a quick introduction to flash animation
This short workshop will not make you a Flash expert. It will, however, give you a good introduction to the concepts of creating animated movies for the web and other presentations. This material is based on Macromedia’s Flash MX 2004 software but the concepts and most of the details should apply to the past two versions, Flash MX and before that version 5
If you don't have Flash, download the 30-day demo from the Macromedia web site (you'll need to go through their annoying but free registration process).
For Mac users: when the instructions say to right-click something, hold down the Control key and click. Or invest 20 bucks in a good two-button mouse and remove the only feature that Windows has over Macs. Too bad Windows users can't improve their computing experience that easily.
Before starting, change the resolution of your screen to at least 1024 x 768. Flash puts a great deal of information on your screen and working with it will be easier at that resolution.
part 1 - introducing the symbol
1. In the Tool Bar at the left side of the window, select the Rectangle tool. In the Properties panel, click and hold on the first Colors box and select a dark blue color (this sets the color of the border of your rectangle). If you don't see the Properties panel, select it from the Window menu.
2. Click and hold on the second Colors box and select a light yellow color (this set the fill color of the rectangle). Change the thickness of the border by changing the number from 1 to 3.
3. Move the cursor into the stage and draw a rectangle in the center of the stage, similar to the example below.
4. Select the Solid Arrow at the top of the Tool Bar and double-click on the fill (inside) of the rectangle. Right-click on the rectangle and from the menu, select Convert to Symbol. Type a name for this symbol and click the Graphic button. Click OK. Your rectangle should now have a circle in the middle.
5. Insert a new layer into the Timeline by clicking on the Insert Layer 
tool (the page with a plus on it).
6. Click on the Text tool (the A in the tool bar). In the Properties panel, change the font, font size and font color to something appropriate.
7. Click anywhere on the stage outside the rectangle you drew. In the text box that appears type "My Summer Vacation". Change the font size to to fit by selecting the text and making the necessary changes in the Properties panel. Click on the Selection tool (the solid arrow) in the tool bar. Click and drag the text so it is centered in the rectangle.
8. Once you have the text the way you want it, right-click on the text (don't miss and hit the background in the rectangle) and select Convert to Symbol from the menu. Name this symbol vacation text, click the Graphic button and click OK.
8. Before going any farther, we should rename our layers so they don’t say Layer 1 and Layer 2. To do this double-click on the name in each layer and type the new name. Change Layer 1 to Rectangle and Layer 2 to Vacation Text.
Save your work and head off to the Next Page -->
