Flash Tutorial Part 2: The Interface - Top

Hello again! Time for the next tutorial in this multi part series. This time I will go over the interface. Now bear in mind that I will not and can not go over every aspect of the program here. I probably could write a 300 page book just about the programs interface and how to use each portion.

But I am aiming my tutorials here are beginners, and some intermediate (like myself) users. If you have Flash, then you know the basics just by messing around. However, you may not know what things are called, or the exact abilities of each item. To be brutally honest, neither do I. This tutorial I will cover almost everything you should be seeing when you open the Flash program. Once again, remember I am using Flash 8 Professional for these tutorials, if you are running MX, or MX2004(Pro) things may be slightly different, but I shouldn't touch on anything here that you don't have or can't get to some other way. I will try to mark those tha are vastly different or non-existent if I can remember them.

Goal: The goal is to give you a better understanding of the interface of the Flash program by going over each aspect in a detailed but not too thorough manner.

Why: To successfully use a program you should have a basic understanding of all it's working parts. If you have tools available to make your job easier, you should know how to use them.

How: The Flash interface is designed to be easy to use, yet space saving to maximize the area you are working in. Sometimes though, you can hide something and not know how to get it back, or forget to use a certain tool and spend more time doing it another way. By understanding the Interface in it's entirety you will better be equipped to handle the tasks at hand.

The Interface:This tutorial might be a little boring to most, but I think it will prove valuable. I will break up the interface into smaller parts and talk about them in pieces. I will also only go over the tools most of you will use regularly, not every single piece, as that would take me months to cover fully.

Section 1: The top:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/7811/topvw8.th.png


Because this tutorial is SO very long winded (or maybe it is just me) I had to break this up into 4 different parts. The Top, The Stage, The Tools, and The Side Bar.

I am allowed only 10,000 characters per post, and the BEST I could wittle down the Top section was 13,786 characters.

Because of this I will just use the posts to introduce the section, post the picture of the section, and then I will attach the .txt file in all it's long and glorious splendor for you to download.

If DD wants to raise the limit to 15 or 20K characters I will redo the posts. Until then you can download the text and read at your leisure.

Without further ado, here is part one: The Top.

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