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Chapter 2: Workspace
The Adobe®
Flash®
CS4
Professional workspace includes tools and panels that help you create and navigate your
documents. Understanding these tools will help you maximize the application’s capabilities.
Flash workflow and workspace
General Flash workflow
To build a Flash application, you typically perform the following basic steps:
Plan the application.
Decide which basic tasks the application will perform.
Add media elements.
Create and import media elements, such as images, video, sound, and text.
Arrange the elements.
Arrange the media elements on the Stage and in the Timeline to define when and how they appear in your application.
Apply special effects.
Apply graphic filters (such as blurs, glows, and bevels), blends, and other special effects as you see fit.
Use ActionScript to control behavior.
Write ActionScript® code to control how the media elements behave, including how the elements respond to user
interactions.
Test and publish your application.
Test to verify that your application is working as you intended and find and fix any bugs you encounter. You should
test the application throughout the creation process. Publish your FLA file as a SWF file that can be displayed in a web
page and played back with Flash® Player.
Depending on your project and your working style, you might use these steps in a different order.
For more help getting started with the Flash workflow, see the following:
•
Article:
Introducing Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/dwinnie_flcs4.html
•
Article:
Creating a simple document in Flash CS4 Professional
:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/flash_cs4_createfla.html
•
Video:
Flash CS4 Workflow Basics
:
http://www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4053_fl
Updated 5 March 2009
