Flash Explained

In one of my previous tutorials, I have explained how to make a cool sharp/blur effect by applying filters to symbols on the stage and making transitions via motion tweens. This time, I will show you how to apply the blur filter to objects in Flash through some simple ActionScript code. You will learn the following:

• How to import an image in Flash,
• How to convert a bitmap image into a symbol,
• How to import the blur filter through a single ActionScript command,
• How to define the parameters of the blur filter,
• How to remove the blur filter dynamically and more.

Below is the live Flash example of what you are going to create in this tutorial. Move your mouse over the blurred buttons to see how they sharpen once the cursor comes into contact with them.

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In this really easy lesson, I will explain to you how to create ice text in Flash 8 Pro. This effect is possible to obtain thanks to the blending filters. You will learn the following techniques:

• How to draw a borderless rectangle,
• How to select all the right options for a text field so that it will look good and be ready to have blending effects applied to it,
• How to tweak the options of the Glow filter in Flash so that you can have the real ice-text effect in your SWF movies.

See the example of this effect below.

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In this detailed lesson for Flash 8 professional I will show you how to create one of this nifty, sharp-looking pixel buttons. You will use exclusively the design tools and effects available in Flash 8 professional to create the pixel button. You will learn the following Flash techniques:

• How to use the Rectangle tool to create a rounded button background,
• How to use a pixel font in Flash,
• How to apply a sharp and precisely outlined shadow to the button label,
• How to create a border around the button by using a blending filter and more.

Below is a live Flash example of the pixel buttons that you are going to learn to create in this lesson.

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In this easy lesson made for Flash 8 and ActionScript 2.0, I will show you how to create a really nice easing slider, for a minimalistic vertical menu. In this tutorial, you will learn:

• How to create minimalistic menu buttons,
• How to quickly duplicate the buttons,
• How to write a really simple but effective ActionScript function that will tell Flash what to do when any of the buttons has been clicked,
• How to write an easing equation (simple, no hard math here ) so that the slider will move with an ever-decreasing speed towards the clicked button and some more tricks.

You can see the example of the menu that you are building in this lesson below — try clicking on the buttons!

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In this detailed lesson made for Flash 8 and ActionScript 2.0, I will show you how to create a completely dynamic hangman game. This lesson is intended for intermediate or advanced users of ActionScript. If you are completely new to ActionScript, I suggest that you learn more about ActionScript and come back to this tutorial later. Before continuing with this lesson, you should already know some fundamental ActionScript concepts, such as variables, if/else conditional logic, for loops, function basics, paths, dynamic text fields and movie clip events.

Below is the example of the hangman game. Try it! Click play and then try to guess the hidden word by pressing on different letters.

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In this easy lesson made for Flash MX 2004 and Flash 8, I will show you how to give custom speech bubbles to characters featured in a classical painting. Have a look at the Flash example below — roll your mouse over the women and men in the picture to get a clear idea of what you’re going to learn to make in this tutorial. Specifically, you will see:

• How to make a speech bubble in no time,
• How to create custom invisible buttons very quickly,
• How to write ActionScript code that will make the speech bubble appear and disappear,
• How to script a single function that will handle all buttons’ rollover events,
• How to use the coordinate system in Flash and more.

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In this easy lesson you will learn to use the switch/case ActionScript conditional logic. You will see that in some cases it has many advantages over the if/else conditional statement. You’ll also learn:

• How to read the Instance name of a movie clip dynamically via ActionScript,
• How to extract a specific part of a piece of text,
• How to pass a variable to a function,
• How to make Flash display text in a text field,
• What are the best practices when placing ActionScript code into your movie,
• How to choose good Instance names and more.

The simple example below shows the switch/case conditional statement at work. Try clicking every of the four icons and see what gets displayed in the text field.

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In this Flash 8 Pro tutorial, I will show you how simply it is to create an interactive image with camera blur/sharpen effects that appear as the user moves her mouse over it.

In this easy and comprehensive lesson, you will see how to:

• Use the Pen tool to create a precise mask,
• Make invisible buttons with custom shapes that cover specific parts of your image,
• Create a motion tween that uses the blending filters available in Flash 8 Pro,
• Make a slow or quick change of focus with ActionScript and a lot more.

Below is the finished example of what you are going to achieve at the end of this detailed tutorial. Move your mouse over the various parts of the picture to see the change of camera focus.

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In this detailed tutorial made for Flash 8, you will see how easy it is to create a preloading system that is gradually displaying an image as your site loads. I will show you the following:

• How to import an image into Flash,
• How to create a rectangular movie clip and turn it into a mask,
• How to write ActionScript that will power the preloader and more.

You can see the example of what you will learn with this lesson below. This is only an animation showing what the preloader will look like at the end, it is not the actual preloader that you will be building in this tutorial.

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In this really simple Flash 8 tutorial, I will show you how to create an old monitor readout. It is easy: you will only have to set up a dynamic text field, tweak it a little bit and then write a few lines of ActionScript to give it life.

You will see how to:

• Set up a Dynamic text field with all the necessary adjustements,
• Power the text field and manipulate it via ActionScript,
• Make a button that repeats the text effect,
• What is a conditional statement and how it works,
• How to repeatedly call a function,
• name your objects properly in Flash, and more.

Below is the example of what you’ll do in this lesson. Just press the “Restart” button if you missed the effect.

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