Flash

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Definition

Adobe Flash, or simply Flash, refers to both the Adobe Flash Player, and to the Adobe Flash Professional multimedia authoring program. The player features support for vector and raster graphics, a scripting language called ActionScript and bi-directional streaming of audio and video. (Wikipedia, retrieved 12 July 2007).

Flash tutorials and articles in EduTech wiki

EduTech Wiki includes introductory Flash and ActionScript 3 (AS3) tutorials for Flash version 9 (aka Flash CS3). Some CS4 tutorials are under preparation. I used these tutorials in my COAP 2110 (Fall 1 2007) at Webster University (Geneva) and in my STIC III courses at University of Geneva. Some tutoraisl better than others and none has reached top quality so far, but most can serve to support teaching and self-learning Daniel K. Schneider May 2009.

We produced three families of tutorials with some overlaps:

• Flash tutorials (Flash CS3 plus ActionScript 3 for non-programmers, and some CS4)
• Actionscript 3 (Beginner's tutorials for "pure" AS3, i.e. tool independant coding)
• Flex tutorials (very few)

In addition, all materials (*.fla, *.swf, etc.) are available at http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/flash/ex under a CC BY-NC-SA licence.

Other Flash articles in EduTech Wiki (e.g. overviews and cheatsheets)

1. Flash CS3 keyboard shortcuts
2. Flash ActionScript 3 overview -- a conceptual little overview of AS3
3. Flash formats and objects overview (not ActionScript objects !)
4. Flash - being organized (some advice for beginning Flash CS3 designers)
5. Actionscript 3 -- a complete programming language. An entry page for AS3 tutorials
6. Flash 3D -- overview page of of Flash 3D tools and AS3 libraries

The Flash framework

In the past, Flash was just a web animation/interactive multimedia technology. Today (2008) Flash is a serious contender for one-stop rich internet application technology as the following picture shows:

Adobe Flash Platform for RIAs. Retrieved nov 2008 from http://www.adobe.com/devnet/actionscript/articles/atp_ria_guide.html

Alternative technologies

General formats

• DHTML, i.e. the combination of HTML, CSS, DOM and Javascript
• SVG
• SMIL
• Microsoft Silverlight, a new Microsoft attempt to have its own "Flash"

Others

See also multimedia authoring systems and computer games. Some of these have their own format, some can export to more common formats.

Links for software and media elements

General / Indexes

• OsFlash has a large comprehensive list of links to Open Source Flash projects, both those hosted on OSFlash and elsewhere. Of particular interest are tools that generate flash in various ways.

Viewers

• Adobe (Flash player download)
• Gnash (Wikipedia article) A project which aims to create a player and browser plugin for the Adobe Flash file format which is free software.

Authoring tools

• Adobe Flash CS3 Professional. The commercial authoring tool. Students: You can get huge discounts either through some stores or Adobe's education program (takes some times to fight through this web site and to find the appropriate page). In both cases you will have to send proof to Adobe before you will get a key. Teachers pay more, institutions can make deals that are more difficult to get.

• SWISH. An alternative set of commercial products to produce Flash. Much cheaper and somewhat easier it seems, but doesn't export to *.fla files (so you can't import to the Adobe authoring tool). See the Wikipedia article.

• Salasaga. An free (and OSS) Integrated Development Environment for producing animated swf files, similar to Adobe Captivate. Goal is to create a free, easy to use GUI authoring environment that helps you create visually impressive and actually useful learning material. Example swf output here.

Decompilers

A decompiler can translate an *.swf to *.fla. Useful if you want to learn (not steal) from examples on the web or if you lost by mistake your *.fla sources.

• Flash Decompiler Trillix
  • See also Flash Decompiler Trillix (strange website without any documentation)

Special purpose authoring tools

There is an increasing variety of tools and for a wide range of people, covering casual users to programmers.

• Adobe Captivate. An authoring environment to create simulations, scenario-based training, and robust quizzes. Can importexport to Flash *.fla documents.

• Adobe Acrobat Connect (formerly called Breeze) is a flash-based videoconferencing software.

• Adobe Flex is a software development kit and an IDE for a group of technologies to make rich internet applications with Flash, HTML, JavaScript etc.).

• Toufee, an online tool to make Flash presentations (movies). Free in a basic version. Drag and drop pictures or special elements to a stage, add special effects, buttons, etc. Also saves in other formats.

• OpenOffice Impress (the power point clone) can produce *.swf

• Some capturing tools (see screen capture, photo gallery makers, and video editing software can export to Flash.

Server technology

• red 5 is an open source Flash Server. I supports Streaming Audio/Video (FLV and MP3, Recording Client Streams (FLV only), Shared Objects, Live Stream Publishing and Remoting (AMF) (nov/2008)
• Adobe has a global Flash framework that includes e.g. a Flash Media Server Family.

Generating Flash

• Ming Ming is a C library for generating SWF ("Flash") format movies, plus a set of wrappers for using the library from C++ and popular scripting languages like PHP, Perl, Python, and Ruby.

• SWFMill xml2swf and swf2xml processor that can be used to create (non interactive) multiframe SWF animations.

• HaXe. Programming language very similar to actionscript that can compile a SWF file for Flash Players 6 to 9. Free to use.

In addition, you also should know that you can import several vector graphics formats. e.g. Windows Metafile formats into Flash CS3 (speeds up drawing).

Programming Editors for ActionScript

• Flashdevelop. Free and open source tool that provides syntax support and an interface with the Flex compilers.
• Some multi-purpose editors (like emacs also may support Actionscript 3 programming
• Adobe Flex Builder - a commercial Eclipse plugin from Adobe, but that is free for education upon request.

Media for building your own scenes

• See clipart
• See texture

Extra Resources

• Flash and AS3 links - general
• Flash and AS3 links - tutorials
• Flash and AS3 links - documentation (Flash and AS3 Books, Reference Manuals and Cheatsheets)
• Flash and AS3 links - toolkits (AS 3 Toolkits, Libraries, Flash reusable components, AS 3 reusable code, etc.)