Trying to learn flash... Any good methods?

Question

I'm trying to teach myself Flash and ActionScript inside and
out. I already
know Fireworks and Dreamweaver like the back of my hand so
now it's time for
Flash. I figure that to get good it will take me atleast a
year but I have
all the time in the world so that's fine. Anyways I was
wondering if anyone
knows of any sites that might offer video training tutorials?
Also are
there any other sites that are good for Flash Tutorials? I
did a search for
it on Google but honestly there are SO many tutorial sites
that it's hard to
decide which one would be a good one that covers alot of
subjects. Anyways
any help is much appreciated!
Best Regards,
Chris Jumonville
iMedia Web Design
503.277.3553

Answer 1

Really like the ones listed by Klaus Dewald. Also really
recommend the help files.
Don't use the search function in the help files. (But do use
it in these forums!) Use the ActionScript Dictionary or the AS 2.0
Language Reference (whatever it is called in your version of Flash)
to go directly to the different classes you need.
Classes or types of things you can use – some of the
most popular are MovieClip, Button, array, and TextField. Within
each of those classes are listed properties, methods, and events.
Properties usually can be related to physical or realworld
properties. So in the MovieClip class you will find things like _x,
_y, _visible,and so forth. In the array class you might use the
length. Often properties start with an underscore, but not always.
Also they are usually nouns.
Methods are things can can be done. So in the MovieClip class
you might see the gotoAndStop() or createEmptyMovieClip() method.
They are usually verbs or sometimes a verb and a noun put together.
This is to show their active-do-somethingness. They will always
have parenthesis after them. Sometimes there will be arguments
inside of them. The help files will tell you which kind of
arguments are required and which are optional.
Events are things that happen. Again with the MovieClip class
(really the central idea that Flash is built around) you might see
the onRelease or onEnterFrame. Usually they have a preposition and
a noun. They are implemented with an "event handler" – some
code that happens whenever the event occurs.
The help files are organized by all the classes and give the
properties, methods, and events for each class. With very few
exceptions everything that can be done with a given class is
explained in the help files. And almost every entry (at least since
Flash 7) includes sample code.
I really recommend browsing through the help files, picking a
class you don't know much about, and making some little test file
to help yourself learn how to use that class.
The other piece of advice I can give is to break things up in
your head. People often post here with questions like "How do I
load an external graphic using XML?" Well if you check out the XML
class you will see that it has nothing to do with loading external
graphics – for that you want the MovieClipLoader class. So
first learn how to load some XML nodes and then use that
information to pass off the name of a graphic to an instance of the
MovieClipLoader.
A subtle distinction, but it helps if you learn how to use
each class independent of each other. They say it is hard to
remember that you started out to drain the swamp when you are up to
your *** in alligators.