Any one out there know Flash?

[RC Storick]

I am trying to set up some flash apps. Anyone know about Adobe flash Professional 8?

[Peter Nevai]

Rather a broad question. Sort of like "I have a machine shop. Does anyone know how to build a 747?"

Robert, it all depends on what you want to do. Flash can get quite complex programming wise depending upon the desired end result. Linke most design programs, there is mandatory learning curve.

I am fairly fluent in Macromedia Flash, but depending on what you wish to accomplish it may take less time for me to do it than explain how do do it. 

Also there may be off the shelf Java snippets or Java applets that can accomplish the same thing without having to pull in another app like Flash. 

Make sense? 

[RC Storick]

Rather a broad question. Sort of like "I have a machine shop. Does anyone know how to build a 747?"

Robert, it all depends on what you want to do. Flash can get quite complex programming wise depending upon the desired end result. Linke most design programs, there is mandatory learning curve.

I am fairly fluent in Macromedia Flash, but depending on what you wish to accomplish it may take less time for me to do it than explain how do do it. 

Also there may be off the shelf Java snippets or Java applets that can accomplish the same thing without having to pull in another app like Flash. 

Make sense? 

Well If I had a machine shop I could build one.. I will be using Macromedia flash for an opening for the magazine I if can figure out how to use it. I have #8

I want to pan in with a movie short of a airplne and teh a quick tour.

[Peter Nevai]

Ok you asked for it.
Everything that you do in flash is assembled as you would a animation / movie. That is all content is placed on the stage and controlled via the time line. The time line can have many layers with a different object in each layer. Graphical shapes, photographs, even video can be the content of a layer in the time line. The time line is divided up into frames. you can control the motion, shape, color, transparency of the objects in the layers by assigning key frames to different points on the time line. And assigining values to those keyframes.

By adding layers with different elements and applying keuframes to control those elements is the way you create a flash presentation. You can even add interactivity by creating key frames that cause the animation to stop and wait for a key press or mouse click from you to continue, jump to another frame or do some other action. To do this you assign a action script to the keyframe or object.

Anyway first things first. I have attached a link to a required part of any flash presentation. It is called a preloader. Many Flash animation usually take a period of time to load. During the loading process the user may not have access to the application. Rather than have the user sit there and wonder what is going on or if thier computer has locked up. (Especially modem users) A preloader gives the user a graphical indication of the loading progress. A preloader is a must at the beginning of every flash movie of any significant size. And since it has to execute before anything else it needs to occupy the first few frames of any flash project. So go through the tutorial and it will give you a feel for keyframes, action scripts and layers that you will need as you progress.

http://www.webwasp.co.uk/tutorials/b05-preload/index.php

Get through this and we can continue on to the making of the actual flash content.