The Menu Bar is aimed to make easier the access to different program features. It is similar to any other web or graphic designer program, although it has some particularities. Let’s see the main Subsumes you can access to: File: It allows creating, opening and saving archives… Import has exceptional power; it inserts to the current movie nearly all types of archives (sounds, videos, images and even Plash movies) or the Publication Settings option from Which you can modify the characteristics of the publications.
It also enables to configure the printing pages, print them, etc… Edit: It is a classic menu that allows you to Cut, Copy, Paste… Objects or as well images or frames; it also allows you to customize some of the most common options of the program. View: Apart from, typical zooms, it allows you to move the frames and scenes. It also includes the possibility to create a grid and some guides. These ones can be selected from subsume Grid and Guides from where you can configure its options.
Insert: It permits you to insert objects into the movie, as well as new frames, layers, actions, scenes… Modify: The option Transform permits one to modify the graphics existing n the movie, and the option Draw Bitmap allows to modify current graphics in vector maps (this theme will he studied further). Other options allow you to modify characteristics tooth animation elements Smooth, Optimize or of the same movie (Layer, Scene. ), Text: Its contents affect the edition of text.
It will be further handled in more details Commands: Allows administrating the Commands (group of saved sentences that allows to emulate what user can introduce to the edition environment) that we had saved in our animation, to obtain other news from the Macromedia page or execute what eve already have. Control: From here you modify the properties of the movie reproduction Play, Rewind, Test Movie Window: In addition to the classical options of distributing the windows, this menu includes shortcuts to ALL the Panels.
Help: From here we can access to all the help that Macromedia Offers to us, from the current manual up to the Action Script, going through tutorials, guided elections etc… 2. Timeline The Timeline represents a simple mode of visualization. It consists oft parts: 1) The Frames that are limited by vertical lines (forming rectangles) ) The Numbers of frames that allow us to know the assigned number of each frame, its duration and when it will appear in the movie. On the definition level, the Timeline represents the succession of frames in the Time.
The Flash movie will not be only the frames that appear on the Timeline one after another in the order established by the same Timeline The concept of the Layer is basic to manage Flash efficiently. Because of its importance we will dedicate an entire unit to it, Even so, let’s see a great characteristic of the layers. A Layer could be defined as one independent movie f only one level. That is to say, one layer contains its own Timeline (with endless frames) The objects that are at one Layer share a frame and due to this fact they can “get mixed up” among themselves.
Frequently it could be interesting. But other times it is convenient to separate the objects in order that they do not interfere among them. Gore this, we Will create as many layers as necessary. Furthermore the use of many layers gives place to a good-ordered movie and of easy use (for example, it is convenient to fix the sounds at one independent layer called “Sounds”). We Will see the advantages and disadvantages of using layers in the Unit 8. The Working Area consists of numerous parts, let’s see them: The most important part is the Stage. We will draw and fix different elements of our movie.
The Stage has very important properties, due to the fact that they coincide with Document Properties, in order to access them, right-click on anywhere on the Stage with no objects and then on Document Properties: Add metadata to your files so they can he indexed in the search engines. For this fill the Title and Description fields. Dimensions: They tax the size of the movie. The smallest size sot 1 x 1 pix (pixels) and the biggest one is Of 2880 x 2880 pix. Match: It causes the coincidence of the movie with the selected size Background Color: The color selected here will be the one of the entire movie.
Frame Rate: Or the number of frames per second that appear at the movie. Ruler units: unit used to measure the quantities. Make Default: Allows to store the properties of the current document and to apply them to all the new created documents from this moment. These properties could be changed from this panel whenever you wish them to. The Zoom Tool is used to approach or move away the object view, allowing to include more Or less zone of the Work Area. Every time we click in the Zoom Tool we duplicate the percentage indicated in the Zooms Panel. Zooms Panel: It is a set Of direct accesses to the View’s subsumes.
They are very useful and help to accelerate the work when they are used correctly. The Panels are command sets grouped according their function (for example, all that makes references to the actions, Will be in the “Actions” Panel). It’s mission is to simplify and facilitate the nomads use-All of them will be studied deeply during the course. Even so, we’ll name them and summarize the functions of most of them. Align Panel: It places the objects like we indicate to it. It is very useful-Color Mixer Panel: using this panel we’ll create the colors that we like more-Color Swatches Panel: It allows us to select a color quickly and graphically. Including our creations). Leno Panel: It shows the size and the coordinates of the selected objects, with the possibility of modification. It is very useful for exact alignments. Scene Panel: It modifies the tributes of the scenes that we use,elf you still do not know what are the Scenes, we explain it to you in our basic theme Transform Panel: It scales, shrinks, rotates, the selected objectifications panel: It is very helpful when you use Action Script and associate actions to our movie. Behaviors Panel: They allow one to assign to certain objects a series of characteristics (behaviors) that later could be stored to be applied to other objects vastly and efficiently. Components Panel’ It allows us to access to the already constructed and ready to be used Components that Flash provides. The components are “intelligent” objects with characteristic properties and many utilities (calendars, scrolls Panel: Flash 8 contributes multi-language base to our movie through this panel. Hip Panel Macromedia gives us help and accessible advises from this panel.
Properties Panel: With no doubt it is the most used panel and the most important. It shows us the properties Of the Object selected at this moment: border, background color, line type, characters size, typography, objects properties (if there are interpolations… ), coordinates, size etc… It is fundamental, you must never forget about it. Movies Explorer Panel: It allows us to access to all the movie contents easily and quickly Tools Bar contains all necessary Tools for the drawing. Let’s see which of them are the most important and how they are used:Basic Tools:Selection (arrow) Tool: It is the most used tool among all.
Its main use is to select objects, it allows selecting the borders of the objects, the fillings (with only one click), the borders (with double click), zones on our choice… Moreover, its adequate use can save time of our work-Line Tool: It allows creating straight lines in a quick way. The lines are created as in any program of drawing. Click and drag to show up a straight line until the desired end point, Once created, the line can be modified just by placing the cursor near the line: above of the extremes for dragging them, and in any other part near the straight line to curve it.
Text Tool: It creates a text in the place where we click. Its properties will be shown in the next theme,Oval Tool: The Oval Tool enables drawing circles or ellipses in a fast and simple way. To practice the handling this Tool, we recommend to do the Exercise of Creating Oval To practice the handling his Tool, eve recommend to do the Exercise of Filling Color Evaluating Tool: Its handling is identical to the Oval Tool, they only differ in the objects they create. Pencil Tool: It allows drawing lines, after being drawn you will be able to edit its shape as you like.
The color applied by this Tool can be modified from the Color Mixer Panel or from the subpoena Colors that is in the Tool Bar. Brush Tool: Its functionality is equivalent to the pencil, but its stroke is much more thicker. It is usually used for fills. We can modify its thickness and stroke happening Bucket Tool: It lets you apply fillings to the created Objects. Many other programs of drawing don’t allow to apply fillings if a border doesn’t limit the zone, it does.
The color applied by this Tool can be modified from the Colors Mixer Panel or from the subpoena Colors that are in Othello Bar. Eraser Tool: It works like the Brush TOOL Nevertheless its function is to erase everything what “it draws”. Advance Tools:Lasso Tool: Its function is complementary to the Arrow Tool, since it can select any object in a free way (the Arrow Tool can only select objects or rectangular or square zones). In counterpart, the Lasso Tool can’t select fillings nor objects (it we don’t make the selection by hand).
By selecting this Tool, the following images appear on the Options panel This is the Magic Wand Tool, which is so popular in other programs. It lets you make selections according to the objects color, The third option you have is the following: It allows you to select polygon shapes. Pen Tool: creates polygons (and moreover straight lines, rectangles___) in a simple way. Many people find this tool to be complicated, although it’s one of the most powerful tools that Flash provides. Its use consists n clicking on the places that we want to define as vertices of the polygons.
In order to create curves, indicate the anchor points, which limit curvature, and then drag the tangent on them_Subsection Tool: This Tool complements the Pen Tool, as far as it lets us move or adjust the vertices that make up the objects created by the above mentioned tool. Link Bottle Tool: It is used to change quickly the color of a stroke. It is applied to objects with borders, changes the color Of the boundary With one click in the Colors Mixer Panel. Eyedroppers Tool: Its mission is to “Capture” colors to use them afterwards.
