Animating Draw Layers Support
In previous articles I showed you how to set up draw layers and how to add behaviours to a draw layer to create dynamic content. Dreamweaver MX (and the updated Dreamweaver MX 2004) also provides controls that allow you to animate draw layers through the use of a standard Timeline interface. Although not as sophisticated as the ones found in Flash or Director, the concepts are much the same. Dreamweaver will generate all of the DHTML code needed to animate one or more layers on the Web page.
This article is suitable for those using Dreamweaver MX and MX2004 with the newest update from Macromedia that restored the timeline to MX 2004.
Jason Cranford Teague
Jason Cranford Teague has been working in digital media design since 1994. Over the years, his clients have included Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Virgin, CNN, Kodak, Siemens, The European Space Agency, and WebMD. A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he spent a very cold year getting his M.S. in Technical Communication, Jason is regularly asked to speak at conferences about design for Web, print, and video. An internationally recognized writer and columnist, Jason is the author of numerous books and articles including the best selling DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web (Peachpit Press), Final Cut Express Solutions (Sybex), Dreamweaver MX Magic (New Riders), and Photoshop CS at Your Fingertips (Sybex). In addition, he has written for the Apple Developers Connection, Computer Arts Magazine, Macworld Magazine, and The Independent Newspaper as well as appearing on TechTV's “The Screen Savers.” Jason is currently running Bright Eye Media (www.brighteyemedia.com), which specializes in Web sites for education and entertainment.