Chapter 6
PNGs (Portable Network Graphics) imported from Macromedia Fireworks retain editable features that are lost when other types of bitmapped graphics are imported into Flash.
Multiple uses of a bitmapped graphic do not increase file size; however, multiple graphics certainly do.
Tracing bitmaps: Look carefully at the example on pg. 155. Notice that the authors have chosen a geometrically patterned area of a photograph--i.e., something that looks less like a complex, natural scene than like a stylized vector graphic in the first place. In practice, you'll find that it's very difficult to convert from bitmaps to vectors.
Don't ever import a bitmapped graphic whose native resolution is higher than 72 dpi: you'll needlessly increase file size.
Compression: since most techniques will work best on simple, geometrical images, and since such images might as well be vectors in the first place, why not just re-create a simple bitmap as a vector? In practice, you'll find that realistic photographic images need 100% JPEG quality (no compression).
The difference between "lossy" and "lossless" compression: the latter happens when the graphic is created, which doesn't mean there isn't any degradation of the image; it just means you get the bad news up front.
Chapter 7
Get comfortable with the distinctions among Graphic Symbols, Buttons, and Movie Clips. Basically, these are three levels of sophistication. A Graphic is a simple, static image. A button consists of one or more images with scripts that handle user actions. A Movie Clip is basically an entire Flash movie available for use as a component of another movie.
Smart Clips are essentially Movie Clips with lots of scripting attached. We'll be quite interested in these.
"If you leave the Hit state [of a button] blank, the shape or element in the last defined keyframe will be used."
"A Movie Clip's timeline runs independently of the main timeline, which means that the clip's timeline can continue to play after the main timeline has halted." This can be either great fun to watch, or extremely infuriating, depending on your proximity to deadline.
The Breadcrumb Navigator Bar (does that come with a sneezeguard?) will be very useful to you if you do a lot of editing-in-place. Even if you don't, it provides a useful reminder that you've left the main scene or movie behind, when you are editing a Symbol from the Library.
Chapter 8
Check out the automatic alignment tools. These may seem pointlessly precise at first... but wait until you are trying to arrange precisely several rows or columns of elements within a larger design.
