Flash 8 Essentials

As a Flash Developer, you're no doubt excited by the great new features available in the next version of Flash X, to be released later in the year. It promises to include several impressive new design and scripting features.

However, a lot of the features will be the same, so you will want a book that gets you right up to speed asap with the exciting new features of the new version.

In this book, some of Flash's most prominent community figures do just that, starting you off with an overview of Flash X and what's new. They then address all of the new features. The book concludes with a gallery of examples to further demonstrate some of the exciting new features of Flash X.

Potentially huge market Flash has a huge user base worldwide, and the new version is going to be one of the most exciting yet Allows users of previous Flash versions to get up to date asap with the new features of Flash X Written by some of the most popular community figures in the Flash community

Autorentext
After studying theatre in London, then working for several years as an actor in the U.S.,Todd Yardwas introduced to Flash in 2000 and was quickly taken by how it allowed for both stunning creativity and programmatic logic applicationa truly left-brain, right brain approach to productionand has not looked back. He now freelances as a Flash developer in New York City, creating both silly animations and utilitarian applications. His personal work and experimentation can be found at his website, 27Bobs.com.

Klappentext

As a creative professional or interactive developer, yoüll be amazed at the exciting possibilities presented to you by the features available in Flash 8; but as a busy designer, we know you won't have as much time as yoüd like to explore these new additions. Never fear; this book wastes no time looking at timeline basics, tweens, or movie-publishing options it focuses exclusively on the new Flash 8 features, getting you quickly up to speed with a combination of illustrative tutorials, handy references, and inspirational examples. By the end of the book, yoüll know that there s no shortage of new tools to enhance and inspire your Flash development; and since this book is written by some of the community's leading Flash experts, yoüll know yoüre in good hands. If yoüre looking to master Flash 8 with a minimum of time and effort, then this is the only book for you.

Inhalt
Overview of 8Ball, includes IDE overview. Include to friendsofed.com useful links list - Matt Voerman.- Blending Modes - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Filters - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Drawing Improvements - this includes strokes, fills, and gradients - Todd Yard.- Getting Creative with Filters, Masks and Animation - Guy Watson.- Video - Alpha channels and other improvements - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- TextField Improvements. Include Saffron background behind it, and examples of how much better the display is. Compare to previous Flash versions. Also, include Anti-Alias, quick resizing of textfields without distorting text in the field, and improvements to HTML support, including HTML tags for justified text - Matt Voerman.- Speed Improvements, including Caching MovieClips as Bitmaps - Guy Watson.- The new Image API - Guy Watson.- Asset Caching - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Goodbye FSCommand, Hello ExternalInterface - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Low-level Data and Sockets - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Appendix A: Gallery of 8Ball examples - Tink (Stephen Downs).