1. Web Safe Colors

A web safe colour is one that will display correctly on any screen, irrespective of the operating system or graphics card. There are only 216 web safe colours. You can use other colours, but you cannot be sure they will display correctly.

A general rule of thumb is: if possible use a web safe colours. If isn”t possible don”t worry. As time goes by the graphics cards (which controls the screen colours) are getting better and better and using web safe colours is not as critical as it once was.

In Flash, when you select an object on the stage, you can either Hexadecimal or the RGB colour code. In ActionScript you use the hexadecimal number not the RGB number.

Note: in ActionScript you can also use a Bitwise colour system which converts numbers to Binary, but this is beyond the scope of this tutorial.

The visible colour is the same irrespective of which you use: RGB, Hexadecimal or Bitwise.

Ever wanted to know how to make a digital clock. This tutorial shows you how easy it is to create a digital clock in Flash. Have a look at the time below:

Example:Download the Flash file Int 029a

A Digital Clock made in Flash MX 2004.

Note: This clock is taking the time off your local computer and displaying it on the web page through Flash. This is not perfect as I don”t know if the local users clock is correct. There are other ways of finding out the time and displaying the time but they are so much more complicated and not necessarily more accurate. So I have gone for a very simple method of creating a digital clock. It works and is very easy to create.

Cross Ref: If you want to make an Clock with a face see the: Analogue Clock Tutorial

An analogue clock.

Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials
Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials

Step One: Setting Up the Flash Document

1. Open a new: Flash Movie
2. Go to: Modify > Document (Ctrl J)
3. Set the size to: 220 x 50 pixels
4. If you wish select a:Background Colour
5. Click: OK

Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials
Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials

Step Two: Creating the Clock Movie Clip - The Dynamic Text Box

1. Go to: Insert > New Symbol
2. Type the Name: Time MC
3. Select behavior: Movie Clip
4. Click: OK
5. If the Tools panel is closed, open it: Window > Tools
6. Select the Text tool:
7. Drag out a: Text Box
8. If the Property Inspector is closed, open it: Window > Properties (Ctrl F3)
9. Set the Text Box”s width to about: 200 pixels

Note: In the Property Inspector you can see the Text Box”s width and height. Select the Text Box with the Text Tool and drag the small square in the corner: Do not do it numerically or with the Transform tool as this will stretch the font size.


To re-size a Text Box select it with the Text tool and drag the small square.


The small square may be in either the top or bottom left corner:


The small square may even be a circle!

10. In the Property Inspector set the X Y values to: 0 , 0

    

11. In the Property Inspector select: Dynamic Text

    

12. In the Property Inspector set the Variable Name to: myTime

    
    Variable name is: myTime

13. Set the Line type to: Single

    

14. Set any Font styles such as: Size, Colour, Font etc.

    Mine are like this:

    
    Text Box Properties.

    The Text Box is now complete. If you wish to reduce the Download time do the Following steps:

15. In the Property Inspector click the Character Button:
16. Select the radio Button: Specify Ranges
17. Select: Numerals [0..] (11 glyphs)
18. In the Include these characters box type a colon:

    
    The Character Option Box complete.

19. After you have typed the colon click: OK

Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials
Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials

Step Three: Creating the Clock Movie Clip - Actions

You should still be in the Time MC. If you are not open the Library and find the symbol and select Edit from the drop down menu.

1. Re-name layer 1 to: Text Box
2. On frame 2 right click (Mac: Ctrl click) and select: Insert Frame

   
   Timeline with two frames.

3. Create a new layer by clicking on the Insert Layer button:
4. Rename this new Layer: Actions

   
   New Actions Layer.

5. In frame 1 of this new Layer place the following ActionScript:

   // Gets the date and time info from the local computers clock
   myDate = new Date();

   //Gets the hours and adds a zero if the number is a single digit like this: 01
   var hours = myDate.getHours()>9 ‘ myDate.getHours() : “0″+myDate.getHours();

   //Gets the minutes and adds a zero if the number is a single digit like this: 01
   var minutes = myDate.getMinutes()>9 ‘ myDate.getMinutes() : “0″+myDate.getMinutes();

   //Gets the seconds and adds a zero if the number is a single digit like this: 01
   var seconds = myDate.getSeconds()>9 ‘ myDate.getSeconds() : “0″+myDate.getSeconds();

   // Displays the time like this: 00 . 01 : 01
   myTime = (hours + ” . “ + minutes + ” : “ + seconds);

6. In Frame 2 of the Actions Layers right click and select: Insert Blank Keyframe
   
7. Place the following ActionScript in frame 2 of the Actions layer:

   gotoAndPlay(1);
   

Note: Your Timeline should look like this:


Timeline.


8. The Movie Clip is now complete so return to the Main Stage by clicking the Scene 1 Tab:
   

   Note: If you cannot see the Scene 1 Tab open the Edit bar: Window > Toolbars > Edit bar

Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials
Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials

Step Four: The Main Stage

1. If the Library is closed, open it: Window > Library(F11)
2. Drag on to the Main Stage the Symbol: Time MC
3. If the Align Panel is closed, Open it: Window > Design Panels > Align(Ctrl K)
4. With the Movie Clip selected click on the
   • Align to Stage button:
   • Align Vertical Centre:
   • Align Horizontal Centre:

     Your Movie Clip should now be in the centre of the Main Stage:

5. Save your work: File > Save(Ctrl S)
6. It is time to Test your Movie: Control > Test Movie (Ctrl + Enter)

   Your clock should look like this:

   
   The clock works fine but has no border.

   Your clock is now finished. You may wish to add a border:

   
   Clock with a border.

   Note: The border is simply a rectangle with the centre deleted.

   To get the rounded corner look use the Rounded Corner option:

   This option button is visible once you select the Rectangle tool:
   

That”s all there is to it!

Courtesy of WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials

… Read More of this tutorial at WebWasp.co.uk Tutorials

Probably one of the most stunning and sought after vacation spots in the world right now is Costa Rica, a small Latin American nation located in beautiful Central America. Costa Rica has the best of both worlds: sweeping beach scapes of sand and palm trees from both the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean can be found within a short hour flight from the main international airport in capital city San Jose.

The pristine nature of many beach communities has spawned a new tourism based economy that has developers scrambling to build new a Costa Rica hotel on this devine beach property. The Costa Rica vacation rental market is competitive and becoming full of excellent opportunities for savvy buyers.

This is where Flash comes in. Most Costa Rica vacation condos can’t be sold over the phone. Instead, it takes graphics, eye appeal, and excitement to capture a buyer. The same goes with Costa Rica beach condos which need graphical imagery to convince customers of their beauty and value over the internet. A typical Costa Rica vacation rental can range from $500 per week to $1500. On the top end, Costa Rica vacation luxury rentals start at $1500 and run gambit to over $2500. The money spent, however, is well worth it. Costa Rica beach condos go fast and advance reservations are required. So, if you know anyone who is interested in this wonderful, exciting get-away, tell them now!

As a result, traditional Costa Rica vacation rental and Costa Rica vacation hotels have had to create a very strong IT and Web design department, in addition to the standard walk-in real estate office. This fact is soley due to the global nature of the web: customers can’t always visit first, so they chose to take a virtual tour instead. Thus, Costa Rica beach Condo developers count on a strong percentage of their sales being web-generated, in addition to standard brick and mortar operations.

What do these Flash designers use? In addition to stock photography, architectural layouts, and imagery, Flex and Action Script are employed to provide a 3 dimensional, “virtual tour” of these Costa Rica vacation rentals. The action script provides the programmer with the opportunity to fully animate condo tours, such that a prospective customer can feel as if he or she is actually inside the space they want to rent. In turn, because of the strong need of Flash, local web designers in Costa Rica have experienced high job growth and new employment opportunities. As always, foreign tourism teamed with local internet talent produces a dynamic, rich new economy that can literally change a country overnight. All this from Flash!

Where to begin?

We found an excellent tutorial at www.webdevfoundations.net that takes a user step by step through the flash banner creation process. Screenshots and detailed instructions are included. The tutorial is meant for the beginner with little or no experience using Flash to create images. Additionally, details about how to animate the image are included.

The only prerequisite for the tutorial is some experience with Fireworks CS3, although in our opinion this is not necessary.

The tutrorial proceeds in a good logical fashion: Opening your document, creating the banner size (468×60 in the tutuorial), creating your timeline, using layers for graphical effects, layered animation effects, and text and image layer manipulation.

Have fun: Creating Your First Animated Flash Banner