Introduction to Prototyping with SketchFlow (twelve video series)
by Jeremy Osborn - AGI
Ready to learn how you can create interactive prototypes with SketchFlow in Expression Blend 3? Get started with this 12-video series with downloadable guide and files.
The Windows Presentation Foundation has introduced a new and powerful layout container called the Grid. At first, the Grid may seem intimidating, but as you learn how it works, you'll see just how powerful it is. In this demo, we'll reproduce the functionality of Microsoft's Live Messenger, and allow our user to adjust the space given to the various layout components.
So, you've got a shape on your scene, and you want to move it along a non-linear path. You could create a couple dozen keyframes and work with easing to get it just right, but Motion Paths allow you to animate a shape along any arbitrary path.
Gradients are one way to give something a visual flair that's a bit more than a simple solid color. In this tutorial, we're going to explore how to create and edit both a linear and a radial gradient.
As you work with Expression Media, you will undoubtedly want to give your user the ability to pause and resume a video clip as they need. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to hook up Play and Pause buttons to a Media Element.
WPF allows you to create effects on your controls that react to user input. For instance, buttons in Windows get a slightly different appearance when the mouse is over them, to indicate to the user that something is going to happen when they click there. In this tutorial, we're going to take a design taken from Expression Design, bring it over to Blend, convert it to a button, and add a Mouse Over effect.
Bitmap effects are special effects that change the overall appearance of an element or a set of elements. There is a significant performance impact for using bitmap effects, but sometimes they can create a unique effect that you can't get any other way.
Path Editing and Exporting XAML from Expression Design
by Dante Gagne and Total Training
Expression Design has many advanced features for geometry and path editing. However, Blend has some functionality built into it as well. In this tutorial, we're going to take a login screen from Expression Design, bring it into Blend, and then touch up a few of the paths.
WPF gives us many freedoms for creating our designs. The rectangles of yesterday are replaced with more fluid, organic shapes. In this tutorial, we're going to take an Image, which is traditionally rectangular, and apply a clipping mask to change its shape.
Solid color and gradient brushes allow for a wide range of designs, but another feature that WPF has is the concept of an Image Brush. This allows you to apply a texture to any element. In this tutorial, we'll use an Image Brush to apply a texture, and we'll work with Alpha Channels to make the texture jump out a bit more.
The windows of yesterday that all look the same are gone. With WPF, you can customize the shape of your windows, change where the Close, Minimize, and other buttons are, and even add your own buttons to the title bar. In this tutorial, we're going to transform our design into a windowless window, and add a Close button to make it more useful.
This white paper provides a high-level overview into Silverlight and how it fits into the development stack for the next generation of Web applications.
New Microsoft technologies and tools create a new collaboration workflow between designers and developers. The new creative process leads to increased productivity, faster time to market, and higher fidelity in the design. This paper outlines both the theoretical and tactical ways to realize the possibilities of "the new iteration." Discusses workflow and best practices.
.png "Expression Blend Training Videos")
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
