Copyright

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Copyright

Published by Macromedia Press, in association with Peachpit Press, a division of Pearson Education.

Macromedia Press

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Berkeley, CA 94710

510/524-2178

510/524-2221 (fax)

Find us on the World Wide Web at:

http://www.peachpit.com

http://www.macromedia.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise , without the prior written permission of Macromedia, Inc.

Notice of Liability

The information in this book and on the CD-ROM is distributed on an "as is" basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book and the CD-ROM, neither Macromedia, Inc., its licensors, nor Macromedia Press shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described herein.

Trademarks

Macromedia is a registered trademark of Macromedia, Inc. Other product names mentioned within this publication may be trademarks or registered trademarks of other companies.

Printed and bound in the United States of America

987654321

Credits

Production Coordinator

Myrna Vladic

Compositors

Rick Gordon, Emerald Valley Graphics

Debbie Roberti, Espresso Graphics

Editor

Carol Person

Copy Editor

Elissa Rabellino

Indexer

Emily Glossbrenner

Tech Reviewer

Dr. Tim Parker

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Dad. I think this computer thing just might work out!

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Nancy "Mom" Rey, Al "Dad" Rey, Tommy "Little Baby Bro" Rey, Carol "Editor Extraordinaire" Person, Tom "Studmuffin" Kucan, Jeromy "Guybo" Hill, David "Madpunk" Willis, Eddie "Spageddie" Gonzalez, Tracy "Jam Girl" Kelly, Laura "My Favorite Designer" McCabe, Pablo "AbACUZ" Tailanian, Steve "PedestrianSteve" Waters, Justin "Tdogg" Toncynzyn, Brian "Qball" Kew, Steve "Sliver" Silver, Dan "My Son" McCarthy, and Bill "Pope de Flash" Spencer for all of their help, love, and support while I worked on this project. And thanks to Astra, Aurora, Luna, Gator, and Jinx for keeping me company all day! Thanks also to Matt Renfro of CDNIT for providing space for www.flashtfs.com.

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Introduction

Macromedia's Flash MX is the professional standard for producing high-impact Web experiences. Macromedia Flash MX delivers an intuitive, approachable authoring environment to enable both designers and developers to more easily create next -generation Web sites and applications.

The Macromedia Training from the Source course introduces you to the major features of Flash MX by guiding you step-by-step through the development of a complex Web site. This 12 “16 hour curriculum includes these lessons:

Lesson 1: Flash Basics

Lesson 2: Adding Graphics and Text

Lesson 3: Using Symbols and the Library

Lesson 4: Creating Animation

Lesson 5: Adding Basic Interactivity

Lesson 6: Using Sound and Video

Lesson 7: Programming with ActionScript

Lesson 8: Using Components

Lesson 9: Creating Dynamic Content

Lesson 10: Creating Printable Movies

Lesson 11: Optimizing Flash Content

Lesson 12: Publishing a Flash Web Site

Each lesson begins with an overview of the\animtext4 lesson's content and learning objectives and each is divided into short tasks that break the skills into bite- size units.

Each lesson also includes these special features:

Tips Shortcuts for common tasks and ways you can use the skills you're learning to solve common problems.

Notes Additional information or extra background about the tools or commands.

Menu commands and keyboard shortcuts: Alternative methods for executing commands. Menu commands are shown like this: Menu > Command > Subcommand. Keyboard shortcuts are shown like this: Control+Z (Windows) or Command+X (Macintosh). The + between the names of the keys means that you should press both keys simultaneously . Both Windows and Macintosh commands will always be included.

Appendixes A and B contain quick lists of Flash's keyboard shortcuts. Appendix C is a guide to some handy Flash resources. Finally, Appendix D is a reference guide to the ActionScript used in the book, as well as additional ActionScript that may interest you.

You will create a complete Flash-based Web site during the course of this book, including animations, sound, video, and plenty of interactivity.

graphics/infig01.gif

All the files you need for the lessons are included in the Lessons folder on the enclosed CD. Files for each lesson appear in their own folders, titled with the lesson name . You should copy the Lessons folder to your hard drive for quicker access. If you choose to use the files directly from the CD, you may find that you can't test the movies ”if that happens, make a copy of the file on your hard drive. The companion Web site for this book, www.flastfs.com, hosts updates, corrections, and additional resources.

Each lesson folder may contain subfolders : Starting, Intermediate, Completed, and Assets. The Starting folder contains the initial file for a lesson, if one exists. The Intermediate folder contains the completed files for each step in the project so that you can compare your work or see where you are headed. The files in this folder will also allow you to jump ahead without having to go through every exercise. The Completed folder contains the final file for a lesson. The Assets folder includes any media files needed for the lesson, such as graphics, sounds, or symbol libraries. The files that you will need are identified at the beginning of each lesson.

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