Learning Flash CS4 Professional

Chapter 14. PUBLISHING AND DEPLOYING

Introduction

Welcome! It’s the final chapter of the book, and you’re almost home. You worked hard, you know your way around Flash, and you created a portfolio that ties together everything you’ve learned. All that remains now is getting it out into the world.

In this chapter, you’ll publish a SWF and a host HTML file that will run in your friendly neighborhood web browser. As an added bonus, you’ll also create an AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) desktop application that will wrap the portfolio into one neat little package. You can download the AIR application and run it locally or even leave a copy behind at job interviews.

First, however, you’ll create a preloader to keep your viewers aware of any loading delays caused by slow Internet connections. When the preloader is finished and you’ve deployed to both HTML and AIR, your mission will be complete. In this chapter, you’ll work on the project in three separate segments so you can focus on each topic individually.

Using a Preloader

When a viewer to your site is struggling with a slow Internet connection, waiting a long time for assets to load can be disconcerting. At best, the experience is frustrating. At worst, your visitor may think there is a problem with your site and move on.

In time, you will be able to optimize your online applications to keep SWF sizes small, load more assets from external sources, and reduce embedded assets by accomplishing more with code. Until you’re comfortable and experienced ...