Course Outline
Silverlight is a new technology for cross-platform rich internet application development, and Microsoft has provided the Expression Suite of tools targeted at interactive designers.
This course will concentrate on using Expression Blend, Expression Encoder, and Expression Design as well as Visual Studio 2010 with the Silverlight extensions.
Course Content
On this course we'll teach you how to produce Silverlight design together with UI interaction through the use of XAML and some basic C# commands.
If you're looking for something much more software-developer focused, have a look at our other Silverlight courses.
View the Silverlight for Developers Course
Our hands-on Designing with Silverlight / Expression training course has been developed for real-world, commercial scenarios by our expert instructors. The course contains many Silverlight tutorials based on real-world scenarios. See below for detailed syllabus, or if you have a technical question, please email sales@jbinternational.co.uk
What you will learn
- What is Silverlight
- Silverlight Tools
- Silverlight Animation & Graphics
- Audio & Video in Silverlight
- DeepZoom
- Styles, Templates, Resources
Silverlight for Designers Training Course Outline
Introducing Blend and Silverlight
Positioning Microsoft Silverlight?
Plug-in and Download Requirements
Placing Silverlight in the Timeline of the Web
Defining Silverlight Capabilities for the Designer
Key Types of Rich Media Supported by Silverlight
Animation
Databinding
Effects
Controls
Layout
DeepZoom
Video & Audio
Resources
Defining Silverlight Scenarios
Examples in Detail
High-Definition Video Experiences
Gaming
E-Commerce
Overview of Expression Blend 4
Designer/Developer Workflow
Prototyping
The XAML Workflow
Fundamental Ways to Create Silverlight Content
An Introduction to XAML
XAML for Communication
The Essentials of XAML
Understanding the Scope and Range of XAML Using Animation
Importing Photoshop and Illustrator Files
Customizing User Interface Using Controls
Understanding User Controls
Adding Interactivity with Behaviours
Applying a Hyperlink to an Object Using the HyperlinkAction Behaviour
Publishing and XAP file
The Site Folder
The ClientBin folder
The XAP file
The HTML and SilverlightJS File
Creating Prototypes with Sketch Flow
The SketchFlow Workflow
The Philosophy of Prototyping
The Prototype Workflow in SketchFlow
Feedback and Evolution
SketchFlow Authoring
Feedback using the Sketch Flow Player
SketchFlow Projects and Workspace
T he Expression Blend Workspace
Document Windows
Artboard
Sketch Flow Map (SketchFlow only)
The Tools Panel
The Asset Library
The Projects Panel
The Objects and Timeline Panel
The Properties Panel
Creating New Navigation Screens
Adding Content to Navigation Pages
Adding User Interface Elements
Using Composition Screens
Adding a Navbar Across Pages
Working in the SketchFlow Player
Creating Interactive Navigation
Using the Navigate To command
Adding States in Sketch Flow
Creating an Animated Shopping Cart Screen Using States
Activating State Changes
Working With the SketchFlow Player Feedback Feature
Exporting Your Project for Feedback
Exporting to Word
Importing and Building Assets with Expression Blend
Selection Primer: Making Selections in Expression Blend
Importing Assets into Expression Blend
Vector vs Raster
Importing From Photoshop
Understanding the Default Canvas Size
Adding the Photoshop Object
Importing an Adobe Illustrator file
Creating Objects in Using the Expression Blend Drawing Tools
Overview of Drawing Tools for Shapes
Aids to Help You Create More Precisely
Naming Objects in Expression Blend
Rounding the Corners of a Rectangle
Applying Properties to a Rectangle
Creating and Editing a Stroke
Cloning an Object
Resizing the Object
Using the Transform Pane
Applying a Gradient Stroke
Applying Effects Changing the Order
Aligning and Distributing Objects in Expression Blend
Working With Expression Design
The Expression Design Workspace
Creating a simple shape in Expression Design
Adding a Bevel Effect
Grouping and Naming the object
Exporting into Expression Blend
Naming and Arranging Elements in Expression Blend
Nested Objects: An Overview of Layout Controls
The Grid Control
The Canvas Control
Creating a Canvas Control
Selecting Elements in Objects and Timeline
Exploring the Grid Control
Creating a Grid Control
Grid vs Canvas
Stack Panel and Border Controls
Transforming vs The Viewbox Control
Transforming a Canvas
The Viewbox Control
Creating Animation & Basic Interactivity in Expression Blend
Understanding Storyboards
Creating Storyboard Resources
Creating Additional Storyboards
Switching Storyboards on Click
Understanding Events and Event Handlers
Behaviors in Expression Blend
What are Triggers?
Benefits of “Hand-Off” Timelines
Working with the Visual State Manager
A Look at the UI Controls
Adding and Modifying a UI Button Control
Modifying UI Controls
Modifying States & Transitions
Applying Style Templates to Existing Controls
Modifying Control Labels and Icons
A Look at the Content Presenter
Creating a Custom UI Control
Defining States & Transitions in a Custom Control
Editing the Content Presenter
Applying Your New Control Styles
Adding Video in Expression Blend
Preparing Video with Expression Encoder
T he Expression Encoder Workspace
Trimming and Cutting Video
Importing Media
Understanding Bitrate and How it Affects Quality and File Size
Encoding Basics
Working With Encoding Profiles
Using the A/B Feature Compare to Create a Custom Profile
Comparing Different Encoding Methods
Encoding Your Video Using Templates
Editing Encoder's Video Player Templates in Blend
Audio and Video Support in Silverlight 4
Adding Video Files to a Silverlight Project
Using the MediaElement Control in Blend
Creating a Volume Control
Advanced Coding & Interactivity: A C# Sharp Primer
Brief C# and Net Background
Common Object Models (COM)
Operating System (OS)
Application Programming Interface (API)
Services
Using Expression Blend to Develop a Silverlight Project Using C#
Investigating the Automatically-Generated C# Code
Understanding Namespaces
Collections
Heap
Methods
Properties and Methods
Partial
Building the simple re-useable Component
What is Object-Oriented: Understanding Classes, Methods & Properties
The Process
Accessing an Auto-Generated Control Class
Bridging Between Auto-Generated Code and Manually Written Code
Using Comments in Code
Object Instantiation, Object Implementation & Adding Methods & Properties
Instantiation
Implementation
Modifying a Property
Making the Property Public
Passing an Argument to Set the Property
Using Get/Set to Access Methods
Initializing a Property Through a Constructor
Overloading: Multiple Constructors
if/else Conditional Logic
Enumerations
Review of Blocks in the Code
Advanced Coding & Interactivity: Practical Application
Using Classes in User Controls
Creating Custom Controls
Custom Controls as Classes
Adding States to Custom Controls
Extending the Abilities of Custom Controls with C#
Adding Exposed Properties
Working with Data
Adding Data Sources
Creating and Customizing Controls from Data Sources
Data Binding
Binding Element Properties
Introducing DeepZoom
DeepZoom Composer
DeepZoom Technology
Blurry-to-crisp Loading Behavior
Image Pyramids and Tiles
Project Structure
Preparing Images for a DeepZoom Composition
Creating, Composing, and Exporting a DeepZoom Project
Creating the DeepZoom Composition
Changing the Stacking Order
Aligning and Distributing Images
Exporting Your DeepZoom Project
Updating your DeepZoom Project to Silverlight 4
