ActionScript is an object-oriented programming language that has a wide reach on the web, the desktop, mobile devices, and beyond. If you want to be able to hit many targets with one code base, ActionScript is a great way to do so; it also lets you build a variety of application types, from 2D and 3D games to enterprise applications, video players, and more. In this workshop, expert software engineer Joseph Labrecque teaches you the very fundamentals of programming in ActionScript 3 using both Flash Professional and Flash Builder. You will learn how to use core constructs and object types such as variables, arrays, and functions, as well as more advanced types like video, sound, XML, and JSON.

Access the full workshop.

Grab the detailed release [PDF].

The following three sample movies are public:

• AS3 Language Fundamentals
• Compiling and Debugging
• TextField and TextFormat

Mobile Development with Flash Professional CS5.5 and Flash Builder 4.5: Learn by Video
Create Android and iOS Applications with the Flash Platform

Authors: video2brain, Peter Elst, Joseph Labrecque
Publisher: Peachpit / Adobe Press (September, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0321788109
ISBN-13: 978-0321788108
Pages: 48
Hours: 7.20

In this in-depth course you’ll learn everything you need to know to start developing for mobile and devices on Android and iOS using Flash Platform technology. Top Flash Platform experts Peter Elst and Joseph Labrecque will walk you through the entire workflow from application setup to development and deployment, covering best practices for mobile development and how to debug the applications you create on the desktop or on a device. Along the way you’ll learn how to work with gestures, touch events, hardware APIs, data, multimedia features, and much more. After completing this course you’ll be well on your way to making your mobile projects a reality.

The following videos are FREE:

• What Is Adobe AIR and How Does It Fit In?
• Working with Different Screen Sizes
• Debugging on the Desktop
• Pushing a View
• Using the Zoom Gesture to Pinch and Zoom
• Opening the Maps Application on Android
• Playing Video Files
• Using the iOS Provisioning Portal
• Signing Your Application

As always, you can get to all of my major publications through http://josephlabrecque.com/books/.

In this workshop, top Flash expert Joseph Labrecque is your guide to Flash Builder 4.5. After a quick introduction to Flash Builder for those who may be unfamiliar, he covers the many new features in the latest version, including new coding features and Spark components. The course includes a chapter on mobile development where you’ll learn how to create a variety of mobile project types and how to effectively simulate iOS, Android, and Tablet OS devices before packaging and signing an application for mobile distribution. Finally, you’ll learn about Flash Builder´s integration with other Flash tools, including how to perform round-trip authoring between Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder and how to author a Flash Professional project in Flash Builder.

Access the full workshop.

Grab the detailed release.

The following three sample movies are public:

• Where Does Flash Builder Fit into the Flash Platform?
• New Formatters and Validators
• Creating a Tabbed View Navigator Application

At this point, I’m nearly half-way through recording my video segments for the project and feel as though everything is coming together really nicely. I’m using Flash Professional for most of my segments, although the lessons Peter is working on will cover Flash Builder as well. While the Flash Professional code editor definitely leaves something to be desired after doing so much work with Flash Builder, I’m finding the focus on Flash Pro to be a rather welcome one for myself. I expect recording to be completed during the first week of June.

Anyhow- this makes two major publications so far this year- both of them on topics that I just cannot get enough of!

Note that I’ve set up a page to include information for all my publications over at http://josephlabrecque.com/books/.

Mobile Development with Flash Professional CS5.5 and Flash Builder 4.5 : Learn by Video

Authors: video2brain, Peter Elst, Joseph Labrecque
Publisher: Adobe Press; 1 edition (August 26, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0321788109
ISBN-13: 978-0321788108

Mobile Development with Flash Professional CS5.5

After an industry debate that made headlines for months, designers and developers can use their Adobe Flash Professional, Flex, and ActionScript skills to quickly begin developing applications for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, as well as for Android devices. In this in-depth course, you’ll learn from the ground up how to set up your system to become a mobile developer, create applications, and master each step of the publishing process.

Where to buy?

• Adobe Press
• Peachpit
• Amazon.com
• Amazon.co.uk

I was curious how the feed would look over a variety of devices. Here are the results :)

Microsoft Windows 7

BlackBerry Tablet OS

Google Android

Excellent!

UPDATE: Also be sure to check out Tom Green‘s overview over at WebdesignTuts+!

Getting Started with Strobe Media Playback: Basic Configuration

Strobe Media Playback is the open source video playback module that provides not only a customizable video playback solution for developers, but also serves as a great entry point for developing applications with the Open Source Media Framework. In this tutorial, we will see an example of how to configure SMB by using the built-in skinning configuration mechanisms and creating our custom skin with Adobe Fireworks.

Getting Started with Strobe Media Playback: Full Customization

Strobe Media Playback is the open source video playback module that provides not only a customizable video playback solution for developers, but also serves as a great entry point for developing applications with the Open Source Media Framework. In this tutorial, we will see an example of how to set up the source and compile our own customized version of SMB by editing the built-in assets through Adobe Flash Professional and Adobe Flash Builder.

Transient Recorder

Transient Recorder

UPDATE: Grab “Transient Recorder LIMITED” for free. Limited to 5 second recordings and only WAV output.

*”9 year old” daughter? no… 9 month old… geez, Joseph :P

1. Native Custom Mouse Cursors
   Do you know how long I’ve waited for the ability to define native custom mouse cursors in Flash… instead of hiding the native cursor and tracking x,y of a display object across the stage? Since Flash 4. Thank you, Adobe Flash Player engineers! This is a great example of something that can improve performance and usability at the same time. Excellent.
2. Stage Video Hardware Acceleration
   This is the big one! Effectively removing video rendering from the display list and treating it separately from all other objects allows for an absolutely glorious improvement in the way video is rendered on a users system. Most people are getting between 0 and 0.3 percent CPU usage on full screen 1080 HD video. There are reports that Mac users are getting better performance with Flash Player than they are in Quicktime. That is really something!

FP10.2 Stage Video

With such a great amount of stuff happening in the runtimes – I cannot help but see Flash Player 10.1 as a real turning point for Flash in terms of rising beyond all the criticisms of the past few years.

Joseph Labrecque, Adobe MAX 2010 - photo by Marc Dubois

Join Joseph Labrecque from the University of Denver as he demonstrates the various features of Adobe AIR 2 and AIR for Android and how they can be used in a university setting. Learn how the university is leveraging AIR to expand and supplement a host of university projects and applications. Labrecque will preview new AIR projects he is working on and share his experiences with the AIR for Android prerelease for building mobile applications on campus.