1. 1 Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1 Flash MX adds content and animation to Web pages Flash MX movies use vector graphics to reduce size and download time. Movies can be “streamed” into a Web browser, which means they can begin playing before they are fully downloaded. Flash MX movies can include interactivity to allow the viewer to enter input, including two-way messaging.

2. 2 Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1 Flash MX supports vector and raster images Although Flash MX is vector-oriented, it does provide support for raster images as well. Vector images consist of lines and curves and descriptions of their properties. They are usually smaller than raster images, download faster, and scale better. Raster images are created by mapping the placement and color of each individual pixel. These are also called bitmap images. They are usually larger than vector images and tend to distort or lose quality when scaled to a large magnification.

3. 3 Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1 Scaling a raster versus a vector image At standard size, a raster image and a vector image may appear identical. However, when scaled up to a larger size, the vector image will maintain a smooth edge while the edge of the raster image becomes very jagged.

4. 4 Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1 Flash MX file formats Flash MX is primarily vector-based and can open images from other vector-based graphic programs, such as Fireworks. It can also support several raster image types, including: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, PICT, PNT and TIFF. Files saved from Flash MX are saved in FLA format. Files saved in FLA file format can be used to create stand-alone movies, HTML files, and SWF files.

5. 5 Introducing Macromedia Flash MX – Lesson 1 Create stand-alone movies You do not need the Flash Player installed to view movies on your desktop. Flash movies can be converted into ”projectors,” which are stand-alone executable files. This Windows desktop shows two icons. One is for a standard Flash MX FLA movie file. The other is for a Flash MX movie that has been turned into a projector.