Flash :: [CS3] CPU Usage And Items Off Stage

Problem With Off-stage Items
Hi,
I'm new to flash and I have a problem. I'll try to explain the best I can...

I created a site and when I test the movie at 1024X768 it looks fine. I wanted to see it in a higher resolution so I bumped up the res on my monitor and tested the movie again. Now, I can see items that are off the stage in the browser. My understanding is that anything not on the stage will not be seen in the final movie. Is there something I have to do to ensure that the "outside the stage" area is not visible in the published swf? Thanks for any help!

Jason

Can't Drag Library Items To Stage On MAC
I am using Flash 5 on a MAC with OS 9.2. I am unable to drag library items to the stage. What can I do?

Kevin

Moving Multiple Items On The Stage
This is probably a dumb question, but here goes:

I need to dump the contents of all my nested mov clips to Scene1 as one flat animation. When I do, they are no longer in the right place on the stage.

- Is there a way to move multiple keyframes and tweens as a group to another point on the stage, without having to reposition every keyframe one at a time?

When I try selecting them all and grouping, it only moves what keyframes my timeline pointer is on. The rest are left to make unwanted crazy animations.

thanks for your help

Refrencing Array Items Already On Stage
i understand how the attached code works.

Code:
for (var m = 0; m<30; m++) {

thumbNails = picts.createEmptyMovieClip("thumbNails"+m, picts.getNextHighestDepth());
thumbNails.createEmptyMovieClip("thisThumb", this.getNextHighestDepth());
thumbNails.myNumber = m;
thumbNails._alpha = 50;
thumbNails.onRollOver = function() {
this.onEnterFrame = function() {
if (this._alpha<100) {
this._alpha += 10;
}
if (this._alpha>=100) {
delete this.onEnterFrame;
}
};
};

The idea in this was to learn how to individually refrence each instance in the array, without having to write m[0],m[1],m[2]...etc , 30 times for each action. I also wanted to learn how to duplicate clips with a for loop..It makes since to me when i am creating mc's from AScipt

. But how do i do the same idea, with 5 different mc's are already on the stage. I am sure it starts with classifying them into an array, But from there, my head got a bit boggled.. So far, i am taking it in this direction:

Code:
var demos:Array= [mc1.demoScrollBar,mc1.demoButton,mc1.demoNeedle,mc1.demoSnap,mc1.demoSafetyPin];
var thisDemo:MovieClip;
for(var d=0;d<demos.length;d++){
thisDemo=demos[d].createEmptyMovieClip("helpButtons", this.getNextHighestDepth());

demos[d]._alpha=50;
thisDemo.index=d
thisDemo.onRollOver=function(){
clearInterval(nAlpha);
nAlpha=setInterval(alphaUp,50,demos[this]);

}
thisDemo.onRollOut=function(){
clearInterval(nAlpha);
nAlpha=setInterval(alphaDown,50,demos[this]);
}
thisDemo.onRelease=function(){
txDemo.text=myXML.firstChild.childNodes[this.index].attributes.words;
}
}
however, it seems that i am not getting how i can refrence each mc without writing demos[0], demo[1], etc for each i want to addres with the onRelease. was that confusing? any ideas?

How To Apply As3 Code To Items On The Stage
hello again...

i have to code a project in which the designer already prepared a fla file with an embedded MovieClip.
this MovieClip contains a lot of other MCs which i have to control using scripts...

this sucks a little but i have to do it anyhow.

now here is a specific problem:

there are four movieclips on the stage which should act as buttons.
they are named btn_0 to btn_3

to make them happen as buttons previously i would have coded:

Code:
for (var i =0;i<4;i++){
var btn=this["btn_"+i];
btn.id=i;
btn.onRollOver=function(){
btnOver(this.id);
}
btn.onRollOut=function(){
btnOut(this.id);
}
btn.onRelease=function(){
btnRelease(this.id);
}
}
function btnOver(id){
this["btn"+id].gotoAndStop(2)
}
function btnOut(id){
this["btn"+id].gotoAndStop(1)
}
function btnRelease(id){
this["btn"+id].gotoAndStop(3)
this.curr_btn_id=id
}

can someone nudge me into how this would be done in AS3 ?
thanks a lot!

Moving Stage Items On Resize
Does anyone know how to reposition the stage items on resize like they do on
http://www.hellohikimori.com/
I know how to just move the items onResize, but I want to have the effect of waiting till the resizing has finished before the items move, and how the items bounce in using a Tween.

Any Suggestions.

Referencing Stage Items From Packages
Take this very basic piece of code:

ActionScript Code:
package {
import fl.controls.Button;
import flash.display.*;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;

public class ControlButton extends MovieClip {

public function ControlButton() {
setupButtons();
trace("buttons setup");
}

private function setupButtons():void {
myPauseButt.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, pauseButtHandler);
}

private function pauseButtHandler():void {
trace("-- pauseButtHandler: pause/play clicked");

}
}
}

it just traps a button click for a button component on stage.
If you instance it in the document class, directly in the fla, it works.

Instead if you instance it in another class, defined in another package, it doesn't find the button:

1120: Access of undefined property myPauseButt.

for the record, this is how I instance ControlButton:

ActionScript Code:
var cb:ControlButton = new ControlButton();
addChild(cb); // tried with and without this, same thing.

MORALE: What should I do to see a button component on stage from some remote class?

BUG? Selecting Items On Stage Causes Crash
I am able to consistently recreate the following issue, but no one else that I've spoken to has. Is anyone else having this issue? If I’m the only person in the world having this issue then it must be my machine and not Flash.

I'm on Windows XP with Flash 9. (latest updates, etc.)

Draw a box.
Select it and press F8 to make it a movie clip
Copy it and paste it 10 times (distribute across the stage)
Select all 11 movie clips and press F8 to make into another mc
(So now we have 11 mc’s, nested in a single mc)
Holding down the SHIFT key select each mc one at a time (do not marquee select.)

SOMETIMES it's OK. However, a lot of times one of the mc's I select will not highlight as selected. If I continue to click mc’s my machine will scream and power down! (No crash report, no blue screen, etc.) If I wait patiently the one mc that didn't highlight will highlight, the ones I previously selected will deselect.

***************************
This is getting on my nerves because I often get fla files from graphic designers that place everything on a single layer. My first task might be to select all of the text labels, for example, and place them on a separate layer. Yesterday I had to select 75 labels copy/move to another layer and paste one at a time!
***************************

Flash CS3 - Can't Drag Items Off Stage?
i don't know why but i can't drag anything (movieclips, shapes, etc) off of the stage. i've looked through all the settings and i can't figure out what i did wrong. please help! it's probably something trivial...

Load Items To Stage Via An Array
Hi all, I'm just trying to learn AS3 and am having some trouble ...

I have 4 library items (all movie clips), named as mc0, mc1, mc2, mc3. The linkage is set so the class name is the same.

I want to create an array with the class names in, so I have:

HTML Code:
var mcNames:Array = new Array(mc0, mc1, mc2, mc3);
I then want to be able to loop through (either using a for or if statement) and dynamically attach the items to the stage by looping through the array. So my code would be like:

ActionScript Code:
for (var i:Number = 0; i<mcNames.length; i++){
// put an instance of the movieclip on the stage that
//has the same name as the current item in the array.
//So for example, if the first item in the array is mc0,
//then the item attached to the stage will be the
//movieclip mc0 from the library --- but how do I do it????

}

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Removing Items From Stage Using RemoveChild
So, I have a file where I've added 27 movie clips to the stage using a for loop to cycle through items in an XML document. Here's the pertinent part of the code I'm using, it's AS3:

So, I end up with 27 instances of mini_mc, each named 0, 1, 2, 3, etc.

I'm trying to write code to remove them at a certain point in the movie but having problems. Here's what I'm using:

But I get this error:

ReferenceError: Error #1069: Property 0 not found on String and there is no default value.

I'm thinking I'm not referencing the "name" of the mcs properly?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks very much.

Attach Code

for(var i = 0; i < myXML.photo.length(); i++) {
mini_mc = new mcMini();
mini_mc.name = i;
mini_mc.buttonMode = true;
stage.addChild(mini_mc);
}

for(var i = 0; i < myXML.photo.length(); i++) {
stage.removeChild(mini_mc.name(i));
}

Accessing Stage Items Through Doc. Class
Hi there. Super Quick question:

If I drag library items onto the stage, can I access those specific instances through my document class? Or do I have to place everything on the stage with actionscript?

Removing Items From Stage With RemoveChild
So, I have a file where I've added 27 movie clips to the stage using a for loop to cycle through items in an XML document. Here's the pertinent part of the code I'm using, it's AS3:

for(var i = 0; i < myXML.photo.length(); i++) {
mini_mc = new mcMini();
mini_mc.name = i;
mini_mc.buttonMode = true;
stage.addChild(mini_mc);
}

So, I end up with 27 instances of mini_mc, each named 0, 1, 2, 3, etc.

I'm trying to write code to remove them at a certain point in the movie but having problems. Here's what I'm using:

for(var i = 0; i < myXML.photo.length(); i++) {
stage.removeChild(mini_mc.name(i));
}

But I get this error:

ReferenceError: Error #1069: Property 0 not found on String and there is no default value.

I'm thinking I'm not referencing the "name" of the mcs properly?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks very much.

Brining Items To The Stage From The Library
Hi

I have three small movie clips in my library and three buttons on my stage (b1, b2 and b3)

Initally I want movie one to be displayed and then when the user clicks b2 for example I want to be able to take movie_two_mc from the library and place it on the stage, whilst removing movie one first. Then if b3 was clicked movie 2 would go and movie 3 appear.

I know these could be external swfs but these are just tiny movie clips and I would rather them stay in the main fla. I have this working at the moment by changing the movie clips visibility but this is a little messy as all clips are on the stage at the same time until I test movie.

I know about linkage in the library and I have manged to bring in a movie clip from the library using this code

Code:

this.attachMovie("one", "one_mc", 10, { _x:275 , _y:150 });

but i can't get any further.

Thanks

Ricky55

Slide Show - Random Items To Stage -help
17 slides
each slide: (each on separate layers)
image of a shool subject
static text box with subject in a second language
a button to advance to next frame
call in a picture which allows students to give a give an opinion like It's great/It's boring/I't fun etc. (this is where I need help see below)
frame label f1/f2 etc
AS on layer slpit into 17 keyframes which intructs forward button to move to the next frame (so if you are on f4 the AS says onto F5 and at frame 17 the AS sends you back to frame one again.

I have created the pictures for the opinions and made them into movieclips which only exist in the library.

How do I script it so that when I press the opinions button a random opinion movie clip comes to the stage when I run the slide show?

Make it obvious if you think you can help. It it about creating variables or and array? (a little knowledgs is a dangerous thing)

I'm running MX 2000 Educational

Cheers

Huw

Constraining SWF To Exact Dimensions So Items Off Stage Do Not Show
I am new to flash and feel sure there is a setting somewhere that I am missing and hope someone can help me. I am an ad developer. When I create my ads and export my swf file, it looks fine in my computer because it opens in the flash software and the window it opens in is the exact dimensions of my stage. This ad is also fine when I upload it to my site. However, when I publish a swf to send to a client for approval, they usually will be viewing that file in IE or some other browser. I have noticed that when this happens, things that are off stage often show (problem #1) and the file maximizes to the size of their browser (problem #2). What can I do to keep this from happening? I currently have the publish settings for dimension to "match movie".

Thanks in advance for the help! I love flash if I can just get it to work for me!

Problem With Attaching Library Items To Stage From External Class
hello

i'm new to AS and i can't figure out why i am having this problem.
i have this item in the library (Class: Buton ; base class: flash.display.SimpleButton)

and this code in my custom class:

private var butonStg:SimpleButton;
[...]
this.butonStg = new Buton();
this.butonStg.x = 30;
this.butonStg.y = 40;
addChild(this.butonStg);

now if i trace butonStg properties (like x, y, width, height) they work just fine, but the item isn't displayed on the stage, i can't see it

can anyone help me with this?

thanks

Loader Component Scaling Content To Include Off Stage Items
Hi everyone!
I'm trying load an external swf file into a loader component and it works great. However when that external swf file has an asset off-stage (that can't be deleted) the loader component will scale down the external swf and the off-stage assets are viewable in the main swf. Can anyone offer some help?

Thanks,
Rolando

Drag Items Into A Target Zone - Shrink Old Items
Hello - I have been thinking about how best to handle this but thought I'd ask if anyone has seen any actual code that will get me close to where I want to be. I have attached an image that will give you the idea.

I want to have a "target area" and drag and drop items onto it. As I add new items the ones already there will need to shrink to make room for the new item. As items are removed the remaining itmes can grow a bit more again. Get the idea?

IMAGE
http://pixelfumes.com/uploads/shrinky.gif

Thanks guys!
-Sarge

Placing Items Above Loaded Movie Items
Ok,

I have a blank page (BASE.swf) that is eventually filled with backgrounds, graphics, etc. all through Load Movie commands- they start at level 1-7. My question is:

How do I put items that show above them? It doesn't matter where I put them in the BASE file, the loaded movies always appear above them...

Ideas?

Thanks,

Joe

List Item W/ Multiple Data Items - How To Select Data Items?
I have a list component (myListBox) that is showing the labels for some data items read in from an XML file. Each item in the list has an associated name, description, and path (they're mp3 files) and they are named accordingly in the XML tags.

Using myListBox.selectedItem.label gives the correct label but myListBox.selectedItem.data is undefined. I've tried using the XML tags after the data selector (e.g. myListBox.selectedItem.data.path) but those don't work, either. All of the examples I've found in the docs show only a single data element associated with each list item.

So, if a list item has multiple data items associated with it, how do you select them using the listBox.selectedItem property?

TIA,

rgames

Calling Items From Library And Getting Number Of Items In Library
If i have a folder named questions in my library and i want to get the number of items in that folder how would i do that. I tried the code below but was unsucessful. Is this possible threw code? Or do i need to hard code my array.

var qst = new Array
trace(questions.length)
for(i=0;i>questions.length;i++){
qst[i] = questions.items.length
trace(qst[i])
}

Thanks
Josh

CPU Usage
HI
how can i control the cpu usage of a swf movie (minimize it).

thank's

ilan

Cpu Usage
At the suggestion of one of the moderators I am reposting this here as well.....

here is a link to the original thread
http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...16#post2446016

am using the flash ocx (player) embedded in a windows application.
This application is part of an industrial automation package.
Basically the aplication tells machines on the factory floor what to do.
Sensors tell the the application when events have actually occured (ram up/down, door open/close etc)
The application then communicates with the embedded swf and tells it to display the appropriate animation.
The animation is modelled using autocad, swift3d and then flash and optimaze.
The movie contains no actionscript except some basic stop actions.
All commands are sent in by the VB app.
It is reasonably complex but only 120K as a swf.
It all works except for a very BIG BUT.....

The player when displaying the animation uses 100percent of the CPU power on a windows xp pentium 4 2.6 machine.
This is the case even when just running it in a projector without our application.
The Flash player hogs so much of the CPU that the main application can not run properly, communication between machines. PLC and PC are affected.

Is there a way to limit the amount of CPU the player can access? Is it something that could be done in future by macromedia?

We love the look of flash for this sort of project but every time we approach it we run into this CPU sucking black hole called the flash player!
We have succesfully used it in some apps, but only simple ones after extreme efforts to optimize the movie, such as removing all text and overlaying it in the VB app.

I am posting a movie example. The buttons will do all the things that in the real app would be controlled by incoming communications from the factory floor sensors.
http://www.visi.com/~mgason/flashstu...layer_help.htm
any thoughts?
this industrial animation could be quite an extra market for macromedia if the player wasnt such a hog.
mark

CPU Usage
What is wrong with this script? What i have is a movie clip image about 1600px wide which moves across the stage, but with this script the CPU usage is pegged at 100%, without it, its at about 20%

Here's the code:

onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
// generating movement
location = this._x;
var i;
i = 1+_root._x/800;
if (this, hitTest(_root.bar)) {
this._x = 800;
} else {
this._x = location-i--;
}
}

Here's the rest of the code on the site:

// |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_root.initializeSite = function() {
_root.loadNewsText("text/news.txt");
};
_root.loadNewsText = function(path) {
// Create our LoadVars object
var holder = new LoadVars();
holder.onLoad = function(success) {
_root.news_text.htmlText = holder.news_text;
_root.news_text_door.gotoAndPlay("open");
};
holder.load(path);
};

CPU Usage
hey guys,
im having abit of trouble with one of my movies.
it seems to be using alot of cpu and i cant seem to understand why.
i have 2 clouds which are moved across the screen using:

xpos = cloud._x
cloud._x = xpos+1

that kinda thing, and then i have a sun, which rotates using a similar script. and then i have a plane which randomly moves across the screen which uses a simlar script also. but its not on the screen all the time.
and then the plane generates a cloud behind it by attaching a cloud mc to the back of the plane every 10 frames. which isnt that bad considering that the cloud is a circle which grows and then fades.
ive seen alot more swfs which seem to use cpu alot more. but they dont have this problem.
my computer is "ok" speed, its a 1.6Ghz. it manages to run other swfs fine.
the problem only seems to occur when i play the swf in internet explorer. this swf file that ive uploaded is loaded into a main swf file.
also one more thing. im using wmode to make the parts of the menu transparent. does wmode use alot of cpu? maybe thats what the problem is.
is there any way to test how much cpu the swf file is using?
thanx, if you have any advice then please post. im on abit of a deadline :-(
Ross.
ps. ive added the swf file. it wont load the txt, but ull be able to see the animation. just close the txt box and ull see.

Cpu Usage
is there a method by which i can reduce the cpu usage of my swf.

with one animation its ok at 30-40

with a second small animation its running at 80-90-

any help appreciated as always

Tab Key Usage
Hi - I have a form that has multiple input fields. How can I get the tab key to take the user to the next input field?

Right now, sometimes the tab key works like that, but on other fields the tab key takes the user to the very beginning. I've tried searching for the answer but couldn't find anything on this.

Thanks in advance for any help!

CPU Usage, BIG
When I make a movie clip with the following script:

onClipEvent(enterFrame){
if(_root._xmouse <= 50){
_root.raster._x = _root.raster._x + 5;
}
if(_root._xmouse >= 500){
_root.raster._x = _root.raster._x - 5;
}
if(_root._ymouse <= 50){
_root.raster._y = _root.raster._y + 5;
}
if(_root._ymouse >= 500){
_root.raster._y = _root.raster._y - 5;
}
}

my CPU usage gets very high. My processor is a AMD 2600+. But even when I have a stupid processor, there are other ppl who have worse processors then this one. And I dont want to lag their pc's, if you know what i mean.

How can I prevent such things? What is the best way to scroll through a game level?

Not Usage
Hi All

So when I read up on the ! (NOT) operator it says that it converts from true to false or false to true. I always thought is was just a good shorthand way of writing:

var variable:Boolean = false;
if(variable!=false){
do_stuff();
}

is the same as saying:

var variable:Boolean = false;
if(!variable){
do_stuff();
}

but then the question is, has variable now become equal to true? or what? And are there any other handy ways to use the ! operator?

CPU Usage
Hello Community,

How can I fetch the CPU, RAM, fps usage with actionscript???

Thanks!

Cpu Usage
I have quite a few simultaneous animations on my swfs. Is there a way to reduce the cpu usage without having to modify my animations ?
I've seen a lot of tools for reducing the size of the swf, but does the size of the swf can reduce the cpu usage ? what else can be done ?

FLV Using Up Cpu Usage
Hi

I'm hoping some one can help me. I'm creating a program for dvd that displays videos, all these videos are flvs. The user has the option to view it in a small screen (400x300) or fullscreen(800x600). It both these instances it is using the exact same video file.

The problem is that when it is playing small screen it uses up to 60% of the cpu and if it fullscreen it gets up to 100% and sometimes it crashes.

So 2 questions:
1. why would the same file use less cpu if played in a smaller screen?
2. and more importantly, how do I use less of the cpu usage?

100% CPU Usage On Mac OS X
Hi there
I'm using a Powerbook PB 1.5 with Mac OS X Panther (10.3.9) installed on
it.
And since sometime I'm looking for and answer on why most of the flash
animation I see in the web raise the CPU usage on my machine to near or
to 100% !!!
Does anyone really knows why it's so?
I read several version all blaming macromedia for a lousy port to
Macintosh.
Also there are version about not supported graphic card that makes the
CPU do the calculation work instead of letting the graphic card do it.
Is there any way to improve the Flash plugin performance on Mac ???
I have the version 9 installed and I also tried it on a parallel
installation of Tiger with no avail :-(

Thanks in advance

Vladimir

Cpu Usage
I've made a financial chart w/ Flash MX 2004 in which I load about 5.000 values of price indexes and 5.000 values of time stamps every 5 seconds.

I use a couple of Arrays to analyse these values and finally I draw the chart.

BUT, cpu usage is really high when I run the site in which the swf is embedded.
I've tried from 4 different computers (3.0 GHz, 1GB RAM, etc.) and still the same.
I know that it must be the cpu trying to write all the values in RAM and never deletes any.

How can I clear RAM each time my code finishes/starts?
Is there a "clear buffer" way I can do that?

I've delimited the values to avoid the problem for now, but I would appreciate if someone can suggest something else.

Thank you.

100% Cpu Usage
iv been working on a game since springbreak, and have started having serious cpu issues, would any of these be a reason for a max cpu usage?

*lots of movieclips, about 20-30 mc's during a fight, but game lags even when no shooting is happening

*large mask, i put a masked layer in my game, to give the appearence of shadows, can a gradiented moving mask be a big problem?

*removemovieclip/unloadmovieclip, to make sure my mc's go away, i put both just to be sure

* most of the coding isnt on the main timeline

*reaching borders of flash when making game

if any of these looks like something that can make a game lagout plz let me know

thanks in advanced, nick pearce

For Usage
Hi i have about 2000 variable rows like
a1r=value
a2r=value
a3r=value

and there are also 2000 instances that is the variables have to put.

with a "for loop" i want to transfer those 2000 variables to 2000 instances. how can i do that?
for example

Code:
for(i=1;i<2000;i++){
sXr=aXr;
};
how can i assign the "i" value for X in here ?

CPU-usage ?
I was wondering,
When you set the property of a cpu intensive movieclip to
_visible = false; Does flash stop processing the scripts on the movieclip?

I suppose I can (and will) do a few experiments, but why not ask it to the pro's first?

Ram Usage
hi, my movie takes 290MB of RAM space, theres any way to solve this?, what can be the cause of this issue?

thanks!
emiliano

Mouse Usage
Is it possible to use the mouse to drag corners of a rectangle? If it is how?
Thanks for your help.

Help: Font Usage
Hi, i've been looking at flash websites and im very interested in a minimalistic theme for my own website, most websites appear to have very small clear font on them. I was wondering is there a specific way in which to do that? because when i try the font goes blurry. Thanks for your time.

Usage Of GetFPS?
I'd like to set up a line of code that returns the current movies FPS. It seems like the getFPS in flash 6 player would be perfect, but no matter how I use the command I can't seem to get it to work. The command isn't documented in any of my actionscript books/references and the macromedia site overlooks it. The only mention I can find is in flash mx's internal actionscript reference index. Can anyone tell me how to properly use this command, or return the current frame rate?

All help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.