converting the Files to Work with Cold Fusion and JavaServer Page Servers. How It Works. 14. Working with Functions. Creating a Function for Checking on a Diagonal. Creating Recursive Functions. How It Works. IV. PENNY DAVIS ONLINE RETAILING. 15. Utilizing XML Data. Examining an XML Fragment. Extracting Data from Parsed XML. Setting Symbol Linkage. Passing Arguments in Function Calls. How It Works. 16. Displaying Dynamic Text and HTML Hyperlinks with Scrolling. Dynamic Text Fields and Variables. Scroll Controls. How It Works. 17. Generating Dynamic Menus. Setting Symbol Linkage Properties. Preventing Movie Clips from Looping. Storing Data in Arrays. Building, Showing, Hiding, and Switching. How It Works. V. PIYK'S WEBFOLIO. 18. Setting Up Audio Controls. Playing and Stopping Sounds. Rewinding and Pausing on Command. Creating the Speaker Balance Control. Using a Rotating Dial for the Volume Control. How It Works 19. Creating Mouse-Driven Animation Effects. Setting Up the Flash File to Create a Mouse Effect. Initializing the Variables and Duplicating the Movie Clips. Writing a Function to Change the Mouse Effect. Animating the Mouse Effect with ActionScript. Changing Effects On-the-Fly. Setting Up the Mouse Trailer. Initializing Variables for a Pixel Dust Effect. Recording Mouse Speed. How It Works. 20. Using ActionScript to Manipulate Movie Clip Attributes. Creating Random Tiling. Duplicating Tiles to Create Better Random Tiling. Setting Up the Rotation and Alpha Transparency. Restricting an Element to a Quadrant of the Stage. How It Works. VI. DYNAMIK ACTION NEWS. 21. Implementing Database Integration. Integrating Back-End Data: The Whys and Wherefores. Externalizing the Content. Reading an External Text File. Adding Content to an XML Document. Analyzing the ActionScript That Loads, Interprets, and Formats the XML. Tapping into Server-Side Scripts (ASP) with Flash. Understanding Database Design Fundamentals. Making the Flash Architecture Database-Friendly. How It Works. 22. Implementing Complex Database Integration. Understanding the Design of the Data Tables. Understanding the Personalization Process. Examining the Impact on ActionScript. Developing Flash-Based Administration Tools. Integrating with Existing Data Systems. How It Works. VII. APPENDICES. Appendix A: Troubleshooting Tips. Save the Start and Final Files to Your Local Hard Drive. Compare Your Work-in-Progress to the Final File. Understand Comments. Check Your Instance Names and Variable Names. Watch Those Quotation Marks. Keep an Eye on the Timeline. Don't Forget the Semi-Colon. All Things Are Not Created Equal in Flash 5. Use the Check Syntax Command in Expert Mode. Try the Toggle Trick to Test (Can you say that five times real fast?). Get to the Root of the Problem. Watch for Clues in the Colors. Trace Your Steps. More Information, Please! Be Sensitive to the Context-Sensitive Action Window. Conclusion. Appendix B: Common Programming Terms. Appendix C: What's on the CD-ROM. System Requirements. Loading the CD Files. Exercise Files. Eyeland Studio Resources. Macromedia Demos. Index.

About the Author :
J. Scott Hamlin is the director of Eyeland Studio (http://www.eyeland.com), a company that specializes in intertainment design mostly in Flash. Eyeland Studio's clients include Nickelodeon, Procter and Gamble, and Nabisco. Hamlin is the author of several books, including Flash 4 Magic (New Riders Publishing) and Effective Web Animation (Addison Wesley Longman). Scott is also the director of NavWorks, whose products (which include Flash-based products) are now sold at Eyewire (http://www.eyewire.com). David Emberton is an internationally acclaimed author, programmer, and columnist. Based on extensive experience in Flash application development, David has isolated tried-and-true techniques for building high-impact Flash content that works. His educational works share a unique focus on simplicity, planning, and thoughtful execution, making life easier whether you operate solo or as part of a team. Matthew David has more than ten years of multimedia experience, as a theater and video producer and director and, over the last six years, as an Internet Technologist. Matthew contributed to the Macromedia Dreamweaver Bible (IDG WorldWide) and Flash 5: Visual Insight (The Coriolis Group). He has also written three courses for Ziff-Davis and four courses for SmartPlanet.com, and he is currently working on new courses for eHandsOn.com. He is Allen Interactions's lead instructor for Macromedia Flash, Fireworks, and Dreamweaver. Jennifer S. Hall changed careers after managing and programming in a scientific research environment. For the past four years, Jennifer has worked with leading multimedia companies including Top Drawer/Human Code, Thought Interactive, and Eyeland Studios. Much of her work has focused on the development of educational materials for kids and adults. Some of her clients include Disney; Holt, Rinehart and Winston; NavWorks; Deal of Day; Jugamos; and the Austin's Children's Museum. In her spare time, Jennifer eats, reads, runs, sits, rock climbs, and, most recently, windsurfs. John Lenker is a Creative Supervisor and User Experience Specialist for Martin/Williams, a national advertising agency located in Minneapolis. Prior to joining Martin/Williams, John was the executive in charge of the eBusiness Group at Allen Interactions. John has been featured in industry trade journals for his work as a digital/photo illustrator, has won state Addy awards for Illustration and Poster of the Year, and is a photographer for Uniphoto/Pictor International. Samuel Wan recites ActionScript in his sleep and dreams vividly in vector format. During the day, he builds advanced game engines and interactive features for various studios as an independent developer. When he's not writing or talking about Flash, he enjoys pushing the creative possibilities of this technology alongside fellow dreamers in the community. Samuel currently pursues graduate studies in Human Computer Interaction at the University of Michigan's School of Information. He would like to take this opportunity to thank his music mentors, teachers, professors, friends at were-here.com, colleagues, and most of all, his parents for their generosity, insight, and foresight.

Review :
"This book uses hands-on-projects to show how ActionScript can be used to its best effect in a number of diverse environments, from online games to integrating a database into your website."Computer Arts - Animation Special, Issue 19