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Features
Getting Started with Flash
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for beginning Flash users.
Description
This guide provides a thorough introduction to the Flash workspace and the essential processes used to create Flash content. If you are new to using Flash, this guide is the place to begin.
In Getting Started with Flash, you can learn to do the following:
- Understand what Flash is and what you can create with it
- Understand the parts of a Flash document and how they are created
- Use the primary tools in the Flash workspace
- Build a real-world Flash application
- Choose from among the various books in Flash Help based on your specific goals
Using Flash
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for all Flash users.
Description
This guide provides detailed information on using the features and functions of Flash Basic 8 and Flash Professional 8, a multimedia authoring tool that lets you create anything from simple animations to complex, interactive web applications. Using Flash provides detailed descriptions of Flash features and the procedures necessary to use them.
In Using Flash, you can learn to do the following:
- Create and work with Flash documents
- Create graphics using Flash drawing tools, and import artwork from other graphics applications
- Use text in Flash documents
- Create motion and interactivity
- Incorporate sound and video into Flash presentations
- Integrate external data sources to create data-driven applications
- Use ActionScript to add interactivity and custom functionality
- Create accessible Flash content for users with disabilities
- Create multilanguage Flash content for localized websites
- Publish your Flash documents as SWF files
Flash 8 Video Encoder
Formats
View in Flash 8 Video Encoder: Select Help > Using Flash Video Encoder
Audience
This manual is intended for Flash designers creating video content.
Description
This guide provides detailed information on using the features and functions of Flash 8 Video Encoder, a stand-alone video encoding application that lets you encode video into the Macromedia Flash Video (FLV) format.
In Using the Flash Video Encoder, you can learn to do the following:
- Use the On2 and Sorenson Spark video codecs to encode video into FLV format
- Follow appropriate guidelines when encoding digital video
- Import video clips and encode them into the FLV format
- Specify encoding settings to produce optimal content for different bandwidth constraints
- Embed cue points that you can then use to trigger events within your Flash presentation using either the FLVPlayback component or ActionScript
- Crop your video's frame size and edit its playback length
Tutorials
Flash Tutorials
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for all Flash users.
Description
The tutorials in this guide teach you specific Flash skills in a self-paced, step-by-step process. You can choose the tutorials that develop the skills you need for the Flash projects you are working on at any given time. Each tutorial leads you through the workflow for implementing a specific real-world feature or effect in your Flash applications.
In Flash Tutorials, you can learn to do the following:
- Understand the Flash workspace and use common document types
- Use the Flash drawing tools and create engaging graphic effects
- Use ActionScript to add interactivity and custom functionality to your documents
- Connect your projects to external data sources to create data-driven applications
Sample: Bitmap Caching (Flash Professional only)
Formats
Audience
This sample is intended for all Flash users.
Description
This sample demonstrates the improved animation speed provided by the runtime bitmap caching capability of Flash Professional 8. Read more...
Sample: Alpha Masking
Formats
Audience
This sample is intended for all Flash users.
Description
This sample demonstrates how to create transparent and semitransparent masks with alpha channels and the ActionScript setMask() method. Read more...
Sample: Alpha Video
Formats
Audience
This sample is intended for all Flash users.
Description
This sample demonstrates video compositing with alpha-enabled video files in Flash. Read more...
ActionScript
Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Flash
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for beginning and intermediate ActionScript users.
Description
This guide shows you how to write proper ActionScript syntax to create useful and interactive Flash applications. It includes examples of object-oriented programming, and teaches you how to write custom classes for your Flash applications. Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Flash also includes numerous hands-on examples that show you how to apply expressive and interactive features to your files using ActionScript code, such as file upload, filter effects, scripted animation, and anti-aliased text.
In Learning Actionscript 2.0 in Flash, you can learn to do the following:
- Write proper ActionScript syntax using the fundamentals of the ActionScript language
- Use object-oriented programming techniques to build Flash applications
- Use ActionScript classes to add interactivity and expressive features to your Flash applications
- Use best practices and coding conventions to optimize, structure, and write consistent ActionScript
ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for all ActionScript users.
Description
This guide is a comprehensive reference manual that describes the application programming interface (API) for Macromedia Flash. It includes valuable syntax and usage information; detailed descriptions of classes, functions, properties, and events; and copy-and-paste code samples for every element in the ActionScript language.
In ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference, you can learn to do the following:
- Use specific APIs accurately
- Understand the breadth and depth of ActionScript
- Repurpose tried-and-tested code in your own applications
Components
Using Components
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for all Flash users.
Description
Components are “packaged” user interface, data integration, and media player pieces that form the building blocks for Rich Internet Applications. They are designed to allow developers to reuse and share code, and to encapsulate complex functionality that designers can use and customize easily. This guide provides an introduction to creating an application with components, and shows you how to customize and create new components.
In Using Components, you can learn to do the following:
- Set component properties and parameters
- Write functions to handle component “events” (such as clicking, loading, and rollover events)
- Customize component appearance
- Create your own components and distribute them to other developers and designers
Components Language Reference
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for all Flash users.
Description
Using Components provides a general introduction to components. This guide provides the programming reference for creating component instances dynamically on the Stage and controlling their appearance and behavior using ActionScript.
In Components Language Reference, you can learn to do the following:
- Set component properties and parameters
- Instantiate and control components on the Stage using ActionScript
- Pass data between components
- Customize component appearance
- Use supporting classes for managing component depth and focus, or data, styles, transition effects, and web services
VideoPlayer Class API
Formats
Audience
This article is intended for intermediate to advanced video developers.
Description
This article contains application programming interface (API) documentation for the VideoPlayer class. The VideoPlayer class is a wrapper class for the Video, NetConnection, and NetStream classes, and makes it easy to play FLV files and create custom video players
XPathAPI Class
Formats
Audience
This article is intended for advanced Flash developers using the data binding classes.
Description
This document supplements the Components Language Reference with information about using the XPathAPI class. The XPathAPI class allows you to do simple XPath searches within Flash, which is useful for searching XML packets based on node names and attribute values.
Additional Component Samples
Formats
Download cell renderer samples (AS, FLA, HTML, SWF)
Download quickstart sample (AS, FLA, SWF)
Audience
This document is intended for advanced Flash component developers.
Description
This document links to samples you can download for advanced implementation of the Flash 8 components CellRenderer application programming interface (API). It also includes a link to a template you can use as a starting point for creating your own custom components. Read more...
Extending
Extending Flash
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for JavaScript users and advanced Flash users.
Description
This manual describes how to build Flash JavaScript extensions for the Flash authoring environment. It provides information about how each type of extension works and describes the JavaScript application programming interface (API) functions that Flash calls to implement the extension.
In Extending Flash, you can learn to do the following:
- Automate repetitive tasks
- Add custom tools to the Tools panel
- Add Timeline effects
- Add, remove, and modify filters that are applied to objects on the Stage
- Manage Flash project files
- Access, modify, and remove files and folders on the local file system
Flash Lite
Getting Started with Flash Lite
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for beginning Flash and Flash Lite users, as well as intermediate and advanced Flash users who want to learn about developing Flash Lite applications for mobile devices.
Description
This guide introduces you to using Flash Lite 1.1. It also includes a tutorial that leads you through the process of creating a simple but functional Flash Lite application.
Developing Flash Lite Applications
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for all Flash Lite users.
Description
This guide contains comprehensive, task-based information on all the features to help you design and develop Flash Lite applications.
This guide teaches you how to do many tasks with Flash Lite, including the following:
- Handle navigation using the mobile phone keys
- Work with the text, fonts, and sound formats supported on mobile phones
- Optimize your content for performance and file size
- Test your content in Flash using the Flash Lite device emulator
Learning Flash Lite 1.x ActionScript
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This guide is intended for all Flash Lite users.
Description
This guide provides an overview of the Flash Player 4 ActionScript that Flash Lite 1.x supports, and an introduction to some common scripting tasks you might want to perform.
This guide teaches you how to do many tasks with the ActionScript supported by Flash Lite, including the following:
- Determine device and platform capabilities
- Open a web page
- Initiate a phone call
- Initiate a text or multimedia message
- Initiate an e-mail message
- Load external SWF files
- Load external data
Flash Lite 1.x ActionScript Language Reference
Formats
View in Flash: Select Help > Flash Help
Audience
This manual is intended for all Flash Lite users.
Description
This manual provides a comprehensive reference to the ActionScript language that Flash Lite 1.x supports, which is the version of ActionScript that was available in Flash Player 4.
