Adobe Flash Professional CS6 Adobe Flash Professional CS6 Classroom In A Book | Page 21

P Note: For simple
projects, such as the
example animation
you’ll create in this
lesson, creating a
single FLA document
is sufficient. However,
for more complex
projects that require
coordination with
multiple developers
or for projects
intended for playback
in several different
environments (desktop
and mobile), it’s best to
use the Project panel
(Window > Project) to
create a new project. A
project helps organize
multiple assets. You’ll
learn about the Project
panel in Lesson 10,
“Publishing Flash
Documents.”
3 On the right-hand side of the dialog box, you can choose the dimensions of
the Stage by entering new pixel values for the Width and Height. Enter 800 for
Width and 600 for Height. Keep the Ruler units as Pixels.
Leave the Frame rate and Background color for the Stage at their default
settings. You can always edit these document properties, as explained later
in this lesson.
4 Click OK.
Flash creates a new ActionScript 3.0 file with all the specified settings.
5 Choose File > Save. Name the file 01_workingcopy.fla, and from the Format/Save
as Type pull-down menu choose Flash CS6 document (*.fla). Save it in the 01Start
folder. Saving your file right away is a good working habit that ensures your work
won’t be lost if the application or your computer crashes. You should always save
your Flash file with the extension .fla to identify it as the Flash source file.
Getting to Know the Workspace
The Adobe Flash Professional work area includes the command menus at the top
of the screen and a variety of tools and panels for editing and adding elements to
your movie. You can create all the objects for your animation in Flash, or you can
import elements you’ve created in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe
After Effects, and other compatible applications.
By default, Flash displays the menu bar, Timeline, Stage, Tools panel, Properties
inspector, and a few other panels. As you work in Flash, you can open, close,
dock, undock, and move panels around the screen to fit your work style or your
screen resolution.
12
Lesson 1
Getting Acquainted