Certificate in Introduction to Adobe Edge Animate Online Course

Getting Started With Adobe Edge Animate

In this lesson, we're going to take our first look at Adobe Edge Animate, the exciting animation and interactivity tool. We'll begin by downloading and installing the program. Then we'll explore its interface, which is fairly simple. Finally, we'll briefly explore the technologies that are the basis of Edge Animate.

Creating Content in an Edge Animate Document

Today you'll add content to documents in Edge Animate. We'll start by looking at the program's (admittedly limited) drawing capabilities. Then you'll find out how to add text and import images, either directly in Edge Animate or through a program such as Illustrator or Photoshop. By the end of this lesson, you'll know how to draw, manipulate, skew, rotate, and combine shapes, plus you'll understand how to add type elements to your projects.

Animation Basics

It's time to find out how to animate content in Edge Animate. And that's why you wanted to learn the program in the first place, right?

Animation Details: Helper Keyframes, Stacking Order, and More

How is an animation like a marching band? Today you'll find out how setting helper keyframes will add precision and save you time. We'll also discuss how stacking order affects your animations, talk about why you might want to plan your animations backwards, and animate properties other than position (including fadeouts and text enlargements).

Creating SVG Graphics in Adobe Illustrator

You can use Adobe Illustrator as a tool to create graphics for your Edge Animate projects. We'll briefly cover some of the basics of working in Illustrator in case you aren't familiar with it, but we'll always keep the focus on those specific tools in the program that will help you create content for Edge Animate. Along the way, you'll learn which types of graphics and which file formats work best for different projects.

Creating Interactivity Through Triggers and Actions

When you add interactivity to your projects, users will be able to click on objects and have them react in some way. Today you'll learn about triggers and actions, and you'll create an interactive photo gallery. While a lot of JavaScript—or more specifically, jQuery—is involved here, don't worry. You don't have to write very much code!

Symbols

Symbols allow you to have objects in your Edge Animate project that contain their own Timelines. That means an individual object can have its own animation, entirely separate from the animation of other symbols or of the project itself. What can symbols do for you? They help you create complex projects in less time and with less clutter.

Advanced Animation Techniques

We've spent quite a bit of time working with animation, but there are a few more techniques worth knowing. In this lesson, you're going to add easing so your objects can appear to speed up, slow down, or even bounce. We'll also explore the auto-keyframe and auto-transition modes in Edge Animate. Finally, we'll look at a few things you can do on the Timeline to better control what you see when you create your animations.

Adding the Finishing Touches Before Publication

Creating an animated masterpiece in Edge Animate is fun, but what good is it if no one else can view your work? In this lesson, you'll learn about publishing your projects for the world to see. You'll create a down-level stage of your project so that older browsers can read it, and you'll prepare a preloader in case it takes a while for your project to load.

Publishing Your Work

Today we're going to look at publishing your projects on your own website or on a client's site. We'll discuss what files Edge Animate creates on your hard drive and how the files differ from those that other programs create. As we go through the different options for publishing, I'll explain what each one means and why it might benefit you. And I'll provide some tips on finding the right Web host for you.

Integrating Edge Animate Projects and Existing Web Projects

Up until now, we've been working with Edge Animate in something of a vacuum. While you'll create stand-alone projects in Edge Animate, you'll also make projects (such as banner ads) that function as parts of larger sites. In this lesson, you'll discover how to integrate Edge Animate projects into existing sites.

Creating Projects for Mobile Devices

Experts say that by 2015, more people will access the Web through mobile devices than through traditional laptop and desktop computers. In this lesson, you'll find out how to use Edge Animate to create projects that easily scale to fit on any size screen.