week 1: 09/14/06

Basic Introduction to the FLASH interface:
additional tutorials online: www.flashkit.com

1. TOPICS:
   
   1. LINK   Tools & Toolbar;
      
   2. LINK   Keyboard Shortcuts;
      
   3. LINK   Selecting & Deselecting; and
      
   4. LINK   Movie Properties;
      
   
   
2. HOMEWORK: LINK   Please download the homework from this link and complete by the next class. If you do not understand, please email me (see my addresses at the top), or post a comment below.
   
   
3. INTRODUCE:
   
   1. Tools & Toolbar (those tools not mentioned will be discussed during another class):
      
      1. Arrow Tool—one of two selection tools (arrow & lasso) used to select objects onstage, offstage, and in the timeline; also used to move and modify objects.
         
      2. Line Tool—used to draw straight vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines.
         
      3. Oval Tool—one of two shape tools (oval & rectangle) used to draw ovals and circles composed of strokes and/or fills.
         
      4. Rectangle Tool—one of two shape tools (oval & rectangle used to draw rectangles and squares composed of strokes and/or fills.
         
      5. Paintbucket Tool—used to add or change the fill of an object.
         
      6. Ink Bottle Tool—used to add or change the stroke of an object.
         
      7. Eyedropper Tool—used to select a fill color or a stroke color from an object already drawn on the stage.
         
      8. Eraser Tool—used to erase objects or parts of objects on the stage.
         
      9. Pencil Tool—used to draw irregular strokes on the stage.
         
      10. Brush Tool—used to create irregular fills on the stage.
          
      11. Lasso Tool—one of two selection tools (arrow & lasso) used to select irregular objects or shapes or partial objects onstange and offstage.
          
      12. Zoom Tool—used to get closer and make the objects on your stage appear larger, or to get further away and make the objects appear smaller.
          
      13. Hand Tool—used to move around on and offstage much as the scrollbars do on the righthand side or bottom of the stage.
          
      
      
   2. Shortcuts:
      
      1. Selection (arrow) Tool—V
         
      2. Line Tool—N
         
      3. Oval Tool—O
         
      4. Rectangle Tool—R
         
      5. Paint-Bucket Tool—K
         
      6. Ink-Bottle Tool—S
         
      7. Eye-Dropper Tool Tool—I
         
      8. Eraser Tool—E
         
      9. Pencil Tool—Y
         
      10. Brush Tool—B
          
      11. Lasso Tool—L
          
      12. Zoom Tool—Z, M
          
      13. Hand Tool—H
          
      14. Free-Transform Tool—Q
          
      15. Fill-Transform Tool—I
          
      16. Sub-Select Tool—E
          
      17. Save Movie—Ctrl-S
          
      18. Test Movie—Ctrl-Enter
          
      19. Select All—Ctrl-A
          
      20. Copy—Ctrl-C
          
      21. Cut—Ctrl-X
          
      22. Paste—Ctrl-V
          
      
      
   3. Selecting & Deselecting:
      
      1. Selecting Objects:
         
         1. one object—the most common way to select a single object is to use the arrow tool (V) and click one time on the object you wish to select.
            
         2. one shape (oval, rectangle, polygon or star)—to select an oval or a rectangle you must use the arrow tool (V) and double-click on the fill of that shape. This will select both the fill and the stroke of the object.
            
         3. additional objects (after one has already been selected)—to select additional object, or add to an existing selection, you must first select something on the stage. You may do this with the arrow tool, or some other selection tool. If there is another object that you wish to ADD to the current selection, you must hold down on the shift key while you make your additional selection (shift-click).
            
         4. everything (all present on and off the stage)—to select everything visible on and offstage, you must select all, CTRL-A.
            
         
         
      2. Deselecting Objects:
         
         1. using the mouse—select the arrow tool (V) and click on the background of the stage or offstage.
            
         2. using the keyboard—click on the escape key (ESC) on the upper-lefthand corner of your keyboard.
            
         
         
      
      
   4. Movie Properties:
      1. Stage Size—(550 x 400) by default, the size of the stage (the white rectangular area you see) is 400 pixels (the digital unit of measurement—px) in height by 550 px in width.
         
      2. Frame Rate—(12fps) by default, the rate at which you will view the frames passing from one to the next in Flash is 12fps (frames-per-second). By comparison, in film and video, the rate is usually 31fps.
         
      3. Background Color—(white) by default, the background color of the stage is white. You may change this to the color of your choice, but whatever color you decide upon will remain throughout your movie.
         
      
      
   5. Motion-Tween Animation:
      
      1. Draw something on the stage—there must be only ONE object.
         
      2. Draw something on the stage—there must be only ONE object.
         
      3. Select the object that you have drawn on the stage—make sure you select the object and all its parts, including outlines.
         
      4. Convert it into a symbol:
         
         1. select object on the stage;
            
         2. select F8 (convert to symbol) on the keyboard;
            
         3. provide a unique name to your new symbol;
            
         4. select GRAPHIC for behavior, and then OKAY;
            
      5. Once you have converted your object to a symbol, you are ready to animate—just remember not to double-click on your symbol. If you do do this by accident, simply look in the upper-left corner of your screen and select SCENE 1.
         
      6. Now, click in a new frame in the time-line above, frame 40 for example—make sure you click in the time-line and NOT in the number-line above it.
         
      7. Select F6—Add a 2nd key frame. Once you do this, you will see that you have two (2) keyframes in your timeline--those are the ones that have a little dot in them.
         
      8. Click in the second one to select it—this is the one in frame 40.
         
      9. Now, ON YOUR STAGE, move the symbol object to a new location.
         
      10. CHECK, and make certain you have done the right thing—click in frame one of your time-line and you will see that your symbol object will be in one location. Then click in the second keyframe in frame 40 and you will see that the symbol object has moved to another location. If it has not, then simply move it to a new spot ON THE STAGE.
          
      11. Finally, place your arrow BETWEEN your keyframes in the TIMELINE above and RIGHT-CLICK.
          
      12. Select, 'CREATE MOTION TWEEN'—This should turn the gray area to lavendar, and there should also be an arrow pointing to the right. If you get a dashed line then you will have to start over again.