1. Foundation Level Course
Macromedia Flash 5
Foundation Level Course

2. What is Flash? Flash 5 is the latest version of Macromedia’s
graphics and animation package

3. Flash File Types In the Flash you can use many file types.
We will cover the most important ones:
FLA Files
SWF Files
HTML Files
PROJECTOR Files

4. Movie Properties Setting up Movie Properties: Frame Rate Dimensions
Background Color
Ruler Units

5. The Authoring Environment
The Toolbox
The Timeline
Panels
The Stage
The Work Area
The Launcher Bar

6. Toolbars
Flash has five Toolbars: Toolbox, Main, Status Bar, Controller, and the Launcher Bar
Main
Controller
Launcher Bar
Status Bar
Toolbox

7. The Timeline
The Timeline is an object on the Flash interface that contains the sequence of frames, layouts and scenes composing an animation.

8. Panels You can control Panels by choosing Window, then…
Panels > Panels Menu
Panel Sets
Save Panel Layout…
Close All Panels

9. Frames
Any content you want to display in the Flash movie needs to be placed within one or more Frames
Frame Numbers
Playhead
Frames

10. Layers The Timeline can have one or more Layers
Layers allow us to separate out pieces of content and action
One Layer
Many Layers

11. Scenes The Flash movie can have one or more Scenes
Each new Flash movie comes with one default scene, named “Scene 1”
Default Scene “Scene 1”

12. The Movie Explorer
The Movie Explorer gives you the ability to browse through the whole movie at different levels of detail
The Movie Explorer displays the contents of the movie: scenes, layers and keyframes

13. Toolbox
The Toolbox is a toolbar where you can quickly access all the drawing, painting and editing tools
The Toolbox window is divided into four sections
Tools
View
Colors
Options

14. Arrow Tool
The Arrow tool is used to select, move, place and modify objects on stage
The Arrow tool has five modifiers in the Options section: Snap to Objects, Smooth, Straighten, Rotate and Scale
Snap to Objects
Smooth
Straighten
Rotate
Scale

15. Lasso Tool The Lasso tool is used to select objects on the stage
The Lasso tool has three modifiers in the Options section: Magic Wand, Magic Wand Properties and Polygon Mode
Magic Wand
Magic Wand Properties
Polygon Mode

16. Oval Tool
The Oval tool is used to draw oval shapes on the stage

17. Rectangle Tool
The Rectangle tool is used to draw rectangle shapes on the stage
The Rectangle tool has one modifier in the Options section: Round Rectangle Radius
Round Rectangle Radius

18. Line Tool
The Line tool is used to draw lines on the stage

19. Pencil Tool
The Pencil tool is used to draw freeform lines on the stage
The Pencil tool has one modifier in the Options section: Pencil Mode
Pencil Mode

20. Brush Tool The Brush tool is used to paint on the stage
The Brush tool has four modifiers in the Options section: Brush Mode, Brush Size, Brush Shape and Lock Fill
Brush Mode
Brush Size
Brush Shape
Lock Fill

21. Pen Tool The Pen tool is used to draw curves on the stage
The curves created by Pen tool are called Bezier Curves

22. Text Tool
The Text tool is used to create and edit text elements on the stage
The Text tool is used in conjunction with the Character Panel

23. Ink Bottle Tool
The Ink Bottle tool is used to change the fill color of existing lines
The Ink Bottle tool is used in conjunction with the color palette on the Toolbox

24. Paint Bucket Tool
The Paint Bucket tool is used to fill in empty shapes or to change the fill color of existing shapes
The Paint Bucket tool is used in conjunction with the color palette on the Toolbox
The Paint Bucket tool has three modifiers in the Options section: Gap Size, Lock Fill and Transform Fill
Gap Size
Lock Fill
Transform Fill

25. Subselect Tool
The Subselect tool is used to select and modify existing points on the curves

26. Dropper Tool
The Dropper tool is used to pick-up the colors and styles of fills or lines from existing objects

27. Eraser Tool The Eraser tool is used to erase shapes on the stage
The Eraser tool has three modifiers in the Options section: Eraser Mode, Faucet and Eraser Shape
Eraser Mode
Faucet
Eraser Shape

28. Hand Tool
The Hand tool is used to move around the segment of the stage that is displayed on your screen

29. Zoom Tool The Zoom tool allows you to enlarge or reduce screen view
The Zoom tool has two modifiers in the Options section: Enlarge and Reduce
Enlarge
Reduce

30. Colors Colors have five modifiers: Stroke Color Fill Color
Default Colors
No Color
Swap Colors
Stroke Color
Fill Color
Default Colors
Swap Color
No Color

31. Lines
Lines can be drawn using the Line tool, the Pencil tool and the Pen tool
Using the Line Tool
Using the Pen Tool
Using the Pencil Tool

32. Fills
Fills can be painted using the Brush tool, the Paint Bucket tool and the Pen tool
Using the Brush Tool
Using the Pen Tool
Using the Paint Bucket Tool

33. Shapes
Shapes can be easily drawn using the Oval tool and the Rectangle tool

34. Selecting Shapes
The Arrow tool and the Lasso tool are used for selecting shapes
Using the Arrow Tool
Using the Lasso Tool

35. Modifying Shapes
Shapes can be modified using the Arrow tool, the Dropper tool, the Paint Bucket tool and the Ink Bottle tool
Using the Arrow Tool
Using the Ink Bottle Tool

36. Custom Colors
To create custom colors, you will use the Mixer panel, the Swatch panel and the Color picker

37. Gradient Color In Flash, you can create:
Solid colors - called Color Swatches
Multicolored color - called Color Gradient

38. Creating Text The Text tool is used to create text
There are three Panels that are used to modify text: Character Panel, Paragraph Panel and Text Options Panel

39. Font Types Flash can use the following font types: True Type Fonts
Postscript Type 1 Fonts
Bitmap Fonts
Device Fonts

40. Vector Graphics
500% increase
A Vector graphic file stores image data in the form of mathematical expressions
Vector graphics can scale to any size without loosing the image quality
Vector graphics are not good for representing a detailed graphic

41. Raster Graphics
500% increase
A Raster graphic file stores image data for each individual pixel
Raster graphics can become very “pixelated” when scaled up from their original size
Raster graphics appear onscreen very quickly

42. Importing Vector Graphics
Choose File > Import…
Select a vector graphic file:
WMF FH AI
SWF

43. Importing Raster Graphics
Choose File > Import…
Select a raster graphic file:
JPG
BMP
GIF
TIF
PCT
PNG

44. Grouping Objects Grouping objects has two main benefits:
It isolates objects from the other shapes so that they do not merge into one shape when overlapped
It allows stacking of the shapes

45. Transforming Objects
The Transform Menu is used to change an object by scaling it, rotating it or flipping it

46. Arranging Objects
The Arrange Menu is used to change the stacking order of the objects on the same layer

47. Aligning Objects
The Align Panel is used to control alignment, size and spacing of the objects on the stage

48. Rulers
Rulers are used to help you align and organize your objects

49. Grid
Grid is used as a guide for the placement and alignment of objects on the stage

50. Guides
Guides are also used to help you align and organize your objects.
They can be customized to suit your work style and needs

51. Symbol Types Symbols are self-contained content stored in the Library
There are three symbol types:
Graphics Symbol
Button Symbol
Movie Clip Symbol

52. Creating Symbols There are two ways to create a symbol:
Converting an existing object
Creating new symbol from scratch

53. Library
The Library is a storage facility for various media elements used in a Flash movie, such as graphics, sounds and movies
Libraries can be shared between many Flash movies

54. Publishing Options

55. Formats Options

56. Flash Options

57. HTML Options

58. Projector