Section 15.4. The Rest Is Up to You

15.4. The Rest Is Up to You

Well, that's all folks. The projects in this book have been designed to cover a wide range of topics to give you a varied look into the world of Flash. In the best of circumstances, the experience has been positive and you've learned some things that will carry through in your own work.

Please visit this book's companion web site, http://www.flash8projects.com, for additional information, sample code, supplemental projects, additional resources, updates, and possible errata. Send in your questions and examples of your own work and contact the author and others in the Flash community.

15.4.1. What's Next?

You may be asking yourself why this section exists in the last chapter of the book. It has been included here for two reasons. First, you shouldn't finish this book without trying to take this final chapter one or two steps forward, just as you have with each prior chapter. Second, the appendix of this book is chock-full of useful informationif you sometimes gloss over appendixes, you should give this one a look.

Before continuing, try to come up with one use of Flash that you consider to be "outside the box," even if only because of your current experience level. Pushing yourself to learn will drive you to create. Try creating a segment for use in a home movie or DVD, or a mobile experience using the Flash Lite Player. Open your imagination.

Next, try to expand the features of your preloader component. For example, try adding an event handler so the loading process is triggered with a mouse click. When you've added one or more features, try preparing it for installation via the Macromedia Extensions Manager. (See "Intermediate to Advanced Component Features" for more information.)

Finally, move on to the appendix and explore the many additional resources available to you.

In the appendix, you will find lots of useful information and resources, including:

• A look at some of the more notable preferences you should be acquainted with

• An overview that describes how to create custom keyboard shortcut sets

• A brief list of tips for troubleshooting problems and getting the most out of this book

• A small collection of online and printed resources to help you continue your progress