The Flash Anthology: Cool Effects and Practical ActionScript

Steve Grosvenor0-9579218-7-X, 9780957921870

A practical and fun Flash book that shows readers over 60practical techniques, solutions and cool effects to instantly use on their Website or project. The Flash Anthology makes an excellent task reference or it can be used for inspiration for future projects.The book tackles the majority of the most common building blocks for real world Flash applications-as one reviewer described “it covers everything that Flash does best”. Topics covered include working with external data, debugging, animation, sound and video effects, flash forms and getting indexed by search engines.All the solutions are based on ActionScript, are completely customizable and come with suggested modifications. Examples are compatible with ActionScript 2 and Flash MX 2004.

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Table of contents :
The Flash Anthology……Page 5
Table of Contents……Page 11
Who Should Read This Book?……Page 17
What’s in This Book?……Page 18
The Code Archive……Page 20
Your Feedback……Page 21
Acknowledgements……Page 22
Why Use Flash?……Page 23
Flash MX 2004 Features at a Glance……Page 25
Comparing Vectors and Bitmaps……Page 28
Interactivity Unlimited……Page 29
ActionScript Uncovered……Page 30
ActionScript Dot Notation……Page 32
Actions Panel Unraveled……Page 34
Optimizing the Actions Panel……Page 36
Configuring Auto For]¢r‹=……Page 37
Code Commenting……Page 38
ActionScript is Case-Sensitive……Page 40
Script Pinning……Page 41
The Timeline, Simplified……Page 42
Organize Your Layers……Page 44
Timeline Effects (New in Flash MX 2004)……Page 45
Wrapping Up the Basics……Page 47
What Makes Effective Navigation?……Page 49
Keep it Simple……Page 50
Make a Process Flow Chart f_ýœ1`†°•­¾b䋤ÕJ……Page 51
Horizontal Navigation……Page 53
Vertical…~ÿm|Ôâ¡×œX……Page 54
Gadget-based Navigation……Page 55
SettY†]a+ofiÞÖKÃ5£û%……Page 56
Adding the ActionScript……Page 60
Modifications……Page 64
Setting the Scene……Page 65
Adding the ActionScript……Page 67
Conclusion……Page 70
Setting the Scene……Page 71
Adding the ActionScript……Page 73
Gadget-based Navigation……Page 77
Setting the Scene……Page 78
Adding the ActionScript……Page 80
Modifications……Page 84
Subliminal Navigation……Page 86
Setting the Scene……Page 87
Adding the ActionScript……Page 88
Modifications……Page 92
Advanced Navigation……Page 93
Setting the Scene……Page 0
Setting the Scene……Page 94
Creating the Tabs……Page 95
Converting to a Component……Page 98
Adding the Movement Code……Page 100
Adding Multiple Tabs to the Stage……Page 103
Modifications……Page 104
Conclusion……Page 106
Animation Effects……Page 107
Animation Principles……Page 108
Animation Overload……Page 109
Timeline Animation Example……Page 110
ActionScripted Animation Example……Page 111
Creating Function Libraries……Page 112
Creating a Simple Function Library……Page 113
Creating Master Libraries……Page 114
Setting the Scene……Page 115
Adding tXV%n€TÎŬP?ó$xy……Page 117
Testing the Movie……Page 119
Flickering Opacity……Page 120
Altering the Random Shift Value……Page 121
Simple Scripted Masking……Page 122
Adding Text Labels……Page 126
Raindrops Keep Falling onëeÀæŽG“6……Page 128
Setting the Scene……Page 129
Adding the Control Code……Page 130
And the Heavens Opened………Page 132
Creating a Parallax Cloud Structure……Page 133
Creating a Lightning Flash……Page 136
CBY[ãH−št!.ÄkÊLgïìÞùlIho……Page 138
Adding the ActionScript……Page 139
Adding the Button Trigger Code……Page 140
Subtle Flame Animation……Page 142
Conclusion……Page 145
Text Effects……Page 147
Types of Text Effects……Page 148
When Not to Use Text Effects……Page 149
Setting the Scene……Page 150
Modifications……Page 153
Neon Text EffecD´……Page 154
Setting the Scene……Page 155
Adding the ActionScript……Page 158
Glow in the Dark Effect……Page 160
Setting the Scene……Page 161
Adding the ActionScript to Create the Glow……Page 162
Jiggling Text Effect……Page 163
Setting the Scene……Page 164
Adding the²¤$ nlÞ)–ô¥x……Page 165
Modifications……Page 166
Zooming Inò¿´¬F“{……Page 169
Zooming the Objects with ActionScript……Page 170
Modifications……Page 172
Zooming Out Effect……Page 174
Adding the ActionScript……Page 175
Modifications……Page 177
Circulating Text Effect……Page 179
Setting the Scene……Page 180
Adding the ASûÔ/ÖB’|’¶Eu……Page 181
Modifications……Page 183
Setting the Scene……Page 184
Adding the ActionScript……Page 185
Modifications……Page 187
Random Fading Text Effect……Page 188
Setting the Scene……Page 189
Adding the ActionScript……Page 190
Controlling the Dynamically Created Movie Clips……Page 191
Simple Opacity Transition……Page 193
Setting the Scene……Page 194
Adding the ActionScript……Page 195
Modifications……Page 196
Setting the Scene……Page 198
Adding the ActionScript……Page 199
Modifications……Page 202
Falling Text……Page 204
Adding the ActionScript……Page 205
Modifications……Page 207
3D Barrel Roll……Page 215
Setting the Scene……Page 216
Adding the ActionScript……Page 217
Modifications……Page 220
Timeline Effects……Page 221
Conclusion……Page 222
When Should You Use Sound in Your Projects?……Page 223
Selecting Sound Clips……Page 224
Importing and Exporting Sound Clips……Page 225
Setting the Scene……Page 226
Addi^
ÂåÚEŒsW«trÖ−«=žXä……Page 227
Setting the Scene……Page 229
Adding the ActionScript……Page 230
Mini Sound Player……Page 231
Adding the ActionScript……Page 232
Random Track Sequencer Effect……Page 238
Addi^©EÄ¡•fiVÏzäû¹Y……Page 239
Random Track Overlay Effect……Page 241
Setting the Scene……Page 242
Adding the ActionScript……Page 244
Setting the Scene……Page 249
Adding the ActionScript……Page 250
XML, MP3, and ID3 Tag Reader……Page 256
Setting the Scene……Page 257
Creating the XML Playlist……Page 258
Adding the ActionScript……Page 259
Modifications……Page 263
Conclusion……Page 265
Video Effects……Page 267
Embedded Video……Page 269
FLV……Page 270
Importing Your Movie……Page 271
Compression Settings……Page 273
Advanced Video Import Settings……Page 275
Cropping Video Clips……Page 276
Accessing External FLV Files……Page 277
Setting the Scene……Page 278
Adding the ActionScript……Page 280
Adding a Loading Progress Bar……Page 281
Adding Control Buttons……Page 285
Random Movie Loader……Page 288
Creating a Video Wall……Page 293
Setting the Scene……Page 294
Adding the ActionScript……Page 295
Modifications……Page 296
Creating a Video Scrubber Device……Page 299
Setting the Scene……Page 300
Adding the ActionScript……Page 301
Subtle Use of Video……Page 308
Setting DÏÃo‡bQ£_……Page 311
Conclusion……Page 312
Flash Forms……Page 313
Form Function……Page 316
Data Validation……Page 317
Form Basics: A Simple Login Form……Page 318
Setting the Scene……Page 319
Adding the ActionScript……Page 324
Modification: Adding a Focus Glow……Page 328
HandlYGÝ÷~æÞ“ôN”#d……Page 331
Setting the Scene……Page 332
Adding the ActionScript……Page 333
Snazzy vA7È™ììhã.Œ— cIüíz>ÁÃDOÇfiQá suflÆüʉ|I”Õ@cPÜÿ}Q?éþ*ÖNzõ……Page 342
Setting the Scene……Page 343
Adding the ActionScript……Page 345
Intricate Forms and Form Validation……Page 346
Setting the Scene……Page 347
Adding the ActionScript……Page 353
Creating a Scripted Questionnaire……Page 360
Setting the Scene……Page 361
Adding the ActionSSD†úVo……Page 366
Conclusion……Page 372
Setting VarY€9¸à°¹£diDÒ€|;ºhf?÷[²8ÓÅfrüþûZ¼‡ó¿mׂ$……Page 373
Setting the Scene……Page 374
Adding the Script……Page 375
Inter-Movie Communications……Page 380
Creating the Menu……Page 382
Adding the ActionScript……Page 383
Updating the Web page……Page 385
CreatinW&¤’àm±ŽcvA¢ ÿ™4‰1%È©µfÃ&á1‰r.øå……Page 387
Setting the Scene……Page 388
The Server-Side Script……Page 390
Adding the ActionScript……Page 391
Storing Preferences with a Local Shared Object……Page 396
Setting the Scene……Page 397
Adding the Actio^L¹³łëüR……Page 398
Creating a Note Application Using External Data……Page 403
Setting the Scene……Page 405
Adding the ActionScript……Page 406
Modifications……Page 409
Conclusion……Page 410
Syntax Errors……Page 411
Unbalanced Brackets……Page 412
Logic Errors……Page 413
Debugging Basics: Using trace……Page 414
Adding the ActionScript……Page 415
Using the Error Object……Page 417
Using the Flash Debugger……Page 419
Variables Tab……Page 420
The Anatomy of the Debugger……Page 421
Tiptoe Through the Code……Page 423
Tracking Data in Complex Conditions and Functions……Page 425
Adding the ActionScript……Page 426
Using the Debugger to Follow Logical Process Flow……Page 427
Debugging Applications with Watches……Page 430
Conclusion……Page 431
CSS in Flash……Page 433
Setting÷­oƒúýDe……Page 434
Creating the CSS……Page 435
Adding the ActionScript……Page 437
Charting in Flash……Page 440
Setting the Scene……Page 441
Adding the ActionScript……Page 442
meta Tags……Page 444
Conclusion……Page 446
Resource Sites for Flash……Page 449
Index……Page 451