| So you want to be a Flash Web designer, but you can’t design Flash Web sites in a flash? It all takes time. And it also requires a modicum of knowledge, which is where this book comes in. If you’ve read other Flash how-to books, you know that they cover the sundry topics like how to create really cool animations with Flash. However, this book takes you to the next level and shows you how to create a Flash Web site from soup to nuts.
In order to do most anything, you need some specific tools, just a bit of knowhow, and perchance a bit of luck mingled with creativity. When you need to design a Flash Web site, you need the proper tools. For this book, that tool is Flash 8. And if you’re going to do cool stuff, like encode your own video, you need Flash 8 Professional.
You should know your way around the Flash workspace. But don’t worry; I do give you a brief refresher course on some of the basic Flash stuff, like creating animations, working with text, and so on. When you create animations, and for that matter format text, choose colors, and so on, you use the Properties Inspector to set the parameters for the object with which you are working. Therefore, you should have a working knowledge of the Properties Inspector. I also show you how to work with ActionScript. However, in order to follow along, you should have a basic knowledge of the Actions panel. Another thing you should know is how to manipulate HTML documents.
Although your main work in this book uses Flash, you still have to do some editing to the HTML document in which your Flash Web site is embedded. If you have working knowledge of an HTML editor, such as Dreamweaver, you’re one step ahead of the game. Another benefit of Dreamweaver is the fact that you can use the software to upload files to the Web provider that hosts the Web site. |