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Flash Reference Guide

Aug 22, 2003

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Flash 8 builds upon the many features supported by previous releases of Flash, such as MX and MX 2004. Flash 8 has taken steps to both improve existing functionality and introduce new tools you can use. Improvements can be found within video, memory management, and image control. New features include techniques such as blends and filters that you can apply to your movies.

The Flash 8 Guide will introduce these new technologies.

Where to Start With Flash 8?

If you're new to Flash, the best thing you can do is go through the "Working with Flash" section of this guide, or open Flash and use the training tools in the Help File section. This introduction to Flash 8 is going to assume that you have a working knowledge of how Flash and ActionScript work. We're going to get our hands dirty very quickly!

Where do you start with Flash 8? The first step is to recognize that while Flash 8 builds upon the achievements of previous versions of Flash, it still has ActionScript at its core, and ActionScript still adheres to the ECMAScript standard (for more details on ECMAScript, refer to http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm).

Many of the tools you've been using in ActionScript, however, have been enhanced and fine-tuned. You'll find that Flash 8 is a solid, mature product—you're not dealing with an entry-level program any more.

Macromedia has made it clear that Flash is to be treated as an object-oriented programming environment. This means that you should consider learning ActionScript 2.0, if you haven't already. This will help you when you're building complex programs.

What's Improved in Flash 8

Mastering Flash 8 shouldn't be too difficult if you've used Flash before. Many of the features in Flash 8 existed in one format or another in Flash MX 2004—they're just that much better in Flash 8.

The enhanced features are:

Advanced text rendering (through a new technology called Saffron)
BitmapData Object (this was formerly known as the Image API)
Bitmap rendering improvements
Support for GIF and PNG image files
Linear and radial gradient enhancements
Enhancements to the stroke
Enhanced video

As you can see, there are a lot of old friends here. Personally, I'm most excited about the new video and external image support features. I do a lot of work with video and have been disappointed that Flash video was not on a par with QuickTime, Real, or Windows Media video formats. The new Flash Video, however, is a completely new CODEC from ON2.com that offers tremendous improvements in quality and compression. Seeing is believing. Trust me, you will see.

Flash now also supports external GIF and PNG file formats, which are used extensively in Web sites. The GIF and PNG support now extends the number of external image formats that already includes JPG.

What's New in Flash 8

The new features added to Flash 8 serve as a great complement to the existing feature set. The new features are:

Bitmap caching
Blend modes
External API
Filter/Bitmap effects
File upload and download
Full garbage collection
Local file security
Scale 9
Text layout

This new line-up of features generally falls into two categories: visual features and programming features. The visual features include bitmap caching, blend modes, filtering, Scale 9, and text layout. You'll find all of these new features useful, but I want to highlight two of my current favorites: bitmap caching and filtering.

Bitmap Caching

Bitmap caching allows you to convert a vector image into a bitmap format dynamically, resulting in a significant speed boost when working with images in Flash 8. Previous versions of Flash have always relied on vector-based images, which are created using mathematic algorithms and can be easily scaled in size, but demand a lot of processor power. In contrast, a bitmap image, such as a JPG, uses far less processor memory because the computer doesn't have to redraw the image each time you move it across the screen. Bitmap caching is great because it allows a vector image to become a temporary bitmap image, saving you processor power and enabling you to get work done faster.

Filters

Filters are old hat for most designers. We've used them in Photoshop and other graphic design tools for years. Why it has taken so long for the same technology to come to Flash is beyond me. Fortunately, Flash now natively supports filters. You can add visual filtering effects such as blurs, drop shadows, and glows to your movies with ease.

Programming Technologies

In a world of Internet-driven devices, the need for complex rich Internet solutions has never been more apparent and the demands for what Flash can do are increasing exponentially as a result. These new programming technologies in Flash 8 go a long way to address those needs: external API, file upload and download, full garbage collection, and local file security.

Arguably, one of the most important features to be added here is the new file upload and download feature. For the first time in a Flash movie, you can now create a form where the user can upload a file to the application. Although this would seem to be a simple feature to include, as all the modern Web browsers support file upload and download features, the technology is not as easy to implement as you'd think. Microsoft demonstrated this by not including this feature until Internet Explorer 4.

What's missing from this list of great features? 3D support. I've added it to my wish list; I can only hope that Macromedia has done the same.

What to Expect From This Guide

There are a lot of new and enhanced features in Flash 8 and I'll show you how to use each one. The focus of this guide is to clearly illustrate how you can use these features in your own projects. I'm also going to give you plenty of ActionScript samples.

More importantly, I'll discuss how you can use the features in Flash 8 with other ActionScript 2.0 solutions. Flash 8 builds on Flash MX 2004. You can and should leverage the experience you have had with the previous tool.

Welcome to Flash 8.

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