Flash :: Strange Problem Of Animating Bitmaps

Choppiness When Animating Bitmaps
I have run into this problem several times before and I really need a solution...

Check out my Flash file: http://chicagoproducers.info/CanyonFlash.html

Any idea how I can eliminate the choppiness of the small bitmaps scrolling across the bottom? It really should not be all that processor-intensive... I've looked into bitmap smoothing but nothing I do seems to have any real effect.

Animating Same Bitmaps Differently Affect Final SWF Size?
Ok, I have a flash movie done in CS3 heavy with bitmap graphics. It's a jungle scene and simulating camera panning throughout the scene. Once comfortable, I published the movie to SWF. Let's call this version #1 of my movie and it's coming in at 3MB SWF size.

Now, I went back and saved it as version #2 and made some major adjustments to how the camera pans around the scene and again published the SWF. Note that I did not import any new assets to the library. Now the SWF published is coming in at 4.8MB...

Of course, I asked myself why suddenly my SWF grew by more than 1.5MB. Yes, I combed through my assets to make sure something didn't get added (therefore bloating my movie more). Nothing new just the fact I'm moving things around the screen differently.

So my question to you all is this: is it possible that the final size of my SWF is somehow affected by how I'm moving bitmaps around the screen?

Although this seems silly, I'm starting to become convinced this may be the case. Please tell me I'm wrong.

Regards

Edited: 09/30/2007 at 07:30:58 PM by ={0_0)=Musashi

Something Strange Is Happening To My Bitmaps
Something strange is happening to my bitmaps when my flash presentation is playing back. It appears that "patches" of my bitmaps are shifting (moving around)

It seems to only happen after about 30 secs or so of my presentation plays back (its about 2 min 30 secs long). This happens both when playing off a cdrom or my harddrive. The projector file is about 6.3 mb when published.

(using flash mx)

Any ideas?

Imported Bitmaps Doing Strange Things On Export
hi,
i'm using flash mx 2004 pro on a mac and am having issues with imported bitmap images. when i import the image it looks fine in the flash application but when i export it as swf, the bitmap almost looks like it's loosing a pixel vertically the whole length of the image. i tried importing as jpg, gif and png but they all seem to do the same thing on export like mentioned above. i even tried breaking the image apart and still get the same results. i know this can happen when an image is either scaled up or down in flash but all the images are at 100% with no scaling. any ideas?
thanks!

Shared Library Bitmaps Vs. Loading Bitmaps At Runtime
First, we're trying to figure out if bitmaps are being shared at runtime. Second, we're trying to determine if it is simply better to load the bitmaps using loadMovie at runtime.

Objective: download shared background images once and cache for optimum site performance.

Here's the deal...

We're using shared libraries throughout our site. Shared symbols are set to be shared at runtime. All shared symbols are working fine, but we're not sure the background JPGs are being shared (JPGs within symbols). First, they will not update automatically when we update the one shared SWF. Second, SWFs that contain the shared JPG (bitmap) don't seem to show any loading time increase after an SWF with that same JPG has downloaded.

To simplify... we have 5 background images for 5 sections of our site. Each within a separate SWF that is set to share that image. All subsection SWF files look for that shared symbol (bitmap within a shared symbol) when they load. After any one section SWF is viewed, the JPG has downloaded, but it seems to download every time. Symbols that are not bitmaps don't seem to download again. So our guess is that bitmaps are not shared.

Optionally, we're looking into simply loading the JPG background at runtime using loadMovie. After one section SWF has loaded the JPG should be on the users machine. The other sections should load more quickly. BUT.... we're guessing our preloader is not figuring in this external JPG load, so the movie may pause at the frame that contains the loadMovie code.

VERY sorry this is such a long post. Not sure how many have looked into this issue. Anyhow.... We'll be testing and looking for responses to this post. You can check the beta site at www.edgedesign.net. All sections use the shared library method except PROFILE which we're now testing with external JPG loading.

Text Animating And Zoom Animating
Hey im a beginner at animating and i need advise on how to animate text. Like when the viewer is watching my movie I don't want a whole paragraph to come out of no where I want it like word by word or letter by letter like someone was typing it right then and there. I tried figuring out a way but the only thing was adding a key frame for each individual letter. any tips? and also any advise on how to make the text come in with flare? like fading in or coming in from the top?

Also another thing. Let's say I make a city from far away on the stage. I want to zoom in on a person (a stick figure) for a couple seconds and then zoom back out to it's original position. Is there a way I can do this without having to disassemble the city and make the person zoomed in and then make it look zoomed out construct the city from scratch again?
I would like any help please.
Thanks in advance.

Strange Strange For Loop Problem
i have the following for loop within a private constructor in a class:

PHP Code:

// Place season choice buttons for (i = 1; i <= numSeasons; i++) { thisSeason = setSeasonVar["Season"+i]; var mcName:String = "MC_seasonChoice"+i; var depthToUse:Number = 1001+i; var seasonChoiceXPos:Number = 100 + (i*60); // Add season choice seasonNavHolder.attachMovie("MC_seasonChoice", mcName, depthToUse, {_x:seasonChoiceXPos, _y:67, txt_seasonChoice:thisSeason}); // Give season choice button actions seasonNavHolder[mcName].onPress = function():Void { trace(thisSeason); } }

everything works except the "trace(thisSeason)" line of the script. Here, it seems that the script is no longer in the for loop. Each onPress event traces the last value of the array.. the last value to be returned from the query and placed into the loadVars object...

is this a scope thing?

GotoAndStop? Strange, Strange
I have an instance of a movieclip my_mc linked to a class file in the first frame of the maintimeline.

The movieclip my_mc has two frames, the first of which calls a function on the maintimeline:

Code:
_root.myfunction();
myfunction is defined thus:

Code:
function myfunction() {
trace("function called ok");
_root.my_mc.gotoAndStop(2);
}
The 2nd frame of the my_mc has a trace.

The problem is this: The call to the function from the first frame of my_mc works fine... the trace shows up. But, the call to gotoAndStop(2) doesn't work.

The strange thing is, when I remove the linkage to the class file (deselecting "Export for ActionScript" in Properties for the movieclip) it works fine - the movie goes to frame two of my_mc.

Anyone any idea what's going on?? Any help greatly appreciated. Already wasted half a day fiddling around with this.

Help With Bitmaps...
Hi there,

I have an image of a watch that I brought into Photoshop to clean up. The image is taken from the web as a jpg- it is the only way I can get this particular image.

I have saved it out every possible way defined- bitmap, png,etc...

I bring it into Flash MX and I want to animate it so that it starts out at about 300% and then settles at is origial size, 100%. It looks awful as it comes in- I use the alpha effect, and still it just looks awful at that size- so the scaling effect does not work.

I hope this makes sense and someone can help me.

thanks!

Bitmaps
what are bitmaps and how can you import them from one flash website to another

Bitmaps Look Like ****
Does anyone know why when I import a JPG into my FLA it looks OK.
But when I export the movie, it looks like ****. all choppy and half of the letters are missing.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Bitmaps
Hello,

I have a very basic question. I looked all over for an answer but never found one.

Do I have to convert my bitmap photos into library graphic symbols?
Same question as to a layer of text- should I convert it into a graphic symbol?

Thanks

Bitmaps...plz Help
i have pasted a sprite into flash from mspaint but cant seem to get rid of the white box that surrounds it i've tried lots of things and still confused...help

Bitmaps Anyone?
Hello to all who read this.
I'm currently working on a fractal program and would like to know if there is a way of saving the stage contents at runtime as a bitmap? It would be great to have any kind of feedback before the program gets quite in depth and then to find out there isn't a way to do it because of security issues et cetera.
Thanks for your time, Abstract2069.

Dynamic Bitmaps ... Is It Possible?
ok... here's a toughy for you guys!
ok, loading variables from a database is a piece of cake... same thing as loading soundfiles, and/or MC with a variable name (eg: loadMovie ("pippo"+/:hello+".swf", "")) where /:hello is an interger...
but is it possible to load a bitmap dynamically, with the path in a database and load the bitmap as a variable ( eg: loadVariables ("hello.php?id=0&bitmap="+/:bitmapVar,"bitmapMC") ) where "bitmapMC" contains a bitmap symbol with the name "bitmap" and /:bitmapVar can be an interger or a string.

is it possible??? otherwise i have to make hundreds of *.swf files and load each with a variable name (as stated above)... and this i would like to avoid doing.

thanx...

MorPheuZ

Bitmaps Shift?
Can anyone help me,

when I use an alpha fade motion tween, my bitmaps shift a pixel to the left.
If I add 0.5 pixels to the width, they don't shift but when I export it, they shift in the .swf version.

I already searched the Macromedia site but the solutions they offer don't work.

Greetz Cybertje

'rough' Bitmaps
this is driving me nuts!

I've got a swf that is being loaded into a layer and if i try to include a gif or ping bitmap image in it, it looks really bad, as if i have not positioned the image on an exact pixel (which i have!). I'm using low quality but this doesn't seem to effect any of the gifs i have in the main swf file which is loading this new swf into a level, as long as i position the bitmap on an exact pixel. I'm loading this new swf into a movie clip in the host swf, i have checked that this positioned on an exact pixel and it is. Does anyone have any ideas here?

thanks in advance for any help any one can give me on this.

Loading Bitmaps-help
Here is the basic layout of my flash movie: A rectangle with numbers layed out horizontally along the bottom. I want it so that when each number is pressed, a different bitmap image is loaded in the center of the composition. The only way I know how to do this is by adding a bunch of keyframes, with each one identical but the center image being different. I use a go-to command on the navigation numbers to go to its corresponding keyframe.

But this seems like a very cumbersome and slow way to do this! Plus, I don't know how it will load- I want to MAKE SURE that the bitmap images are not loaded until its number is pressed for faster initial downloading.

please help with any advice or suggestions.

Can I Morph 2 Bitmaps Into Each Other?
Is there a way to morph two bitmaps into one another?
I tried importing two bitmaps, breaking them apart, and then giving them a shape tween, but it came out pretty weird... I dunno... Maybe I am doing it wrong...

Just Wondering,

Will

Masking Through 2 (or More)bitmaps
Ok, Ill try to explain clearly but my mind is vaporlocked...

I am trying to create a video monitor with an image being displayed. The image itself is one bitmap
and the monitor is another (more accurately consider the monitor a frame for a back ground image).
I have created the mask for the monitor/frame by using the alpha channel of the monitor image and using
the 'trace bitmap' function within flash. THis produced a nice mask of the monitors frame with the monitor
screen left white while the monitors body is black. Working with these 2 layers (the monitor and its
mask) I can easily bring out the monitors frame with the monitors screen cut out.....however I cant
seem to display the background image. I know the bitmap of the monitor is most likey covering up my
background image but every permutation of masking the monitors screen that I have tried fails.
THis is my first flash project so I admit I am probly doing something basic and stupid but damn if I
can figure it out!!! Experts help!!!

Masking Bitmaps
I would like to import clean-edged cutout images into flash. I hear one way to do this is to trace it with vector lines (in photoshop or illustrator) and then use mask-layer (in flash).

Right now im using photoshop, and would like to know how I should go about exporting the vector line file. Or is there a better way?

Thanks for your time

Bitmaps In Flash
I know bitmaps are not ideal to use in flash but I was hoping I could get some advice on my movie that uses them: http://********smartdesign.com

I have a flash movie in which several photos sort of move across the screen. The files size for the photos are not particularly large but when the movie clip that control them plays, the whole movie slows down and the scrolling type on a separate movie clips gets jumpy. Not sure if there is a solution for this or not (other than don't use photos Maybe there is a better way to make them move and fade, Right now I'm just using a motion tween.

Thanks
-Omobelle

Fading Bitmaps ...
I'm trying to fade between symbols created in Flash and some bitmap images the same shape and size but different colours (from a logo) created in Photoshop (jpegs). Is there any way this can be done? Or is there a way I can smoothly fade from a white background up to the bitmap?

Thanks!

600 Symbols And 600 Bitmaps
Hi, I have a movie with 600 symbols and 600 bitmaps.

At the mo, I am having to drag bitmap 1 into symbols 1 for each.

Is there any way I can do this automatically?

I have a timeline with 600 symbols doing stuff about the place.

But, the symbols now have nothing in them. I need to add the coesponding bitmap into each one.

Am I going to have to do this the long way?

M@)

All Bitmaps To Symbols, Or Not?
Is it good practice to convert all bitmaps to symbols before there used in the main movie, or does it not matter if I drag a bitmap straight to the stage?

Mangled Bitmaps?
I've imported a .bmp into Flash to be used as a background for a menu on my website. I've typed words over-top of the bitmap and everything seems fine until I publish the .swf and view it in Internet Explorer. The bmp is being distorted or "shifted" 1 pixel to the right wherever the words have been typed.

You can see what I'm talking about at: http://www.voxxwebdesign.com/IVoxx/

I've run into similar troubles when using .bmp's in Flash before. Can anyone tell me what is causing this strange behaviour and how I might go about fixing it?

Thanks,

TheProphet

Misaligned Bitmaps
Reference URL: http://207.178.129.225/site.php

You'll notice at the top of the this site I have a flash menu resting in a table thats 100% in width and a matching background image. Unfortunately I can't get the flash to align w/ the background image. They're exactly the same height and the bitmaps is at 0,0 in the .swf.

Any ideas?
Thanks.

Bitmaps In My Library
Hi All,

When I bring images in from photoshop (through fireworks, then saved as .swf's to retain the layers) is there anyway to get rid of the bitmaps - even if I break the images apart and save them as graphics, then remove the bitmap, the graphic disappears.

Is there any way around this, as I obviously want to keep the library as small as possible.

Help!!

Many thanks,

Rob

Slowed Bitmaps
How come sometimes in my animations of bitmaps (which I know aren't well animated anyway) do they slow down toward the end of the sequence of frames and sometimes they don't? Like the one attached (you'll have to publish it to see the choppiness), they're all very compressed, low quality jpgs, BUT the animation slows and gets a bit choppy toward the end. But on others that I've done with larger, higher quality bitmaps this doesn't happen?
Any clues?
thanks!
Kerri

Bitmaps Shaking
I have this little problem... When I move any vector over a bitmap, the bitmap shakes and deforms few pixels.

how can i fix it?

Thanks...

Pixels. Bitmaps. Grr
I've fought the nasty battle of pixel distortion before and won. This time, however, I played with complex masks (i.e., creating masks in symbols and then masking those masks, etc.)

This time, however, pixels don't jump, but there are colored lines through the b/w pix (check out URL)

I use guides, and the lines look like they correspond to where the various guides were, though that's probably my imagination. Checked it out on co-worker's machine -- same prob. Followed advice as seen on http://www.macromedia.com/support/fl...maps_shift.htm as well as from various posts I've found on different threads (i.e., not positioning images like x:100.1 y:50.6, etc.)

Any advice, commiseration, would be appreciated.

It's work in progress -- just need to get this resolved before I put more effort into other scenes, etc:

www.lake.k12.fl.us/hr/ripple1.asp

Tracing Bitmaps
hey
im new to MX and used to flash 4 (wicked old)
i was wondering the best way to trace bitmaps, should i copyu and paste them in or import then trace?
just .gif's and .jpg's
shawn

Vectors And Bitmaps
Hi

I want more information on why one would prefer, and in which circumstances, Vectors over bitmaps, or otherwise. Is there any way to convert bitmaps into vectors in FLash? If we have to use another program, which one? Thanks

<B>Qasim<B>

Tracing Bitmaps
When I try and trace a detailed bitmap Flash gets about 3/4 of the way through and then crashes.

Settings are:

Color Threshold = 1
Minimum Area = 1

Curve fit = Normal
Corner Threshold = Normal.

Bitmaps And Swf Size
Hi
A few questions if anyone can help that would be great.

1) What is the recommanded size of a swf which would be viewed on a 56k modem? I am working on a flat HTML site but there is one flash page - what size should this page be? 35k, More, Less....

2) In my flash page I have a Map, which is a bitmap (gif). Do bitmaps add alot of weight to the final swf? Should I maybe trace it, save the trace as a seperate graphic and drop the bitmap outta the Library? What's the general rule with Bitmaps?

3) Finall the age old question of playing a basic movie clip by using a button. I usually lable the movieclip instance on stage the use this script on the button.

on (press) {gotoAndPlay("lable")
}

However it's been a few months since I looked at Flash and this script has decided it ain't gonna work today. Can anyone tell me why this is not working.

Btw I am using Flash MX.

Ta,
CC

Panning Bitmaps
I am trying to create a very simple movie in which photographs slowly pan or zoom-in as one would see in a documentary video. This is easy enough to do, but when published, the bitmaps get a wierd jiggle effect as they slowly move. Is this just inherent in flash or is there a way to get a smoother transition? thanks
Dan

Pixellation Of Bitmaps... Help
Hi

I'm trying to get an explosion in this movie, right

At 100% scaling, it seems fine

but when I scale it up, it appears pixellated when viewed with the Flash player (I've tried the internal debugger player, the SA6 player, and the v.7 browser viewer)... Yet in Flash they appear all nice and smoothed

A contact of mine has used the same bitmaps but got the player to smooth them so they appear fine

Any hidden settings I'm forgetting to check?

-W3bbo

Distort Bitmaps
hi guys.
there is a way by actionscript to do trasformations of images.

i would like to do something like this in flash.

Rubber screen

i don't think that flash is so powerful like processing...

thanx,
bye
noir

Bitmaps Into Grayscale
I wanted to have a bitmap within a button, and in its inactive position, have a desaturated version of the bitmap, and when the button is rolled over, have the colors shine through in their full glory. But I don't want to have to import black and white and color versions of the same bitmaps, therefore doubling the amount of bitmaps and increasing my filesize. Is there any way, within flash, to desaturate a bitmap?

Placing Bitmaps ?
When using Illustrator, I always make bitmap tiffs of outlines, and place them into illustrator document. That way, the placed bitmap can be given any color I want, in that document and keep outlines without the white background. Is there a way to do this in flash?

I tried breaking apart a gif, but that looses the outline I need and just turns into a rectangle fill.

Please help.

Jagged Bitmaps
When i try to paste a bitmap logo into a scene, the edges look jagged
anyone any suggestions?

Displaying Bitmaps
hi,

i have various pieces of work that i wish to display which are all bitmapped - they are at 300dpi size scaled down (out of photoshop) & all generaly type heavy so am v. keen to preserve sharp type.

i also need to skew the pieces. i have tried to trace images to a vector image - taking forever - but have ended up with a polka dot finish on the bkgrnd image (photo) even with settings at
a colour threshold - 10 , min area - 1pix , curve fit - pixels , crner threshold - many curves

what else can i do??

very frustrated flashee.

Pixelated Bitmaps.
I’m working on a flash movie that simulates Microsoft Word and involves screenshots. I have limited space to have a certain area of the window viewable at one time, and when I try to scale it down, it gets pixilated, but ONLY IN THE SWF. In the FLA, everything looks normal, but once exported, if it’s not at 100%, it’ll get really messy. The quality in the swf is set to high, I’ve checked the publish settings and the properties on the actual bitmap, and I can’t figure it out. Help me. Please.

The bitmaps were imported in their original state; in Photoshop, I saved them. Nothing else.

Thanks in advance.

Screens & Bitmaps
I'm doing my first screen movie and have run into a problem; any bitmap image i put into the "presentation" screen shows up like it's vertically smashed, or squished.

if i put the bitmap on the child screen it shows up correct. if the same bitmap is on the child *and* the presentation screen, it shows up correct.

any thoughts, solutions, etc?

thanks!

Extracting Bitmaps From A SWF
** See comments below

I got a bit of a problem. Every month I put together a presentation in flash. It's composed of many elements (text, vector, raster, video, etc...)

Well, in my attempt to free up hard drive space by deleting alot of unnecessary files, I deleted the fla's. Those 12 month of file's just become necessary. Luckily I still have the swf's (their living on my web server, thank God), I need a way to extract the bitmap images from them. They are protected swfs. Does anyone know of a tool to do that.

Much thanks.

- Ben

I'm leaving this post up in case someone else runs into this. "File Juicer" Is doing exactly what I need, just grabbing the jpg's. If anyone knows of something else, please don't hesitate to let me know. Thanks again.

Trace More Bitmaps..
How can I trace bitmaps if I have in Flash e.g. 100 imported images.
Must I do it separately? Or exist some program which can make it outside of Flash?

Thanks

Properly Use Bitmaps
whenever i try to use bitmaps in movies for some reason it will not let me edit them

i have an image that i want to erase a lot of but i cant get it to change becuase flash sees it as a bitmap

is there any way that i can make it let me edit the bitmap as though i had drawn it in flash

Bitmaps In Flash
I wanted to use bitmaps in my movie and they are creating a very large movie. so I removed all but 4 and I want them to tween, but instead they are jerking from one to the next. Do they need to be symbols? not symbols? what can I do to make this move smoothly? Thanksk!

Tweenin Bitmaps
hi, im new to flash, and ive been trying to tween one bitmap from a normal shape to a distorted shape.

the only way i figured this would work was to trace the bitmap, then i converted it to a vector graphic > then break apart > then it let me distort the graphic to any shape i wanted > then converted it to a vector graphic 2.

so i tried tweening vector graphic 1 to distorted vector graphic 2.

the solid arrow line appears, but the actual animation doesn't show.

all that happens is, first nine frames show exactly as the 1st frame..and the last frame is just the vector graphic 2 frame.

does anyone know where i went wrong..or hopefully a better way to do this?

thanks.