Adobe Flash Catalyst Cs5 Classroom in a Book

290 Pages·2010·14.304 MB·English

by  Team, Adobe Creative

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ADOBE® FLASH® CATALYST™ CS5
CLASSROOM IN A BOOK
®
Th e offi cial training workbook from Adobe Systems
www.adobepress.com
Adobe® Flash Catalyst® CS5 Classroom in a Book®
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Writer: Scott Tapley
Project Editor: Rebecca Freed
Development Editor: Robyn G. Th omas
Production Editor: Cory Borman
Copyeditor: Scout Festa
Technical Editor: Angela Nimer
Compositor: David Van Ness
Indexer: James Minkin
Cover design: Eddie Yuen
Interior design: Mimi Heft
Printed and bound in the United States of America
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-70358-3
ISBN-10: 0-321-70358-8
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
WHAT’S ON THE DISC
Here is an overview of the contents of the Classroom in a Book disc
Th e Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 Classroom in a Book disc includes the lesson fi les
that you’ll need to complete the exercises in this book, as well as other content
to help you learn more about Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 and use it with greater
effi ciency and ease. Th e diagram below represents the contents of the disc, which
should help you locate the fi les you need.
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CONTENTS
GETTING STARTED 1
About Classroom in a Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Installing Flash Catalyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Optimizing performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Checking for updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Flash Player version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Copying the lesson fi les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
How to use these lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Standard elements in the book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Additional resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Adobe certifi cation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1 GETTING TO KNOW ADOBE FLASH CATALYST CS5 8
Lesson Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
About Flash Catalyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Is Flash Catalyst the right tool for you? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Key features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Additional benefi ts for designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Flash Catalyst design workfl ow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Opening a new Flash Catalyst project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Finding your way around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Design workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Code workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Opening an existing Flash Catalyst project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
iv CONTENTS
Exploring the Design workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Moving around the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Adjusting panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Zooming the artboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Panning the artboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Previewing a project in a browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Getting Flash Catalyst Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
2 PREPARING, IMPORTING, AND PLACING ARTWORK 28
Lesson Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Preparing a design document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Choose your design application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Plan the structure of your application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Group complex objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Flatten artwork with fi lters and eff ects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Name everything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Embed images in the design document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Manage fonts when sharing fi les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Identify duplicate component assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Set component properties in Flash Catalyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Create sample artwork for a list of images or text . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Hide, show, and lock layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Exporting an FXG fi le from Adobe Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Importing artwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Import a design document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Import additional images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Position images in the artboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Optimizing artwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Optimize artwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
ADOBE FLASH CATALYST CS5 CLASSROOM IN A BOOK v
3 MANAGING THE LIBRARY 46
Lesson Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Viewing the Library panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
How do assets get into the Library panel? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Add assets to the Library panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Preview fi les in the Library panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Deleting assets from the project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Compressing images in the Library panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Renaming project assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Using assets in the Library panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Sharing project libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Export a library package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Import a library package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4 MANAGING LAYERS 60
Lesson Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Exploring the Layers panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Expand and collapse layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Show and hide layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Lock and unlock layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Grouping objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Renaming objects in the Layers panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Optimizing complex groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Adding and deleting layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Stacking artwork using layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
5 WORKING WITH PAGES AND STATES 74
Lesson Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Page and component states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Duplicating and modifying page states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Save time by duplicating page states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Give page states descriptive names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
vi CONTENTS
Show and hide artwork in each page state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Adding and deleting states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Add a blank page state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Add objects to blank page states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Delete objects from specifi c states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
Delete page states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6 CREATING INTERACTIVE COMPONENTS 88
Lesson Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
The building blocks of RIAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Using wireframe components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Add and modify wireframe buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Add wireframe text input fi elds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Add wireframe radio buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
Add a wireframe check box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
Add wireframe scroll bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Converting artwork to built-in components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Convert artwork to buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Create a reusable navigation button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Enable and disable buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Create next and previous buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Create a custom toggle button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Convert artwork to scroll bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Work with text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Create a scroll panel from artwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
Creating custom components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Adding interactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Add page navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Create conditional interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Link to external content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
ADOBE FLASH CATALYST CS5 CLASSROOM IN A BOOK vii
7 CREATING TRANSITIONS AND ACTION SEQUENCES 122
Lesson Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Transitions and action sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Inspecting default transition eff ects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Adding smooth transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Fine-tuning transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
Adjust transition duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
Change transition timing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Ease transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Adding and changing eff ects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Swap one eff ect for another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Add multiple eff ects to the same object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
Adding action sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
Add an action sequence interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
Edit an action sequence in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
Flash Catalyst helper eff ects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
8 ADDING AND CONTROLLING VIDEO AND SOUND 142
Lesson Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Preparing video for the web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
What is encoding? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
What is a video codec? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
How do I encode my video? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
Importing and previewing video and sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Import video and sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Preview video and sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Adding video to an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Add video to the artboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Set video player properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Controlling video playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152
Attach controls to the video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152
viii CONTENTS