FLASH, Macromedia

1
FLASH, Macromedias Web Animation Software
Powerhouse!

• John Markus
• COSC231

2
Overview

• What is Flash
• Drawing with Flash
• Using Symbols and Layers
• Creating Animation
• Publishing a Movie

3
What is Flash

• Flash is a frame by frame animation development
  kit.
• According to one of the founders of Flash,
  Jonathan Gay
• I developed a LEGO-based design Process. Its
  more of less the same process we ultimately used
  to develop Flash.
• Since 1996
• Flash has grown from a simple animation tool
  called Future Splash, to a complete multimedia
  development environment
• Used by a half a million developers and over a
  quarter of a billion web users.

4
Drawing with Flash

• Toolbox
• Drawing tools
• - Line Tool
• - Pen Tool
• - Pencil Tool
• - Brush Tool
• - Oval Tool
• - Rectangle Tool
• Selection Tools
• - Arrow Tool
• - Lasso Tool

• Transform tools
• - Free transform tool
• - Fill transform tool
• - Ink Bottle Tool
• - Paint Bucket tool
• - Eyedropper Tool
• - Eraser Tool

• Color Tools
• - Stroke Color
• - Fill Color

5
Using Layers

• Layers
• Layers in Flash are like pieces of cellophane
  stacked one ontop of the other.
• They help organize the content of the
  presentation.
• Layers can be transparent or opaque.
• Examples
• A background layer for example may stay visible
  throughout the entire movie
• An animation layer may only span for a few frames.

6
Using Symbols

• Symbols
• A symbol is an image, animation or button.
• When you create a symbol it is stored in a
  library.
• The library of symbols lets you use and reuse a
  symbol over and over again.
• Only one symbol per layer is allowed in Flash.
• This restriction allows the ability to create
  sophisticated animation and interactivity.

7
Tweened Animation

• Creating Animation
• Animation in Flash can be created in two ways.
• Frame by frame.
• Frame by frame is done by simply creating an
  image in every frame.
• Tweened
• The pictures on the right shows an example of
  tweened animation.
• To do a tweened animation you create a starting
  frame and ending frame and let Flash create the
  frames in between.
• Tweening in this way allows good animation with a
  small file size.

8
Publishing a Movie

• Html Format
• Once you have your movie completed, it is time to
  make it ready for the world wide web.
• Flash makes it easy to publish your movie,
• Select File from the menu bar
• Select publish.
• Flash will automatically generate an .html file
  and also a .swf file.
• The .swf file contains all the Information
  Flash needs to play your movie in a web browser
  or any application that uses Macromedias Flash
  player.

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Contact Information

• John Markus
• Email jmarkus_at_emich.edu
• Web Page http//people.emich.edu/jmarkus
• Sources and images used in presentation.
• - all images used were created in Flash Mx
  ver 6
• - Quote from Jonathan Gay
  www.macromedia.com