Macromedia's Flash 8 is the world's premier program for adding animation to websites. And with the latest version, this popular program becomes more versatile, letting beginning webmasters and expert developers alike create sophisticated web content. But Flash isn't intuitive. And it doesn't come with a manual. Whether you want to learn the basics or unleash the program's true power, Flash 8: The Missing Manual is the ideal instructor. This hands-on guide to today's hottest web design tool is aimed at nondevelopers, and it teaches you how to translate your ideas into great web content. It begins with a solid primer on animation, which helps you get comfortable with the Flash interface. Once you have these basics under your belt, Flash 8: The Missing Manual moves on to advanced animations, including adding special effects and audio, video, and interactivity to your presentations. When you're really feeling steady, the book shows how to use a dollop of ActionScript to customize your content. It then teaches you how to publish your Flash creations for web surfers everywhere to enjoy. Along the way, the book shows you good design principles and helps you avoid elements that can distract or annoy an audience. Author Emily Vander Veer has more than a dozen books to her credit, including titles on web design and scripting--most written for non-technical readers. Her background makes her the perfect author for a straightforward book on a complex subject. She takes Flash 8: The Missing Manual from the basics to the advanced, yet avoids a hasty jump into tough topics that can leave readers confused. Not only will Flash 8: The Missing Manual help you turn a concept into unique, dynamic content, but it will continue to serve as a reference as you develop your website.

From idea to online, your key to great-looking Web sites Your one-stop guide to building a user-friendly site with professional flair Whether you're building a site to keep in touch with others, sell products, or promote a cause, you want to make sure yours stands out in the crowd. This handy reference shows you how to design an accessible site, create graphics and navigation menus, build forms, insert sound and video, and keep your visitors coming back for more. Discover how to Plan, maintain, and promote a Web site Design with users in mind Work with HTML and CSS Optimize graphic elements for the Web Build your site with e-commerce functionality

This is one of the first books solely dedicated to Flash 8 Video development and goes a lot deeper into the subject than other books. It is suitable for those with no previous Flash experience who want to discover the best way to create video applications for the Web. It starts with the very basics, and by the end of the book the reader will be creating advanced interactive video applications, using video alpha channels, masking, blends and filters, the Camera object, and much more.

Flash is the most popular Web animation tool in the world, widely used by Web designers, game developers, and others who want to add vibrant content to a Web site This book shows Flash newcomers how to get up and running quickly, demonstrating how to create and edit objects, add interactive elements, work with sound, animate objects, and deliver the finished product onlineExplains how to incorporate streaming video elements and create presentations for mobile devices Now thoroughly updated to cover new program features and enhancements.

Andrew Rapo and Alex Michael explain all the important programming concepts from a designer's point of view, making them completely accessible to non-programmers. Completely revised and rewritten this second edition will help you develop professional ActionScript 2 applications, and communicate knowledgably about current, Object Oriented ActionScript 2 techniques. Divided into four sections to take you from novice to professional results: * Flash Fundamentals: Introduces the Flash authoring environment and basic core Flash concepts. * ActionScript 2 Fundamentals: Explains basic programming concepts and terminology, and shows how ActionScript 2 classes are constructed and used. * Built-in Classes: Describes the built-in ActionScript classes that are available for use in applications, including the MovieClip class, Key class, Sound class, etc. * Using ActionScript to Build a Game: Describes the development process for creating a complex Flash application and presents commercial-quality game coding examples.

Written from a personal, creative, professional perspective, Hillman drills deep into nine high-profile Flash projects that he s created. He explains why and how he designed the project as he did; then he deconstructs and explains step-by-step the major aspects of that project s Flash component. All screenshots have been updated to show how each project is create using Flash 5 The chapter that drills deeply into ActionScript (Chapter 8, MANIFESTIVAL deconstruction, Understanding Flash ActionScripting), has been rewritten from the ground up to show how this is done in Flash 5 s considerably changed ActionScripting environment.

Macromedia Flash is fast becoming the Web's most widely used platform for creating rich media with animation and motion graphics, but mastering Flash isn't easy. Most entry-level books teach through simple examples that concentrate on either animation or scripting, but rarely both together. To get the most from Flash 8, you not only need to be proficient in programming/interface design, you need the creativity for story telling and the artistic insights to design fluid animation. Flash 8: Projects for Learning Animation and Interactivity teaches Flash design rather than simply Flash itself. With a standalone series of walkthroughs and tutorials for Flash beginners coming from a graphics field, this book teaches Flash in the context of real-world projects. Rather than learn a Flash tool for the sake of it, you learn which areas of Flash are important, and which are less used, simply by seeing how typical content is actually created. And rather than a text-heavy approach, this graphically rich book leads you through hands-on examples by illustration. Each project in the book starts with goals and broad sketches before moving to design and scripting. This helps you understand design intent-the why of the process-rather than just learning the interfaces and the how of it all. Along the way, you'll create Flash content that includes traditional animation techniques (as seen in full-length animated features), and ActionScript-based interactive animation, such as custom web site interface designs. You also learn how to combine both traditional animation techniques and ActionScript to create feature-rich Flash assets from the ground up. Co-authored by educational developers with years of experience creating compelling content, interfaces, and applications, Flash 8: Projects for Learning Animation and Interactivity offers a content-driven approach that is also inspiration-driven. You learn because you're accomplishing something tangible, not because you think you need to know how a tool works. If you want to understand how various features of Flash come together to create a final end design, this book provides you with both the insight and the know-how.