Expression Blend with Silverlight

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


• Defining Silverlight scenarios


• Overview of Expression Blend 3


• The Expression Blend workspace


• An introduction to XML


• Importing Photoshop and Illustrator files


• Customizing user interface using controls


• Adding interactivity with behaviors


• Publishing the xap file

Importing and Building Assets with Expression Blend

• Selection primer: making selections in Expression Blend


• Importing assets into Expression Blend


• Importing from Photoshop


• Importing an Adobe Illustrator file


• Creating objects with the Expression Blend drawing tools


• Applying properties to a rectangle


• Resizing the object


• Applying a gradient stroke


• Applying effects


• Changing the visual stacking order


• Aligning and distributing objects in Expression Blend


• Working with Expression Design 3


• Creating simple shapes in Expression Design


• Adding effects


• Grouping and naming objects


• 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


• Exploring the Grid control


• Stack Panel and Border controls


• Transforming a Canvas

Creating Animation and Interactivity in Expression Blend

• Understanding Storyboards


• Creating Storyboard resources


• Behaviours in Expression Blend

Working With the Visual State Manager

• Modifying control labels and icons


• Defining states and transitions in a custom control


• Editing the Content Presenter

Adding Video in Expression Blend

• Preparing video with Expression Encoder


• Importing media


• Understanding bit-rate and how it affects quality and file size


• Encoding your video using templates


• Adding video files to a Silverlight project

Advanced Coding and Interactivity: a C# Primer

• Brief C# and .Net background


• Using Expression Blend to develop a Silverlight project using C#


• Understanding namespaces, collections, heap and methods


• Properties and methods


• Object-Oriented Coding: understanding classes, methods and properties


• Object instantiation, object implementation and adding methods & properties


• Modifying a property


• Using Get/Set to access methods


• Initializing a property through a constructor


• Overloading: multiple constructors


• If/Else conditional logic

Advanced Coding and 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

Introducing DeepZoom

• DeepZoom Composer


• Preparing images for a DeepZoom composition


• Creating, composing, and exporting a DeepZoom project


• Aligning and distributing images


• Exporting your DeepZoom project


• Updating your DeepZoom project in Silverlight 3

Creating Prototypes With SketchFlow

• The SketchFlow workflow


• The philosophy of prototyping


• Feedback and evolution


• SketchFlow projects and workspace


• Creating new navigation screens


• Using composition screens


• Adding a Navbar across pages


• Working in the SketchFlow player


• Creating interactive navigation


• Adding states in SketchFlow


• Working with the SketchFlow player feedback feature