Macintose Course Overview

This course is intended for the intermediate to advanced Flash user who wants to learn ActionScript programming to add more complex interactivity to their movies than simple navigation. You'll learn to plan your movies to make the process efficient and to allow code to be reused in multiple places. Throughout the course, you'll create a quiz game with several types of questions, including those involving toggling items on and off with clicks; dragging objects to targets; a “video game” question in which you move your player with arrow keys and fire missiles at an “enemy”; and ones that you answer via clicking checkboxes and radio buttons. In the process, you'll learn about storing data in variables, accepting input via the keyboard and mouse, using arrays and loops, using debugging tools, and using Flash's built-in components.

Prerequisites:

To ensure your success, we recommend you first take the following courses or have equivalent knowledge:

• Flash MX: Level 1
• Flash MX: Level 2

After taking this course, you will be able to add more complex interactivity to your movies than simple navigation. You'll learn to plan your movies to make the process efficient and to allow code to be reused in multiple places.

Target Student:

This course is intended for the intermediate to advanced Flash user who wants to learn ActionScript programming.

What's Next:

This is the last course in the Flash MX series.

Certification:

Flash MX: ActionScript is one of three courseware titles that address the Macromedia Certified Professional Program objectives for the Certified Macromedia Flash MX Designer exam. This exam is intended to cover the most critical job activities of a Flash designer, with a major focus on ActionScript. Macromedia provides a comprehensive list of pre-requisite skills, knowledge, and experience that candidates should possess prior to taking the exam.

Delivery Method:

Instructor-led, group-paced, classroom-delivery learning model with structured hands-on activities.

Course duration:

1 Day.

Hardware/Software Requirements:

You will need:

• Mac OS 9.1 and higher, or OS X 10.1 and higher.
• 64 MB of free available system RAM (128 MB recommended).
• 85 MB of available disk space.
• A monitor with 1024 x 768, 16-bit (thousands of colors) color display or better.
• A CD-ROM drive.
• One of the following browsers:
  • Under OS 9: Netscape 4.5 or later, Netscape 6.2 or later, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, or Opera 5.
  • Under OS X: Netscape 6.2 or later, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1 or later, or Opera 5.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Create a system for the user to navigate through a movie.
• Plan movies and the scripts so you can write reusable, efficient code without requiring rework later.
• Allow users to type information, and store that and other data in variables, and write conditional code that responds differently depending on the user's actions.
• Create a video game interface, allowing the user to move a character and fire at moving objects, including testing for item collisions.
• Allow users to drag objects, with the objects snapping into place when they are dropped on specific targets; use arrays and loops to manipulate large amounts of information quickly and to repeat blocks of code; and use debugging tools to check the status of expressions and variables as a movie plays.
• Add common interface elements such as checkboxes, radio buttons, and list boxes to a movie using Flash's pre-made components.