How to Make Flash Movies Like a Pro

Flash can be used to create striking effects easily.

Flash allows people with varying degrees of expertise to create impressive effects. Flash movies are featured widely on the Web, adding levels of interaction and visual style to suit a wide variety of purposes. While Flash development is an area of particular expertise within the IT community, learning initial Flash skills is relatively straightforward, even for people with little programming experience. As with any technical skill, the most effective approach is to start by learning the basics and adding to your developer's toolbox over time.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Make use of the wealth of resources available on the Web. There are many free tools available that can enhance your Flash skills. Use tutorials to acquire general skills and also look for free downloadable resources such as Flash movies and ActionScript libraries. As well as giving you the ability to use the contents in your own movies, these are a good way to familiarize yourself with the range of tools and techniques that the software is capable of performing.

2. Learn at least a little ActionScript. Don't worry if you have no programming experience, as you can learn to use small amounts of ActionScript code within your Flash work to build your knowledge incrementally. Start by adding interactive effects such as "onPress", "onRelease" and "onRollOver". ActionScript is a relatively easy language to pick up, and gives you the ability to create animation together with a high level of interactivity within your Flash movies.

3. Use different media within your Flash movies. Remember that you don't have to create all of the contents of your Flash work from scratch yourself. Consider using other media such as images, audio and video to create a multimedia experience for your audience. One of the main advantages of using Flash technology is that it allows you to combine different types of media easily. Whenever you are choosing media, bear in mind the overall purpose of your Flash work, and ensure that the chosen elements will serve this effectively.

4. Learn how to integrate your Flash work with other technologies. Using Web technologies such as databases, server side and client side languages gives you the ability to create dynamic experiences for people accessing your Flash content. If your Flash movies are being used within the interface for a website, consider using a database to store the website content and a language such as PHP or ASP to connect the Flash to this. XML is also well-suited for use with Flash, with many online SWF movies such as image galleries using XML files to store their data.

5. Look at other Flash movies you like and learn to replicate the effects. If your movie is to be used within a website, then take time to browse around and see what Flash work is out there. This is a great way to inspire you and gives a sense of what is possible using the technology. Understanding how a complex movie works is far easier than attempting to create one yourself when you're learning, and gives you an insight into how various different elements can work together within Flash.

Tips & Warnings

• Optimize your Flash work where possible, for example, by reducing the size of any resources within it such as images and other media. Try to keep the file size as small as possible without compromising its quality, particularly if your Flash is being deployed over the Internet.

• Try not to use complicated Flash effects for no reason. Your Flash work should be used to achieve a specific purpose. If a Flash movie distracts users from the reason they're visiting a site, then the movie should be rethought.

References

• Adobe: Learn Flash
• ActionScript.org: Beginner
• Kirupa: Learn How to Use Flash with PHP and mySQL
• ActionScript.org: XML 101

Resources

• W3Schools: Flash Introduction
• Adobe: Flash Help and Support