If you're familiar with the basics of Flash, then The Essential Guide to Flash CS4 will take you further in all aspects of the application, animation, sound, 3D, inverse kinematics, the drawing tools, ActionScript, and much more. This book takes all the good bits of Flash CS4 and demonstrates them in methodical and intuitive exercises full of hints and tips for streamlining the creative process. Jump straight into Flash CS4 and start working on real life examples that you can customize to suit your needs. * Demystifies Flash CS4--explaining new features deep diving through old favorites * Streamlines the production of cutting-edge Flash CS4 animations and applications * Provides a unique commercial perspective in compelling Flash productions This book is for intermediate Flash CS4 users as well as the more advanced user who wants to learn about using Flash CS4's awesome new capabilities, such as motion tweening and kinematics poses. Each chapter has a number of exercises that contribute to an overall project. The exercises are fun and compelling and allow you to place your own creative stamp on them, while still following the steps to completion. The final chapter focuses on bringing the exercise output together in an overall campaign consisting of a website featuring advanced flash components and advertising banners. An underlying theme of the book is marketing a website online. It discusses industry standards for banner campaigns (banner weight, frames per second, etc), effective website marketing techniques, and delves into search engine optimization and search engine marketing. What you'll learn * The unique capabilities of Flash CS4 and how to apply them in real life scenarios * How to partner Flash CS4 with open source programs and international publisher standards to create compelling and rich user experiences * How to incorporate different technologies into Flash CS4 applications seamlessly to make the overall Flash build less arduous * How to harness your creativity to make your ideas come to life * How to ensure that these ideas will have marketing legs and adhere to W3C standards * How to get the edge above your competitors Who this book is for This book is for designers and developers who are familiar with Flash but want to push the boundaries of what Flash CS4 is capable of. You have the vision and the ideas of what you want to do, but you are unsure of just how to do it. This book explores in depth the effects of partnering Flash CS4 with other Adobe products, such as Fireworks and Photoshop, but also delves deeply into partnering Flash CS4 with cutting edge open source programs, such as Papervision, and how to create unique rich media executions in partnership with companies such as EyeBlaster. Table of Contents * Welcome to Flash CS4 * Getting Creative: How to Make Your Ideas Come to Life Through Project Planning * Getting Your Hands Dirty: Layers, Masks, and Photoshop * Draw Me a Picture: Using the Drawing Tools * Filters and Blends * Let's Get Animated! * Achieving Lifelike Motion with Inverse Kinematics * Lights, Camera, ActionScript! * Using 3D Space in Flash CS4 * Seeing and Hearing Are Believing! * Utilizing Best Practices to Get the Most Out of Your Flash CS4 Movies * The End of the Beginning