MovieClipScroller

Have you ever wondered how you could scroll through MovieClip contents instead of just plain text? Flash Player 8 provides this capability through the MovieClip's property "scrollRect" though i have not experimented on that yet. What i did instead was create a Class called "MovieClipScroller" which you can easily incorporate into any project that you are currently working on.

You can easily create instances of this class and provide any library graphic for your scroll bar background, buttons, and knob graphics that this class will take control of after giving these MovieClips "instance names". You can create both vertical and horizontal scrollbars. Here is a sample: I'll be uploading the sample files when after finalizing something. But if you really need to have a sample urgent, you can email me.

SliderBar

I have created a SliderBar class that can be used to create bars with sliders such as volume slider bar or any other property of objects you wish to modify upon sliding



Here's another example of how you could use your slider bar

Preloader

My next blog is about how to make an efficient preloader. Before that, i will have to finalize the explanations and upload the sample files for download for my other blogs =)

Polygon

Flash's runtime drawing functions like "lineTo" and "curveTo" are very powerful. You can draw complex vector shapes with pure ActionScript at runtime! I created a sample vector polygon shape from my custom "Polygon" class.

Hit the Numeric Component to increment or decrement the number of sides of the polygon, and the file will automatically redraw the shape with the sides you specified. You will notice that as you increase the number of sides, the more circular the shape becomes.

ColorPicker

Using Flash ActionScript can really become fun! I've learned how to become really proficient with Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). You will not come to realize the power of it until you try it yourself. The "ColorPicker" is the first Class i have ever made! Here it is:

The flash content you see above was drawn at runtime using ActionScript's "lineTo" drawing functions, no manually-drawn graphics. Flash with ActionScript 3.0 has the ColorPicker component feature. But this component is not available for ActionScript 2.0.

Flash Files Association

Here is a list of some common file types related to flash that you may want to get familiar with:

Flash Authoring (FLA) File - primary file you work with in Flash that contains your media and ActionScript codes.
ShockWave Flash (SWF) File - compiled FLA file called Flash Movie that may be an object of a web page or played in a Flash Player.
Projector (EXE) File - self-executing SWF File (does not require Flash Player since it's an executable file)
Flash Project (FLP) File - XML file that allows the user to group related files together to assist in organization, compilation, & build.
Flash Video (FLV) File - video files created by Adobe Flash, ffmpeg, Sorenson Squeeze, or On2 Flix.
ActionScript (AS) File - external files that can be imported into your FLA file. They are used for organizing your codes.
ShockWave Debug (SWD) File - only temporary files that can be used for debugging your FLA files.

In the diagram you can see the common file types that can be created with Adobe Flash CS3 such as FLA, FLP, AS, and JSFL file types. Basically, you will be dealing with the FLA file type which will contain all the media like images & sounds, and imported ActionScript (for advanced programmers) code. FLA files will eventually be compiled into Flash Movies (SWF) which is composed of a set of bytecodes that can be executed and run with a Flash Player (like a JVM executing a .java bytecode file) or can be embedded within web pages. To get the latest flash player from Adobe click link Flash Player. A Flash Project File or FLP file is not necessary for compilation. It is only a simple XML file with a function of helping you organize your project files if you deal with alot of files.

Play flash content in the following ways:

1. In Internet browsers that are equipped with Flash Player
2. Flash Xtra in Director® and Authorware® from Adobe
3. Flash ActiveX control in Microsoft Office
4. As part of a QuickTime Video
5. As a stand-alone application called a projector

See next post: Oops. Dead End. Sorry site still under construction, try visiting the other links though if you feel like an advanced flasher.

Introduction

FlashUniversity is the perfect site to learn Adobe or Macromedia Flash the easy way. Flash has become a popular and preferred tool for creating Animation, Advertisements, Web Page components, and Rich Internet Applications (RIA). This site's target audience is every people interested in developing flash applications from beginners to experts. Tutorial navigation is through green highlighted Links at the bottom of each post. If you wish to choose specific topics to study, click one of the links of blog posts at the right panel.

Here are some historical facts of how flash came to evolve into what it is today. It all started with the Jonathan Gay who was the brainchild of flash. In January 1993, Gay with Charlie Jackson and Michelle Welsh started the FutureWave Software Company with their first software SmartSketch which was used as a drawing tool to create computer graphics as easy as you would draw on paper. Soon they modified the software by adding basic frame-by-frame feature for creating animation and re-released it as the FutureSplash Animator. It was then released as Flash after Macromedia acquired the vector-based animation software in December 1996. Flash is the term used as a resultant of combining the words Future and Splash of the FutureWave's Software name. Adobe Systems bought Macromedia Corporation and all of its product portfolio in December 3, 2005.

The versions of flash that followed FutureSplash Animator include Macromedia Flash 1,2,3,4, & 5, MX (v6), MX 2004 & Professional 2004 (v7), Basic 8 & Professional 8 (v8), and Adobe Flash CS3 Professional (v9). The latest release from Adobe Systems is Adobe Flash CS4 (v10) where you can do basic 3D object manipulation with 2 new tools. I've tried this feature and it is really amazing that flash finally supports 3D animation. The frustrating thing though that alot of people (including myself) are complaining about is the really sluggish user interface of version 10. Personally i do not like the looks of CS4 either. I'm sticking with CS3, where you can still do 3D. I'll discuss that later. These are the basic history i can share with you. Click Flash Files Association to continue to learn about the basic flash file types you will deal with in flash.

See next post: Flash Files Association