Flash+is+pretty+cool

__**Flash**__
While this program isn't all glitz; it's a fairly solid, simple (//with some of the limitations that can be associated with simplicity//), and very fun animation program. It allows you to create animated buttons, symbols, banners, videos, even whole websites if you're ambitious enough. You probably see and interact with Flash every single day. Playing games, reading ads, and clicking on buttons.

Work space
When you open up a Flash document you will see your screen broken up into several different sections:
 * A canvas (aka stage or cel or frame).
 * A Toolbar with a paint bucket, pen, paintbrush, etc. to create and manipulate content.
 * A properties window where you can manipulate the properties of each object.
 * A time line that gives you a cel by cel, layer by layer summary of your animation.

**A Couple Starting tips**
You start with one cel on one layer (the layers are a lot like photoshop or fireworks or any other design program). To add more cels, and thus make your animation last longer than one cel, you must insert more frames. To do this, you can either click in the square underneath the amount of cels that are desired, or use the insert menu heading.

As I said earlier, layers function pretty much function like layers in other design programs. Each distinct object should live on its own layer. If you are creating a complex animation, say, a person, each limb should have its own layer. You can group layers into folders to make them easier to manage.

Animation Basics
There are several methods to animate your drawings. Once you have an image drawn (it can be a shape, a line, etc.) you should add as many frames as you want (the more frames, the longer your animation in time).

The first and most basic methods of animating in Flash are called Tweens. We'll start with a "motion tween". To use this tween you simply right click anywhere on a filled-in time line and click "Create Motion Tween" and the filled-in portion of your time line should turn blue. Now, if you played your animation now, you wouldn't see any change from start to finish. However, if you click in the last filled-in frame and move your object, and then played it, you would see a gradual march across the screen.

A key frame is any frame where there is a user initiated change to your animation. It will appear as a black dot in the frame on your time line. You can either insert a key frame using the right click or simply choose a frame in an animation that has been tweened and manipulate your object.

Another way to animate is to create a Shape Tween. To do this, you will insert a blank key frame where you want your movie to end (or change) and then draw a new shape in that blank key frame. Right click again on the filled-in portion, choose "Create Shape Tween". When you play your animation you will see your first shape slowly morph into your second shape.

There is A LOT more you can do with Flash. Anybody have any favorites?

Unfortunately, Flash has a couple of unexplainable quirks, but luckily there are workarounds.
 * Known Quirks**
 * //Text exports blurry despite looking perfect while editing.// To fix this, simply move the text a nudge to either the left or right. There are certain fonts that can only be placed on the x axis in different increments of .2 pixels. For example, if the font's x location is 104.3 it might appear blurry, however moving it over a tenth of a pixel in either direction would render the font as it appears on your canvas.
 * //Garbled/muddy sound.// For some reason, Flash will distort the audio about once out of every 10 - 15 times you publish the same project. Usually this will go away the next time you export it, but if it doesn't go to //File -> Publish Settings -> Flash// and then press okay. Even though you didn't change of any the settings this will make projects publish properly again.