Flash 5 Tips & Tutorial
by Ashish Trivedi 16 Aug 2001 
 


Flash is a software product of Macromedia, Inc. for producing high-impact, interactive web experiences. A user can create animated logos, Web Site navigation controls, entire flash Web Sites or Web applications with the help of Flash.

Few points that you should know about flash:

1. File Size: The best thing about flash is the small file size of the flash 
    movie compare to other standard bitmap formats used on the Web, 
    JPEG and GIF.

2. Interactivity: The flash applications can be made interactive to the 
    users.

3. Easy to learn: The process of making a flash movie is easy to learn.

4. Vector graphics: Flash uses the vector graphics technology to create 
     animation rather than bitmap technology.

5. Importing flash files: Flash files can be imported in many new Web 
    Technologies like Director, Dreamweaver, MS Frontpage etc.

6. Browser Independent: Flash is almost independent of browser 
    because flash files can only be viewed with a plug-in. Though the older 
    browser do not come with Flash plug-in, the new browser do come 
    with Flash plug-in. For older versions of browser you can download 
    the plug-in easily and free of cost.To download Flash plug-in Click .

To create your own Flash movies you need to buy a Flash program. The latest version from Macromedia is Flash 5. If you do not have a Flash program, you can download a 30 days free trial version of Flash 5 from Macromedia. I would suggest to download the trial version before starting this tutorial, so that you can open the flash and play with it when needed. 

This tutorial is divided into 12 sections to make it short and easy to understand. You should go through first two sections first. After that you can directly go to the Example and refer back to other sections whenever needed. 
 
 
Basic Flash Screen
Terms to Know
Setting Movie Properties
  Creating Symbols
  Tweening
Adding Sounds
Adding Actions
Using Scenes
Testing Movie
Saving Movie
Publishing Movie
An Example