The Best Way to Learn Flash
Learning Flash is a challenging, yet rewarding endeavor, but not for the weak of heart. Flash is a professional-level animation software program that can create the simplest of websites or the most complicated animation and multimedia project your mind can compose. While an expert level of knowledge and many hours of programming are necessary to learn Flash, you have to start somewhere. With some excellent reference manuals, a few online tutorials and vast amounts of patience and caffeine, you can create a solid foundation for your Flash education.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Purchase the latest version of Flash and install the program on your computer. Once the program is installed, open the user manual that accompanies the software and study the overview section, paying close attention to the workspace descriptions, the tools and the language used to describe the program's functionality or how it interacts with the various elements of a project.
-
2
Determine your main purpose for learning Flash. The program is utilized in different ways to achieve different outcomes. For example, a multimedia journalist will use Flash to create large-scale interactive websites that contain videos, photographs, audio interviews and possibly infographics with animated elements. All, or only some, of this content will be created in Flash, but Flash will be used to create the major elements of the website to educate and engage the audience. This person will use different types of ActionScript coding, import their images and videos differently and will need to know the many details of video compression, Flash players and externally loading assets. On the other hand, an animation artist will utilize Flash in an entirely different manner and may never need to learn video compression. They instead may use the object-oriented ActionScripting language of 3.0, rather than the previous 2.0 version, to make their objects interact properly onscreen.
-
-
3
Purchase several Flash manuals based on the type of programming you will be doing. Purchase one basic, beginners manual with an accompanying exercise CD, to walk you through various exercises. Purchase a more advanced manual that focuses on your area of expertise and find supporting materials, such as magazines, to keep on hand while learning Flash.
-
4
Subscribe to an online tutorial, such as Lynda.com, and begin a series of online classes for Flash. These tutorials are structured by individual goals and the Flash sections are broken down into several hour-long videos explaining the various sections in detail. To obtain the most knowledge for your investment, be sure you have already completed the exercises from your manuals and studied the user manual from Flash. The Adobe site also provides a multitude of online tutorials for free, so utilize these resources as well.
-
5
Begin building small projects in Flash using your educational resources. Start with a simple website, a basic animation and work toward more complicated interactive projects. Both the online tutorials and your manuals will walk you through the more complicated elements of Flash, so be sure to study these in-depth as you build your projects.
-
6
Attend a community college course, workshop or university class for Flash if you find yourself seeking additional educational interaction beyond these tutorials. Personal interaction with your professors, teachers and peers can help accelerate your learning process, as Flash is complicated when the advanced techniques are implemented.
-
1
References
Resources
- Photo Credit computer image by blaine stiger from Fotolia.com
