Created my first cool Flash animation!

Here it is: http://www.travelingtiger.com/tiensblog/uploaded_images/animation.swf

Okay, it’s nothing too fancy, mostly basic timeline motion tweens with a bit of easing and one line of Actionscript (plus a motion guide that accounts for the wavy path of the “8”), but I’m thrilled. And it plays on my cell phone!! Is that wild or what??

(Background: I’m the program manager for Adobe’s Flash Lite, aka Flash for cell phones. We take Flash and make it small enough and fast enough to run on a cell phone…which isn’t easy, considering how small the file sizes and memory usage have to be. So I’m learning Flash so I can demo our product and understand what we’re building.)

I have another, even more basic one with a bit of Actionscript in it–press one button and it turns a circle black, press another button and it turns the circle red. Total beginner stuff, but you got to start somewhere. And it is SO cool to be able to watch it play on my cell phone.

Btw, I’m using Flash 8: Projects for Learning and Interactivity, by Rich Shupe and Robert Hoekman. I like the book–it’s an introduction to Flash animations and to basic Actionscript, both at once. I have a book on Actionscript as well, but it’s more object-oriented programming and less about how to handle Flash. Nothing wrong with that, but I need to be able to do both in order to use Flash properly.

Mom comes into town tonight…hoping to get her to help me take measurements for flat pattern drafting.