Soft Glamour 2.0 for Adobe Fireworks CS3

Soft Glamour 2.0 is a non-destructive image effect, brought to you as a joint partnership between Phireworx and Aftershape Enhance image quality, giving the effect of using a camera with a soft focus filter applied. The effect is created on two separated bitmap images, leaving intact the original. The "Soft Glamour" extension has to be intended as a photo retouching effect, and for that reason it can be applied only Read more [...]

April 15, 2007

Twist and Fade Command for Adobe Flash CS3

I’ve created another interesting command, this time with a twist (literally). Some of you may be familiar with the Twist and Fade Command that shipped with Fireworks MX and Fireworks MX 2004, and this one does similar things only in Flash MX 2004.

October 13, 2005

Flash 8 Freebies

Two new free Flash panels for you guys and gals out there: Read more [...]

September 2, 2004

Flash’s Hidden Gems: The NumericStepper Component

Never heard of NumericStepper? Whether you need on-screen controls to alter dynamic feedback from effects you're building, or you want to allow users to select numerical data quickly through a form, it's time to meet Flash's NumericStepper component Read more [...]

August 17, 2004

The Flash Anthology: Cool Effects & Practical ActionScript – Chapter 3: Animation Effects

The fads of Internet design may come and go, but one thing that will never change is that the more dynamic you make your Flash creations, the more engaging they are to the user. This dynamism can be counterproductive under certain circumstances, especially when multiple effects battle for the user's attention, or the effects are too garish. Identifying the key to effective animation is like the search for the Holy Grail. What some users think is a cool effect, others find patently uninteresting—and vice versa. Never lose sight of the importance of striking a balance between the interface and the animations you're attempting to produce. Read more [...]

July 2, 2004

Flash Interface Design Made Simple

Elegant interface design *is* achievable with Flash. You just need to know the basics, and be keen to experiment! Steve explains and applies the essentials as he creates a great interface in this step-by-step tutorial.

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June 24, 2004

Integrate Flash MX 2004 and Director MX 2004

There are no two ways about it: Flash MX 2004 is a powerful development environment for creating fun and engaging applications. Yet, there comes a time when you may need a little more control of system-related functions such as being able to detect the operating system the user is using, launching external programs, detecting default file handling applications and controlling system windows -- especially when creating distributed applications. Read more [...]

October 30, 2003

Down and Dirty Flash Effects : Part I Scripted Motion Basics

When creating animations and effects within Flash, the easiest way to do it to the uninitiated is by complex tweening and multiple key frames which can take many hours of your time and can result in unrecoverable catastrophes when you make a mistake. Read more [...]

July 24, 2002

Building Functioning Flash Buttons With Fireworks Graphics

Thanks in large part to Live Effects, Fireworks makes beautiful buttons. Given its ability to export to SWF, a lot of people assume that they can create killer buttons in Fireworks for use in Flash. Unfortunately, the integration of the two programs doesn’t extend quite that far. But that doesn’t mean you can’t create buttons in Fireworks for use in Flash. It just means that you need to do a couple extra steps. Read more [...]

July 24, 2002

Debugging your Fireworks MX Flash Commands (Part II) The Art of Tracing

For quick down and dirty (yet still effective) debugging, you can use the timeless art of tracing variables staight out from the internal Flash player within Flash MX to the output window. This is often useful when you wish to check if a condition exists and report that value to the output window. You can also Pseudo Trace your movie if it is a Fireworks MX Flash Command within Fireworks MX as we shall see later. Read more [...]