Macromedia Flash Mx 2004 Magic (Magic (New Riders))

As a serious Web designer, you'll want to do one thing and one thing only when you lay your hands on the latest version of Flash: Start tinkering with all its new features. Problem is, that's hard to do on someone else's dime. With Flash MX 2004 Magic, you don't have to! In these pages, 10 Flash wizards draw on their own professional experience to offer 12 real-world projects that let you explore Flash MX 2004 at your leisure. With a focus on areas that can be troublesome for professional users--whether because they present thorny issues or because they draw on completely new features--each lesson provides need-to-know tips, proven techniques, and best practices. By working through the step-by-step tutorials (whose project files and code you'll find on the accompanying CD), you soon will be finding your way around all of Flash MX 2004's new features: CSS support, enhanced components, JSFL, and more. In addition to the code listings and exercise files on the CD-ROM, you'll find videos that clearly demonstrate step by step all the procedures you need to complete in order to create the projects.

Michelangelo Capraro is a multimedia designer and owner of Tin Lion Creative. He speaks at different events on the topic of multimedia programming, design, and usability and has been designing user interfaces and interaction for more than eight years with clients that include business-to-business firms, operating system companies, software makers, and consumer entertainment giants. He began his career designing multimedia CD-ROMs and moved into entertainment industry website design for movies and television shows. Michelangelo has founded several design groups, as well as his own firms over the years and worked as a user experience designer at Be Inc., and later at PalmSource, Inc., where he managed their user experience group. He is coauthor of the book Skip Intro: Macromedia Flash Usability and Interface Design (New Riders Publishing, 2002) and conducts workshops and curriculums on multimedia design.

Acknowledgments: I would like to thank the New Riders team, especially Jennifer and Linda, for putting up with us on this project and cracking the whip when needed! Thanks to Duncan, my coauthor, for being the best teammate and making this possible. Thanks to Karen, for putting up with my lack of sleep and for your love and your support.

Duncan McAlester lives at the beach and endeavors to one day be retired; until then, he makes a living doing things that he is still astonished people are willing to pay him for¿namely, designing and programming various things through his company, Breathe (http://www.breathedesign.com). When Duncan isn't creating interactive designs, he can be found teaching interface design at the University of California Irvine Extension, sitting in on life drawing classes at the Art Institute of Southern California (his alma mater), or hosting a very informal Flash user group at the local tavern (stop by and say hi). He also speaks on various topics relating to design, multimedia, and interface design and occasionally finds time to sleep.

Chad Corbin is an award-winning Flash developer best known for his work on lo9ic.com. Originally educated as a mechanical engineer, Chad turned to web design to satisfy his creative tendencies, turning the one-time hobby into a full-time career. Currently, Chad works for Wall Street On Demand, where he develops Flash applications and financial websites for leading investment firms. When he is not working, Chad can be found riding his bike or playing in the mountains nearby his home in Boulder, Colorado.

Acknowledgments: I'd like to thank Shan for putting up with all of the late nights and long hours of coding, my parents for supporting me in whatever I do, and the Flash community for its generosity, creativity, and wealth of knowledge and ideas.

The core team at DallaVilla Design is (clockwise from left) Chris Dallavilla, Creative Director; Ron Thompson, Art Director; Drew Horton, Copywriter; and Rick Williams, Developer. They are a tightly knit group dedicated to producing innovative, exciting work.

Over the past few years, DVd has produced successful, award-winning projects for the entertainment and fashion industries and companies ranging from small to Fortune 500. The studio operates under the philosophy that by combining great design, captivating storytelling, and cutting edge technology, it can create the next level of interactive experience. Although the team at DallaVilla works hard, it also cherishes the time spent in "team-building sessions." To the uneducated observer, these sessions might look very much like a bunch of guys playing video games, but the team assures us it's much more.

You can check out DVd's portfolio and read more about the individual team members at http://www.dvdsgn.com.

Aria Danika is an interactive designer, a senior moderator at Flashkit.com, and a member of the Hypermedia Research Centre in London, where she completed her graduate studies in hypermedia and interactive design. She originally trained as a photographer but turned to interactive media while pursuing a B.A. degree in multimedia and photography at Westminster University in London.

Aria freelanced for various broadcasters in the UK including TV3, VH-1, and Granada and later joined BBCi for five years, where she designed and developed rich media applications and games.

Aria is a contributor to Flash MX Magic (New Riders Publishing, 2002), and has written many articles on game design and design for interaction. She is based in Brooklyn, New York, spending her free time skateboarding, beta testing games, shooting short films, and exploring interactivity across different platforms, which has led to a series of sound/video experiments, installations, and web toys designed in Director and Flash. Check out http://www.openedsource.net.

Acknowledgments: Many thanks to my flatmate, Chris, for the brainstorming sessions, keeping me caffeinated, challenging me to GBA games, and testing mine. Thanks also to the flashkit.com members for making learning so much fun. Andy Cameron, thanks for the inspiration and support. Yoshi, I thank you for sharing my sleeping habits and purring while I am debugging code all night in front of the computer. Many thanks to Linda Bump Harrison and Jennifer Eberhardt at New Riders, for their invaluable feedback and hard work. Finally, my parents, thank you!

Andreas Heim is from the small town of Hattenhofen, close to Stuttgart in Germany, a center of German car engineering. Originally intending to become a professional soccer player, Andreas's education took him into the area of media studies and programming. After creating an interactive CD-ROM, his focus shifted from film and video to interactive media. His school required him to do a six-month internship, which brought him to Smashing Ideas, where being a soccer-playing-and-beer-drinking German intern was highly respected. He had so much fun in Seattle that he extended his stay to one year before deciding to stay permanently. Andreas currently works on all kinds of cutting-edge digital-media projects, including bringing Flash to devices, while enjoying his time outside of work snowboarding and playing soccer.

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Troy Parke for the inspiration and design, to the great folks at New Riders for letting me contribute to another book, the team at Smashing Ideas, and Anna Hall for all her support.

Robert Hoekman, Jr. is the cofounder of 33Inc, the web application partnership responsible for DashboardHQ. Robert has done work for Macromedia, Adobe, United Airlines, Ford Motor Company, and many others. He currently works for GoDaddy.com as an Interaction Designer and Usability Specialist where his goal is to improve every product the company offers.

Robert authored the movie-based training course "Flash User Experience Best Practices" (Lynda.com), a book on Flash design basics called "Flash Out of the Box" (O'Reilly), and the seven-part InformIT series "Designing the Obvious".

Learn more about Robert on Inc Blots, the 33Inc weblog.

Todd Marks is an avid developer, designer, instructor, and author of information display technologies. In 2000, Todd moved from teaching mathematics and computer science in the public sector to VP of Research and Development at digitalorganism. In 2002, he founded MindGrub Technologies, LLC and established an information technologies portal, http://www.mindgrub.net. In 2003, Todd joined PopeDeFlash as the head of Technology for the Unity Project, http://www.theunityproject.com.

Todd is a Macromedia Certified Developer, Designer, and Subject Matter Expert. His efforts have earned three Flash Film Festival nominations, Macromedia Site of the Day, two Addy awards, and several educational partnerships. Todd has written and contributed to several books, including Macromedia Flash MX Video (APress, 2003), Foundation Dreamweaver MX (APress, 2003), Beginning Dreamweaver MX (Wrox, 2003), Advanced PHP for Flash MX (Wrox, 2003), and Macromedia Flash MX Components Most Wanted (APress, 2003). I'd like to thank Dan DesRosiers, Chrissy Rey, and the rest of the crew at ARINC for the cool FIDS project.

Bill Spencer is the Founder and CEO of The Unity Project.com (http://www.theunityproject.com), a collaborative effort with Todd Marks. The project's goal is to bring the best of code and art together. Bill is also the Founder and CEO of Popedeflash.com (http://www.popedeflash.com), the first Flash community dedicated to 3D. He is a well-known speaker, author, and artist, having spoken at many new media conferences, including the popular FlashForward conference series, as well as the FlashKit conferences in Australia and the U.S. Bill has served as an author and technical reviewer for both New Riders and Friends of Ed. He has appeared in Shift magazine, World and I, and Computer Arts, along with other professional journals and periodicals as both an expert in his field and featured work. His work has been a finalist in the Flash Film Festival. He has served as a beta tester for Macromedia, Adobe, Electric Rain, and Discreet, and has served as a technical advisor for Electric Image in the development of Amorphium Pro. Bill also serves as a senior moderator at FlashKit.com, is a staff member of Flashdevils.com, and serves as a moderator for UltraShock.com.

Acknowledgments: I would like to take the time to thank my wife, Sherri, for all the love and support she provided for this project and all the other crazy projects, conferences, and just plain ol' work that comes my way. Without her support, Pope de Flash would not be. I also need to thank my little dachshund Daisey, for providing me with the nudge to take much-needed breaks and to remember to have fun. That's what this is all about!

James Williamson is the Director of Training at Lodestone Digital and has more than nine years of print design, web design, and digital prepress experience. He resides in picturesque Rock Hill, South Carolina, and commutes across the border each day to battle Charlotte traffic. In addition to his work with Lodestone Digital, James is the President of the Charlotte Society of Communicating Arts and a member of the Curriculum Advisory Board for the Art Institute of Charlotte. James has been a featured speaker at several events, including DevCon and FlashForward. He is proudest of his latest project, Morgan Williamson, born June 26, 2003.

Acknowledgments: First off, thanks to Josh Cavalier for the reviews and advice, and to Linda Bump Harrison, Jennifer Eberhardt, and everyone else at New Riders for the opportunity to work on such a wonderful book. Thanks as well to Diana Johnson of Sorenson Media and Kymberlee Weil of FlashForward. Long overdue thanks to Will Hines for answering my emails all those years ago and getting me started in web design. Last, but not least, thanks to my family for your undying support and to my wife, Holly, and my new daughter, Morgan. Welcome to the world, sweetheart.