Flash :: Techniques To A Cleaner Program

Can This Be Cleaner?
this is a movieclip that can move threw a maze of objects. if the user hits an object the movieclip jumps to frame that shows it crashing. Everything works. my question is.. can the code be cleaner or wrapped up in a function?

onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
if (Key.isDown(37)&& hitTest(_level0.wall)==false) {
_x=_x-4;
}
if (Key.isDown(38)&& hitTest(_level0.wall)==false) {
_y=_y-4;
}
if (Key.isDown(39)&& hitTest(_level0.wall)==false) {
_x=_x+4;
}
if (Key.isDown(40)&& hitTest(_level0.wall)==false) {
_y=_y+4;
}
if (hitTest(_level0.wall)==true) {
this.gotoAndPlay("hit");

}
if (hitTest(_level0.wall2)==true) {
this.gotoAndPlay("hit");

}
if (hitTest(_level0.wall3)==true) {
this.gotoAndPlay("hit");

}
}

[F8] Is There A Cleaner Way To Do This?
This code works just fine for restricting the area I can draw in, but it seems very inefficient. Is there a better way?

Code:
onMouseMove = function () {
if (_xmouse>32 && _ymouse>32 && _xmouse<607 && _ymouse<397) {
drawingArea.lineTo(_xmouse, _ymouse);
}
};
My movie actually uses close to 100% CPU after scribbling a lot, and I think it might be this code thats doing it.

AS2 - URL Cleaner
Hello, this is a great tool that i use to filter path to test locally.

the function:

function cleanVBLE(vble)
{
a = new String(vble);
b = a.split("/");
return b.pop();
}

the usage:
trace(cleanVBLE("/formas/80094/canalune.swf"));

Cleaner Animation
I am trying to make a movie which will play fullscreen with a small area with 20% opacity visible in the center. Now my character (any image) will erase the black background so that a clear picture becomes visible.
Pls. help. urgent

Cleaner Code
I have a code that consolidates current moneys into the least amount of tokens possible. It works but the actual code is extremely bulky, i was wondering if anyone has a tip or sees something that can be removed/replaced for less code

Thanks
code: C_Amount = _root.betTotal;
if(C_Amount < 25)
{
NumLeft = C_Amount % 10;
if(NumLeft < 5)
{
dollar_1 = NumLeft;
dollar_10 = (C_Amount - NumLeft) / 10;
}else{
NumLeft1 = NumLeft % 5;
dollar_1 = NumLeft1;
dollar_5 = (NumLeft - NumLeft1) / 5;
dollar_10 = (C_Amount - NumLeft) / 10;
}
}

[CS3] Cleaner Code
Hi,

Is there an easier, cleaner way to write:

type = _root.page;

if (_root.pageOn == 1)
{
if (type == 'ftp')
{
_root.content.ftp.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.ftp._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'news')
{
_root.content.news.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.news._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'hello')
{
_root.content.hello.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.hello._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'contact')
{
_root.content.contact.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.contact._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'exhibitions')
{
_root.content.exhibitions.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.exhibitions._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'interiors')
{
_root.content.interiors.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.interiors._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'conferences')
{
_root.content.conferences.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.conferences._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'live_events')
{
_root.content.live_events.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.live_events._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'new_media')
{
_root.content.new_media.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.new_media._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'people')
{
_root.content.people.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.people._alpha = 50;
}
if (type == 'clients')
{
_root.content.clients.filters = [myBlurFilter];
_root.content.clients._alpha = 50;
}
}

Cleaner Code
Hi all, I'm currently working on creating a simulated training flash-based presentation and I'm looking to improve my coding habits.
Part of the simulation was to create a custom cursor that functions just as any data entry cursor would. Here's where I need to improve:
The user is restricted to only entering uppercase glyphs at this point, so the cursor should only respond if a letter character is pressed. All other characters should be ignored. I've figured a method to do this, and it works just fine, but the code is very repetitive and long. I'm guessing that there is a better way to do this by referencing a list of key codes in the conditional statement, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Here's what the code looks like
Thanks

Code:
onClipEvent(keyDown) {
//ignore tab
if (key.isDown(9)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(12)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(13)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(16)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(17)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(112)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(113)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(114)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(115)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(116)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(117)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(118)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(119)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(120)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(121)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(122)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(123)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(124)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(48)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(49)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(50)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(51)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(52)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(53)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(54)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(55)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(56)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(57)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(186)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(187)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(188)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(189)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(190)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(191)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(192)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(219)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(220)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(221)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(222)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(32)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(37)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(38)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(39)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(40)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(20)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(106)) {
this._x = this._x;
} else if (key.isDown(107)) {
this._x = this._x;
//don't move left of original position
} else if (key.isDown(8)) {
if (this._x > 104) {
this._x -= 10;
}
//don't move right of new position
} else if (this._x < 112) {
this._x += 10;
}
}

If/Else - Is There A Cleaner Code?
Hello all,

I am currently working on a flash file and I'm an intermediate user. My actionscript abilities are probably close to beginner, but I'm a quick learner (most of what I have learned with actionscript has been self taught).

In my flash file I have an animation of a rotating globe. Each frame of the rotation is a separate raster image - I don't know how you would represent a rotating globe otherwise, not really something that can be tweened (suggestions are welcome).

I have different locations off to the side of the globe. When the user mouses over a location, the globe spins to that location. When they roll out, the globe spins back to a static starting point.

I wanted the animation of the globe to be as smooth as possible, so, I have a }else{ statement for every possible frame. IE - if the globe animation is rotating back from a position and the user mouses over a new location before the animation stops, it doesn't jump back to the starting static position, it seemlessly flows from the position it is currently at to the new position the user has moused over.

Make sense?

It works flawlessly as is. I've spent quite a bit of time testing it. However, the code is bulky in appearance and according to the size report bulky in bytes as well.

Is there a differnent way to set this up to cut down on size - mainly byte size if possible?

I will include a bit of code so you can see what I'm talking about:

on (rollOver) {
if (_root.EarthClip._currentframe == 1) {
_root.EarthClip.gotoAndPlay(140);
} else { if (_root.EarthClip._currentframe == 160) {
_root.EarthClip.gotoAndPlay(156);
} else { if (_root.EarthClip._currentframe == 161) {
_root.EarthClip.gotoAndPlay(155);
} else { if (_root.EarthClip._currentframe == 161) {
_root.EarthClip.gotoAndPlay(154);
} else { if (_root.EarthClip._currentframe == 163) {
_root.EarthClip.gotoAndPlay(153);

and so on, and so on . . .

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

-MShetler

Cleaner Scripting
I think the code says it all. For a current project I need to use a hit area to start an animation when a mouse rolls over a _mc.

If I use the movie clip instead of a button I can simplify the script by using the first section of the attached code. In the simplified code I only have to define one over and one out state and then I can use a this statement to control the action.
For any number of _mc's I just need one set of functions.

Using buttons, each _mc needs it's own over and out definition and it's own unique set of functions.

I've tried using a bunch of if (grnMC_button.onRollOver = true) {this statements apply only to grn_mc} (not really code) but I can't find anything that works. It would be a great time saver if I could because in the final project I've got about 75 movie clips to control with over functions.

One more thing. I can't use the movie based code because the animations move out from under the buttons and the mouse over area gets big and overlaps the other "buttons". I guess I'm really looking for a way to define a hit area and still keep the code simple.

Attach Code

Movie driven _mc sample code:
ËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœ
// over-out definitions
grn_mc.onRollOver = over;
grn_mc.onRollOut = out;

blu_mc.onRollOver = over;
blu_mc.onRollOut = out;

red_mc.onRollOver = over;
red_mc.onRollOut = out;

// onRollOver functions
function over () {
this.overThis = true;
this.gotoAndPlay("start");
}

// onRollOut functions
function out () {
this.overThis = false;

Button driven _mc sample code:
ËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœËœ
// button definitions
grn_btn.onRollOver = over_grn;
grn_btn.onRollOut = out_grn;

blu_btn.onRollOver = over_blu;
blu_btn.onRollOut = out_blu;

red_btn.onRollOver = over_red;
red_btn.onRollOut = out_red;

// onRollOver functions
function over_grn () {
grn_mc.overThis = true;
grn_mc.gotoAndPlay("start");
}

function over_blu () {
blu_mc.overThis = true;
blu_mc.gotoAndPlay("start");
}

function over_red () {
red_mc.overThis = true;
red_mc.gotoAndPlay("start");
}

// onRollOut functions
function out_grn () {
grn_mc.overThis = false;
}

function out_blu () {
blu_mc.overThis = false;
}

function out_red () {
red_mc.overThis = false;
}

Edited: 05/16/2007 at 11:25:53 AM by Rick Gerard

Cleaner, Crisper Text
can anyone explain how to get cleaner, crisper text in FlashMX. Thank you.

LoriSchlitz

Cleaner 6 Or Sorenson Squeeze?
hi
I have cleaner 6, but a friend says sorenson squeeze it a better compressor for use of video in flash. Shoul i get a copy? or will cleaner suffice??

[CS3] Help Need A Cleaner Way To Write This Array Of Buttons
Hi there,

not sure how difficult this is going to be, but I have 30 movie clips, which will all be sequentially numbered. (pos1, pos2, pos3......pos30).

They will all have the same functions, with the only change being the number.

I know there is a more efficient way to write this code using arrays, but I will need help with it. I would rather have 10 lines of code than 150.

I also need help with writing the code, that will disable all other movie clips, once the first one is clicked.

Also, not sure how tricky the javascript part will be.

Below is the code i am trying to achieve, but the long version.

PHP Code:

pos1.onRelease=function(){
    this.gotoAndStop("selected");
    getURL("Javascript:JSposition('',1)");
    (all other buttons).enabled = false;
}

pos2.onRelease=function(){
    this.gotoAndStop("selected");
    getURL("Javascript:JSposition('',2)");
    (all other buttons).enabled = false;
}

pos3.onRelease=function(){
    this.gotoAndStop("selected");
    getURL("Javascript:JSposition('',3)");
    (all other buttons).enabled = false;
}

pos4.onRelease=function(){
    this.gotoAndStop("selected");
    getURL("Javascript:JSposition('',4)");
    (all other buttons).enabled = false;
}

... all the way to

pos30.onRelease=function(){
    this.gotoAndStop("selected");
    getURL("Javascript:JSposition('',30)");
    (all other buttons).enabled = false;
}

AS Guru's please help!!!
Thanks.

Cleaner Movie Clip Dragging
I briefly remember seeing a tutorial for this somewhere but I cant find it anywhere. But is there a way to drag movie clips around using startDrag but with a cleaner more fluent motion as it a bit jolty when moving?

Anydony know the answer?

Flash Media Cleaner Addons
I'm looking for an add-on lilke Sorenson Squeeze for Flash, but this is a little pricey for me.

http://www.sorensonstore.com/product.../sq4mfwin.html

Does anyone know of something comparable for less? I know. You get what you pay for, but I need something to get me by while I'm learning Flash.

I'm not looking for shareware, etc. Just an inexpensive, nifty program to get me started as a newbie.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Can I just say I'm loving Flash. I just starting using it a few days ago, and I'm hooked! This is so much nicer when embedding video to webpages. Whoa!

Edit:
Does anyone know if the addon comes with Studio MX 2004? Because I plan on upgrading very soon. I definately don't want to dish out $119.00 for the addon if it ships with Macro's latest studio.

Quick Question For Cleaner Code
Just need some advice on how to clean this code up. I know there has got to be a way to combine the 2 movieclips....

Basically I have 4 movieClip buttons. currently only the first is working.... How would I add the other f2, f3, f4 MC's without having to write a function for each one?

Here is the code I have:

Code:

f1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, hoverOver);
f1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, hoverOut);

f2.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, hoverOver);
f2.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, hoverOut);

f3.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, hoverOver);
f3.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, hoverOut);

f4.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, hoverOver);
f4.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, hoverOut);

function hoverOver(event:MouseEvent):void
{
f1.gotoAndPlay(2);
}

function hoverOut(event:MouseEvent):void
{
f1.gotoAndStop(11);
}

f1.buttonMode = true;
f2.buttonMode = true;
f3.buttonMode = true;
f4.buttonMode = true;

Scripting Is Supposed Flash Movie Much Cleaner
Scripting is supposed flash movie much cleaner, there should be a straight forward way to do this.

the example we can call "test.swf"

the movie clip we will call "fade" which resides inside the library

"fade" extends over 50 frames the first 30 have a snazzy animation upon a mouse click on a button in the main menu.
I would like to use this movie clip again just starting at frame 30. My question is can you reference a frame label inside the "fade" clip from the "test.swf?"

Note tell target is usefull by adding a ../ script you can exit a movie clip. Can you preform this code to enter in a clip?

Much thanks

aspiring asssstronaught

Can I Pass Log-in Parameters For A Webmail Program, Past CPanel Program?
Hey all.

I only have a working knowledge of actionscript, so sorry for any bad questions.

My personal website uses cPanel for configuration/management and a free webmail program called Horde. Both are great, but accessing them is a pain. I was wondering if there was some way (either through flash or javascript) to bypass the cPanel log-in screen and the horde log-in screen.

For example, currently when I open my webmail program (www.---.com/webmail), Internet Explorer automatically prompts an "enter username and password" box (same prompt for any ftp or secure access through explorer). This acts as an automatic input for cPanel.

If the input is correct, cPanel grants me access to the webmail log-in screen, and all the necessary log-in info (name and password) is already filled out, waiting for me to press enter/submit. If the input on the IE prompt is incorrect, I am taken to the cPanel log-in screen to correct my grave errors. Once I input and submit the correct info, I am again taken to an already-completed Horde log-in screen. In other words, I have to go past two log-in screens and press enter twice.

Note - The Horde webmail program is installed on the server, not my rented account. Therefore I cannot modify or, in general, access any program files. Everything is done through the cPanel program. Moreover, I cannot access the Horde-specific log-in page in any way, I must go through cPanel (or IE's prompt for the cPanel log-in info). However, the given address of the Horde log-in screen is http://www.---.com:2095/horde/index.php. But opening this url takes me to the cPanel/ie login.

I think that there is some way of passing parameters from input in a flash swf to a php/sql program. Can I automatically log into my webmail program, bypassing cPanel? Am I hopeless, worthless ), or is there some magic way to do what I want???

If anyone wants to help but needs more explanation or examples I will be more than glad to assist.

Big thanks.

A Few Techniques ..
Im in need of a few tutorials which cover effects shown in this website : http://hostrocket.com/

Im not talking about the "activate launch sequence" intro - Just the animation used on the header.
Any help would be appreciated .

btw im 100% Flash Noob.

New Techniques?
Since Flash 8 released I've seen a lot of new techniques being used, especially the use of Flash in streaming video, full screen flash backgrounds, etc.

What other new techniques have been introduced with Flash 8?

Techniques.
I have been wondering for a while. How do I have a value never "hard coded" Like with mouse position, if i set _xmouse = xmos, then i use xmos inside a loop, i want it to always be the CURRENT xmos, does this question make sense?

Publishing Techniques ?
Hi people !!

Got an easy question for you !!

I've designed a Flash website to the size of 1000 x 595 pixcels so it fit's perfectly into a Webbrouser with a screen resolution of 1024x786.

What I'm not sure on is if a person viewing my site with a screen resolution set to 1152x864 or 1280x1024 etc .... will see my Flash movie in the center of their screen and not in the top corner !??

Any way of publishing it to fit the center of any window without scaling up the Fla ??

Help With Masking Techniques
I need help with masking? I read the basic tutorials in Flash 5 and Flash MX (i have both) and just dont understand it too much. I see masking techniques used in every good flash file but dont understand it too much. I just want to be able to make a good transition between movie clips and/or images. Can anyone point me in the right direction or hook me up with a basic fla file that explains this to me (one that i can take apart and play around with).

Thank you, your help is appreciated

~Jeff

Animation Techniques
i have an irregular shape (a jigsaw piece), which i am going to use as a button on a website and i want it to rotate smoothly on mouseover.

i was wondering if any one has any suggestions on the best way to animate the rotation? ie. do you think the only way to do it would be frame by frame?

i've not really done much animation at all in flash- been mostly using it for creating images!

thanks,

carly

Datagrid Techniques
I'm new to using datagrids, and i'm doing ok with the basics - ie, taking some XML, grabbing what I want and throwing it in, while styling the columns to get it to look how i want.

However, I'm not sure of the best way to do something, so here i am. Here is what I'd like to do:

I'm displaying a list of students within a class. There could be N number of classes in this grid. So, by default, i'd like just the class names to display. When a class is clicked on, the names display below. When the class is clicked on again the student names would dissappar...etc.

So basically, a list of classes, with a nested list of students that can be displayed or hidden based on how the user interacts with it.

What would the best way to go about doing this?

Take which class is clicked on and just fill in that row with all the students?

Is there a way to nest a dataGrid within that row?

any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! thanks in advance!

-tyler

Scrolling Techniques
Hi flashkitties :P

I got a list of things displayed on this page, but i dont wanna use a normal scrollbar for it

Is it possible to , when a user mouse over the upper part of the page means scroll up

when the user mouse lower the lower part of the pages it means scroll down?

Also, can i do it with clicks?

Thank you

Animation Techniques
Hello all

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good tutorial for animating characters. IE trying to get them to walk and move in a (reasonably) realistic but cartoony way. At the moment Im trying to get a bull to walk across the screen and to be honest it just looks plain bull s**t!

Thanks in advance!

Best Compression Techniques, Jpg Vs Gif
Hi guys,

It's been a while since I dabbled with Flash.

after a long battle to try and get flash on the site (www.marksandspencer.com) the management has allowed it.

I'd like to have a play around with some images at home, though don't know the best way to get the best quality of image, with best file sizes, uhmmmm.

The images are prodominantly lifestyle photography with some text elements.

any help with this would be much apprieciated,

many thanks

Help With Fade Techniques...
Hi, I wouldnt say I'm new to flash but i am by no means an expert.
I'm a graphic/web designer and ive been asked to create a bit of flash for a website, they want the flash to work like this...

http://www.bentleymotors.com/Corpora...spx?infid=1028

So when you click on the relevant colour the colour fades into the new one. Doing a standard fade from one colour to the next is easy, but what i dont know how to do is to be able to fade from whatever colour is selected to whatever colour is selected next using a button.

Oh and i'm a bit of a novice when it comes to action scripting, which is what i think ill need for this :-S

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many Thanks

Nikky

Optimization Techniques
Hi!

I´m doing a research on RIA´s optimization techniques and I plan to implement such in my app´s next version as its getting bigger and bigger so it became a necessity to optimize it.

Currently, I´m using shared fonts, shared symbols and shared classes (the so called "dll" swf) that are all loaded once in the application lifetime, avoiding the download redundancy and optimizing the size of the subsequent swfs. However, my application is still not fast as I would like it to be, the main reason is obvious, it uses too many classes (and v2 framework adds a great deal to the class inventory). The second reason is becouse of the nature of my app: Its an online picture album. The images are stored in 1MP at the server and each time the client requests the image, its converted (scaled down) at runtime using GD. It´s very flexible as I can make many different size images without worring about saving them, however, and I would like the oppinion of more experienced web developers, I think it would bring me problems when my site gets a very high trafic AND it is slower than if I would just load the image without pre-processing it (already saved in the disk. Currently, only the 1MP "source" image is stored, the other "flavors" are generated at runtime using GD).

Also, I´ve not implemented controls such as to prevent the client to redownload the picture if it is already downloaded - how could I do that? Something that came into my mind is to use SharedObjects to cache data and some logic to implement such thing.

You can view a beta of the app here: http://www.chapeco-online.com.br/website/

Some of the client and server code has been based on Sephiroth´s ImageGallery3 (www.sephiroth.it).

Any suggestions would be very much appreaciated!

Thanks,

- Marcelo.

Optimization Techniques
I've been doing work for intranets forever, now I'm doing some stuff for the web, what are the best techniques to shrink my movie size?

Preloading Techniques
lets say my movie's size consists mainly of 2 movie clips, and the rest of the mc's are tiny. what would be the best way to preload, so that wait up front is minimal, but the content is properly loaded?

should I use a preloader?

should I export the big MC's on the first frame? (is that an MX option only?)

if I use a combination of the two, should I only preload the movie like so: totalBytes to preload = size - big MC size?

preloading...

Optimization Techniques
Hi there,

I'm looking for some general pointers in regards to speed optimization techniques; by this I mean producing a swf file that runs essentially as smoothly published on a website as it does simply previewing. I find the motion tends to be fairly chunky, particularly motion tweening and such. I'm curious what things I should keep in mind to avoid this?

-Sean

Optimization Techniques...
Hey guys... it's me again... I think this is the last question I have for a while.

What techniques can be taken to optimize a site?... I want it to be efficent on size. I have provided a link to a current project as an example... I'm not looking for critique of the site. It just serves as an example for you to see what I'm currently working with.

Example Project

How do the big name sites stay optimized (like 2advanced.com and liquidchrome.com)? By the looks and the amount of graphical content these sites should be huge.

How much is to much and what do I minimize?... This is primarily a Flash forum... You guys collectivelly are some of the most knowledgable people around concering this piece of software... So I appreciate your input and help.

-oasis-

Flash Techniques
im a n00b.
i would like to find out the techniques that all these sites use, to have so many movie clips...
for example 2advanced.com has a lot of movie clips, and i was wondering how were they correlated.
is it all about nested movie clips?

Masking Techniques
Greetings Ladies and Gents,

I've been in flash for quite some time but I started off on more of the development side. Now Im giving in to my " design fantansies" so Im approaching flash from a different angle. Im curious if anyone could share with me their masking techniques with more complex objects, such as curves, angles, etc. If you don't know what I mean here's a visual. This was posted here a while ago, the guy is amazing.

http://www.andreaswannerstedt.se/session/

Currently, I cut apart the image or vector as much as possible and mask them on different layers. I know that having too many masks isn't the greatest for file optimization. So Im curious if anyone else has a better way or could speculate what the best practice for this is.

As always, any replys will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Christoph'

How To - Speed Techniques
I'm looking for tutorials or books on how to get all that speed out of flash.

Sites (rather, site makers) such as www.hi-res.net and egomedia are among the best examples I've seen.

Actionscript? Frame rates? or just smart usage of imagery and timing?

I've been all over on various sites like Flashkit (examples are all painfully slow) and I haven't found anything close.

Thanks

Which Cartooning Techniques Do You Use?
I was just wondering... How do you guys create your cartoon characters and what programs you guys use...
this is how i do mine

Illustrator:
first i make shapes (normal ones) combine them together
work with the points to make it into the shapes i want
Coloring:
duplicate the shape 3 times... first one is use for base color with no outlines.... second one is use for shadows with no outlines(cut out shadows from the original shape).... the third one is the shape with just the outline and transparent middle....
i stack them one on top of the other with base color first... shadow second and line on top.....

I was wondering if there are any other ways of doing it....
maybe an easier way...

Time-Outs And MM Techniques
I was wondering if anyone has tried to create a timeout in flash using actionscripting

I am working on a non-web MM project which will be on 24-7.

after say, 30 seconds of user inactivity, i want everything to return back to frame 1, the attract screen.

Is there a way to do this without sitting though a ton of blank frames?

Good Book Of Techniques?
Hi there,

As a newbie, I already moved forward the stage of the simple flash dev. and I started on doing some scripting. Moreover, I did some scripting and I believe I have a clear understanding of its behavior. Now, I want to get into a more serious scripting, I went to the bookstore and I found 239847289374 manuals about scripting.
Do you know which book would be a good "must to have" as for flash scripting techniques?
Of course I can browse this great site and find plenty of examples, but I like to build things by myself, sometimes you spend more time trying to guess what others do instead of doing it by yourself, don't you think?

Thank you guys, I really appreciate your help on this.

L

Poor Design Techniques
What are some poor design techniques that you flash and web designers see? I thought this would be a good topic for newbies to read and get some helpful tips.

MY BIG COMPLAINT

I emplore all fellow designers to stop using frames.

Be more creative and find a better way to do whatever it is you'd like to do. If you develop for money, when your customer goes to promote a special section and link to a specific page of their site, but the nav bar was in a frame it doesn't show up when you use a page specific link. Thus most likely the user will not be able to visit any other sections of that site. There are better ways, ask if you don't know.

Sorry, just had to get that out.

Bruce Almighty Techniques
Hi...

Can anyone tell me how they made the images of Jim Carey progressively fall apart on the Bruce Almighty website?

www.brucealmighty.com

The images are clear cut and set apart from the surface. Didn't think you could do this with jpegs as they don't support transparent backgrounds?

Photograph Masking Techniques
Okay, what I am looking for is a tutorial or something similar that will teach me the proper way of making a photograph dissolve using a mask. Say I want to dissolve a photo using a 10 x 10 grid of circles starting to dissolve from the top left and ending at the bottom right. I know how to do this by animating a single circle, but I would need to do 100 masks. I know I am thinking of doing it the longest and worst way, but just wondered if there's a more quicker, better method. (I've looked in Flashkit movies and tuts but found nothing)

An example of the sort of effect I mean is similar to this.
http://www.persaudbrothers.com

On the homepage look at the Persaud Brothers logo effect, or even the text.

If there's a tutorial great, but any words of wisdom will be helpful.

Thanks

MM

Flash Drawing Techniques
I have searched and searched for a book that gives some good techniques on drawing in Flash. Is there such a thing? I've got books on actionscript, basic Flash stuff, animation, etc... but I just can't seem to find one that JUST deals with drawing.

Does anyone have any suggestions or know of anything that deals with this topic? If so, please let me know.

Thanks

Great Website Techniques...
Hi,

I have been checking through some the webs latest and "greatest" flash websites and was amazed with what I found! There are two websites I was particularly fascinated by:

The first is at this website:

http://www.fantasy-interactive.com/#start

It uses flash video in a very sharp and crisp way. I have followed various tutorials on how to apply video to the web via flash but the quality of my Flv movies do not come out any where near as well as theirs!! Does anyone know of some worthwhile tutorials on high end video for the web via flash?

Ok, the second is at this website:

http://www.adobe.com/special/acrobat...herbetter.html

This site also uses high quality video but uses a neat little trick were there are several pictures of various people who look at your mouse when ever you move it around! Does anyone know how this is done?

Thanks for your time, if anyone can offer help such as tutorials etc it would be much appreciated.

Techniques

Best Techniques For Image Optimization
Hi, we're trying to complete our portfolio site that will have a fairly large amount of large high-quality bitmap images in certain sections.

I just want to make sure I totally understand the best image optimization techniques.

A) Is there any difference to setting the jpeg quality in the 'Publish Settings' dialog as opposed to the individual image properties dialog? (ie, if I set either to 80, would there be a difference)?

B) Is a simple fade in/out considered an animation and going to give us a big hit on quality vs. size? There is no scaling of the image.

C) If there is no movement, do I need to check 'Allow Smoothing' on each image?

D) If 'Allow Smoothing' is unchecked for each image (default), will changing the HTML quality settings (Medium, High, Best) have any affect on image quality or size?

E) In relation to C & D above, what does adding '_quality="Best";' action on first frame do differently?

F) The images are all saved as Photoshop files at 100% of size used in Flash. Would exporting to jpeg from Photoshop give us better quality vs. size than doing the jpeg optimization in Flash (ie, better jpeg compression algorithms)?

G) The files are currently .PSD files. Is saving them out as .PNGs before bringing into Flash going to really make any difference?

Thanks a lot. We need to be totally up on the proper pro techniques for this before getting too far along. It's a pretty big site.

If there are any other forums that would be recommended to find out these things, any link would also be greatly appreciated!

[F8] Tutorial Available To Show These Techniques?
I am looking for a tutorial that would be able to show me how to make a Flash interactive movie that would behave like the following:

http://www.weber.com/drtv/

Particularly I would like to learn how to create the effect of movement each time a section is clicked. For example, when the page/movie first loads, the larger main sections/buttons seem to move up the screen one after the other very quickly. If you click on "overview," the square on the right side of the screen shrinks down and then each thing is loaded separately and moves into place before stopping. It is a very nice, smooth effect and I want to know so bad what techniques they used to do it!

If anyone has any tutorials or instructional websites to point me to, it would be wonderful. Thank you!

[F8] PLEASE HELP -navigation Techniques And Buttons
I have a couple of questions about navigation and buttons. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you!

Navigation… I understand how to make a button work… simply make a button that links to another created page. I understand that. But what I don’t understand how to do, is have the section fade out to make a new section fade in. For example, when you are in a News section, how to have the News content fade out when you click the About section, and then have the About info fade in. Can someone please help? I use Flash CS3. Thanks!

Now, on a different page…

I want to have it so when I scroll over a button, the button lowers smoothly and becomes brighter. To my understanding, I need to create the animation of the button doing that, then set it so that when I go in the UP state of the button, it plays the animation. Is this so? And if so, how do I do that?