Flash 8, Introduction to

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Lesson 1
In December 1996, Macromedia released Flash 1.0, a simple program designed to help Web designers create lightweight animations for their Web sites. Since that time, Flash has evolved into a powerful animation and development environment for some of the most exciting things you?ve ever seen on the Internet. In our first lesson, we'll take a look back through Flash's history and then we'll start exploring Flash 8. By the time you finish this lesson, you?ll have a solid understanding of the Flash tools and players, and you?ll be familiar with the environment you?ll be working in.

Lesson 2
The core purpose of Flash has always been to help people create artwork directly on their computers. Flash offers some powerful tools, allowing you to bring your imagination to life. In Lesson 2, you?ll get familiar with the drawing tools available in Flash, and you'll practice using them to create some basic drawings of your own.

Lesson 3
Making drawings is always fun, but at some point, you?ll get the urge to make changes to what you?ve created. Flash offers you numerous panels that do everything from scaling and transforming an item, to altering colors and making gradients. You'll find out all about them in this lesson. And you?ll even learn how to create your own custom colors using a popular panel called the Color Mixer.

Lesson 4
Flash doesn?t just let you draw still pictures. The real fun is taking what you?ve created and making it move. This is where the Flash Timeline comes into play, and that's what we'll be exploring in this lesson. If you?ve never worked in an animation program before, you're in for a treat as we begin to get comfortable with frames, keyframes, and the other fun features that make your animations possible.

Lesson 5
It may feel like we?re getting off-track in this lesson as we jump from the Timeline to groups and symbols, but true animation in Flash relies on these concepts. In this lesson, you?ll learn how to group your work and organize it into containers called symbols. This is the last thing you need to learn before real animation begins.

Lesson 6
Today's lesson is a favorite among students! It?s time to take all that you?ve learned and start making animations. We?ll begin by going over the two different types of animations you can create in Flash: frame-by-frame animations and tweened animations. Then we'll practice creating both animation types. When you?re done today, you?ll be as excited for what?s to come as you are for what you just learned!

Lesson 7
Animations are obviously fun, but they can be annoying if they just loop over and over again without stopping. You certainly wouldn?t want to put something like that on your Web site very often. So in this lesson, you?ll learn the basics of Flash?s scripting language (ActionScript), and find out how to use it to control what your Timeline is doing.

Lesson 8
ActionScript is a huge topic in any Flash course, and even the most basic effects you find online probably rely heavily on it. In today's lesson, you?ll spend some more time learning how to use buttons and movie clips, along with your ActionScript, to add true interactivity to your work. Want to give the user the control over your animations? You'll find out how in this lesson.

Lesson 9
Flash offers some great tools for creating things with the program itself, but you'll often have an image or some music that you?d like to import into your work. Flash is perfect for integrating all kinds of media into a single file that?s easy to put on a Web site. In today's lesson, you?ll learn the ins and outs of importing images and audio into your documents.

Lesson 10
In today's lesson, you'll learn about two special kinds of layers that Flash has to offer: Guide and mask layers. These are powerful tools that you can use to create and control some really amazing effects. I know you'll find that guide and mask layers are wonderful additions to your Flash repertoire!

Lesson 11
Video is something that?s new in Flash, and introductory courses rarely talk about it. But Flash handles importing video very well, and since video is everywhere now, I don?t want to let you down. In today's lesson, you?ll learn the basics of importing your video clips into Flash, as well as how to add controls and overlays to them. Your friends will be very impressed when you show them the fruits of your labor from this lesson!

Lesson 12
When it?s all said and done, most of you will want to publish your Flash work to a Web site. In this, our final lesson, we'll go over how to export and publish your final .swf file and prepare your work for an HTML page. It?s time to take all you?ve learned and share it with the world!