XML Sockets in FlashThe purpose of this tutorial is to familiarize readers with the XMLSocket object in Flash, it's methods and properties. Teach the reader the more common methods of using the XMLSocket object, and then open the reader up to the possibilities allowed by the XMLSocket Object.In this article, the XML language is not explained at all. For a tutorial on XML, see XML Basics. I do plan on discussing certain methods of formatting your XML so that parsing ...

Dynamic Flash Part 1: Counting Users OnlineNew to Flash? Come join Ben in this, the first of many weekly Flash articles, as he shows us how to use Flash and PHP to show a count of users on your web site.Flash is a great tool for creating web sites, however it's been seen as a hassle for content driven sites as it's supposedly hard to update. What I'm going to be showing you over the next few weeks is how ...

The rumor mill is churning, and it's producing a steady stream of speculation about Microsoft Corp. acquiring Macromedia Inc. Many experts understand why the takeover could happen, but most agree it won't. Not Daniel..."The rumor mill is churning, and it's producing a steady stream of speculation about Microsoft Corp. acquiring Macromedia Inc. Many experts understand why the takeover could happen, but most agree it won't. Not me.It should go without saying that Macromedia is rife for takeover. Its top 20 ...

In this article, Jesse will using both PHP 3.0 and Flash 5.0 to create a simple but effective "Dynamic Counter" swf file for your website.Hey people, welcome to the Dynamic Counter tutorial. In this tutorial we will investigate how to create a hit counter for your flash page. OK let's get into it!Before we start with flash we need to create a data-storage file. This is just a text file called 'counter.txt', which you can create with your favorite plain ...

Flash MX Prototyping BasicsFlash MX prototyping allows you to extend your movies in ways you never thought possible. By using prototyping you can share an effect or function among several movies without the need to replicate the code. This leads to your movies being more efficient, smaller in size and easier to code. Prototyping is not for the faint of heart so if you’re new to ActionScript or just programming in general you may want to brush up on the ...

Getting to Know Flash ProSanders provides a quick overview of Flash MX Professional 2004 and covers the core elements, frames and layers, and new features such as the document tab at the top of the Document window. (Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004, by Bill Sanders, Sams, 2004, ISBN 0672326051.)Getting the Flavor of FlashThis chapter provides a quick overview of Flash MX Professional 2004. New Flash users should read this chapter in detail to understand the core elements ...

Animations and InteractionThis chapter provides a quick review of animation basics and the fundamentals of tweening then discusses vector graphic vs. bitmap graphics, working the Timeline and Timeline effects, masking layers and coordinating animated parts. (Chapter 4 from the book, Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 by Bill Sanders, Sams, 2004, ISBN 0672326051.)Before we discuss the techniques of animation using Flash tools, you need to understand something about the model of animation on which Flash is based, which will help you ...

Adding Video and SoundThe three major types of sounds for use in Flash movies include music, sound effects, and narration. Learn how to add sound to Flash movies, how to use media components and work with media classes (from Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 by Bill Sanders, 2004, Sams, ISBN 0672326051).In the standard configuration without QuickTime 4 or later installed, you can import and play WAV (Windows only), AIFF (Macintosh only), or MP3 files for use with Flash Pro. A ...

ActionScript 2.0 OverviewThis chapter presents some basics of ActionScript 2.0. It offers a quick summary of ActionScript 2.0’s core features and Flash Player 7’s new capabilities such as syntactic support for traditional object-oriented features and CSS-based stylesheet support. (From the book Essential ActionScript 2.0, by Colin Moock, O'Reilly Media, ISBN:0596006527.)Over the course of this book, we’ll study ActionScript 2.0 and object-oriented programming in Flash exhaustively. There’s lots to learn ahead but, before we get into too much detail, let’s start ...

Flash Hacks: Simulate 3D and Add a Vector Edge to a BitmapLearn two Flash tips: Create the illusion of a 3D object with volume; and hide jaggies by covering them with a vector stroke or by masking them out with a vector mask. (From the book, Flash Hacks, by Sham Bhangal, O'Reilly Media,Flash doesn’t support true 3D, but you can fake it by arranging 2D image slices as if they are filling a 3D space.Although Flash doesn’t support 3D assets, ...