Authoring Silverlight Experiences with Microsoft Expression Blend 3

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Overview

This three day instructor led training course will teach designers how to use Expression Blend 3 to build rich and compelling user experiences based on the Silverlight 3 platform.
The course will consist of approximately 50% instructor presentation (limited PowerPoint slides and an emphasis on instructor led demonstration) and 50% hands on lab activities, which will provide students the opportunity to gain solid hands on experience with Silverlight 3 and Expression Blend 3. 

Audience

The Primary Audience is Designers – which includes graphics and Web designers currently familiar with tools such as Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator and Dreamweaver. The course is also relevant for those developers wanting to create rich front end applications.

Prerequisites

Some familiarity with tools such as Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator and Dreamweaver. Developers would find experience with C# and Visual Studio an advantage. 

Delegates will learn how to

• Describe the key features of Silverlight 3.
• Describe the people, tools, and tool workflow associated with creating Silverlight experiences.
• Use Sketchflow to prototype you Silverlight project.
• Create Expression Blend projects.
• Import Photoshop and Illustrator files.
• Assemble and build a rich user interface by using Expression Blend.
• Develop and customize media by using Expression Encoder.
• Develop advanced animation effects.
• Develop advanced media effects.
• Use databinding and templating techniques to present data to the user.
• Publish a Silverlight application.
• Customize the built in controls
• Create custom User Controls
• Add interactivity to your application using C# code
• Create DeepZoom Silverlight Experiences 

Course outline

Module 1: Introducing Silverlight

• This lesson introduces Silverlight, provides demonstrations of its capabilities and features, and describes the emerging capabilities of Silverlight. This lesson also explains the component architecture of Silverlight and describes the main tools that you can use to develop Silverlight content.
• This lesson will introduce and demonstrate the fundamentals of XAML, showing how you can use XAML to create the most common Silverlight features including controls, vector shapes, brushes, animations, and video.
• This lesson demonstrates how Photoshop and Illustrator files can be loaded directly into Expression Blend.
• This lesson shows how publish the .XAP file

 

Module 2: Prototyping you Silverlight project in Sketchflow

• This lesson introduces Sketchflow terminology and show how Sketchflow can be used to create, test, iterate, present and evaluate ideas in rapid succession.

Module 3: Building assets for your Silverlight project     

• This lesson demonstrates how to import assets into your Silverlight project.
• This lesson shows how to create and arrange controls using Expression Blend.
• This lesson introduces effects and how they can be applied to your objects.

 

Module 4: Naming and arranging elements in Expression Blend

• This lesson explains the need for layout controls such as Grid and Canvas.
• This lesson shows how layout controls can arrange their child elements.

 

Module 5: Creating animation and basic  interactivity in Expression Blend

• This lesson explains the Silverlight animation engine and how it works.
• This lesson introduces concepts such as storyboards, keyspline animations and handoff timelines.
• This lesson demonstrates the animation capabilities of Expression Blend.

 

Module 6: Working with the Visual State Manager

• This lesson introduces controls, and then describes the controls that are available and how students can use them within their Silverlight experiences.
• This lesson introduces the concept of control customization, altering the appearance and visual interactivity but keeping the core control behavior or functionality. This lesson describes how styles can be used to manipulate and standardize control elements as well as looking the Visual State Manager as a way to implement customizations without needing to write code, create triggers or storyboards.
• This lesson explains how to create your own controls, in form of custom user controls.

 

Module 7: Adding video in Expression Blend

• This lesson introduces and demonstrates Expression Encoder, and its main features and capabilities for working with video.
• This lesson gives you an overview of the media template skins and describes how to create Silverlight media content by customizing a media player template skin. 
• This lesson introduces and explains markers, and then shows you how to add markers to your media content by using Expression Encoder.

 

Module 8: Advanced coding and interactivity: a C# primer

• This lesson introduces the Designer to the Developer’s environment to enhance communication, collaboration and understanding of that environment.
• This lesson provides a brief overview of .NET and the C# language.

 

Module 9: Advanced coding and interactivity: practical application

• This lesson shows how content can be converted into a User Control in order for it to be reused within an application.
• This lesson explains how C# can be used to add functionality to User Controls.

 

Module 10: Working with data

• This lesson explains how datasources provide a bridge between a Silverlight application and data held in XML files or databases.
• This lesson demonstrates how databinding can be used to display data within the application and optionally allow the user to update the data.
• This lesson shows how Templates can be used when databinding to control how the data is presented.

 

Module 11: A look at DeepZoom

• This lesson introduces the Deep Zoom technology and provides examples of it’s use.
• This lesson demonstrates how Deep Zoom Composer can be used to create Deep Zoom collections or compositions .
• This lesson shows how to access a Deep Zoom collection or composition from a Silverlight application.