Calling all Thumbs! (I could do with some help)

[ThunderPeel2001]

Hey there, Fellow Thumbs. I know some of you are quite technical, and some of you are quite creative, and some of you are both... Perhaps someone with a bit of knowledge could steer me?

There's a job come up at company that I really like, and they really like me, but the majority of the work is going to be Flash based... and I don't know Flash.

So I have a week to get myself up to speed on the basics/intermediates. I've already done a few tutorials, made my first animation, and been introduced to Action Script. Where should I go next?

I'll be working on MPUs and similar online ads, so not very taxing or indepth.

It seems to me that everything is best done through Action Script instead of the interface, in the same way that I'd use Dreamweaver (HTML over interface).

I know the following, and so am not a complete newb: HTML, CSS, Photoshop, PHP, ASP.Net, Javascript.

Thanks for any advice!

YFTTP

[Roderick]

I don't know Flash, but good luck on getting the job! Out of curiosity, what is it you like about it so much when the work you'll be doing is in a program you aren't familiar with?

[ThunderPeel2001]

I don't know Flash, but good luck on getting the job! Out of curiosity, what is it you like about it so much when the work you'll be doing is in a program you aren't familiar with?

The people! Plus, they do a ton of other stuff that I like -- Film posters, websites, etc. The last thing I worked for them was the posters for the new Twilight movie. But mainly it's the people and office culture.

[toblix]

I'm going to reply to this when I get access to a hardware keyboard. Anyway, ActionScript is fun!

[subbes]

I know books are old hat and whatnot, but when I learned Flex 3 and 4, this book gave a good intro to ActionScript (bonus - the "Flex 3" edition has a ton of pages available on Google Books - the "Flex 4" edition might, also).

From there, I just used the Adobe documentation, because I'm dead 'ard, me.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I know books are old hat and whatnot, but when I learned Flex 3 and 4, this book gave a good intro to ActionScript (bonus - the "Flex 3" edition has a ton of pages available on Google Books - the "Flex 4" edition might, also).

From there, I just used the Adobe documentation, because I'm dead 'ard, me.

Cool, thanks! I've been going through the Adobe documentation and it's actually really good from what I've seen. A lot better than tutorial videos I've seen, anyway.

I don't really know what Flex is... but I suppose it's introduction to AS would be useful enough?

[syntheticgerbil]

I think if you want really neat-o animations with the whole follow through, overlapping action, curves, ease, and etc., you'll probably not want to script them and instead do them on the timeline. But that all kind of comes with a crash course on animation principles.

But it kind of sounds like you don't have to, so scripting is probably better.

I don't really know the scripting part outside of handing things basic things set up in FLAs off to programmers to mess with.

I general though, I hate flash for creating any kind of art. I import everything image based (which reduces lag but increases loading time) from whatever I can and I do all of my vector work in Illustrator first (which can slow exported swfs down but be very small in file size).

What I'm trying to say is, I think I can help you with many things non AS-wise if you do ever need help.

Also avoid shape tweens for anything except the most basic of any animation. They are the ass of Flash.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Thanks, SG! I'll bear all that in mind

[subbes]

Flex was Flash's attempt at the RIA market - prebuilt components like panels and menus and other objects. With Flash Builder 4 I believe they merged it more into Flash.

[toblix]

I can find my around Flash (the Adobe application), but when I create flash stuff I do it in Flash Builder, which means I very much focus on the programmatic side of things rather than the design. You write the same ActionScript in both applications; Flash Builder is just much better at it, since it's the main focus of the application, rather than shapes and layers and colors.

This probably didn't help much, but feel free to ask if you have any AS3 questions.

Oh, and make sure you're working in AS3, and not the terrible AS2.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Well now I feel a little confused... Is it possible to put together animations in Flash Builder? Like a typical banner ad... or would that have to be partially done in Flash (placing all the graphics, etc.) and then taken into Flash Builder?

Question: Why don't "Graphic" instances have instance names? It seems only "Movie" and "Button" instances do?

[toblix]

The way things are done in Flash don't make sense to me as a programmer. I guess it's more suited to the graphics designers way of thinking, though the thought frightens me a little.

You have symbols, graphics, buttons and movie clips, and I'm not sure at all how they all map to AS3 code. I guess it's a mix of old terms that have changed meaning, and a pooly evolved GUI, but at least you can draw with a pencil and move shapes around. You can definitely create animations in Flash Builder, but there's no WYSIWYG; you have to program every movement by moving or tweening stuff around. This means no hand-made animation, but making stuff slide, bounce, rotate, shake or whatever is super-easy, as long as you're able to express it programatically. Let me try again: no Bugs Bunny, but sliding transitions or whatever are super easy.

I AM SORRY.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Yeah, that's the type of thing I'd be doing: Simple fades/slides/bounces, etc. No Tex Avery stuff. I'd still need instances of Graphics, Buttons, and Movie Clips, though... Which I take it you have access to in FB?

[toblix]

You can all of that in FB, yeah, though you don't use those exact types of objects.

[ThunderPeel2001]

You can all of that in FB, yeah, though you don't use those exact types of objects.

Whaaaa...? Did they rename them for FB or something? I hate when they do stuff like that.

Edit: Ok. It seems that Flash Builder and Flash are not so closely linked as I'd believed... You can't even open a .FLA in FB, so it looks like I'm stuck in Flash for now.

Edited January 27, 2012 by ThunderPeel2001

[syntheticgerbil]

Question: Why don't "Graphic" instances have instance names? It seems only "Movie" and "Button" instances do?

The most I can gather is that they are almost fully just an animation tool, as you also cannot apply filter effects to graphic symbols. I default everything as a movie clip until I start nesting animation, which is when I create a graphic symbol and can then call up the frames within.

Not sure why one symbol can be multipurpose or not, but oh well. Sometimes I also switch an object temporarily from a movie clip to a graphic symbol along the timeline (or vice versa) depending on what I need. This is a pretty handy thing only I think CS5 (Maybe 4? don't remember) can do.

Programmers can't see instance names on object nested inside graphic symbols either.

[ThunderPeel2001]

It seems strange to me, because if you want a graphic to appear, or fade out, or what-have-you, it could be done with Action Script if you could reference it by its Instance Name -- Just seems weird. I'm sure there's a reason for it, but finding the answer is tricky.

[syntheticgerbil]

My guess is that it is an easy way for animators to call upon animation nested inside a symbol through the looping section in the properties. It being called a "graphic symbol" makes no sense to me whatsoever.

You can call in a series animations through frame labels nested within movie clips with an instance name through script, but that's beyond my understanding, I just know how to ship it off if like that if the programmer wants it that way.