#Blend For Visual Studio How To Use Storyboard#

You can use the Tools panel in Blend for Visual Studio to create and modify objects in your application. Blend got a bit of attention following the 2009 Mix conference thanks to SketchFlow, the prototyping feature built into Blend 3, and which has been well received.Blend for Visual Studio overview Tools panel. How good is it? There is a shortage of in-depth reviews, if my quick Google search is anything to go by, though there are plenty of quick write-ups saying that it is not as good as Adobe Flash. We blend visual tools into the editor so you get the right amount of help.Expression Blend is the design tool for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight, and thus a key tool for building applications for the current generation of MicrosoftвЂ™s platform. Posted: (2 days ago) Microsoft Blend for Visual Studio Training Class Blend for Visual Studio Class Length: 2 days This two-day course introduces Blend for Visual Studio users to the tools and features they can use to create interactive applications for Windows 8 and Windows Phone.Visual COBOL for Visual Studio Essentials (free) Micro Focus Visual COBOL is a. Microsoft Blend for Visual Studio Training Class Best Online Courses the day at Courses.

Blend For Visual Studio How To Use Storyboard

Hello folksOne reason for BlendвЂ™s relatively low profile is that it is aimed at designers, whereas MicrosoftвЂ™s community is more developer-focused. This is me Ronak, and I am back with a new video on how to use Storyboard in visual studio blend and animate controls.Hope you all like this v. Objects and Timeline window.

IвЂ™m guessing there are quite a few developers who have opened it up, clicked around a bit, and retreated gratefully back to Visual Studio. XAML is verboseIt is just as well you can avoid it, because although Blend is very capable, it is not easy to learn. Another option is to write your own XAML code, which works for laying out controls though it is inconceivable for drawings. Now with Visual Studio 2010 the same is true for Silverlight.

Try lesson 9, Styling and working with design-time data. The user interface is busy, and finding what you want or getting focus on the right object can be a challenge.As evidence of this, take a look at Adam KinneyвЂ™s Through the Eyes of Expression Blend tutorial, which is among the best I have found. ThatвЂ™s true but the developer/design divide is not a absolute one, and ideally Blend should be something a developer can dip into easily, to create or enhance a simple layout, without too much stress.Maybe some developers can but I have not found Blend particularly intuitive.

Microsoft has no need for something like Adobe Catalyst to bridge the XML/Designer divide.Still, Microsoft had a clean slate with Blend, which is only a few years old, and it is a shame it could not come up with something a bit more user-friendly.The other implication is that the new visual designer in Visual Studio 2010 makes Silverlight applications a great deal easier to create. Blend has one great advantage over Flash Professional: it authors XAML, and you can open it up in Visual Studio and continue working on it there. Would you have known to right-click the StackPanel and choose Change Layout Type > Grid? What about step 8, right-clicking the ListBox, and selecting Edit Additional Templates > Edit Layout of Items (Items Panel) > Create Empty?And notice how in step 9 you have to click the вЂњsmall grey square next to the Source propertyвЂќ, thatвЂ™s the one called Advanced Options:Overall it is a nice tutorial, but you might need an evening or two with a couple of fat books, one on XAML and one on Blend itself (if you can find a good one), in order to understand the features you have have been using.It is probably worth it, if you intend to work with Silverlight or WPF.

I needed to create a Silverlight app and I found Blend fairly intuitive once I learned a few general tricks.If youвЂ™ve ever tried to customize a control in Flash itвЂ™s a pain, and the approach to it in Blend is a lot simpler. Took me about a month to really get familiar with it. In fact, that is how I learned Blend as quickly as I did. I see a lot of similarities between the two. Blend expression microsoft silverlight wpf Post navigationI agree with many of your points above especially the hidden access to features/properties and lack of clear identification of the current focus item.As you mentioned, I think that Blend has a learning curve comparable to Flash Pro IDE.

VS2010 wonвЂ™t really cut it for this unless they choose to buy in the design.It is also clear that there is a growing need for people who understand how to use Blend and work with Xaml (particlarly with a ViewModel) are going to be more and more in demand going forward.Blend is something new and different and there is a need to take time to learn how to use it because of that. Perhaps a VS inspired theme would make it easier.One thing is clear is that it is not вЂњpure designersвЂќ who need to use Blend, not even just вЂњIntegratorsвЂќ, or вЂњdevelopers who like to make things prettyвЂќ but there are many smaller departmental teams who have never really had to consider design much for the LoB apps before, but are now being told it is a competitive advantage, and that they need to вЂњdesignвЂќ their apps now. Any developer will be very happy digging around the UI and finding options like вЂњEdit Layout of Items (Items Panel)вЂќ once they understand the concepts вЂ“ and of course there are multiple ways to get to everything (as is the MS way) вЂ“ so they will find the method they prefer over time (in this case I would say the Breadcrumb at the top of the artboard is more intuitive).In my experience, itвЂ™s more a question of familiarity вЂ“ I have trained developers who have really hated Blend to start with, but on future visits they have come round to вЂњitвЂ™s actually quite coolвЂќ вЂ“ and designers with a Flash background who may dislike the many tiny grey icons and squares (we do need a name for that advanced option square thing вЂ“ Adamn Kinney called it a вЂњpegвЂќ вЂ“ which I think is as good as any), but come to appreciate the power of it as they use it (templating, binding, sample data, etc)I sometimes think that if MS provided a few more themes for Blend it would make the initial transition easier вЂ“ as it is we have two: Dark and Light (which reminds me of The Blues Brothers film вЂ“ вЂњwe have both types of music: country AND westernвЂќ). The Visual Studio designer helps overcome some of the issues of writing raw XAML, but not all of them вЂ“ especially when it comes to animations and good UX (which, typically, is the motivator to get to grips with Silverlight and WPF).I agree in principle that Blend can be a little bit strange to look at for a VS developer, but really itвЂ™s not that hard. ThereвЂ™s obviously something wrong when terms like вЂњMVVMвЂќ are dropped into a designer tool (but NOT the developer one!) and so itвЂ™s hardly surprising that people who find Visual Studio terrifying arenвЂ™t exactly falling in love with Blend.