Using iTunes for Content | Button Actions in Flash CS3 | Contest Time

CATEGORIES: Living In Layers | RC | July 21, 2008

Happy Monday! Hope the weekend was productive for everyone. Me, I spent it flying back from San Jose where I attended a couple of meetings.. so the airport was my friend. That’s not necessarily a problem however, because I have iTunes.

iTunes is for Everyone
You know, it still surprises me how many people associate iTunes with paying for music. Yes, there is a large component of the iTunes store that is used for paying for music, and that by itself is really cool. However, there are A LOT of people that use iTunes and don’t buy a single song or video from them!

Let’s take Layers TV for example. There are generally three options for you to view the show. The small version is here on the page. It’s great when you want to check out stuff.. but it’s small. If you click on the link to the larger version, the size goes up just a little bit, but it’s better than the smaller version. Then there is iTunes.

If you have iTunes on your computer, all you have to do is go to the iTunes Music Store and type “Layers TV” in the search field at the top. This will bring up the show, and you can subscribe to the super-large version. What does that look like, you ask? Well, click on the graphic below and you’ll see a big screen version of an After Effects tutorial.

Pretty big, huh? The thing I like the most about this larger size is that you can really see the screen and can distinguish what we are clicking on when we take you though an application tutorial. That is a big plus when you are trying to follow along. In the coming weeks you may even see an HD version of Layers TV on the iTunes site.

Layers TV on Your Coffee Break!
While I am on the subject - I have gotten a couple of emails from viewers about the speed of the tutorials. Yes, Corey and I are both aware that we sometimes go through the tutorials at a bit of a breakneck pace. Sometimes there is a lot of cool information that we want to get out to you - but we don’t want to chew out the whole of your day in doing so. Our goal is to be able to show you some stuff in the amount of time you use to take a coffee break. It doesn’t break your day, and if we go fast - we assume that you’ll be able to pause the show, rewind, and go back to any part as much as you want. That’s another reason why subscribing to the show in iTunes rocks.

Finally - another great reason for using iTunes is the exposure to all of the other shows out there. Going to the Podcast >Technology>Software How To> really is a gold mine. There are tons of different podcasts out there. You can have a bunch of subscriptions to really, really interesting content, learn an amazing amount, and it doesn’t cost you a dime. Then, if you decide you want to get an iPod - you can totally sync the iPod for on-the-go work. Personally, I’m trying to make a case for getting the AppleTV - so I can watch some of my favorite podcasts right on the TV. Really - give iTunes a try.. it’s going to be free. .and you’ll totally love the podcast areas.

Click on the jump to get a cool Flash Button Tutorial and this week’s Contest.

Flash CS3, Actionscript CS3 and Buttons - A Quick Primer
This week, I wanted to give you guys a tutorial on something that we get a lot of email about — buttons and actions for Flash CS3. The questions I get aren’t really about problems with Flash CS3 per se, but more with the switch to Actionscript CS3 that causes a lot of headache. Before Actionscript CS3, there was a certain level of fumbling that you could do to get a button to link to a page, and it wasn’t very hard. Actionscript CS3 changes a lot of that - and while AS3 is logical (and easy once you get down to it), it really does require more lines of code, and a bigger understanding of scripting to be able to use it.

I made a tutorial that just goes over some of what you need to do to make a button link to a page. Over the next few weeks I’ll be talking to you more about ways to work in Flash CS3 that won’t make your head explode. For those of you who really do want to dig in, Rich Shupe & Zevan Rosser (Authors) have got a good book out there called Learning Actionscript 3. Make sure you check it out! Click on the link below to check out the tutorial.

RC Concepcion - Buttons & Actions in Flash CS3

Blog Contest Time
This contest should be simple enough. Go to the Contact page on this blog and select the Layers Blog drop down. Enter in your name, email address and the contest answer. The contest closes on Thursday at 5PM, and a winner will be picked on Friday.

Contest Question: What is the theme to the Layers Back Page Design Contest? (It’s on the Layers site somewhere.. that’s the only hint you get!)

The Prize:
Our friends at Artistic Photo Canvas are giving away a $100.00 gift card to use on their site for the creation of a Photo Canvas. There’s just something so artistic about getting a canvas wrap of your favorite print - I’ve been sitting here thinking of which one of my print’s is going to go up there. Decisions, Decisions!! Thanks so much to Artistic Photo Canvas for the gift!! (As soon as I get mine in, I’ll bring it on the show for some show and tell). We’ll also give you a 1 year subscription to Layers Magazine.

That’s it for today everyone. Remember, if you haven’t done so already, check out Layers TV. We’re giving away a free iPod and a Photoshop World ticket for the Layers TV contest.. so check out those double episodes! We’ll see you guys tomorrow.

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