Flash Tips: Tutorial Videos

The video tutorials on this page were provided by LearnFlash.com The tutorials are designed to provide instructional tips for Adobe Flash Software.

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• Introduction to Flash CS4 (Preview): In this video, Craig will take you on a tour of the Flash CS4 workspace. Buckle up and get ready to fly.
• Building Websites in Flash CS4 (Preview): In this lesson, Craig will demonstrate how to create frame labels and then how to point to those labels in ActionScript in order to make your code more flexible and easier to read.
• Using 3D in Flash CS4 (Preview): In this video, you will learn about the 3D Translation Tool, which allows you to move 2-dimensional objects around in 3D space.
• Introduction to Flash CS4 (Preview): When you initially open Flash, you will be greeted with a welcome screen that provides links for creating new files, opening existing files, opening recently used files, creating files from templates, etc.
• New Features of Flash CS4 (Preview): One of the most anticipated new features of Flash CS4 is the new Tween engine. Motion tweens and motion guides are now much simpler than they were before, and in this video, Craig will demonstrate their use.
• Building a Video Player in Flash CS3 (Preview): In this video, Craig shows you how to get an FLV video up and running in your Flash file in a manner of seconds using the FLVPlayback Component!
• Integrating Flash CS3 with XML (Preview2): In this video, Craig discusses the few, simple rules behind XML as he walks you through the process of building your own XML document.
• Integrating Flash CS3 with XML (Preview): In this video, Craig defines and demonstrates what XML is and what it can be used for. He also shows a sample XML document.
• Building Websites in Flash CS3-Animated Transitions: In this video, Craig makes the website a little more interesting by adding animated transitions between the pages of the website.
• Making it Work (Building Websites in Flash Preview): In this video, Craig demonstrates how to take the file that we set up in the last video and make the buttons function properly
• Building a Music Player in Flash CS3: Shelley goes over the use of the basic drawing tools and methods needed to build simple, elegant graphic symbols. Graphic creation is step-by-step, so no prior art experience with Flash is necessary. You will be making the Stop, Pause, Play, Volume Slider, Information Windows and the "face plate" for your new mp3 player.
• ActionScript 3 Animation (Preview): Using a Timer to animate is similar in functionality to the way the ENTER_FRAME method works, except that with a Timer, you have a little more control over the speed and fluidity of the animation.
• Building Web Ready Videos with Flash and PhotoShop: Bert Lee introduces us to a workflow for making web ready videos. Using Photoshop CS3 Extended as a primary production tool, and Flash CS3 as a finishing tool for integrating audio, video and other mutli-media resources. And with the additional support of utility programs Quicktime Pro and Audacity, we learn how to produce great looking and sounding videos as quick loading Flash movies. This is an overview of all of the steps involved in the process, with a brief description of the role of each of the four programs involved.
• Creative Drawing Techniques in Flash (Preview): In this video, Craig demonstrates his favorite method for tracing over scanned drawings in Flash using the line and selection tools.
• Introduction to Flash CS3 (Preview): The Tools Panel is going to be one of the most often used panels in Flash. In this introduction to a series of lessons on using the drawing tools, Craig explains the tools panel and shows you how you can customize it.
• Introduction to Flash CS3 (Preview):Customizing your panel layout does you no good if there is no way to hold onto those changes, so in this video, Craig shows you how to save, load, and manage your panel layouts in Flash.
• Introduction to Flash CS3 (Preview): In this video, Craig walks you through the Flash working environment.
• Introduction to Flash CS3 (Preview): If you are working with Flash for the first time, there are a couple of file formats that you will need to be familiar with. In this video, Craig discusses the basics behind .fla files and .swf files.
• Top Tutorials for Building Websites (Preview): In this video, you will learn how to create an external class that links to a button symbol on your stage. This way, you will be able to add code for your button to an external ActionScript file.
• Morphing Text: In this tutorial, Bert Lee will show you how to morph shape into text. In this demonstration, he uses a customized home button and a puff of smoke.
• Particle Effect-Smoke Particles: In this video, Craig creates the smoke particle and fleshes out some of the ActionScript for the fla file.
• Particle Effect with ActionScript 3.0: In order to create a particle effect, you must first learn to add particles to the stage, and in this video, Craig will demonstrate how to do that.
• The Illusion of Depth: In this tutorial, Bert Lee will show you how to use multiple layers of scrolling backgrounds to create an illusion of depth and perspective. This is a flash lesson combined with a basic animation lesson, so watch closely and you will see some magic.
• Continuous Scrolling Backgrounds: In this tutorial, Bert Lee will show you how to make a continuously scrolling background, using repeated graphics, and motion tweens.
• Classic Filling Preloader: This is a very popular preloader, but is rarely explained in a simple tutorial. Add some pro elements to your site by creating a preloader that fills you own logo. In this tutorial, you will learn the basics to any preloader mask.
• Integrating Photoshop Layers with Flash CS3: In this video, we review the basics of Photoshop layers, including layer transparencies, working with the Photoshop layers palette, layer effects and issues about type layers.
• Dry Erase Board: Want your users to stick around your website a little longer? Try giving them something interactive to do, like drawing on the stage. In this video, you will learn how to allow your users to click and drag on the stage in order to create their own drawings.
• Better Animation Transitions: In this tutorial, you will learn the code necessary in order to make one slideshow image fade in right on top of another one using ActionScript.
• Using Flash Templates to Build Web Sites Preview: Some of the buttons in our template do not actually link to anything, and even if they did, we would most likely want to change the destination, so in this video, Craig will walk you through the process of changing and customizing links and button behavior.
• Movie Clip Loader: The MovieClipLoader class allows you to keep track of loading information for dynamically loaded assets. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the MovieClipLoader class to create a preloader for your slideshow images.
• Buttons for Dynamic Slideshows: In this tutorial, you will learn the code that you need to add to the buttons in order to get this type of slideshow to function properly.
• Loading External Images: Importing images into your .fla file to create a slideshow is certainly an easy way to do things, requiring very minimal ActionScript, but if you have numerous images, then your slideshow file size will start to get pretty big, which will leave your users twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the site to load. In this video, you will learn how to import images dynamically using ActionScript, making the load time much more bearable.
• Slideshow Mask Animation: In some previous tips, there have been a couple of slideshows created that consisted of images fading in onto the stage. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create more complicated transitions using mask animations.
• Introduction to ActionScript 3.0 Preview: In this video, Craig will demonstrate how to get your object to move to a specific point on the stage.
• Introduction to ActionScript 3.0 Preview: When dealing with ActionScript code, it is a good idea to learn how to get around in the Actions panel. In this video, Craig gives you a quick tour of the panel and its features.
• Basic Slideshow: In this tutorial, Craig Campbell shows you how to create a basic slideshow from scratch by importing pictures into their own keyframes and creating "next" and "previous" buttons so the user can cycle through the images.
• Focus Change Animation: In this tutorial, trainer Craig Campbell will show you how to create a sense of depth in your animations by shifting focus from one object to another.
• Creating a Custom Scroller: In this tutorial, Craig will show you how to make your own scrollbar from scratch that will cause a text field to scroll up and down as you drag the scrollbar around.
• Creating a Flyout Menu: Everybody wants to create their own animated menus that suddenly appear out of nowhere when they hover over a button . . . don't they? Well, if they do, then Craig Campbell is here to show them how!
• Scroll Text: In this tutorial, you will learn a very important lesson on building and using the scrolling text box. You will learn to assign a Scrollbar from the components list in Flash and how to wrap text within the box.
• Display: In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a custom display that can be added to any monitor. This is a great effect to wow customers to your site or place as a banner. Simple to create. Only motion tweens and layers, no actionscript.
• Typing Effect: This video walks you through another text effect. In this one, you will learn how to animate a block of text so that it looks like its being typed onto the stage as you watch.
• Password: Have you ever wanted to add password protection to your website? In this tutorial, you will learn how to add simple password protection using actionscript and the Input Text option. This is a simple way to add a little protection to your site and projects.
• Fog: In this tutorial, you will learn how to animate simple fog using the blur filter. You will also learn how to loop that Movie Clip using the timeline correctly.
• Action Loop: In this tutorial, you will add actionscript to a Movie Clip to make it loop. You will learn to add variables to that actionscript to affect the speed easily. You can add this code to a variety of backgrounds and foregrounds.
• Rewinding the Timeline: In this tutorial, trainer Craig Campbell will show you how to create a button that will cause your animations to play in reverse when clicked. It's like having your own rewind button for a Flash cartoon.
• Nine Slice Scaling in Flash CS3: In this video, Craig introduces you to a new feature of Flash CS3 called 9-slice scaling. This method of scaling an object allows you use guides that allow for smarter resizing of objects.
• Stand Alone Flash Button: It’s time to replace the boring text link in the bottom-right corner of the home page with something that stands out a little better. In this video, Craig creates an animated button to take its place.
• Classic Film Grain: Place this movie clip over artwork or an imported video to give it that classic scratchy look. This is a fun tutorial that will teach you some simple frame by frame tricks to create a professional grain look.
• Invisible Buttons and Sound: In this tutorial, you will learn how to command sounds with invisible buttons. Add invisible buttons around objects that become interactive, and play sounds and songs.
• Motion Guide: In this tutorial, you will learn how to animate a graphic on a guided path using the motion guide. You will also learn how to place your graphic or movieclip on the correct points of the motion guide.
• Text Blur: In this tutorial, you will learn to animate a custom text loop. This is a popular effect, and after this tutorial you will feel comfortable adding to text and graphics.
• Introduction to Cartooning with Flash (Ringing Telephone): In this cartoon, we have a ringing phone, and in order to make the cartoon more interesting, we're going to animate the phone receiver bouncing around on the cradle. In this video, Craig will show you how.
• Introduction to Cartooning with Flash (Shading): Depending on the style you're going for in your cartoon, you might want to add some shading to your characters to give them a sense of depth. In this video, Craig demonstrates some useful techniques as he adds shading to the robot character.
• Introduction to Building Games with Flash (Preview): In this chapter, you will learn how to use Flash to create your custom characters. Learn to use the line tool and the fill tool to easily design the Control and Hostile ships for this side scrolling game.
• Text Flash: Create a catchy animation with text. This tutorial with teach you how to add a great effect using the glow filter within Flash 8.
• Glowing Text: In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a professional effect using very simple commands. Learn to create this effect using key-frames instead of action script. You will also learn how to break apart text so that we can edit and add effects.
• Integrating Flash with XML Preview: In this video, Craig will demonstrate how to add code to the 'next' and 'previous' buttons in order to cycle through the songs in your XML playlist. He also shows you how to automatically start playing the next song when the first song is finished playing.
• Custom Cursor: Create a custom cursor with your own image by simply using action script. This is popular flash effect and adds a level of interactive fun that will WOW your users.
• Shining Text: In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a looping text mask effect. This mask gives the effect of shining metal and is a great improvement to any banner or important text.
• Lightning Effect: This is a great way to add some flavor to old photos or animations. A lot of Flash designers use this effect in many different ways and after this tutorial you will have a better understanding of how the Glow effect works.
• Adding Gravity: In this tutorial, we will discuss an effect that is overlooked a lot of the time, its called the ease effect. If you want your animation to stand out and have a better look and feel than the ease effect will help.
• Digital Clock: Add a sleek element to your site and give your users a real time digital clock to keep time. Design the clock using action script and import into your site as an .swf.
• Propellor Effect: Creating a spinning animation is very simple in Actionscript, taking only a few lines of code. So since it is so simple, we will take this tutorial one step further and show you how you can allow your users to control the spin and the direction of the spin using their arrow keys.
• Dynamic Lines: In this tutorial, you will learn how to create two draggable circles that will always remain connected via a dynamic line that you will create in Actionscript. No matter where you move the circles, they will always be connected by the line.
• Bungee Ball: In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a circle that the user can drag around the stage. But when the user releases his mouse, the circle will snap back to the center of the stage as though it were tied to a bungee cord.
• New Year Fireworks: In this special New Year tutorial, you will learn how to play with fireworks without setting any grassfires, and you will do so by learning how to create a fireworks show from scratch in Flash Professional 8.
• Falling Flakes: Once you've drawn your snowflake in Flash, this video will teach you how to animate multiple instances of your snowflakes falling before your eyes. This tutorial uses the Math.random method in order to give your snowfall a more natural feel.
• Countdown Timer: In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a timer in Flash that will count down the time to a given date in days, hours, minutes, and seconds. This is a great tool for counting down to holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
• Gradient Mask Reflections: A gradient mask is a great way to make a reflection effect. However, there arises a problem when you try to make a gradient mask visually in Flash. Flash treats the gradient like it was just a solid fill. But don't worry! There's a way to overcome this if you apply the mask using actionscript, and in this video, you'll learn how.
• Fixing Unruly Shape Tweens: Sometimes complex shape tweens can get a little rambunctious, even when we add all the shape hints we can think to add. In fact, sometimes the shape hints only serve to make things worse. In today's tutorial, you'll learn a quick cheat that might fix some of the less desirable shape tween effects that might pop up.
• Cursor Replacement and Blending Modes: You're going to need Flash Professional 8 for this tutorial. In this video, you'll learn how to use Flash 8's blending modes to create a circle that follows the cursor around on the stage, inverting the colors of the image in the layer below the circle.
• Rotating Globe Effect: Unfortunately, Flash doesn't have any functionality for creating true 3D animations by itself, but if you know a few tricks, sometimes you can fake it. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a somewhat 3D-esque rotating globe effect in Flash.
• Animating Filters in Flash Pro 8: You can motion tween a lot of things in Flash--position, transparency, color, etc--but did you know you could ALSO tween a filter in Flash Professional 8? In this video, Craig will show you how!
• Creating a Bounce Animation in ActionScript: Creating a bouncing ball animation can be a little tedious if you do it visually in Flash. In today's video tutorial, Craig will show you how to create a bounce animation with only a few lines of ActionScript by calling on the Tween class and the Bounce class.
• Creating and Animating Clouds: One of the most popular features of Flash Professional 8 is the new "Filters" feature, which lets you add blurs, drop shadows, glows, and other filters to your objects. In today's tip, you'll learn how to use the "blur" filter to create some very realistic clouds, and then you'll learn how to animate those clouds in Flash. Unfortunately, if you don't have Flash Professional 8, you'll just have to sit back and watch.
• Continuous Animation: In this video, you'll learn how to set up a looping animation that doesn't seem like it's looping. It will look like a continuous stream flowing through a pipe.
• Semitransparent Buttons: In today's beginner-level tutorial, you'll learn how to create a very simple, yet elegant, button symbol with a semitransparent background that loses its transparency on rollOver.
• Typewriter Effect: Today's tip is a simple, though somewhat tedious effect, that allows us to create a typewriter animation where the user can see the text being typed onto the stage. The animation will be synced up with a sound file.
• Animating Lines: In today's tutorial, you'll learn how to animate a series of lines to make it look like they're drawing themselves onto the stage. This is done using a simple mask.
• Symbol Instances: I was asked recently about how to alter the label on one instance of a button without having the labels of the others instances of the same button change along with it. In this video, you'll learn an important distinction between the way symbols work and the way symbol instances work.
• Rotating Sunburst Effect: In this basic tutorial, you will learn how to highlight your logo by putting a rotating sunburst effect behind it. You'll also learn an important lesson about reusing graphic elements whenever possible.
• Text Swipe Effect: In today's tutorial, you'll learn how to create an animated text swipe effect, where the text is quickly and smoothly revealed from left to right. Text effects like this can be a little tedious to achieve, but the end result is usually well worth the effort.
• Creating a Gyroscope Animation: Creating a spinning ring is as easy as flipping it over and tweening it. In this video, you'll learn how to create a gyroscope effect using multiple instances of this simple technique.
• Countdown Timer: In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a timer in Flash that will count down the time to a given date in days, hours, minutes, and seconds. This is a great tool for counting down to holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
• Flash 8 Panels and Panel Sets: Our new "Introduction to Flash 8" video series will be released soon, and in this excerpt from the series, you'll learn all about using and customizing panels and panel sets in Flash.
• Flash 8 Shape Tweens: Today's tip is an excerpt from our brand new "Introduction to Flash 8" video series, and in this clip, you will learn all about how to create shape tween animations where one shape morphs into another shape.
• Text Gradient Fills: Unfortunately, applying a gradient fill to text in Flash isn't as easy as selecting the text field and then choosing a linear gradient from the Color Mixer panel. So in this video, you will learn two different methods to achieve this effect.
• Problems with Rotating Animations: Creating an animation of an object rotating is very easy to do, whether you do it with tweens or in Actionscript. Unfortunately, sometimes the rotations don't occur exactly how you would want them to, because by default, the anchor for the rotation is the center point of the object being rotated. In this tutorial, you will learn how to change that anchor point for both tweened animations and Actionscript animations.
• Illustration Optimization: Many artists prefer using hand-drawn illustration techniques for their Flash graphics, but there's often a big hit on your file size when using these types of illustrations. In this tutorial, you'll learn why this is the case, and you'll also learn a couple of techniques for optimizing those illustrations in order to reduce file size.
• JavaScript Popup Windows: Unfortunately, there's no way to create a customizable popup window using only Flash. But the good news is that with a little help from JavaScript, you can create popup windows with no scrollbars, no toolbars, no menubars, and you can even specify the size of the popup window. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to do just that.
• Conditionals and Toggle Switches: A conditional is a way of executing a piece of code only if the circumstances are right. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the if() statement to control a toggle switch in Flash.
• Common Mistakes with Actions and Buttons: There are two ways to add actions to a button in Flash. You can add the actions to the button itself or you can refer to the button when adding actions to a frame. Unfortunately, the actions you add will be a little different depending on which method you choose. Because of this difference, the ActionScript involved can be a little confusing to beginners. In this video, we'll clear up all the confusion and fix some common mistakes that are made in the process.
• ComboBox Interactivity: In Flash, the ComboBox component is basically nothing more than your basic dropdown list that you see in forms on the Internet. In this video, you'll learn how to use this component to communicate with another movie clip on the stage.
• Animation Setup: Animation can be a tricky process if you've never done it before, but Flash makes it possible to reuse pieces of your animation so you don't have to continually redraw everything. In this tutorial, you'll learn some basics for drawing and preparing your drawings for animation in Flash.
• Basic Preloader: This tutorial is an excerpt for an upcoming training series, to be released by LearnFlash.com on March 31. In this excerpt, you'll learn how to create a simple preloader for your Flash website.
• Simple Page Transitions: This tutorial is an excerpt for an upcoming training series, to be released by LearnFlash.com on March 31. In this excerpt, you'll learn how to create simple animated transitions for your Flash website.
• Loading Pictures Dynamically: The loader component in Flash is a very handy tool for loading external images into your Flash file. In this video, you'll learn the fundamentals behind creating a photo gallery, using the loader component to load pictures one at a time.
• Digital Clock: It's always helpful to know what time it is, and in today's video tip, you'll learn how to pass this information on to the users of your website. In this tutorial, you'll discover how to use dynamic text fields and Actionscript to create your own digital clock for your Flash website.
• Disabling Buttons: If you're on the homepage of your website, obviously it won't do the user much good to click on the "home" button of your menu. In this video, you'll learn how to disable a button when you're on the page that the button is designed to take you to.
• Random Jumping: Predictability is way overrated. Web users all over the world expect a button to stand still when they click on it. So why not take a little of that predictability away from them? In this video, you'll learn how to generate random numbers in Flash and then use those numbers to create an elusive button or graphic that jumps to a random position on the stage every time your user hovers his mouse cursor over it.
• Magic Cursor: If you want to learn to make your Flash websites truly interactive, then it's very important that you understand how to alter the properties of your objects dynamically. In this video, LearnFlash.com trainer Craig Campbell will show you how to alter the "alpha" property, or the transparency, of an object in Actionscript so that the object fades in and out as you move your mouse cursor left and right across the stage.
• Button Basics: Creating buttons in Flash may seem fairly straightforward--and it is--but there are a few things that many Flash novices don't realize about making their buttons interactive. For instance, did you know that there are two places where you can add your actionscript for your button? Watch this video to find out more.
• Creating Movie Clip Buttons: In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create animated buttons by storing your button as a movie clip symbol instead of a button symbol. Movie clip symbols will give you much more flexibility.
• Animating with ActionScript: In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a simple animation using ActionScript instead of motion tweens.
• Falling Text Effect: In this video, you'll learn how to create a really sharp animation effect by animating the letters of a block of text onto the stage separately.
• Smoke Effect: Learn how to create a really cool smoke effect using Flash Professional 8's new filters!
• Flashing Face Effect:In this tutorial, you'll learn how to highlight a picture on the stage by causing it to flash a couple times.