Another major facet of the Flash MX authoring environment is panels. Panels allow you to manipulate virtually any element within your Flash movie. By default, Flash opens with the default panel set displayed. There are several panel set options that can be found under the Window option in the top menu bar. Depending on your monitor resolution and job description, you can select the panel set option that best works for you. Each panel includes a ribbed title bar, a collapse triangle, and an options drop-down menu. The title bar, located at the top left of all panels, lets you click and drag a panel. You can dock panel within a panel set, and remove panels within a dock set to make them free-floating panels. Docking panels within a panel set lets you make better use of your screen real estate. Panels can be collapsed or opened by clicking the triangle at the top left next to the title bar. When collapsing a panel within a panel set, the entire panel set collapses, freeing up more screen real estate. NOTE If you rearrange your panel set and find yourself using that particular layout often, you can save that panel set layout by choosing Window > Save Panel Layout. Once you save it, that new layout will be available along with the original layout when you select Window > Panel Sets.
There is virtually a panel for every aspect of your Flash movie. Select any panel from the Window drop-down menu bar to display a particular panel. To close all panels, select Window > Close All Panels. See Table 1.1 for a list of the major panels and their individual functionalities. TIP A quick way to close all your panels is to press the Tab key on your keyboard. To get all the panels back, press the Tab key again.
Table 1.1. Major Flash MX Panels | PANEL | FUNCTIONALITY | | Tools | All the tools needed to create objects, lines, and text can be found in the Tools panel. This panel is divided into four parts : Tools, View, Colors, and Options. Whenever a tool is selected within the Tools portion, the options for the selected tool change accordingly within the Options portion. You can zoom in and out of the stage area using the Zoom tool found in the View portion. You can also move the entire stage around when you select the Hand tool in the View portion. Utilizing the Colors portion of the Tools panel, you can change the fill and outline color of objects. Be sure to have the object selected that you would like changed, then click on the swatch drop-down menu and select a new color . | | Properties | One of the biggest additions to Flash MX is the Properties panel, also known as the Properties Inspector. Similar to the Properties Inspector in Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, this panel gives you immediate information on any object or tool selected. The Properties panel groups features from other panels, depending on the object selected. | | Align | The Align panel lets you line up objects either on the stage or to the stage. This panel is very useful when you need to align certain objects to direct center of the stage. To align objects, select the objects on the stage that need to be aligned to one another, and click the icon associated with what you wish to do. To align objects to the stage, select the objects to be aligned and be sure to click the To Stage icon. Next, click the icon associated with what you wish to do. You can also define distribution, size , and space of objects in the Align panel. | | Info | In the Info panel you can quickly manipulate the width, height, and the x and y coordinates of any object within your Flash movie. Double-click within the text box of the attribute you wish to change, and type in the new information. The change will not take effect until you press the Tab or Return key. | | Transform | The Transform panel lets you enlarge, reduce, rotate, or skew any object on the stage within your Flash MX movie. Check the Constrain option to limit height and width percentages. | | Color Mixer | In the Color Mixer panel you can change the fill or outline color of selected objects. You can also dictate what type of fill you would like to create, and specify the alpha percentage of fills and outlines and the RGB values of a color. You can even type in a hexadecimal color here. | | Color Swatches | The Color Swatches panel lets you quickly choose from a color palette of swatches. By default, Flash MX uses a Web-safe color palette, but you can load your own color palette here. You can also create and save gradients and colors in this panel. | | Components | Another new feature to Flash MX is the convenience of the Components panel. Here you can find popular components for Flash MX user interfaces such as a check box, a list box, a combo box, and a Push key. Simply click and drag the component of your choice onto the stage and use the Properties Inspector to configure it. | | Actions | The Actions panel is where all Macromedia Flash MX ActionScript is added to either an object or a frame within a Flash MX movie. The Actions panel is broken into three parts: the Actions library, the parameter pane, and the scripting window. Whenever an action is added, the parameter options change according to the action being added. When you're in Expert mode, the parameter pane disappears. |  For more details on all the functionality and attributes of the Actions panel, see Chapter 9, "Introduction to ActionScript." TIP A quick way to close all your panels is to press the Tab key on your keyboard. To get all the panels back, press the Tab key again. To quickly erase everything on the stage, double-click the Eraser tool. If you double-click the eraser tool by accident , select Edit, Undo from the top drop-down menu bar.
|
