Lesson #1

What is Flash?

  1. A Macromedia proprietary multimedia format that has become a standard on the Web and even on Windows desktop computers. Flash is also the name of the authoring software used to create Flash movies.
  2. Flash can be considered the "little sister" of Macromedia's Shockwave multimedia format for the Web that is created with the program Director. Shockwave content is created with Macromedia Director. See the Music section at shockwave.com for examples. Director is also used to create very professional multimedia applications for computers and kiosks. It requires the free Shockwave plug-in though.
  3. Even if you do not wish to take advantage of the animation capabilities of Flash, you may simply want to use Flash as a credible graphics authoring tool. You must keep in mind that Flash is a vector-based format, not raster-based like PhotoShop.
  4. Flash is integrates graphics with audio and animation. It even works hand in hand with Javascript.
  5. Users must have the capability of playing Flash movies on their computers. Web browsers often come with the Flash plug-in already installed however it can be downloaded for free. Windows 98 PC's and above usually come with the ability to handle Flash movies as well. You can always give someone a Flash player along with a Flash movie that you have created. Then the person would also be able to see your Flash movie.
  6. Here are some inspiring Flash-enabled Web sites: Lynda.com and Macromedia's Showcase

What is not Flash.

  1. Not all animation that you see on the Web is Flash content of course. First of all Shockwave content looks alot like Flash but often goes beyond Flash's limits. For example, a lot of Shockwave games are available on the Web. Shockwave which is created by Director allows an author to use the Lingo scripting language to enhance a Shockwave movie.
  2. Much animation on the Web is produced with Java. Java is a programming language that allows for unlimited amounts of interactivity and power in the Java applets that empower Web pages.
  3. Javascript itself, a scripting language less powerful than Java, can also be used with DHTML to create animation in Web pages. DHTML though is not applied consistently by the two popular browsers, Netscape and Internet Explorer. Therefore, Flash is probably a better choice than DHTML at the present time if you want to be sure that all users have the same experience when visiting your Web site.

What do you need to create Flash movies?

  1. Buy a copy of Macromedia's program Flash. You can download a 30-day demo of Flash from the Macromedia Web site.
  2. Learn the metaphors that Macromedia uses for the interface of the program. In some ways it is similar to graphics authoring tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw, etc. But in other ways it is more like an animation package. Since fewer people have experience with true animation and multimedia authoring software, they find it a litte difficult to first learn Flash.

Our first tutorial

  1. This is what your final product may look like - Click here.

  2. pdf lesson handouts:
    1. Intro
    2. Lesson 1
    3. Lesson 2
    4. Lesson 3
    5. Lesson 4
    6. Lesson 5
    7. Lesson 6

Our second tutorial ?

  1. Let's deconstruct this Web site.

Flash Home Page