September Meeting: Extending Flash

August 27th, 2010 Chris Griffith

September 13, 2010
6:00 pmto8:00 pm

Andrew Walpole, Multimedia Programmer at Jack in the Box and Flash and Actionscript Development Instructor at The Art Institute of California – San Diego, will presenting on Flash JavaScript API. This API lets you write scripts to perform several actions in the Flash authoring environment.

Using the JavaScript API, you can write Flash application scripts to help streamline the authoring process. For example, you can write scripts to automate repetitive tasks, add custom tools to the Tools panel, or add timeline effects.

So come can learn more about this API at our September meeting. Note, due to Labor Day, the meeting will be held one week later.


Playing with AIR for Android

August 27th, 2010 Chris Griffith

Just wanted to let the user group know that I have developed an AIR for Android app. It was of course, a mobile conference app (Springsteen sings about cars, I write mobile conference apps). I have a write up on the application over on my blog. If you are in the pre-release, you can download the apk file and try it out.

I will bring my Nexus One to September’s meeting, so you can try it out.

Got a project you want to brag about? Then October’s meeting is for you. We are planning to have a user showcase. Bring something you have been working on, and show it off. The demo does not need to be fancy or very long. We know that we got some smart and creative members, so let’s see it!


August Meeting: Learn about the Multi-touch Capabilities of Flex

July 6th, 2010 Chris Griffith

August 2, 2010
6:00 pmto8:00 pm

The presentation will be based on the basic  multi-touch capabilities the Flash Player has using Adobe Flex. We will be going over what it  can and cannot do (out of the box), how multi-touch works with Flex, Some very basic code demos to help everyone understand and get started, and then I  will show a more complex product to demonstrate the possibilities.

Asa  Williams – Software Consultant, Cynergy Systems. Former telemetry leader for the Principia Solar Car Team where she first started utilizng Flex. Subsequently a contractor at Northrop Grumman working on ground station software for UAVs.


New Flex 4 Training Course!

June 30th, 2010 Chris Griffith

The team from developmentARC (WorkflowLab from Adobe) has just announced a Flex 4 training course. Here is the information:

In our session you will about learn MXML language changes, intro to FXG, Flex 4 component life cycle, in-depth Spark skinning architecture, changes to the item renderer system, and best practices for creating both components and item renderers.  We will walk through creating a new component and building a basic item renderer.  Session’s will be 4 hours online via Adobe connect and are only $100 dollars! Space is limited, see all sessions here http://www.developmentarc.com/site/training.

Current sessions include July 20th at 10am PST (http://www.eventbrite.com/event/748019346) and July 29th at 4pm PST (http://www.eventbrite.com/event/748058463)


July Meeting: Current State of Flash Runtimes (with Android Demos)

June 28th, 2010 Chris Griffith

July 12, 2010
6:00 pmto8:00 pm

Adobe’s Renaun Erickson will be joining us for the July meeting. Due to the July 4th Holiday, the meeting will be held on July 12th.

With the latest releases of Adobe Flash and AIR runtimes developers will have access to new features and new devices. Come learn about the new released features and some of the future roadmap. Come hear about the real world current situation as well as show demos of how the runtimes perform on a Android device.

Hope to see you there. This time I promise not to go kayak surfing and injury my back!


D2W designer/developer workflow conference – online!

June 9th, 2010 Chris Griffith

So how is this different than the normal registration?

It is online. So you are free to watch any of the presentations live, but when you register, you also get access to the recorded presentations. That is 33 sessions from some of the biggest and best names in the business, including the keynote by Adobe’s Doug Winnie.

After you register, you’ll get an email back telling you the live room recordings. You’ll be sent where to view the recordings after the conference.

What is D2W?

Kansas City’s first Designer/Developer Workflow Conference. June 19-20 in downtown Kansas City, MO near the Power & Light District. We have some of the best speakers both locally and internationally coming to talk on all things workflow. If you are a designer, developer or both, this conference is for you.

Why Workflow?

What’s the big deal about workflow? Workflow is something we all do, day in and day out – although you may not even think about it. Do you work with multiple applications during the day? Do you work with team members, departments, clients, etc.? Improving those workflows is what D2W is all about. We have 3 tracks, with 60-minute sessions. Sign up as a designer, developer, or as a hybrid of both. In addition to the sessions centering around workflow, there’ll be several biz-type sessions for Web professionals.

Who is speaking?

We have an amazing speaker list. Doug Winnie, Flash Catalyst Product Manager and Workflow Manager, Paul Trani – Flash Platform Evangelist, Pariah Burke – Adobe Instructor and workflow is his middle name, Rob Huddleston – Adobe Instructor and author extraordinaire as well as Tom Green who is a legend in the Flash world. We have many more amazing speakers, check out the speakers page and find out more.


Flash Camp San Francisco

May 10th, 2010 Chris Griffith

Flash Camp San Francisco session recordings are now available online. Here is your chance to learn about the latest Flash Platform tools and technologies. http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/events/

Recorded sessions:


Learn Flex, Flash Builder 4, Flash Catalyst and more next week

May 7th, 2010 Chris Griffith

Adobe Developer Week 2010 logo

Adobe Developer Week is a week long set of e-seminars next week that go over all those topics and more. The sessions will be presented by members of the Adobe evangelism team including Ben FortaKevin Hoyt and Ryan StewartLee BrimelowJames Ward, and Christophe Coenraets, and the Flex product team including Andrew Shorten, Deepa Subramaniam and Ely Greenfield and other very talented people at Adobe.

Flex developers will be most interested in the following sessions, but be sure to check out the whole list so you don’t miss anything:
New features in the Flex 4 framework
New features in Flash Builder 4
What’s new in Flash Builder for Java developers
Building a basic CRUD application with Zend AMF and Flex 4
Advanced features in Flex

All the sessions will be recorded and posted online.


May Meeting: Transitioning to Flash Builder 4

April 20th, 2010 Chris Griffith

May 3, 2010
6:00 pmto8:00 pm

James Polanco from Development Arc will be giving a walk-through on transitioning from FlexBuilder 3 to FlashBuilder 4.

This will be a really great chance to get an introduction to some of the new features that you will all be working with in the new version of Flashbuilder from that man who (literally) wrote the book on the subject! Hope to see you there!


Flash Player and Adobe AIR Betas for Android

April 19th, 2010 Chris Griffith

You can now sign up to be notified when the first public betas of both Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR 2.0 are available. Adobe just started the private betas and they are really looking forward to getting these technologies into our hands as soon as possible. There are going to be so many interesting things that you will be able to do on Android and there are also going to be many new skills that you will need to learn, especially if you are new to mobile design. One thing that will help you tremendously is to learn more about optimizing content for mobile devices. There are separate sign-up pages for Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR 2.0 so go on over and get registered.