Flash :: Have To Be Smart To Figure This Out

Book-smart Vs Video-smart
anyone got any good suggestions on learning flash properly with a large emphasis on actionscript?

like buying books or tutorials CD's / DVD's????

IM a graphic/web designer and the effects i want to achieve (as far as i can see) are only really capable of being produced using actionscript...

I've been doing intro's and adding effects in Photoshop on a frame by frame basis - then i saw some of Robert Penners stuff... and my jaw is still on the floor - if i could event get tweening right I'd be relatively quiet for a while (see other post)

any suggestions would be great before i rush out and buy crap...

G

Smart Clips, Not Smart Enough
hey guys,

how you people are you doin?. well it's the second time i'm comin to the board with the same question on Smart clips, as i did some time before.

is it possible to modify the code of a Smart Clip in the learning interactions section. what i mean, to ask, can we have an access to the fla file of the swf loaded as an UI in the Smart Clips.

I hope, i'm making enough sense to you guys.

Pls revert back ASAP

ravi.tandon@learningmate.com

Can't Figure This Out (can't Even Figure Out How To Describe It Lol)
I have a function that is getting the dimensions of a textfield so I know how large I will need to create it later on. Problem is, when loading big blocks of HTML w/ embedded images, the textfield may change size a few times before completely loading. If I trace out the "h" property in this function inside a loop, it looks like this:

1107
1107
1153
1208
.
.
.

until it gets to around 1350. I need a way to return that 1350, not the 1107, as my textfields are being sized to small. Any idea how to modify this function below so it returns the correct values? I've tried do/while, just a while loop, and onEnterFrame, but just can't figure out a way to get those values. Any help would be appreciated.

ActionScript Code:
private function getHtmlTextExtent(mcTest:MovieClip, strHtml:String):Object
{
var w:Number = 0;
var h:Number = 0;
var fw:Number = 0;
var fh:Number = 0;
var objExtent:Object;

_txtTemp = mcTest.createTextField("txtTemp", 100, 10, 1, 530, 400);
_txtTemp.embedFonts = true;
_txtTemp.multiline = true;
_txtTemp.wordWrap = true;
_txtTemp.antiAliasType = "advanced";
_txtTemp.selectable = false;
_txtTemp.html = true;
_txtTemp.htmlText = strHtml;

w = _txtTemp.textWidth;
h = _txtTemp.textHeight;
fw = _txtTemp._width;
fh = _txtTemp._height;

objExtent = {width:w, height:h, textFieldWidth:fw, textFieldHeight:fh};

_txtTemp.removeTextField();

return objExtent;
}

Smart MC
hay, I have a smart MC that makes u specify the target.
target = defult value.
example: target= _root , target= _root.something.somthing .

and i have inside the smart MC :

if (target._framesloaded >= target._totalframes) {
gotoAndStop ("what ever");
}

now this loader doesn't work coz the target._framesloaded is being understod as this "_root"._framesloaded or what ever, the important thing is that it doesn't work.

can anyone help plz

If Ur Smart Come In
hi, i was just wondering how i could change a pc format flash file into a mac file....so i could work on the animation on my mac?

Smart Way To Do This ?
is it best to design flash sites as it's done here, where it resizes based on browser window size ?
http://www.converse.com/index.asp?mode=init&bhcp=1

how do you code the fla to do this ?

Not So Smart AI
Is there anyway that an enemy can be programmed to focus on my character, and then run to it (and attack). Were basically trying to make an old zelda game (nintendo style) with enemies that attack as your near, but without really complex code. Thanks for your help.

Smart Nav Bar
I have an .swf file I am using as a navigation bar. Is there a function that, when the swf loads, it returns the current url.

Smart Code?
hey all,

does anyone know a way to dynamicly create a text object on the stage using AS; can AS do dynamic creation from a series of variables? or do I always have to create an object first then duplicate it; how capable are the flash players?

SMART CLIP
Hi

I have a smartclip with params. One of my param is a list type withe 5 values and i would like to select the value when i click in a button

How can i choose the value of a smartclip param from a button action ??

Thanks

Using A Smart Clip And Would Like Some Help
I have never used a smart clip before, but I think what i am looking to do would call for it. If anyone could take the time and kind of walk me through this, thanks in advance...

I have a timeline with about 40 buttons. I have not yet made them buttons, because i think i can use a smart clip instead? They are basically squares with the years date inside, for example 1990, 1991 etc.

I made another MC named "yearinfo" and on each frame is the info i would like to show up when the appropriate button is pressed.

My question is how would i use a smart clip to have the appropriate year info appear when that years button is pressed?

jhb

Smart Clips
Flash has built in smart clips from the common libraries, on of the clips is a drop down box, very nice, and would be very useful, hower I am failing time and time again to draw information as to what the user has selected from the menu, does anyone know how to determine what they have selected?

Thanks for your time, Josh Svee.

Are You Smart Enuf?
ok heres the deal. Ive been workin ont his for about a week and can't quite figure it out.

I have a character, and I want him to move right or left with the right or left arrows. but I also want the background to scroll when right or left are pushed. so if you push right, the character moves right, and the bg moves left (so it appears 3D). Same for the pushing left. But, at the same time i also need it so that when you push left AND control at the same time, it plays a sound that i have.

so far, i got him to move right and left, i can got the bg to scroll left when i push right, i just cant get the bg to scroll right when i push left. and i cant quite figure out how to get the left and control thing to work. it works when i have it set up for just control to be pushed, but not both. do this make sense? if not and you think you know how, please let me know, i can try to explain better.

And the code i have is really messy, and ive tried to clean it up but couldn't too much, so i decided to come here to see if anyone has any ideas..thanks ahead of time..

Smart Clips
I have a problem... I have a smart clip that can have code added to it and then scrolls right or left depending on where the mouse is. It also gets longer as you add more choices... which is great. The problem is that even if the mouse is off of it, it continues to read the mouse and scroll right or left. I'm wondering if anyone knows how to prevent this from happening.

The example is at http://www.southernwineandspirits.com
Follow these links >enter>click ok for the disclaimer>skip the intro (unless you want to watch it)>once in the site go to Spirits and click on the timeline. Can someone help? I can e-mail you a file if you need.

-NITIN ANAND
http://www.nanand78.com
NANAND78@aol.com

Smart Clip Help Plz
can some please tell me how i make a smart clip button that will jump to certain frame on main timeline to - the frame being the variable.

thanks in advance

Please Help With Smart Clips
I am working with a total web site built in Flash. I wanted to add 2 differant sound clips to be controlled by a movie clip. There is the one default sound clip to be loaded( it is a swf with on a sound file on it loaded to level 50) with the exception of when entering one page. On that one differant page (actually a swf loaded to target) there will play a differant sound (actually a swf with only the sound file on it loaded to level 50). So when you enter the site the music plays. You press the music button it unloads level 50 (turning off the music) if you press it again it turns on the music (loads level 50). I would like to make it a smart movie with a variable set that would say if this swf is loaded than plan this song. Can anyone help me? Go to http://iamzorn.tripod.com to see the site in progress and let me know what you think.

Smart Clips
I know a bit of them, I just know how they worx, so that's the question:

can u tell me where can I use them to gain the best results?

I know there are many use, so tell me!!!

Smart Clip?
Hi,
Is there any way I can put a variable name insted of the value in the clip parameters?
Thanks

Smart Clip
Im not to good at smart clips but i am trying to make 1 animation lets say like a door that will close, but i want to be able to drag the clip to the timeline and give it its own action script. I cant doit it now or it will chg the action script in all the duplicates of it. Does anyone know how to set this up as a smart clip? I have no idea how to set it up for a task like that. Thanks in advance..

nurv

Smart Clips
I've got a smart clip with scrolling and toggling functions that loads an external text file. I want to be able to not only load an external text file, but also load different .swf files (image backrounds) into it and still maintain the scrolling functionality for the text file.

How do I set the variables and parameters so that I can do this?

Thanks,

MethodAir
http://www.electricmountain.com
[swf width="100" height="80"]http://www.electricmountain.com/methodair_loader.swf[/swf]

Smart Clips (i Think)
Hi
I have a checkbox MC which i will be duplicating several times in my movie.

In the actual checkbox MC there are some actions but some of these actions need to be changed according to which checkbox it is in the main movie.

I am trying to use some parameters via a smart clip, but i am not sure how to access them using my actionscript.

For example (if the script on the checkbox was):
test = "This is number" add number

where number was the parameter defined in the clip.
How would i do this?

Ash

Smart Clip?
ok first off i have a solution to my problem, but not a good one, basically i have a mc and inside the mc are a button and a text varible.

on the main time line i have 6 instances of this same button. now every thing works, the varibles load the relevent menu title in the relevent button. As it is the same button repeated i have a small file size. problem is how do i program each button indiviually. i though i could dulicate the mc 6 times for each link and the program the button in side of each diffierently, but this seems kida mes. i was wondering if any one out the could think of an alternative. i thought smart clips might be of some use but i havent a clue if and how they would work.

any ideas guys.

Smart Clips
Hi all,
i need a smartclip interface tutorial, if anybody know apart from Macromedia site,typicaly iam looking for step by step expantion.

thanks

Smart Clip Help
i imported a "pause" smart clip to a movie i made recently
the smart clip is a button that pauses the movie and resumes it when clicked.

The pause function works fine but when i click to resume play i get this error message.

Target not found: Target="_root" Base="_level0.instance3"

I have nfi whether the target is a scene or what and wtf is a Base?

cmon gurus help me out here please

Smart Clips, Help Please
Hello All,

I am having problems with a smart clip I have just created.

I have just created and my first smart clip and user interface. It all works relatively fine except, if I click on my smart clip after I have entered all of the information in the User interface, it resets all of the clip paratmeters in the smart clip, and all of my user interface options go blank.

Does what I have said make sense??

Please I need help before I go mad.

Thanks

Reno

Smart Movie
How do I reference clip parameters in action script ?

( to make a movie smart )

Thanks

SMART CLOCK
hey guys,
does anyone know how I can make a clock that when its afternoon say good afternoon, and good morning when its morning,
thanks,
tom

Smart Clips (again)
Hi people,

Just a little question for you :

I have multiple buttons with the same style/function, so I figured I could use a Smart Clip.

Now, the problem lies in it's complexity (for me that is)

What I want is a button with a title, a caption on mouse over(similar to the ALT tag, a description) and an URL to an external HTML file when it's clicked. These 3 are all parameters for the Smart Clip (seems logical to me).

I just can't get this to work

Any help is appreciated !!!

Thanx in advance.

What Does Smart Clip Do?
Could anybody explain what smartclip does and what is the most common use of it other then preloaders?

Smart Clips?
Hi - I'm looking for a better way to make a lot of swf's point to different URLS [makes no sense, i know) The problem is @ http://choons.net/scripts/nav.php?name=mixesck

What I want to do is have 1 swf file on the server, but have it link to different URLs every time it is used. I don;t know anything about smart clips...do they allow you to dynamically set variables inside the animation? Have a look @ the URL - you'll see the problem I'm having. It just seems totally inefficient having all of those swf files on the server.

There must be a better way to do it, mustn't there?

Cheers,
Dave

OK Smart Guys....
I have 3 Scenes in my movie. (Named Scene 1, 2 & 3)
I have a set of buttons in a movie (bob) inside another movie (claire) in Scene 2. I want my target path to come out of bob, to come out of claire and into Scene 2 to play from frame 1. Simple!

I have tried:

on (press) {
tellTarget ("/bob/claire/") {
gotoAndPlay (1);
}
}

I have tried:

on (press) {
tellTarget ("../../") {
gotoAndPlay (1);
}
}

What am I doing wrong???

Respect to the people with knowledge.

Myvision.

Smart Clips?
what arre smart clips and how can i use them?

thanks

-y

(flash mx)

SMART BUTTONS
Hi,
I just wanted to make buttons that when clicked they look active and once they have been clicked and the user moves on to another button they fade or change colour so people remember that they have been there..
thanks,
tom

Smart Buttons...
Hi,
I just wanted to make buttons that when clicked they look active and once they have been clicked and the user moves on to another button they fade or change colour so people remember that they have been there..
thanks,
tom

Smart Clips In MX?
I posted earlier today about using multiple instances of a generic button - where the text lable changes. I got the reply I was looking for - Smart Clips...alas, I cannot find Smart Clips in MX - only "UI Componenets". What I've found is that I have to use and modify the available UI Components, but that looks like it's gonna be more trouble than it's worth - it makes more sense to make my own smart clip from scratch - so onto my question - does MX have Smart Clips - or has that feature been replaced by the UI Components panel??

How 2 Do Smart Circle?..can U Help Me?
..
" (english is not my mother languge) "
_______________________________________

hi all,,,

i want a code ( i hope .fla file ) to do the folowing:

circle, stopped , rotate clockwise while rotation speed from zero increase then increase then increase, until speed at highiest value "choose Any value u want and tell me how can i change it"

then speed dicrease, dicrease, dicrease until speed = 0 , then rotate counterClockWise in smae idea..

am I claer?! i hope that,

thanks a lot

nehaya

Smart Clips
What do they do
and how do you create one
what would you use them for.

brood

Smart Maps?
hi all

does any body know how to make something like this

or a simpler one?

I have tried a lot but all i could make up is the file attached below. With the file, i have 2 problems:

- first, the later picture loaded does not inherit the position of the previous one (ie, if you load pic1, everything is ok but then if you load pic2, the pic2 won't behave properly

- second, the pan function does not work properly with all zoom level, just the lowest and the highest one.

I know it's very hard to read and debug someone's code but if you can point out what wrong i did, that will be very useful. any other suggestions or idea will be highly appreciated

Thank in advance
huynt

Smart Resizable Swf
I am trying to create an app that is resizable without distortion from scaling. I know how to get the app to be full screen, but what I want to do is tell the app to resize to the space allowed and reposition things as required without resizing internal objects.

The main reason is that I have multiple textboxes (similar to multiple documents in a single application) which I do not want to be reduced in size if the browser window is made smaller.

I also want the proportions not to be fixed. I would prefer to have all available space in the app.

thanx

I Need A Smart Person
i need a quick overview about eBooks / no PDF's allowed

MX Smart Navigation
Hi again,

I have a site where there are a couple of external links, and music playing in the background. What I have done is to write actionscript in the externally linked buttons so that the music player on the site sets itself to "off" so that the users can hear the sounds of the external site without having to come back to mine to turn off the music. When the user clicks on a different link within the site, the music player is then set back to "on".

But what I want to do is to find a way of enabling the buttons to know whether the user has turned the site music off themselves, so when they do click an external link and then click on a different link in my site, they dont end up resetting the music player back to "on" and playing the music again. I'm sure it could be done with some sort of array, but I havent the faintest idea how

Any help would be grateful

Smart Combo Box
Someone posted this for me a long time ago, but the DL is no longer available..
Can someone show me how to create a combo box where the user can begin typing and have the combobox search thru its contents for matches? I dont want the user to be able to add to or delete from the combobox, either.
Thanks in advance.

Please post if you need more info, and i'll try to explain better..

-myk

Smart Clip
Hello,
I am trying to use some smart clip with the flash manager extension, everytime I want to install a smart clip menu, the extension manager pop up a message wich says tha flash mx does not support smart clip extension. Can somebody please help me?

Using Smart Clips?
Would anyone happen to know how to, after "Defining Clip Parameters",
delete clip properties.

I have tried a few things:First, the obvious, simply delete the entries in the "Define Clip Parameters" box - hasn't workedSecond - occupy each text box with new content - hasn't worked.Also - Unchecked the "Lock in Instance" box, then click "OK" - hasn't worked.

Thanks in advance!

Smart Textfields
I need some advice.

I use MAC and Version 5.

How do I write code to tell a movie clip to be invisible if a text field is left blank.

Thanks

Smart Clips Help
I downloaded some smart clips from macromedia flash exchange, but i don't know how to use them, can anyone help me?

Smart Button Help
Hi all

How do I script following situation?
I have two buttons next and back..which loads a swf on click.
I have 200 swfs to load.

Instead of making 200 buttons with attaching below script...
on (release) {
nextFrame();
_root.ClipCache.loadMovie("2.swf");
}

how do I make a smart button that checks, which file to load on single frame ( just with 1 button)

on movie start it
- loads 1.swf
- alpha of back button is 50% till next is clicked
- and when it reaches 200 set next button to 50% alpha

many thanks for the support
PilotX

Smart Navigation
Hi Fellow Flashers...

I am developing a CD-ROM with lots of links. The client wants me to add a "Go Back" button, which takes the user back to the previous screen. Essentially this button needs to know where the user came from and point them back to that link.

I can do this using variables (I can track the sections through variables, and write loads of if then statements) but it isn't easily managed because what if a section gets added?? Just looking to see if you folks had any better ideas? A function perhaps? I have looked everywhere and I can't find anything to steer me in the right direction.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Cheers in advance,
Jag

Smart Menu?
This is a longshot but since absolutely everything I have asked has been answered by you guys, here we go:

Would you knwo how to actionscript a menu in a similar fashion to the one on the following website:

www.uncontrol.com

What I want is for a line to be drawn from button to button as the user navigates through the file. Is this possible?

Many thanks in advance!

manolof