Since we all are just learning the basics of Flash, this post will focus primarily on the many sources of free help, support and development tools provided by Adobe.
First and foremost, use the on-line "Flash Help". The basic questions that I have had to date on how to do something in Flash have been adequately answered by the on-line Flash help pages. Additionally, several topics that I have used contain links to Adobe TV video tutorials for that particular subject if you would prefer to watch a video rather than going through the written instructions.
You can also link to Adobe TV directly by using this link: http://tv.adobe.com/
Find the link to the Flash section under the Products tab or go directly there using this link: http://tv.adobe.com/product/flash/ This Flash-specific Adobe TV page contains many links to Flash tutorials and development tips. Be sure and click on the "Learn Flash CS4 Professional" link which will direct you to a page containing more than 35 video tutorials on a variety of subjects. So far, each of the tutorials I viewed have been Lynda.com tutorials. All have been free.
The Flash Help and Support page can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/ This page contains links to the Flash on-line help, more Flash articles and tips, and links to Flash development tools, such as the Adobe Developer Connection Pages.
Also check out the Adobe Developer Connection web pages, http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/?view=home , which also have many links to Flash specific articles and tutorials.
Other non-Adobe resources that I have found to date include:
Flash Design Marketing - http://www.flash-design-marketing.com/
CreativePro.com - http://www.creativepro.com/
and
CreativeCOW.net - http://www.creativecow.net/
Creative COW appears to be focused toward tutorials and training. There are fifty-three free Flash tutorials on the site. The tutorials run the gamut from basic use of the drawing tools to advanced Action Script 3 topics. Creative COW also has a Flash forum.
Flash Design Marketing offers Flash templates, some for free - and some for a price. Some of the free templates appear to be worth a second look once I learn more about Flash.
Creative Pro appears to be focused on web design in general and does not appear to have a lot of Flash-specific content. However, the web site does contain a lot of design articles and "how-tos" for the web designer.
Check out FlashSources.net - http://flashsources.net/- for more Flash templates and design inspiration. There are some free templates here.
Lastly Digital Thread - http://digitalthread.com/ - describes itself as follows:
"Dedicated to the graphic designer, Digitalthread is the oldest existing web design community web site. Built to showcase only a handful of successful web designs back in September 1996, Digitalthread is the currently the designer's home for the finding the best web design companies, and the best designed web sites of all time. "
I have not yet had much time to go through the pages of Digital Thread. However, it appears to be a good resource for design inspiration. Look at the Flash section in the Web Design section for links to Flash web sites.
In summary, there are a LOT more Flash resources, both free or for a price, than I realized. For now I will content myself with the free training and tutorials that Adobe has to offer.
(Author's Update - 2/10/2010: Although I stated above that one should use the Flash on-line help first, I have since found Karl's video tutorials [ http://karlcleveland.com/150/tutorials.htm ] to be extremely helpful in answering the question... "How did he do that in class?" It seems that while it made sense in class, I seem to forget the steps before I get home. Thus, my first source for "how-to" questions is now Karl's tutorials.)
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