I am by no means a Flash expert, but I think I've accomplished a lot for being self-taught.
My two latest Flash projects include an interactive look at the space shuttle program and a introduction to the 2011 Revolution's All-stars.
The space shuttle Flash presentation was ceated in Flash CS3 using 3.0 action script. The Revolutions baseball presentation was creating using 2.0 action script.
Why and how did I decide to use 3.0 or 2.0 AS? I decided to use 3.0 for my shuttle project because it was more complex compared to the simple Revolution presentation.
Every time I build a Flash presentation I learn something new. In the shuttle project I learned how to imbed a Brightcove player and use an external AS file.
For the baseball. presentation I learned to keep things more simple, since I had a short deadline. The baseball cards were created in Adobe Illustrator and then imported into a Flash file.
Tip and this one is really important: Make sure you create an outline of what and how things are to be presented in the Flash presentation. I always create a storyboard and sketch out the order of how things are placed within my project. I don't care how good you are in Flash this is a step you do not want to skip.
Here's how to create your outline:
Step 1: Make a list of all your elements that will be in the Flash presentation, i.e. photos, video, and text and so on.
Step 2: Create a storyboard showing how the elements will appear in the project. This will help you keep your elements organize.
Step 3: Decide whether you want to use AS 2.0 or 3.0. They are not compatible with certain coding, so you must decide this when you open your new document/project.
• If your new to Flash, use AS 2.0 it's simplier and you can still create nice Flash presentations.
One of the best and easily comprehendable books I read that taught me a lot about Flash was "Creating a Web Site with Flash CS4: Visual QuickProject Guide."
Also, the internet is a great source if you get stumped while building your project.
I also found YouTube Flash tutorials very helpful.
Feel free to post a Flash question or problem and I will try my best to answer it.
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