Week 1 Topics

Chapters 1 and 2

• Flash authoring tool - creates files in .fla format and can export into .swf format which is the Flash movie format for the web
• Flash Player - Necessary to view .swf file in browser; pre installed in current web browsers and is a free download
• Flash projector - an .exe file which does not require a browser or Flash player to view; typically distributed via CD-Rom or disk; file size larger than .swf file because it contains a Flash player. Not a good format for the web because of the larger file size and hence download time
• Flash interface - Tools, Timeline, Panels, Work Area, Stage, property inspector panel; within the timeline, there is the playhead which shows which timeline frame is currently being displayed in the stage; the status bar shows the number of the current frame, the number of frames per second
• Window>Tools>Status - a toggle to turn on/off hints in the status bar when one mouses over a tool.
• Docking and undocking a timeline - If you put your cursor to the left of the word "Timeline", the cursor will change into something with 4 arrows - While the arrow looks like this, if you hold down the mouse cursor, you can drag the timeline; if you drag it back to near the starting position, it will redock
• Layers - if a layer is above another in the list of layers, the contents of that layer will be in front of the contents of the other layer on the stage; show/hide -- if you hide a layer, it has no effect on the published movie unlike some graphics programs where hiding a layer will prevent it showing up in the exported file format
• Undocking and docking panels - Use the same procedure as for the timeline; to redock the timeline, move it over the other panel and when you see a dark outline appearing, release the mouse button and it will redock; for the redocking to occur, you have to drag the panel by the grab handles and not the blue title bar of the window
• Resizing panels - drag the border
• Expanding a panel - Click the down arrow to the left of the title of the panel (this is a toggle)
• Tab key - this is a toggle that hides all panels, hit tab again and it brings back whatever panels were showing before the tab key was hit
• Window>Close All Panels - this closes all the panels; panels then can be opened individually through Window>Name of panel
• Panel options - click the arrow at the top right of the panel
• Creating and saving panel sets - Window>Save Panel Layout; Window>Panel Sets>name of layout to restore. Window>Panel Sets>Default Layout - Panel sets are stored in separate files on your hard drive (on my computer, it is in Application Data) so to delete a layout, delete the file
• Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts - This allows you to redefine keyboard shortcuts - Click the duplicate sets button so you are working with a duplicate (this may be all you can do anyway); these shortcuts are also stored as separate files (on my computer in Application Data, just like panel sets)

Chapter 3

• Exercise 1 - Drawing with the Pencil Tool - Click on the pencil tool and draw a shape -- Notice in the options area at the bottom of the tool box that there are 3 options for the Pencil tool - (1) Straighten mode tries to guess what shape you are trying to create and it uses that; (2) Smooth changes what you draw to a lesser extent, and (3) Ink changes it very little
• Ctrl A will select everything on the stage and then you can hit the delete key to delete everything
• Exercise 2 - Modifying Lines (using strokes.fla) - Using the Arrow Tool to select an object, and using the Property Inspector and the Ink Bottle to modify lines.
1. Select the Arrow Tool and then click on the squiggly line. The line gets thicker and a dotted pattern appear over it, indicating it has been selected.
2. If Property Inspector isn't visible, choose Window>Properties to make it visible. Stroke Style drop-down menu to change the line, and then deselect the line to see the changes. Alternatively, Ctrl H hides the selection so you can see the effect of the change. Stroke Height slider and Stroke Color box. Custom in Property Inspector allows one to create your own line style.
3. Using the Arrow tool, move the cursor over the bottom line in the arrow shape. As you move over the line, a small curved line appears -- this indicates you are over a line, not a fill
4. Click on a line segment - notice that only this line segment is selected; if you double click on any part of the object, the entire object will be selected
5. Select Ink Bottle tool - lets you add either a stroke around a fill object that has no stroke or make changes to existing lines- In the toolbox, click the stroke color icon and select a color from the palette. Click on the outer edge of the snowboard -- this adds a stroke to the outside of the shape. To delete the stroke, click on the Arrow tool, then double click the stroke to select it and hit delete.
• Exercise 3 - Using the Oval and Rectangle Tools - creates lines and/or fills that are independent of each other
  1. Select the Oval Tool. Press and hold the Shift key while dragging -- this constrains to a circle using the current fill and stroke colors.
  2. Select the Rectangle Tool. Press and hold the shift key while dragging - this constrains to a square. In the options area, click the Round Rectangle Radius button to set the number of points for a rounded corner for rectangles drawn subsequently. As you draw the rectangle, you can use the Up and Down arrow key to change the number of points - Up decrease the number of points, whereas Down increases it
• Exercise 4 - Using the Brush Tool to paint shapes
  1. Select the Brush tool and draw a circle. It uses the fill color for this shape, not the stroke color. The shape created is a fill, not a stroke.
  2. In the Options area of the toolbox, change the Brush Size and Brush Shape
  3. You can use the Ink Bottle to add strokes to the fills you created with the Brush.

Revised: January 22, 2006 Comments to William Pegram, wpegram@nvcc.edu