The book you hold in your hand is one of a pair. It’s not a left sock or a single cufflink, because it’s unique and it’s still of use without its mate. It’s more like a fraternal twin or, perhaps more appropriately, the A–M volume of two-tome encyclopedia. The volumes are linked, and they share common ancestry and a common vision, but they exist perfectly well on their own.

The book you’re reading now is your first ace in the proverbial hole, and focuses on the Flash CS4 Professional application. This book will teach you how to draw and import graphics; use text, sound, and video; and even position objects in 3D space and create a moveable skeletal arm—all without any programming at all.

The second bullet is Learning ActionScript 3.0 (O’Reilly) and covers ActionScript, Flash’s internal scripting language responsible for making Flash projects interactive. Learning ActionScript 3.0 picks up ActionScript where this book leaves off. It takes an introductory chapter nestled within 13 other chapters of application goodness and expands it into coverage that includes the bulk of ActionScript 3.0’s core features.

Why were these books conceived as a pair? Simply put, each book was designed to better deliver its share of the knowledge lode. Each book works better independently than if both volumes were encumbered by tying everything together into one 700-page disc-slipper. This book introduces the Flash application to users who may never have seen it before. Its companion volume assumes familiarity with the Flash interface and is, therefore, able to concentrate solely on the ActionScript language.

Don’t be deceived by these carefully laid plans. In addition to having an independent streak, this book also teaches its fair share of ActionScript. Why bother when its companion volume is waiting to be read? For one reason, ActionScript is as much a part of Flash as its Timeline panel. Writing a book about Flash without talking about ActionScript is like writing about Sherlock Holmes and neglecting to mention Watson.

For another reason, this book is project-based and you can’t get very far with a project of any significant scale without using ActionScript. Its project is a leading player in this book, to be sure, but it’s not the only act in town. In each chapter, topics are first introduced to you in short, digestible exercises that convey an idea, demonstrate a tool, or explain a script’s syntax. Only at the end of each chapter, in a reinforcing, real-world scenario, are these skills applied to the ongoing portfolio you will build by book’s end.

The portfolio itself is unique, too. Designed not to hinge on a conventional project that trudges through every chapter, this book takes a different path on its way to your studio. The project herein was conceived to be more than a standard top- or left-frame navigation website. The portfolio was created to highlight all the major features that Flash CS4 Professional has to offer and to push the limits of the average Flash authoring experience.

Assets were intentionally designed to create problems to solve, such as how best to add expressive movement to a complex animation and how to optimize large files for quicker download. Design ideas were chosen because they offered opportunities to solve these and other problems in creative ways.

Yes, the book was planned so that you don’t have to invest a lot of time in a project you have no interest in building. Yet if you do choose to practice what you’ve learned in each chapter by applying your new skills to on ongoing project, you’ll hone your chops that much quicker.

This book is aimed at Flash designers and developers who are picking up Flash CS4 Professional for the first time, as well as users upgrading from prior versions who are looking to acquaint themselves with the version’s new features.

No prior experience with Flash is necessary to enjoy this book, as you learn the Flash interface from the ground up, but there are plenty of new features of which veteran Flash designers and developers can take advantage.

Reading through this preface and looking over a few sample chapters will increase the chances that you’ll be happy with the content and straightforward approach adopted herein.

More than anything else, a book’s preface should be able to give you a few hints as to whether or not the book is right for you. Here are two sections for quick perusal that will, ideally, help you evaluate your interest in this volume.

All the exercises included in this book are available for download from the book’s companion website, http://www.LearningFlashCS4.com. Supplemental materials are also available and will be introduced over time through the site blog. Finally, although I never quite know how quickly I can reply, I can be reached directly through the companion website.

Here is a small list of additional resources to help you as you learn Flash.

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

The scripts herein are color-coded by syntax to match the way your scripts look in Flash. Script basics (such as operators, punctuation, and so on), as well as custom names (such as for variables and functions), are black. Special words and symbols are printed in different colors: keywords and identifiers are blue, strings are green, and comments are gray. For example:

//Happy Birthday, Claire!
var cas:String = "Claire";

This icon precedes any work you’ll need to do to further the cumulative portfolio project. Without this icon, discussions will sometimes describe actions you may take in the Flash interface, that don’t ultimately lead to you creating an exercise file. Further, when exercises are suggested, they are always optional.

This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly books does require permission. Answering a question by citing this book and quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your product’s documentation does require permission.

We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: Learning Flash CS4 Professional by Rich Shupe. Copyright 2009 Rich Shupe, 978-0-596-15976-4.

If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given above, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Please address comments and questions concerning this book to the publisher:

We have a web page for this book where we list errata, examples, and any additional information. You can access this page at:

To comment or ask technical questions about this book, send email to:

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Before diving in, I want to thank my favorite collaborator, Zevan Rosser, who created the art for the portfolio project. Any time I can rope Zevan into something I’m doing, I’ll come out looking good.

I’d also like to thank Lee Brimelow for donating his time and effort to writing the foreword for this book. I’ve always felt that Lee and I shared similar goals when it came to teaching, and his video tutorials and selfless contributions to the Flash community have consistently inspired me. When I grow up, I want to be just like Lee.

On the next pedestal, I seat the O’Reilly crew that made this book possible (it’s a big pedestal). Many thanks to Laurel Ackerman, Ron Bilodeau, Dan Brodnitz, Suzanne Caballero, Michele Filshie, Dennis Fitzgerald, Edie Freedman, Julie Hawks, Marsee Henon, Linda Laflamme, Mike Leonard and the O’Reilly sales team, Chris Meredith, Rachel Monaghan, Karen Montgomery, Mark Paglietti, Sara Peyton, Marlowe Shaeffer, Amy Thomson, Rachel Thurow, Betsy Waliszewski, Chris Walker, Steve Weiss, Joe Wikert, and Adam Witwer. Honestly, I can think of a few reasons why this crowd should throw their hands up and be done with me.

Included in the list of contributors to this book are my indispensible tech editors, Anselm Bradford and Thomas Yeh, and beta readers Wei-Chu Chen (Beryl), Aaron Crouch, Rajiv Ganesan, Valerie Guinn, Steven Mattson Hayhurst, and Anita Ramroop.

I would also like to thank:

Len, Cass, Ry, and Annabel.... All the best!

Rich Shupe is the founder and president of FMA—a full-service multimedia development company and training facility in New York City. Rich teaches a variety of digital technologies in academic and commercial environments, and has frequently lectured on these topics at Flash on the Beach, Flashbelt, Flash on Tap, FlashForward, Macworld, and other national and international events. He is a faculty member of New York’s School of Visual Arts’ MFA Computer Art Department. Rich is also the author or coauthor of multiple books, including Learning ActionScript 3.0 (O’Reilly), The ActionScript 3.0 Quick Reference Guide (O’Reilly), Flash CS3 Professional Video Training Book (Peachpit Press), CS3 Web and Design Workflow Guides (Adobe). He also presents video training on Flash and other topics for Lynda.com. Visit Rich’s website at http://www.fmaonline.com.

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