Sybex flash MX savvy may 2002 ISBN 0782141080 pdf

Flash MX Savvy Ethan Watrall | Norbert Herber Associate Publisher: Dan Brodnitz Acquisitions and Developmental Editor: Mariann Barsolo Editors: Jim Gabbert, Kim Wimpsett, Carol Henry Production Editor: Dennis Fitzgerald Technical Editors: Eric Bell, Denise Tyler Production Manager: Amy Changar Cover, Interior, and Technical Illustration Designer: Caryl Gorska Icon Illustrator: Tina Healey Illustrations Compositor: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama Proofreaders: Amey Garber, Dave Nash, Laurie O'Connell, Nancy Riddiough, Suzanne Stein Indexer: Ted Laux CD Coordinator: Dan Mummert CD Technician: Kevin Ly Cover Photographer: Peter Purdy, Hulton Archive Copyright © 2002 SYBEX Inc., 1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA 94501 World rights reserved The authors created reusable code in this publication expressly for reuse by readers Sybex grants readers limited permission to reuse the code found in this publication or its accompanying CD-ROM so long as the authors are attributed in 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However, in all cases, reselling or redistributing these files without authorization is expressly forbidden except as specifically provided for by the Owner(s) therein About the Authors Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, Ethan Watrall completed his bachelor's degree with distinction at the University of Regina, with a double major in anthropology and history While an undergraduate, he participated in many archaeological excavations in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Indiana After graduation, Ethan was accepted into the Ph.D program in anthropology at Indiana University There, he has directed his academic energies toward two main subjects The first, which represents a culmination of years of archaeological experience, is household craft production in Predynastic Egypt He has worked at both Nabta Playa (an extremely large Neolithic habitation site in the Egyptian Western Desert) and Hierakonpolis (arguably the most important extant Predynastic site in all of Egypt), where he has excavated such cool things as prehistoric wells, clay mines, households, animal enclosures, pottery kilns, and cemeteries His current research at the HK11 locality, a Late Predynastic village at Hierakonpolis, has consistently yielded information that challenges and greatly expands the current understanding of Predynastic Egyptian households The second subject that Ethan has focused on is the place of interactive media in archaeology Whether from the standpoint of an educational tool, a method for scholarly publication, or simply an issue deserving academic discussion, Ethan has dedicated himself to expanding the dialog surrounding interactive media and archaeology He is particularly interested in the role that interactive entertainment plays in the public perception of archaeology-a topic on which he has published and delivered papers targeted to both professional archaeologists and professional game designers Not content to simply comment on the situation, Ethan preaches active involvement on the part of academics in the interactive entertainment industry Beyond academia, Ethan is also an active practitioner of interactive media He is a faculty member at both Ivy Tech State University, Columbus (Indiana), and Ivy Tech State College, Bloomington (Indiana), where he teaches classes in interactive design and multimedia Ethan's first book, Dreamweaver 4/Fireworks Visual JumpStart, was published by Sybex, Inc., in February 2001 and has been translated into Chinese and Greek He is also writing his third book, Dreamweaver MX: Design and Technique, which will be published by Sybex in the summer of 2002 Ethan's digital alter ego can be found hanging out at www.captainprimate.com Norbert Herber grew up in Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota At 16, he began his musical career as a jazz saxophonist, trading sets with the swing tenor legend Irv Williams After cutting his teeth in the Twin Cities, he entered the Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington Here, he continued his studies of jazz with David Baker, pursuing interests in improvisation, arranging, music theory, woodwinds, and composition After graduation, Norbert worked as a freelance musician and arranger while founding his own group, the x-tet, and writing a score for the short film Jambalaya His musical interests soon merged with digital media Yearning to explore the relationships between sound, text, imagery, and storytelling, he returned to Indiana University for graduate work in the MIME program in the Department of Telecommunications Here, he began an intense, concentrated study of electronic music, film scoring, sound design, and interactive musical composition Currently, Norbert is pursuing several interactive, digital media projects, including Word Is Virus, a sonic exploration of the writings and techniques of William S Burroughs His interests are centered around the use of audio in interactive environments, nonlinear music composition, and the effects of the sound-picture relationship in both linear and nonlinear media Norbert is an instructor at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, where he teaches classes in multimedia development and scripting, interactive design, and digital audio For information on Norbert's current and past projects, visit www.x-tet.com Dedication To Taylor, with the hope that someday she'll write books far better than this one -ECW This book goes out to Jenny Your patience, love, and understanding made this possible -NFH Acknowledgments As with any book-especially one of this size-there are quite a number of people who deserve thanks for their help in bringing this project to fruition First and foremost, I must extend my thanks to my friend, coauthor, and partner in many digital shenanigans: Norb Herber A hefty book (covering an application of Flash MX's complexity) in which two authors share writing duties is an undertaking rife with possibilities for disaster Instead, we managed to create a book with some serious neckwear punch Here's to many more fruitful collaborations! To all those who graciously gave permission to use their work as Inspirational Design Models or in the Color section (there are way too many folks to list by name-they know who they are), I offer my profound thanks I especially want to thank Joost van Schaik and Brian Taylor, whose contributions and help were above and beyond the call of duty On a more personal level, as always I want to express my profound love and gratitude to Jenn She graciously put up with my lunacy and long hours on the computer during the year that this book was being written, rewritten, revised, re-revised, and so on, and so on Thanks also to both Mom and Dad and my good friend Neil Birch for their support during this project Finally, a special thank-you (and a good tummy rub) to my dog, Oscar; nothing brings you down to earth like a puppy who wants nothing more in life than to play Lastly, my sincere apologies to anyone whom I managed to forget Thanks, everybody! Ethan Watrall Not only was this book a team effort by two authors, but each of us had our own "support staff" to help us through many late nights with the digital quill and ink For starters, I extend my thanks to Bill Frisell, Miles Davis, James Brown, and many others for providing the musical catalyst that inspired much of this text Thanks also to Peet's Coffee and Tea for the fuel behind many long hours of working with ActionScript, and to the Laughing Planet Cafe and Soma (in Bloomington, Ind.) for hosting several long meetings about the book Cheers to those who shared their work as Inspirational Design Models, especially Nico Stumpo, Jeanluc Lamarque, NPFC, Joe Sparks, and Donna Durant at LEGO Systems, Inc Also, a round of applause for Shannon Zastrow and Ryan Douglas of DoReMedia for providing the ideas and material that went into the Hands On section Thanks to my colleagues in Chicago: Tim Arroyo and Bernie Mack at IADT for their contributions to this book, and Brian Hrastar at Opt1mus for video consultations and a sampling of the family footage A huge thanks to my partner in crime, Ethan Watrall, for convincing me to this in the first place I knew it would work, since there were no twin brothers involved! Thanks for your endless diligence and resourcefulness I must also thank my wonderful, supportive family: Mom and Dad, Genevieve, Lyla, Susan, Hasan, and, most of all, my dearest Jenny Thanks for listening to story after story about "the book." Finally, thank you for reading this! Norbert Herber Both of us want to acknowledge lots of other people who helped make this book a reality Many thanks go to our agent, David Fugate of Waterside Productions, Inc As always, we are forever in his debt for all the work he put in and for the advice he provided during this project At Sybex, Dennis Fitzgerald, Jim Gabbert, Carol Henry, Kim Wimpsett, Dan Schiff, Dan Mummert, and Maureen Forys deserve praise for all their help and hard work Kudos to technical editor Denise Tyler, who was of great help during the writing process, and to Eric Bell for his technical insight Without the help of Mariann Barsolo, our acquisitions and developmental editor at Sybex, this project might well have exploded very early She was always there with great advice, tons of help, and an incredibly understanding attitude, especially during the really nutty periods A resounding thanks to Thom Gillespie for helping with the book's foreword, and to Brian Taylor (Rust Boy & XL5 Design), Virginia Mielke (Nelvana), Derek Mosher (Sony Screenblast), and Joost van Schaik (Djojo Studios) for their kind endorsements We also want to extend our gratitude to those individuals who helped with the software and hardware that either appears on the CD or was used while we were writing the book: William Reeb (of Wacom), Philip Staiger (Eovia), Paul Babb (Maxon), Karen Carpenter (Curious Labs), Stefan Moss (Ideaworks3D), Ben Yoder (Electric Image), Dave Klein (Electric Rain), Steve Foldvari (Sonic Foundry), Daniel Brown (Adobe Systems Incorporated), and Zac Wheatcroft (BIAS, Inc.) Foreword When FutureSplash first splashed down, I and most of the known "newMedia" world thought Director was the be-all and end-all of newMedia Suddenly, there was this wacko animation tool floating around the Net I downloaded it and played with it It looked sorta like Director since it had a timeline, but it seemed to work the opposite of Director in every way, which made it difficult to use I was amused by simple morphing-making eyes blink and balls roll FutureSplash was fun, but obviously inconsequential So I went back to struggling with bitmaps, sounds, and Lingo I knew the future A couple of years later, I created the MIME program in interactive media at Indiana University Two of my first students were Ethan and Norbert Ethan was doing his Ph.D in archaeology, and Norbert was a jazz sax player Ethan alternated between newMedia and digging things up in the Nile Valley Norbert made funny sounds They were very nice, creative, and obviously smart guys, but not really technologists I figured they might be useful folks, but I had to get back to working with the real technologists I knew the future Actually, I didn't have a clue about the future Flash is much more important than Director ever was, and Ethan and Norb have gone on to lots of interesting things with all sorts of technology, by virtue of the fact that they're not technologists And now they've written this book for creative, smart folks who aren't interested in technology for technology's sake, but as a tool to get real work done This book isn't your traditional loops-and-variables techno book; nor is it a look-what-we-cando, over-glossed guide to eye candy An exceptional difference between this book and other Flash books is its substantial amount of sheer information on integrating Flash with audio and sound Flash MX includes better sound control, and Flash MX Savvy explains how to use these new tools to boost the auditory experience Ethan understands human culture-how people have lived, worked, and learned Norb is a musician who has augmented his living as an interactive designer, graphic artist, and educator When writing about Flash, they bring more to the table than mere technologists would They've written a very good book about using Flash to get real work done in the real world Dr Thom Gillespie, Director of MIME (www.mime.indiana.edu) Associate Professor, Telecommunications, Indiana University Introduction In the summer of 1996, a little-known company named FutureWave shipped a small program called FutureSplash Animator, a relatively simple application that was designed to create linear, vector-based animations After its release, the application attracted considerable attention when it was used in the design of both Microsoft's web version of MSN and Disney's subscription-based Disney Daily Blast In November 1996, Macromedia approached FutureWave about the possibility of working together For FutureWave, which was still a tiny company of six employees, this was an incredible opportunity So, in December 1996, FutureWave sold the technology to Macromedia, who released Flash in early 1997 The rest, as they say, is history Fast-forward to 2002 Six versions later, Flash (now dubbed Flash MX) is arguably one of the most popular interactive authoring applications With it, you can create not only unbelievably cool-looking animations but incredibly complex interactive experiences that feature rich media and the integration of dynamic, database-driven applications Not only are today's Web-based Flash creations a quantum leap beyond anything that could have been conceived previously for online media, but they are pushing the boundaries of interactive digital media Although Flash was originally intended for the Web, its sheer popularity (and phenomenal power) has taken it far beyond the online domain These days, you can see the integration of Flash as an authoring tool in mobile devices, broadcast media, and console games To really understand the penetration of Flash into the world of interactive digital media, you only need to look at the number of people who have downloaded the Flash Player over the years: more than 430 million Yup, that's right-nearly half a billion! Need we say more? About This Book This book was written with a lot of love, blood, sweat, and tears…seriously We don't want to give you the impression that we are "tortured authors," holed up in a dingy loft pouring over manuscripts and surrounded by bottles of wine and take-out containers However, we did put a lot of thought and planning into the writing process Our objective was to create the most intuitive, learning-focused Flash reference imaginable Unlike many Flash books, this one was written with the intention of not only explaining how to work with Flash MX but why Knowing why you things is a crucial step in the learning process because it gives you the means to creatively apply your newfound skills to original ideas of your own The techniques outlined in this book will give you the basic concepts to create an enormous variety of things in Flash Additionally, all techniques are presented with the mind-set that "this is just the beginning." Our hope is that you will use these lessons as a point of departure for your own creative ideas As educators, we approached this book in much the same way we would approach a class This book will be equally effective for Macintosh and Windows users As a writing team, we are split: Norbert is "the Mac guy," and Ethan "the Windows guy." We tried as much as possible to present a balanced approach so that regardless of your platform, the book will fit your specific needs and illustrate each technique clearly Who Needs This Book? Every man, woman, and child on the planet needs this book! But seriously, folks, it's impossible to write a book that is all things to all people That being said, we did our best to write a book that is many things to a lot of different people We carefully selected the topics discussed, and crafted the way we discussed them so that many different types of people, with varying levels of expertise and different goals, could pick the book up and find it useful Granted, if worse comes to worse, the book is large enough to prop up the wobbly leg on your bed or serve as a pretty decent doorstop If you were to corner us in a dark alley, we would feel comfortable (relatively comfortable, that is, since we're not used to being cornered in dark alleys by our readers) in saying that the range of people who will get the most out of this book will vary between the savvy computer user who "gets" Flash but has never actually worked with the program and someone who is experienced in the basics of Flash and wants to obtain intermediate and low-level advanced skills We feel strongly that this book isn't really appropriate for people who already have advanced Flash skills We certainly don't want to discourage any interested individual from using the book-quite the contrary! It covers a lot of stuff that even the most advanced user might not be familiar with However, we feel that those more-experienced Flash users might not find in this book exactly what they are looking for, and would therefore be disappointed-something we definitely don't want Having said that, we think that anyone who is eager to take part in the Flash revolution and become a dyed-in-the-wool "Flasher" should read this book! That includes any student wanting to put their class project on the Web, any animator or artist wanting to go digital with their creations, anyone who is frustrated by the inherent design limitations of HTML, anyone enamored with the "wow" factor of vector animation and interactivity-in short, anyone who is excited about the endless possibilities and phenomenal power of Flash, but who is a little befuddled about where they should start or is a bit unsure about their skills If you're one of those types, this book is for you! How This Book Is Organized There is a natural progression of skills involved in working with Flash MX The chapter-bychapter structure of this book is designed to emulate this progression Although each chapter builds on the previous one to a certain extent, the book can, in fact, be used as a reference for those wishing to tackle specific problems New to MX We've been careful to point out which features are new in Flash MX-this will be useful if you've used Flash and are completely new to MX Be on the lookout for the handy "new to MX" icon Here's a quick look at what you can expect to explore in each chapter Part I Getting to Know Flash Part I sets the stage for all your future work in Flash In Chapter 1, you'll start off by getting a nice introduction to the world of Flash You'll bone up on the venerable history of Flash (including the advances in each version), explore the difference between vectors and bitmaps, and get a snapshot of what kinds of cool stuff are being created with Flash In Chapter 2, you'll explore the great updates that Flash MX features Finally, in Chapter 3, you'll delve deeply into the Flash MX interface and get your hands dirty exploring how you can manipulate your working environment Part II Creating and Manipulating Visual Content Part II is geared toward teaching you the fundamentals of creating and manipulating all things visual in Flash MX In Chapter 4, you'll become intimately familiar with all of Flash MX's painting and drawing tools From there, Chapter covers the process of creating and manipulating text In Chapter 6, you'll learn how to use objects (a blanket term for just about anything graphical in Flash MX) to your advantage Chapter features an in-depth discussion about working with reusable content-primarily symbols and the Library Finally, Chapter explores how to work with layers-a vital subject if you want to create animations having any degree of complexity Part III Animating with Flash Part III is designed to teach you just about everything you need to know about creating animation in Flash MX First, Chapter thoroughly explores how to use the Timeline to add the dimension of movement to your Flash creation From there, you'll learn how to work with Movie Clips-arguably one of the most important elements in Flash-in Chapter 10 Finally, Chapter 11 will teach you how to work with scenes, a vital tool for partitioning and organizing animated content Part IV Scripting for Interactivity with ActionScript This section of the book will introduce you to one of the most compelling and important aspects of Flash development: ActionScript Chapter 12 introduces the basic concepts of the ActionScript language and the techniques for adding scripts to control the interactivity of your movies Chapter 13 presents a discussion on the creation and design of interactive controls, an essential part of any interactive experience Part V Adding Advanced Interactivity with ActionScript If you love Flash but have been hesitant to take the plunge into the world of Flash-based scripting, Part V is for you Chapter 14 discusses some beginning concepts of programming and explains how ActionScript works inside a Flash movie Chapter 15 provides details on the syntax, structure, and elements of ActionScript, while Chapter 16 presents a variety of inspiring and useful in-context examples that use ActionScript to add all sorts of functionality to your Flash movies In Chapter 17, you'll explore how to make Flash dynamic (either alone or with other database-driven technologies) by sending data out or bringing data in We feel that it's important to keep this book realistic; as a result, Chapter 18 discusses the techniques and tools that you can use to troubleshoot ActionScripts that aren't performing as expected Part VI Working with Audio Part VI covers one of the most important (and sadly neglected) aspects of multimedia development: audio Chapter 19 provides useful information on the basics of digital audio and serves as a primer for anyone who is new to working with sound and music on their computer With the essentials of digital audio under your belt, you can read Chapter 20 to learn how audio works inside Flash and how to publish "sonified" Flash movies Because getting your audio to synchronize with any variety of events is a crucial part of animation and interactive development, Chapter 21 discusses the various techniques for audio/visual synchronization Finally, Chapter 22 ups the ante, showing you how to control audio elements interactively via ActionScript One of the most widely used and popular features in Flash (especially for beginners) is the Button symbol Buttons are great—you can create all manners of interesting user-responsive navigational tools by using them This flexibility, coupled with the relative ease in which they're created, gives you a lot of power Macromedia was quick to recognize the popularity of buttons, and, in Dreamweaver 4, added a way to create them in your Dreamweaver project Now, don't get too excited Flash buttons in Dreamweaver are nowhere near as powerful and functional as they are in Flash Unfortunately, you can't really create buttons from scratch Instead, you select the different states of the button from a predetermined library of styles Granted, you can assign text labels and links to these "preforms," but this really isn't the same as making the button from scratch To create Flash buttons in Dreamweaver, follow these steps: The first thing you need to when inserting Flash buttons into Dreamweaver is save your document To this, go to File → Save (or Save As) Now, to open the Insert Flash Button dialog box, click the Insert Flash Button icon in the Common section of the Objects palette Alternatively, you can go to Insert → Interactive Images → Flash Button When the Insert Flash Button dialog box opens, select a style from the available list If you want to test the appearance of the button when the user moves their mouse over it, simply move your cursor over the button preview in the Sample window Note If you aren't happy with the styles available, click the Get More Styles button This loads the Macromedia Exchange in your browser where you'll be able to find additional styles (as well as many other funky Dreamweaver, Flash, and UltraDev widgets) Enter the text you want to appear on the button in the Button Text field Unfortunately, the Sample window won't display a preview of the button as it will look with your new text Choose a font for the text from the Font drop-down menu Then, enter a size (in points) for the text Remember, because you're working with Flash, you aren't restricted by the usual HTML text limitations Note The size of the button will not increase if you increase the size of your text As a result, it's best to leave the font size as the default If you would like your Flash button to act as a link (which you most likely will), enter an absolute URL into the Link field If the file to which you want to create the link is on your hard drive, click the Browse button and then navigate to where it's located Use the Target drop-down menu to set the location in which the link will load Click the Bg Color swatch to choose a background color for the movie area This color will also be present when the movie isn't playing or is loading Just like with Flash text, you need to enter a filename in the Save As field to name the file You can use the default filename (text1.swf), but you must enter something in this field The file is automatically saved to the same directory as the current document 10 When you're finished editing your button, click OK (or Apply to see how the text looks without closing the dialog box) Note To reedit a Flash button, double-click the button or hit the Edit button in the Property Inspector (when the text is selected) Inspirational Design Model When you're working with Flash and Dreamweaver, it's all about integrating Flash components into an overall HTML-based creation In a world where, for the most part, total Flash products reign supreme, this can often be a daunting task Why would you integrate HTML and Flash when you can create slicker, cooler, and far sexier interactive experiences completely in Flash? Ultimately, the answer lies in the desire to balance the proven usability and acceptance of HTML with the cool "wow" factor of Flash One of the best examples of Flash/HTML integration is Phireworx (www.phireworx.com) The website, which promotes a series of Macromedia Fireworks tools created by Stephen Voisey and Steven Grosvenor, is a wonderful example of stylish and clean HTML design into which a small Flash movie has been inserted (see Figure DW.2) The Flash movie, which functions as a moving advertisement/announcement for their latest product, subtlety injects a sense of life and movement into the overall design Figure DW.2: The Phireworx site utilizes both HTML and Flash to create a wonderfully designed self-promotional site Summary You've just explored how to use Dreamweaver and Flash together You started off by learning about the history of Dreamweaver From there, you looked at the various ways you can insert a Flash movie into a Dreamweaver document You quickly switched over to learning how to use the Property Inspector to set the inserted Flash movies' properties You finished off the chapter by looking at two cool tools that allow you to create Flash text and buttons from within Dreamweaver Flash MX Savvy Color Gallery This section is a full-color gallery of the best and brightest creations in the wonderful world of Flash Designed as a source of awe and inspiration, the gallery includes a wealth of examples from the most creative, cutting-edge Flash designers around What you will see here is just a glimpse of the masterful work exhibited by a few select designers and developers If you like what you see, visit the actual websites to experience these pieces firsthand TOP: Developed jointly by NeonSky Creative Media (www.neonsky.com) and Terra Incognita (www.terraincognita.com) for the Arizona State Institute for Human Origins, Becoming Human is an original interactive Flash documentary that explores human evolution from our earliest ancestors to the emergence of Homo sapiens BOTTOM: Becoming Human features a host of innovative and interactive tools (such as interactive exhibits) that allow you to go beyond the Flash documentary itself and pursue your personal exploration into the fascinating world of human evolution TOP: Becoming Human is partitioned into several sections that allow you to explore questions about culture, hominid anatomy, archaeological evidence, and lineage Each section features not only a spectacular linear Flash documentary narrated by the prestigious paleoanthropologist Dr Donald Johanson, but also topical discussions by many other prominent scholars in the field of human evolution BOTTOM: The combination of the linear documentary and the interactive exploratory tools (both of which are created totally in Flash) makes Becoming Human one of the most interesting, innovative, and cutting-edge Flash creations out there TOP: Conceived and designed by Michael Sten with programming help from Otty Soemitro, DesktopImage is dedicated solely to the free distribution of high-quality desktop images created by talented graphic designers and digital artists BOTTOM: The DesktopImage site features a very innovative three-dimensional isometric interface that creatively emulates an early Macintosh graphic user interface TOP: Through the use of inspirational digital content and innovative design, digitalorganism, a full-service multimedia and design studio based in Baltimore, strives to merge cutting-edge aesthetics with functionality to advance corporate identity and branding BOTTOM: digitalorganism's interface, the center of which is a stunning 3D DNA menu system, is remarkably stylish and sleek Exploration is made easy and entertaining by the site's immersive, integrated navigation system TOP: Many of Djojostudios's creations tend toward character animation One of the most recent is a wonderfully conceived and illustrated Talking Host character that will "speak" any audio file uploaded by the user BOTTOM: Taking the interactive, animated character one step farther, Djojostudios is in the process of creating an experimental online experience (www.djojo.com) that stars Djojo himself Once completed, the new site will feature a dynamic environment that changes depending on the time of day and the mood of Djojo himself Users will be able to interact with Djojo and enjoy regularly scheduled programs starring—you guessed it—Djojo himself TOP: Created by the talented Brian Taylor (whose other work can be seen at www.15design.com), Rustboy is a promotional site for a short film of the same name that is currently being created and will ultimately be distributed online and on DVD Rustboy (the primary character of the film) originally began life as a simple 2D creation but has since been thrust into the glorious world of 3D BOTTOM: The site, which is a great example of simple but stylish design, features a constantly updated diary on the current Rustboy milestones, beautifully illustrated storyboards and concept art, short QuickTime teasers, and insights into the creation of the film The site perfectly captures the slightly dark feeling of Rustboy (and the world in which he lives) TOP: Located in Berlin, Moccu, which was founded in 2000, is a full-featured digital design studio that specializes in Flash- and Generator-based web design, interfaces, animation, applications, entertainment, and interactive storytelling Their projects have included interface and animation design for a proposed touch-screen gas pump, an online recruiting game for Challenge Unlimited, and an online banking portal BOTTOM: Beyond the stylish graphic design, Moccu's most interesting feature is its 3D environmental interface While the vast majority of advanced Flash interface design conforms to a 2D computerlike GUI model, Moccu has created an innovative interface that emulates an integrated 3D space TOP: G P Gaudreault originally created Zanpo with the humble goal of putting his portfolio online The results of his labor have yielded something quite spectacular: a multiuser, web-based world where inhabitants can share ideas and stories and build their own online home As a result, the Zanpo community is a constantly evolving virtual society BOTTOM: The Zanpo online community is built around a grid format All pathways and structures conform to a set configuration of square tiles On top of this framework, users can construct their own home that will be visible to the entire Zanpo community It's also possible for citizens of Zanpo to leave messages, hyperlinks, and other bits of information they would like to share with the rest of the community TOP: The website Once Upon a Forest hosts a collection of interesting and explorative interactive work by Joshua Davis Although the content ranges broadly, you are sure to find thought-provoking pieces of interactive art This website changes and updates its content frequently; consequently, pieces that you see during one visit may not be available during your next visit Many of Davis's works feature elegant, intuitive interfaces This piece demonstrates a scrolling calendar or timeline BOTTOM: This movie presents an interesting ambient music track and allows its audience to enter text into the work itself Through the use of some clever ActionScript, the text is deconstructed and used as a kind of texture to enhance the mysteriously beautiful background graphic TOP: Hands down, this is one of the most inviting game sites on the Web The folks at Hui Hui have really got something special going here The funky interface and design have a very retro feel and are a welcome alternative to the cyberpunk stylings of so many sites BOTTOM: You can use the drag-and-drop interface to "load" diskettes into the computer and launch the various games offered at this site Featured here are the games "Orbiter" and "Squash." TOP: Randy Jamison's Curious Media website features one of the most interesting and playful interface concepts around All menu items are found by "peeking" beneath the gray curtain Notice in this image how the link to "art" is exposed BOTTOM: The animated short "Internet Time" tells the story of nine Internet users from around the globe who enjoy spending time in their favorite chat room Reference to a popular American sitcom makes this piece especially funny TOP: Yugo Nakamura is one of the most talked-about interactive designers currently on the scene He maintains a site called "MONO*crafts" (www.yugop.com), where he showcases his interactive creations The content of the site covers a wide range of interactive possibilities All things considered, his work can be described as organic, malleable, and open to personalization by its audience BOTTOM: Yugo's interface designs are fluid and intuitive; don't expect to see anything very similar to conventional buttons or navigational widgets His site features interactive studies and experimental works of digital media and design TOP: Are Flash-based interactive games and cartoons a blessing or a curse? It's just too easy to spend hours in front of your favorite web toon or game and forget all about tomorrow's deadlines Camp Chaos offers a unique blend of edgy humor and biting social commentary that is sure to provide a welcome respite from the doldrums of your 9-to-5 gig (Note this site is not for all ages or sensibilities.) BOTTOM: If you are especially interested in whiling away the afternoons in the blissful repose of Flash-based games, check out Camp Chaos's "Timekillers" via the "Games" link Here you'll find Sarbakan's "Goodnight Mr Snoozleberg" (see Chapter 14's "Inspirational Design Model") among other interactive delights TOP: The African Voices exhibit was developed by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., to document the richness of Africa and its people The African Voices website was created by both the Smithsonian Institution and Terra Incognita to bring portions of the live exhibit to the Web Flash and ActionScript are used extensively to present information dynamically in an easily accessible format BOTTOM: The site features a section on the history of the people of Africa, from the dawn of humankind to the present time Timelines are employed throughout the site's interactive interface to help present a story that spans thousands of years TOP: African living spaces are the foundations of family and community Even in times of change and upheaval, they are places of history, warmth, and beauty that create connections among people and generations The site focuses on the realities of living on one of the most diverse and complex continents in the world BOTTOM: One of the most interesting interactive features of the African Voices site is the ability to tour an African marketplace and be introduced to the merchants and artisans who conduct business at the Makola market in Accra, Ghana You can read about their trade and hear the sounds of the burgeoning marketplace ... this book and other Flash books is its substantial amount of sheer information on integrating Flash with audio and sound Flash MX includes better sound control, and Flash MX Savvy explains how... norbert@vonflashenstein.com ethan@vonflashenstein.com Part I: Getting to Know Flash Chapter List Chapter 1: Introduction to Flash Chapter 2: What's New in Flash MX Chapter 3: A Tour of the Flash Interface... content Saving as Flash Although Flash MX is a marvelous tool, there are people still working in the Flash authoring environment With the Save as Flash option, you can upgrade to Flash MX and still