These tutorials will give you an overview of how to get things done with Adobe Flash.  From getting a basic understanding of Flash technology to creating your own professional Flash website, you can find your way around Flash in no time.

ActionScript

1. Flash, ActionScript and Components--these are the barest of the bare necessities when it comes to Flash and really getting into the nitty gritty of it. Thankfully, Adobe packaged all three of them into one PDF to give you a quick heads up. Check out their Introduction to Flash MX, Introduction to ActionScript, and Introduction to Components Tutorial PDF file. They offer both Windows and Mac versions of the tutorial straight from the Macromedia Support Center on the Adobe site.

If you’re looking for more direction for your ActionScripting after that tasty little tidbit in the tutorial above, you might look into doing a couple of cool things with it.

2. For instance, when you create a Flash movie for your site, you can create a Flash Preloader for it. Don’t make your users stare at a blank screen or even a boring percentage indicator. Give them something with a little pizzazz.

3. If you feel the need to display the time on your site whether actual or as part of some creatively designed interface, you can do that as well with ActionScript.  This tutorial is for creating a Flash analog clock in case you’re old school...

4. ... while this one gives you a how-to on creating a Flash digital clock for the more high tech look.

Movement and Dynamics

5. Flash, of course, gives you movement where once there was only stillness. Well why not extend that movement to your website logo? Incorporating some Flash logo animation on your company site will definitely make your brand stand out. Try out the tutorial and give your Mexican jumping beans some actual jump or just liven up that inactive logo in the corner of your web page.

6. Perhaps you’re the type of person who goes to excess in all that you do. If you are, then you’ll not only want the content to pop on your website, you’ll want the menus to do so as well. Luckily, Flash is a universal tool.

Make an interactive Flash menu for your website with this tutorial. Heck, this tutorial even gives you some sound to go along with the visuals so you have a fully interactive experience.

Effects

7. Let’s face it, some of the coolest effects on the web involve smoke. Everything from swirling hazes to large obscuring puffs have made for some of the coolest interactions and backgrounds on the web. Find out how to create Flash smoke effects with a quick tutorial from Tom Green over at Layers.

8. Where there’s smoke, they say there’s fire. And where there’s fire, there’s water as well—once the Fire Department arrives, that is. The cool thing about Flash is that it can create image effects just as well as it does anything else. With this quick tutorial, you can also make your own Flash water effects.

9. Sometimes you want to have a larger animation with a specific style. Whether it’s ships on the sea, planes in the air or cars on the land, they can all be achieved with the right know-how. First up is a quick and easy tutorial on how to create a Flash animated high-tech city over at Flash Vault which not only lets you a create and animate a cityscape, a few planes and clouds, but it also lets you add some lighting effects to them.

10. Planes might not be your thing, but animated BMWs might. Over at Toxic Lab they have a quick tutorial on how to animate a car in Flash and get it looking perfect for any banner, header or picture presentation. 

Presentation Techniques

Many people just need cool ways to show off a portfolio of their work or their vacation photos and are so dedicated to that cause that they’ll go to great lengths to get it done. If this sounds like you, then you’ll be interested in the next several Flash tutorials.

11. Maybe you’re really just looking for a place to express yourself through your photos but in a cool “Hey, Check this out!� sort of way. Well you can start expressing yourself with this tutorial that’ll help you build a Flash image gallery.

12. If you want to continue and get a bit more technical or fancy, then you might want to add a Flash image transition effect to your image gallery as well. 

Designing a Flash Site

13. Many Flash sites have gone awry due to poor planning, execution or layout. Don’t fall victim to any of those. Head over to this Search-This tutorial article where Mark Angeletti gives you the hows, whats and whys of creating your own Flash website structure. 

14. Now that you’ve got the basics, you’ll want to make it look cool, funky or high-tech. Well the next duo of tutorials well get you racing down that road in no time. This first linked tutorial gives you some pointers on making your Flash website so funky that every web designer will undoubtedly be jealous. 

15. Or perhaps you need a high tech look and feel. If so, you can create a futuristic Flash interface for your websitewith this tutorial. 

This is just a taste of some of the most popular sought-after topics in Flash design. With these tips and tricks you should be well on your way to giving your website some Flash. So quit reading this static text and get to Flash-ifying your content.