Flash Design

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Hi,

An internet associate of mine had asked if I knew how to do some Flash design. I had responded that I hadn't created any thus far but might be willing to learn. So, what's involved in creating flash graphics for web sites?

I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

[Tom E.]

You can get the free trial version of Adobe Flash (https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=flash&loc=en) and go through the tutorials to get a feel for what's involved.

If you don't want to spend any money, one option is the free Adobe Flex SDK (http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=flex3sdk), which is good for flash applications that don't involve animation, like an mp3 player with a few buttons, track name/artist display and a volume slider.

You create an XML file to specify the layout of the components, then define their behavior using ActionScript (within the XML file, or in a separate file). You build the flash object with the included command-line compiler.

Adobe also has the Flex Builder development environment (which isn't free), but you don't need to use it. All you need is a text editor or IDE (I'm using Coda).

- Tom