Watch and Learn Illustrator!

1 - Introduction (Running Time: 2:28)
In this video, Craig introduces you to the series and tells you wha you can expect to learn.

2 - Panel Sets (Running Time: 11:09)
In Flash 8, the panels themselves haven't really changed, but the way they're organized in the workspace has slightly changed.  Now you can group panels together even more efficiently with the use of tabbed panels.  Craig also shows you how to access libraries for multiple fla files from one panel, instead of having multiple library panels.

3 - The Pasteboard (Running Time: 4:18)
In older versions of Flash, you could only expand the size of an object so much before it reached the borders of the workspace, and it was a Herclean task to keep expanding it further.  However, in this video, Craig shows you how Flash 8's pasteboard expands with your content, so no matter how big an object may get on the stage, the pasteboard keeps expanding to accommodate it.

4 - Object Level Undo (Running Time: 8:15)
What happens when you've made changes to multiple objects on the stage and then you decide that you want to undo the changes you made to one object without effecting the changes you made to another?  Well, in this video, Craig shows you how to set up Object Level Undo so you can make it happen.

5 -  Object Drawing (Running Time: 6:08)
Older versions of Flash were very inflexible when it came to drawing raw objects on the stage.  If one shape overlapped another, then Flash would either cut a chunk out of one of the shapes (if they were different colors) or combine the two shapes into one (if they were identical colors).  In order to avoid this, you had to either group a shape or turn it into a symbol.  However, in Flash 8, you have the option to draw a shape as an object and avoid this problem all together.  This allows you all the benefits of grouping (i.e., keeping the shapes separate) with all the benefits of working with raw shapes (i.e., adjusting color, stroke, etc. without having to go into the shape's own timeline).

6 - Nw Text Options (Running Time: 7:48)
This video walks you through all the new options available to the text tool in Flash 8, including more anti-aliasing options and more resizing handles on the text fields.

7 - Stroke Options (Running Time: 5:11)
In older versions of Flash, the only real control you had over the look of a stroke was its color and its thickness.  In this video, Craig shows you the new stroke options in Flash 8. which allow you more customization of your strokes by giving you the option to define what you want you endpoints and intersections to look like.

8 -  Gradient Options (Running Time: 8:00)
Never before in Flash have gradiens been more flexible!  From focal points to overlap features, Flash now gives you much more control over how your gradients look.  Not only that, but Flash 8 also allows you to add a gradient to a sroke!  If you wanted to do that in Flash MX 2004, you had to convert the stroke to fill first, which made altering the contour of the stroke later on nearly impossible.

9 -  Blend Modes (Running Time: 12:40)
In this discussion of blend modes, we begin to get into the heart of what makes Flash PROFESSIONAL 8 such a powerful tool for designers.  Now, instead of having to jump over to other image editing tools like Photoshop, you can create blend modes directly in Flash, and you can even animate using blending!  Don't know what blend modes are?  Then you gotta see this video!

10 - Filters (Running Time: 17:10)
Just as exciting as its new blend mode feature, the Professional cersion of Flash 8 also allows you to add filters to objects in your Flash movie, again without having to jump back to Photoshop to achieve these effects.  Filters allow you to do things like adding blurs, drop shadows, bevels, glows, etc. to your objects.

11 - Custom Easing (Running Time: 7:53)
Animation in Flash just became even more fun!  With the use of Flash Professional 8's custom easing feature, you have MUCH more control over the pace of your animation.  In this video, Craig shows you how to save time, energy, and keyframes by using this amazing new feature.

12 - Script Assist (Running Time: 4:50)
If you were bummed when Macromedia got rid of "Normal Mode" for ActionScript in Flash MX 2004, then you're going to enjoy this video!  Normal Mode is back, but this time they're calling it "Script Assist".   Just turn on this feature, and Flash will make simple tasks in ActionScript even simpler!

13 - swf Metadata (Running Time: 1:36)
One of the biggest complaints about Flash had been the difficulties inherent in trying to get good search results for your Flash website on Google, Yahoo, etc.  Well, this problem is addresses in the latest release of Flash with swf Metadata.  You can now enter search-engine-friendly titles and descriptions into your Flash files to allow you to be better able to compete on these search engines.

14 - Video Import Options (Running Time: 9:46)
Importing a video into Flash Professional 8 is now infinitely easier than it has ever been!  In this video, Craig will walk you through the import and encoding of a video into a Flash file. . . and he does it in less than 10 MINUTES!

15 - External Video Encoder (Running Time: 3:4)
Not only had Macromedia made it easier to import videos into your Flash files, but if you purchased Flash Professional 8, then they've also supplied you with an external video encoder, which allows you to convert videos into FLV format without ever having to open up Flash.  This encoder also allows you to batch produce files, so you can now encode multiple videos at once.