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Recipe 22.1. Creating a Flash Lite Movie

Problem

You want to create a movie for the Flash Lite Player.

Solution

Open Flash MX 2004 Professional or Flash 8 Professional and create a Flash document with "Flash Lite 1.0" or "Flash Lite 1.1" publish settings.

Discussion

In order to author content for Flash Lite, you must be using the Professional version of Flash MX 2004 or Flash 8. The Flash Lite 1.1 authoring tools are part of the standard install of Flash 8 Professional. If you are using Flash MX 2004, the Flash Lite 1.1 authoring components are automatically installed after you have installed the 7.2 updater. The Flash 7.2 updater is available at:

 

If you are using Flash MX 2004 Professional but do not want to install the 7.2 updater, you can also install the Flash Lite 1.1 authoring components manually by downloading the Flash Lite 1.1 CDK (Content Development Kit) from the Mobile and Devices Developer Center:

If you are looking for a reason to upgrade to Flash Professional 8, the improved Device Templates interface (discussed in this recipe) and the new Mobile Emulator functionality (discussed in Recipe 22.2) are compelling features that make Flash Professional 8 a worthwhile investment if you plan on doing any significant amount of Flash Lite development.

When you have the necessary software installed, you can create a movie for the Flash Lite Player by following these steps:

  1. Open a new Flash document (File New, General tab, Flash Document) or open an existing Flash document you'd like to publish for Flash Lite.

  2. Open the Publish Settings pane (File Publish Settings…) and select the Flash tab.

  3. Select Flash Lite 1.0 or Flash Lite 1.1 in the version pull-down menu.

  4. Click OK to save the settings. You will notice that the Document pane now indicates Flash Lite 1.0 or Flash Lite 1.1 as the player.

  5. Publish your movie (File Publish or Shift+F12)the resulting SWF is a Flash Lite SWF.

If you started with a new Flash document, your stage was set to its default dimensions, or 550 x 400 pixels. Mobile device screens, however, are significantly smaller in size. You can specify the dimensions of the device that you are targeting either manually or by utilizing Device Templates. The manual method is as follows:

  1. Open the Document Properties dialog box (Modify Document…), and set the dimensions manually. For reference, the accepted "standard" screen size for Flash Lite mobile phones is 176 pixels (width) x 208 pixels (height).

The Device Templates method is as follows:

  1. Open a new document in Flash (File New).

  2. Select the Templates tab.

  3. Select one of the Global Phones, Japanese Phones, or PDAs categories (Flash 8) or the Mobile Devices category (Flash MX 2004).

  4. Select the template you'd like to use.

  5. Click OK to bring up your new Flash document, and click off of the stage to ensure that the Document pane is active. Note that the document's settings have been preset to match the selected device's player version, content type, and display size.

  6. If you are using Flash MX 2004, the top layer of your document is named "Preview (Delete this layer)." You should highlight and delete this layer, as it is used only to provide the preview image for the Templates tab of the new document window.

  7. Publish your movie (File Publish or Shift+F12)the resulting .swf file's version matches the version of the player installed on the device you selected. If you explore the templates, you will see that, in addition to the phones that support Flash Lite 1.0 and 1.1, some PDAs support Flash Player 6.

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Tripod >> 3pod Tips & Learning and manuals for educations