Week 1
Creating a Local Folder Structure
One of the challenges with working in Flash is that there are so many different ways to structure a project. In this class, I will be presenting techniques that have both worked for me.
- project_name
- graphics
- flash
- assets
- 20070129
- 20070202
- deploy
Let’s break down the folder structure being used here:
- project_name – this is the name you designate for your project. I tend to avoid spaces or non-alphanumeric characters from this folder name to make it easier t0 view its address in the browser.
- graphics – this folder contains any Photoshop or Illustrator files used to design the content that goes within the Flash movie.
- flash – this contains all of the Flash-related content
- assets – this folder contains all of the exported content from your graphics files—optimized PNGs, GIFs, JPGs, optimized audio files, and/or exported SWF files from Illustrator. By keeping these elements of your Flash movie here here, the Flash library will have a consistent place to find the latest contents should you ever update them.
- 20070129, 20070202 – these folder names represent dates (YYYY/MM/DD) and make it easy to organize your authoring files. Contained in these folders are the Flash files and any accompanying ActionScript files. In smaller projects where changes needn’t be categorized, a single authoring folder will suffice.
- deploy – this folder mimics the final deployment SWF. By setting your FLA’s publishing location to this deploy folder, your latest authoring file will continually overwrite the last SWF published, and prevents from having multiple published files to manage.
Choosing a Stage Size
Setting the stage size determines the size of your published Flash movie. Since we will be designing and developing Flash for the Web, you need to take into consideration the screen size of your user base.
- View a guideline on browser sizes (GIF) - this guide displays the different viewable areas for different browsers/screen resolutions. The viewable area is smaller than the screen because of the browser's tool bars.
- View W3 Schools screen resolution stats - keep in mind that this only represents visits to their Web site, not the entire World Wide Web.
Setting a Flash Frame Rate
The default frame rate in Flash is 12 frames per second (fps), which leads to choppy animations. Television has a frame rate of 30 fps, and film is 24 fps. CRT monitors have a maximum frame rate of 72 fps, meaning anything above this in Flash is a waste. So what should you use? The industry convention is to use 31 fps when creating Flash movies. This frame rate is on par with other screen-based animation, and has proven to run consistently—and occasionally even higher, on PCs and especially Macs. You can set your movie’s frame rate in the properties panel or by using Modify > Document.
Introductory Links on Flash
| This History of Flash | Adobe Site |
| The Flash History | FlashMagazine |
| Adobe Flash | Wikipedia Entry |
| Adobe Labs | Latest prereleases of Flash |
| FWA NetDiver Adobe Showcase Yugo Nakamura Orisinal |
Inspirational Links |