Using Custom Skinnable Components in Panini
I'd like to do a quick introduction to custom skinnable components in Panini. Panini, in case you haven't heard, is the code name for the next version of Flash Catalyst, and you can download a trial version on Adobe Labs. Custom skinnable components are a new feature in Panini, one that can make life for both designers and developers significantly easier. For this example, we're going to build the following swf.
While this was possible in Catalyst 1.0, it could be a lot of work to add an additional "Slide" and the corresponding button interactions. With custom skinnable components, it's incredibly simple because a developer can create a component with the "Go forward" and "Go backward" logic built right in.
Is Panini sounding tasty? Take a bite!
Creating a Movie Gallery with Catalyst
We wrote an article for webdesigndev a little while back on creating a movie clip gallery with thumbnails. It's certainly our longest tutorial yet, and written as a way to get your feet wet with Catalyst. You can check it out over here.
Publishing to the Web!
Just a quick post on how to get everything uploaded to the web. Before you get started, you will need some form of web hosting, to serve your content to people requesting it. If you're looking for hosting, you can check out some of the large companies like BlueHost, HostGator, or WebFaction to at least get an idea of plans and pricing.
When you've finished a project in Flash Catalyst, you can publish it via the File > Publish option. This creates two versions of your project.
More after the jump.
More than you’ll ever want to know about Grids + Guides in Catalyst.
You want grids and guides in Catalyst?
Well, we've got them.
This post is a simple rundown with some grids/guides tips and tricks... I mean, I need a break after that optimization post... right? 
Creating Scrollbars without Tracks and Thumbs
Have you ever designed a scroll panel or data list and wanted to make it scroll with just buttons? For example, the scroll panel below scrolls its content with just an up, down, left, and right button.
Normally, when you create a scrollbar, Catalyst prompts you to assign the thumb and track for each scrollbar. In fact, they are both marked, rather ominously, as "required". One way of getting around this is to create the thumb and track parts, and then hide them, either offscreen, or setting their opacity to zero. But this can leave weird mouse interaction areas in your swf, and it's less than ideal.
As it turns out, "required" parts for the horizontal and vertical scrollbars are really only suggested. They're part of a typical scrollbar, but in this case, we don't want a typical scrollbar. So guess what? You don't have to assign them. Just assign the button parts (left, right, up, down) and you're good to go.
run-local vs deploy-to-web
If you've published your project in Catalyst yet, you've probably noticed that Catalyst creates two different versions of your project in the publish folder. One is the run-local version, and the other is the deploy-to-web version. So what's the difference?