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How to Learn Flash Action Script 3

Learning Flash ActionScript will open career opportunities and expand your Flash animation design capabilities. Although you can do impressive Flash animations without ActionScript, a knowledge of ActionScript will minimize the time required to create Flash animations. As well, ActionScript skills will let you more easily create other types of computer programs such as business, educational and engineering programs. Most importantly, a few simple ActionScript commands will greatly expand your ability to control your animation.

Adobe Flash Professional, CS3, CS4 or CS5 versions
Computer with 1 GByte memory

Instructions

- 1
  
  Create a Flash file.
  
  Start Adobe Flash Professional. Select ActionScript 3.0 from the version options on the opening screen.
- 2
  
  Insert frames and text.
  
  Insert 10 keyframes on the timeline's layer. Select the layer, layer1, on the timeline. Position the mouse over the layer's first frame. Select "Insert>Timeline>Keyframe." Repeat this action 10 times to insert 10 frames.
  
  Open the drawing and text panels. Select "Window>Tools." Now open the timeline panel. Select "Window>Timeline."
  
  Place a number on the stage for each Keyframe inserted. Position the mouse over the first frame in the timeline. Depress the mouse button to select the first frame. Select the text tool from the tool bar with your cursor and mouse. Now, position the cursor over the stage. Depress the mouse button. Type the number 1 into the textbox that appears. Repeat this procedure for each of the nine other frames. Type the number of the frame in the textbox on the stage for each frame inserted.
  
  Set the frame rate to 1 frame per second. Use the fps textbox within the timeline panel.
  
  Now test the movie. Use the menu bar sequence: Control>Test Movie. Observe that the movie sequences through all the graphics placed in each of the frames.
- 3
  
  Create an actions layer.
  
  Create another layer on the timeline and label it Action. Select the new layer icon within the timeline panel. Position the mouse cursor over the new layer icon and depress the mouse button. Now position your mouse cursor over the new layer icon, layer 2. Depress the mouse button, select the layer's label and delete it. Now type into the layer text box the new label, Action.
- 4
  
  Enter and execute ActionScript commands.
  
  Position the mouse cursor over frame 1 on the action layer in the timeline. Depress the mouse to select frame 1. Open up the action's editor (Window>Actions). Type goToandPlay (5) on the first line in the actionscript editor.
  
  Test the movie (Control>test movie). Observe that the movie skips the first 4 frames, but sequences through frames 5 through 10. Go back to frame 1, enter the actions editor and delete the command gotoAndPlay().
  
  Select frame 5 on the Actions layers, select actions (Window>Action) and type in the action editors the command, stop(). Play the movie again and observe that the movie stops abruptly at frame 4 and displays the number 4. Now go back to frame 5, open the actionscript editor and delete the stop command. Type in the command gotoAndStop(9) in the Action editor and test the movie(Control>Test Movie) and observe the effect.

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