* Practically orientated, and assumes no previous knowledge of coding, making sure that the reader can actually use ActionScript to build a working website via real and detailed examples and case studies. * Previous best seller—successful writing style and tone from an author that has proved to be popular with readers of previous editions. In fact, this is the middle book in an integrated three-book Flash series from Beginner to Advanced, all written/co-written by the same author (Foundation Flash, Foundation ActionScript, and the Designer’s ActionScript Reference) – no other publisher provides this sort of unbroken coverage from a single voice. * Covers both Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004.

With the release of Flash MX, scripting in Flash moved from being a desirable asset to an essential skill in the world of web design. ActionScript is, quite simply, the center of power in Flash, and it's no surprise that most of the advances in Flash MX are script-centric. Flash is a design tool, and ActionScript can easily scare designers. This book is for anyone who has ever looked in awe at a cutting-edge Flash site, then taken a look at some code, and run in the other direction. Learning ActionScript with friends of ED will not turn you into a boring programmer, it will turn you into someone who finally has the power to achieve what they want with their web design. This book will take you from knowing nothing about ActionScript to a firm knowledge that will allow you to exercise a previously unimaginable amount of power over your flash movies. It does this with fully-0worked examples throughout, and a case study that will leave you with a cutting-edge Flash site by the end of the book. The book assumes no previous knowledge of code or ActionScript, but does assume that you know the basics of the Flash interface, and have maybe created some basic timeline-based movies with tweens and so on. (If you're totally new to Flash, then you might want to take a look at friends of ED's acclaimed Foundation Flash MX, or at the more visually-oriented Flash MX Express.) This is no simple re-write of the first edition of iFoundation ActionScript

The stun design site, constructed as the case study in Foundation ActionScript, is viewable at www.friendsofed.com/extras/1903450322/stun/index.html. Flash 5 is Macromedia's incredibly successful motion graphics creation package. Flash 5 implements a vastly expanded and more powerful range of ActionScript components. It is ActionScript, coupled with Flash's exceptional graphical facilities, that makes Flash the de facto standard for interactive, graphically-rich web sites and applications. The new implementation makes ActionScript an even more important part of the Flash landscape. Foundation ActionScript provides a raft of new features for the Flash designer to use. To fully exploit these features, the designer will need to understand a basic set of programming constructs and principles. This book will teach those principles in the Flash 5 context, providing the reader with a solid base to develop more complex ActionScript skills. The book has a strong tutorial thrust, focusing on building the core skills that the reader needs to master Flash ActionScript. The skills and techniques are built in self-contained chapters that combine into an ongoing case study to build a rich knowledge base in the reader's mind. What you’ll learnWho this book is for Flash 5 beginners who've read an introductory text and need a much more in-depth introduction to ActionScript. Flash 4 users who need a fuller understanding of ActionScript as implemented in Flash 5.

Supports Flash 8, due later this year; will be a huge market Provides professional best practices—strong emphasis on planning, documentation, and adhering to strict and clean coding from the outset Teaches you to create dynamic, reusable rich-client web applications and services

Step-by-step techniques, illustrated with highly visual examples throughout the book, show you how to build up your ActionScripting skills quickly and effectively. A support website (www.sprite.net/understanding) provides all the content you need to try out the techniques shown in the book for yourself. Ideal for those studying multimedia and information technology and anyone who wants to produce highly effective online interactive content. This guide gives you all you need to ensure you have a firm foundation of knowledge on how to use ActionScript creatively so you can produce professional results.

Sure, you can use Flash MX 2004 without being a master programmer, but as any Flash developer worth his or her salt will tell you, you're not tapping all of its power unless you're taking advantage of its scripting language "ActionScript 2.0" which offers a more robust programming model and better object-oriented programming support than ever before. Here to take the fear factor out of learning it are Flash veterans and best-selling authors Derek Franklin and Jobe Makar, who demonstrate that scripting is an instinctual process you already know by translating real-life activities into ActionScript scripts. In these pages, you'll find methodologies and techniques for building over 40 real-life Flash ActionScript projects, including sample games, --- applications, Web sites, and more. New in this edition are coverage of ActionScript 2.0, Web services, Components, Printing, Video, and more. On the companion CD, you'll find all the project files and images you need to complete each project.

Provides in-depth information to the more than one million Flash developers who want to take their animations to the next level using sophisticated interaction and data-driven content Flash ActionScript is an object-oriented scripting language used with Flash that allows the designer to control a movie in non-linear fashion, create sophisticated interactivity, control elements on the stage, collect and track input from the movie viewer, and exchange and manipulate data from external sources The most comprehensive Flash ActionScript guide available, cowritten by Robert Reinhardt, coauthor of Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Bible (0-7645-4303-2) Published to coincide with the release of Flash "X," the newest version of this widely used Web development tool