Flash for Beginners

Workshop for Journalism Fellows at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard

Here is the exercise we did in the session.

Beginning Flash

Import and animate graphics
Use text correctly in Flash
Script buttons for Timeline control
Jump from segment to segment in nonlinear fashion

The first part of the session shows you everything you need to know to start building multimedia packages in Flash -- today.

Here is information about how to put Flash video online.

Get more Flash tips and tutorials.

Understanding What Flash Is Used For

Even if you do not learn to make things with Flash, you can begin to understand the ways Flash is used. What are the elements of a finished Flash package? These blog post discuss uses of Flash that can be identified and discussed in any newsroom:

General Information About Flash

Often when journalists refer to "an interactive," they mean a package built with Flash.

Flash is an application from Adobe (formerly Macromedia). The file type it generates for the Web is a SWF (pronounced "swiff"). The editable file (like a PSD in Photoshop) is a FLA (pronounced "flah").

The Flash player (currently at version 9) is used by more than 90 percent of all Internet users. The player is free; the application (used to make SWFs) is expensive. To view a Flash file on the Web, your Web browser uses the player as a plug-in, and you see the Flash content in-line on the Web page.

My book can be used in journalism classes for hands-on Flash instruction and assignments: Flash Journalism: How to Create Multimedia News Packages (Focal Press, 2005).

Flash Journalism Packages

Dividing and organizing content
- Photos, slideshows, videos
- Graphics, maps, timeline
- Credits / About This
- Resource links
Hopping around with buttons: Martini (a very simple package)
- Notice how the package is divided into three separate segments, or chapters.
- Everything in this package can be crated using only the skills you learned today with the Space Shuttle exercise.

Using Audio in Flash

Flash is a great vehicle for both audio and video. You can build a customizable MP3 jukebox, load any number of external MP3 files dynamically, and insert videos too. However, all of this requires ActionScript. There is just no way to teach this to beginners in a one-day workshop. However, it is perfectly feasible for you to learn how to do all of this, if you will only have patience and keep chipping away at ActionScript bit by bit.

Not to hype my own book, but Lesson 8 (pp. 187 - 220) explains all the intricacies of audio control for story packages. I am mentioning that because a lot of tutorials online are, in fact, about building music jukeboxes, and that is not really what you want to do for your journalism story.

Movie Clip Symbols in Flash

Movie clips are one of the most powerful aspects of Flash, and once you learn how to use them properly, you will amaze yourself with the effects you can accomplish! However, I have found that most Flash beginners get very confused if they are introduced to the internal timelines of movie clips too soon. The end result is that too many people give up on Flash, because the confusion is just too much. You fall into a hole, and you can't see how to climb out.

In the interest of guiding you on to future success, I recommend that you master the empty movie clip, but don't even try to use the movie clip symbol in any other way until after you have completed about three or four multi-part Flash projects. Get comfortable with the basics. Restrict yourself -- so that you can create a better foundation for your future progress.

The Invisible Button

This is something you will use again and again: See this one-page tutorial. If you do not yet understand the Hit state of the button symbol, the tutorial might help.

Resources

Teaching Online Journalism
My blog about digital storytelling and how newsrooms are changing.

Journalists' Toolkit: Flash
Frequently updated list of free online tutorials and resources.

Flash Journalism (the book): At Amazon.com.

Flash Journalism: Web site for the book.
An assortment of professional examples are linked on this page.