Macromedia Flash5

Introduction

The Interface

Flash Exercises:
   Layers
   Color
   Drawing
   Buttons
   Symbols
   Animating
   Sound

Saving and Publishing

Flash Examples

Introduction

Macromedia Flash is a powerful application used to create low-bandwidth animations and interactive movies for use on Web sites. Flash 5 is one of the leading Web authoring programs for creating vector-based animations or Flash movies for Web sites. With the coming of Flash MX soon, the supremacy of this animation software for web developpers may very well be complete.

Flash creates vector-based graphics rather than bitmap graphics. Vector graphics are created using lines and curves, whereas bitmap graphics are described by pixels of color. Bitmap images are resolution dependent; therefore, resizing a bitmap image can lead to distortion. Vector-based graphics, on the other hand, are drawn using mathematical formulas. Resizing a vector-based image means the formula is recalculated, resulting in a scaled version of the original image and no distortion.

Flash 5 does support the importing of bitmap graphics. This feature gives the Web developer a great deal of flexibility. The addition of a Flash movie to a Web site invites interactivity and provides an opportunity for visitors to have a more engaging experience.

NOTE: You must have the most recent Flash application to open the .fla files found in the Examples section. A 30-day trial version is available at Macromedia. make sure you keep your flash player up to date.