Flash Basics

Learn the fundamentals of the Web's #1 interactive design tool

When Web designers think interactivity, they think Adobe Flash. This industry-standard vector-based tool can create everything from simple animations to entire Web sites and even sleek video interfaces.

In this 6-lesson course, you'll develop a deep understanding for basic drawing and animating tools in Flash, mastering such critical elements as layers, symbols, and tweens. You'll build interactivity into your designs using advanced animation techniques, 3D rotation, navigation buttons, video, and even basic ActionScript.

This course will challenge you to create exciting projects including social game art, an animated advertisement, an animated character, a video gallery, and more.

Tuition: $900 US

Course Instructor(s):

Sessions Flash instructor Russell Chun
Russell Chun  is a Flash author, teacher, and educational multimedia developer.
Course content developed by Russell Chun.
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Requirements:

To take this course you'll need:
  • Computer with Internet connection (56 Kbps modem or faster).
  • Adobe Flash CS4 or CS5.
  • Adobe Photoshop or equivalent digital imaging program.
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Course Objectives:

Students learn how to:
  • Create graphics in the Flash environment using drawing tools, and modify objects with fills and strokes, gradients, transformations, groups, and other tools.
  • Use layers and symbols to organize and reuse Flash graphics, and create and edit symbol instances to produce complex artwork.
  • Use frames, keyframes, and the Flash timeline to control when graphics appear on the stage.
  • Apply motion tweens to animate changes in the appearance and location of objects.
  • Create complex animation with text, in 3D space, or using nested animation, shape tweens, and masks.
  • Use inverse kinematics to create armatures and to animate characters and jointed objects.
  • Create buttons that display video and audio feedback using the four button states.
  • Write and understand basic ActionScript 3.0 to control the playhead on the timeline for navigation and to load external images and animations.
  • Apply basic video edits in Adobe Media Encoder and output to Flash FLV and F4V formats.
  • Embed, load, and skin Flash video and control playback with ActionScript.
  • Use modularity, including loading of external files, to create flexible, editable complex Flash movies.
  • Use hyperlinking to connect Flash to external Web sites and publish your Flash projects for the Web.
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Course Outline

LESSON 1 Creating Graphics

All of the amazing animations and interactive features you create in this course begin with the basics: creating vector art in Flash. The first lesson introduces you to Flash's vector drawing tools, methods of coloring and modifying your drawings, and importing bitmap photos into the Flash environment. You'll also learn how Flash symbols and layers make your artwork easy to edit. Your first exercise will challenge you to design a character and background for a social game.

LESSON 2 Animation with Motion Tweening

This is where things really get moving. Lesson Two introduces motion tweening, the process of animating changes in the appearance and location of an object. You'll learn basic animations, animations on custom motion paths, and even nested animations that add complexity to your designs. You'll animate text as well with a 3D spin. In the exercise, you'll try your hand at an animated banner ad that incorporates the techniques you learned.

LESSON 3 Special Animation Techniques

Motion tweening is just one method of animating in Flash. This lesson addresses additional techniques that allow you to add even more interest to your designs. You'll learn how to morph shapes into one another with shape tweening and you'll learn how to animate jointed objects (like characters) using inverse kinematics and the Bone tool. You will also learn to create still and animated masks that highlight areas of your Flash movies. Exercise Three enables you to bring a character to life with inverse kinematics and an action cycle.

LESSON 4 Interactivity and ActionScript

Interactivity engages viewers by allowing them to contribute to the action. This can be as simple as navigation buttons, which are your first topic in Lesson Four. You'll learn how to create the four button states in Flash and how to modify them for visual and audio feedback. Then you'll take your first foray into ActionScript 3.0 with some basic coding that controls the buttons and Timeline. In the exercise, you'll put buttons and ActionScript to work to create an image gallery for a professional photographer.

LESSON 5 Integrating Video

Flash video players are found all over the Web, and this lesson explores how to create them starting with basic editing in Adobe Media Encoder. You'll learn how to output to the FLV and F4V formats, embed and load video in Flash, and choose video player skins. You will also use ActionScript to control Flash's video component so users can choose which videos to view. You'll show off this skill in the exercise where you'll create an extreme sports video jukebox.

LESSON 6 Modularity and Hyperlinks

The final lesson pulls everything you've learned together to explore processes for keeping your Flash movies manageable and taking them online. Modularity is explored, including ActionScript means for loading external content, as a way to organize your work and make it easy to edit independent pieces. You will also learn how to create hyperlinks to Internet content and to prep your files for publishing to the Web. Your final exercise pulls together everything you've learned into a complete Flash portfolio site.

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Flash Basics
A snippet of a Flash Basics portfolio design from student Sandy De Castro