About a FLASH production problem

Create or open documents and set properties

While working in Flash, you can create new documents or open previously saved documents. In Windows, you can use the New File button to open a document of the same type as the last created document.

To set the size, frame rate, background color, and other properties of a new or existing document, use the Document Properties dialog box. You can also use the Properties inspector to set properties for existing documents. Use the Property inspector to easily access and change a document's most commonly used properties. For more information about the Property inspector, see Using panels and the Property inspector.

Flash templates can be opened as new documents. You can choose from the standard templates that come with Flash, or open a template that you've saved previously. For information about saving document files as templates, see Saving Flash Documents.

In the On Startup section of the Preferences dialog box, you can select options to specify the document that the application opens when you start Flash: Select New Document to open a new, blank document ; Select Open last used document to open the document that was open the last time you exited Flash; or select Do not open any document to start Flash without opening a document. See Setting preferences in Flash.

For information about using the Start page to create a new document, see Using the Start page.

New windows can be opened while working.

To create a new document:

Select File > New.

Select "Flash Document" on the "General" tab.

To use the New File button to create a new document (Windows only):

Click the New File button in the main toolbar to create the same document as the last one you created. A new document of the same type as the document.

To open an existing document:

Select File > Open.

In the Open dialog box, navigate to the file or enter the path to the file in the Go to text box.

Click Open.

To set the properties of a new or existing document in the Document Properties dialog box:

With the document open, select Modify > Document.

The "Document Properties" dialog box will open.

For Frame rate, enter the number of animation frames to display per second. For most computer-displayed animations, especially animations played in Web sites, 8 fps (frames per second) to 12 fps is sufficient (the default frame rate is 12 fps).

For Dimensions, do one of the following:

To specify the stage size in pixels, enter in the Width and Height text boxes value.

The default document size is 550 x 400 pixels. Minimum size is 1 x 1 pixel; maximum is 2880 x 2880 pixels.

To size the Stage so that there is equal space around the content, click the Content button to the right of Match. To minimize the document size, align all elements to the upper left corner of the Stage and click Content.

To set the Stage size to the largest available printing area, click Printers. The size of this area is the area remaining after the paper size minus the currently selected margins in the Page Borders area of ??the Page Setup dialog box (Windows) or the Print Margins dialog box (Macintosh).

To set the stage size to the default size, click Default.

To set the background color of the document, click the triangle in the Background Color box and select a color from the color palette.

To specify the units of the ruler that can be displayed at the top and sides of the application window, select an option from the pop-up menu in the upper right corner. See Using grids, guides, and rulers. (This setting also determines the units used in the Info panel.)

Do one of the following:

Only use the new setting as the default property for your new documents, Please click OK.

To use these new settings as the default properties for all new documents, click Set as Default.

To open a template as a new document:

Select File > New from Template.

In the New Document dialog box, select a category from the Category list, and then select a document from the Category Items list.

Click OK.

To open a new window in the current document:

Select Window > New Window.

Change document properties using the Property inspector:

Deselect all resources, and then choose the Selection tool.

If you don't see the Properties inspector, choose Window > Properties.

Click the Size control to display the Document Properties dialog box and access its settings.

To select a background color, click the triangle in the Background Color box and select a color from the color palette.

For Frame rate, enter the number of animation frames to display per second.

For the Publish control, click the Settings button to display the Publish Settings dialog box with the Flash tab selected. For more information about the Publish Settings dialog box, see Publish a Flash document.

Timeline Effects

Flash includes pre-built timeline effects that allow you to create complex animations with a minimum of steps. You can apply timeline effects to the following objects:

Text

Graphics, including shapes, groups, and graphic symbols

Bitmap images

Button symbol

Note: When you apply a timeline effect to a movie clip, Flash will nest the effect within the movie clip.

Overview of working with symbols, instances, and library resources

A symbol is a graphic, button, or movie clip created in Macromedia Flash MX 2004 or Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004. Symbols need to be created once and then reused throughout the document or in other documents. Symbols can contain illustrations imported from other applications. Any symbol you create automatically becomes part of the current document's library. For more information about libraries, see Use libraries to manage media assets.

Each component has its own timeline. Frames, keyframes, and layers can be added to the Symbol Timeline just like you can add them to the main Timeline. For more information, see Using the Timeline. If the symbol is a movie clip or button, you can use ActionScript to control the symbol. For more information, see Handling Events.

An instance is a copy of a symbol that is on the Stage or nested within another symbol. An instance can vary greatly from its components in color, size, and functionality. Editing a symbol updates all instances of it, but applying an effect to one instance of the symbol updates only that instance.

Using symbols in a document can significantly reduce file size; saving several instances of a symbol takes up less storage space than saving multiple copies of the symbol's contents. For example, you can reduce the file size of your document by converting static graphics, such as background images, into symbols and then reusing them. Using symbols also speeds up SWF file playback because a symbol only needs to be downloaded to Flash Player once.

You can share components as shared library resources between documents at authoring time or at runtime. For runtime shared resources, you can link resources in the source document to any number of target documents without importing the resource into the target document. For assets shared at authoring time, you can update or replace a symbol with any other symbol available on your local network. See Using shared library resources.

If the imported library resource has the same name as a resource already in the library, you can resolve the naming conflict without accidentally overwriting the existing resource. See Resolving conflicts between library resources.

For instructions on using symbols and instances, choose Help > How To > Quick Tasks > Create Symbols and Instances.

Get an overview of the workspace

The Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 workspace consists of a Stage on which you can place media content, a menu that contains A main toolbar of commands for controlling application functionality, panels and a Property inspector for organizing and modifying media assets, and a toolbar of tools for creating and modifying vector graphics content ). For more information about the workspace, see the following sections:

Moving the Stage View

Working with the Timeline

Working with Frames and Keyframes

About the main toolbar and editing bar

Using the toolbars

Using the grid, guides, and rulers

Using the panel and the Properties inspector

You can select preferences to modify the default Flash workspace. Contextual menus and shortcut keys provide you with an easy way to navigate the Flash authoring environment. Special workspace accessibility features provide additional shortcut keys that allow you to navigate panels and dialog boxes without using a mouse.

See the following sections:

Set preferences in Flash

Customize keyboard shortcuts

Use contextual menus

Flash authoring Accessibility in the environment

Overview of using imported illustrations

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 can use illustrations created in other applications. Vector graphics and bitmaps in various file formats can be imported. If your system has QuickTime 4 or later installed, you can import other vector or bitmap file formats. For more information, see File formats for importing vector or bitmap files. Macromedia FreeHand files (version MX or earlier) and Macromedia Fireworks PNG files can be imported directly into Flash and retain the properties in those formats.

When importing bitmaps, you can apply compression and anti-aliasing, place the bitmap directly in the Flash document, use the bitmap as fill, edit the bitmap in an external editor, and detach the bitmap to pixels and edit it in Flash or convert the bitmap to vector. See Working with imported bitmaps.

You can also import videos into Flash. See Working with Video.

For information about importing sound files in WAV (Windows), AIFF (Macintosh), and MP3 (Windows and Macintosh) formats, see Working with Sounds.

Flash Drawing and Painting Tools

Flash provides a variety of tools for drawing free-form or precise lines, shapes, and paths, and for painting filled objects.

To draw arbitrary lines and shapes just like using a real pencil, you can use the Pencil tool. See Drawing with the Pencil tool.

To draw precise paths, such as straight lines or curves, you can use the Pen tool. See Using the Pen Tool.

To draw basic geometric shapes, you can use the Line Tool, Ellipse Tool, and Rectangle Tool. See Draw lines, ellipses, and rectangles.

To draw polygons and stars, use the Polygonal Star tool. See Drawing Polygons and Stars.

To create brush-like strokes as if you were painting with a brush, you can use the Brush tool. See Paint with the Brush Tool.

When using most Flash tools, the Properties inspector changes to show the settings associated with the tool. For example, if you select the Text tool, the Property inspector displays the text properties, making it easy to select the text properties you want. For more information about the Property inspector, see Using panels and the Property inspector.

When you create an object using the Paint or Paint tool, the tool applies the current stroke and fill properties to the object. To change the stroke and fill properties of an existing object, you can use the paint bucket and inkwell tools in the toolbar or the Property inspector. See Using the Stroke Color and Fill Color controls in the toolbar or Using the Stroke Color and Fill Color controls in the Property inspector.

After you create lines and shape outlines, you can change them in a variety of ways. Fills and strokes should be considered different objects. You can select the fill and stroke individually to move or modify them. See Reshape lines and shape outlines.

You can use the snap feature to automatically align elements with each other and with the drawing grid or guides. See Alignment and About the Main Toolbar and Formula Bar.

Toolbars can be customized to change the display of tools. See Customizing Toolbars.

Symbols

You can create a symbol from a selected object on the Stage, or you can create an empty symbol and then make or import content in symbol editing mode. You can also create font symbols in Flash. See "Creating Font Symbols. Symbols can have all the features you can create in Flash, including animation.

By using symbols that include animation, you can create text with a lot of motion in a very small file. Flash applications. If you have repetitive or looping motions, such as a bird's wings flipping up and down, you should consider creating animations in the symbol

You can also create them at runtime. Use shared library resources to add symbols to a document. See Using shared library resources

Convert selected elements to symbols:

Select a or on the Stage. Multiple elements. Then, do one of the following:

Select Modify > Convert to Symbol

Drag the selected elements onto the Library panel.

Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Convert to Symbol from the context menu.

In the Convert to Symbol dialog box, type a symbol name and select a behavior (Image, Button, or Movie Clip). See types of components.

Click in the registration grid to place the component's registration point.

Click OK.

Flash will add the symbol to the library. The selected element on the Stage now becomes an instance of the symbol. The instance cannot be edited directly on the Stage - it must be opened in symbol editing mode. You can also change the component's registration point. See Editing Symbols.

To create a new, empty symbol:

Make sure nothing is selected on the Stage. Then, do one of the following:

Select Modify > New Symbol.

Click the New Symbol button in the lower left corner of the Library panel.

Select New Symbol from the Library options menu in the upper right corner of the Library panel.

In the Create New Symbol dialog box, type a name for the symbol and select a behavior (Image, Button, or Movie Clip). See types of components.

Click OK.

Flash will add the symbol to the library and switch to symbol editing mode. In component editing mode, the component's name will appear above the upper left corner of the stage, with a crosshair indicating the component's registration point.

To create symbol content, you can use the timeline, draw with painting tools, import media, or create instances of other symbols.

After creating the component content, you can perform one of the following operations to return to document editing mode:

Click the "Back" button on the left side of the editing bar above the stage.

Select Edit > Edit Document.

Click the scene name in the edit bar above the stage.

When creating a new component, the registration point is placed in the center of the window in component editing mode. Symbol content can be placed in a window relative to the registration point. When you edit a symbol, you can also move the symbol content relative to the registration point to change the registration point. See Editing Symbols.

Creating text

You can create three types of text fields: static text fields, dynamic text fields, and input text fields. All text fields support Unicode.

Static text fields display text that does not dynamically change characters.

Dynamic text fields display dynamically updating text, such as sports scores, stock quotes, or weather reports.

Input text fields allow users to enter text into a form or survey.

You can create horizontal text (flowing from left to right) or static vertical text (flowing from right to left or left to right) in Flash. By default, text is created in a horizontal orientation. You can select preferences to make vertical text the default orientation, as well as set other options for vertical text.

Scrollable text fields can also be created. See Creating scrolling text.

To create text, use the Text tool to place blocks of text on the Stage. When creating static text, you can place the text in a separate line that expands as you type, or in a fixed-width text block (for horizontal text) or a fixed-height text block (for vertical text text), the text block automatically expands and wraps automatically. When you create dynamic text or enter text, you can place the text on a separate line or create a fixed-width and fixed-height text block.

Flash displays a handle in the corner of the text block to identify the type of text block:

For expanded static horizontal text, a handle appears in the upper right corner of the text block. Round handle.

For static horizontal text with a defined width, a square handle appears in the upper right corner of the text block.

For static vertical text that is oriented right to left and expands, a circular handle appears in the lower left corner of the text block.

For static vertical text that is oriented right to left and has a fixed height, a square handle appears in the lower left corner of the text block.

For static vertical text that is oriented left to right and expands, a circular handle appears in the lower right corner of the text block.

For static vertical text that is oriented from left to right and has a fixed height, a square handle appears in the lower right corner of the text block.

For expanded dynamic or input text blocks, a circular handle appears in the lower right corner of the text block.

For dynamic or input text with a defined height and width, a square handle appears in the lower right corner of the text block.

For dynamic scrollable text blocks, round or square handles become solid black blocks instead of hollow handles. See Creating scrolling text.

You can hold down the Shift key and double-click the handles of dynamic and input text fields to create blocks of text that do not expand when text is entered on the Stage. This allows you to create a fixed-size block of text and fill it with more text than it can display, thereby creating scrolling text. See Creating scrolling text.

After you create a text field using the Text tool, you can use the Property inspector to indicate which type of text field to use and to set certain values ??to control how the text field and its contents appear. How it appears in the SWF file.

Set preferences for vertical text:

Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Flash > Preferences (Macintosh), and then Click the Edit tab in the Parameters dialog box.

Under "Vertical text", select "Default text direction" to make vertical direction automatically the direction for new text blocks.

Select "Right-to-Left Text Flow" to have vertical text flow automatically from right to left.

Select No Kerning to prevent kerning from being applied to vertical text. (Kern still works in horizontal text.) For more information about kerning, see Setting character spacing, kerning, and character position.

To create text:

Select the Text tool.

Select Window > Properties.

In the Property inspector, select a text type from the pop-up menu to specify the type of text field:

Dynamic Text creates a field that displays dynamically updated text .

Enter Text creates a field into which users can enter text.

"Static text" creates fields that cannot be updated dynamically.

The following only applies to static text: In the Property inspector, click the Text Direction button (on the first row, to the right of the Italic button), and then select an option to Specify the direction of this text:

The Horizontal option causes the text to flow horizontally from left to right (the default).

"Vertical, left to right" causes the text to flow vertically from left to right.

"Vertical, right to left" causes the text to flow vertically from right to left.

Note: If the text is dynamic or input text, the layout option for vertical text is disabled. Only static text can have vertical orientation.

Do one of the following:

To create a text block that displays text on a line, click where you want the text to begin.

To create a fixed-width (for horizontal text) or fixed-height (for vertical text) block of text, place the pointer where you want the text to begin, and drag to the desired width or height. high.

Note: If you create a text block that expands beyond the edge of the stage as you type, the text is not lost. To make the handles visible again, add line breaks, move the text block, or choose View > Workspace.

Select the text property in the Property inspector as described in Setting text properties.

Change the size of a text block:

Drag its resize handles.

To switch a text block between fixed width or height and expandable:

Double-click the resize handle.

Adding components

When you drag a component from the Components panel to the Stage, the compiled clip symbol is added to the Library panel. If the compiled clip symbol is in a library, you can also add the component to the document at run time by using the UIObject.createClassObject() ActionScript method.

Beginner Flash users can use the Components panel to add components to a Flash document, then use the Property Inspector or the Component Parameters panel to specify basic parameters, and then use the on() event handler to control the components.

Intermediate Flash users can add components to a Flash document using the Components panel, and then specify parameters using the Property inspector, ActionScript methods, or a combination of both. They can use on() event handlers or event listeners to handle component events.

Advanced Flash programmers can use the Components panel with ActionScript to add components and specify properties, or choose to implement component instances entirely at run time using ActionScript. They can use event listeners to control components.

If you edit a component's appearance and then add another version of the component, or add a component that shares the same appearance, you can choose to use the edited appearance or use a new set of defaults. appearance to replace the edited appearance. If you replace edited skins, all components using those skins will be updated with the default skins. For details on how to edit skins, see Custom components.

Controlling instances using behaviors

You can use behaviors to control movie clips and graphic instances in a document without writing ActionScript. Behaviors are pre-written ActionScript scripts that allow you to add the power, control, and flexibility of ActionScript coding to your documents without having to create ActionScript code yourself.

You can use behaviors with instances to arrange them in a stacking order on the frame, and to load, unload, play, stop, copy, or drag movie clips, or link to URLs.

In addition, you can use behaviors to load external graphics or animation masks into movie clips.

To use behaviors to control movie clips, use the Behaviors panel to apply behaviors to trigger objects (such as buttons). You need to specify the event that triggers the behavior (such as releasing a button), select the target object (movie clip instance) affected by the behavior, and, if necessary, specify settings for the behavior parameters (such as frame numbers or labels).

The behaviors in the following table are packaged in Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004. For more information about embedded video behaviors, see Using Behaviors to Control Video Playback. For more information about using behaviors to control sounds, see Using behaviors to control sound playback.

Behavior

Purpose

Select/Input

Load Graphics

Load an external JPEG file into a movie clip or screen.

The path and file name of the JPEG file.

The instance name of the movie clip or screen that receives the graphic.

Load External Movie Clip

Loads an external SWF file into the target movie clip or screen.

The URL of the external SWF file.

The instance name of the movie clip or screen that receives the SWF file.

Unload Flash Movie

Deletes SWF files loaded using the "Load Movie" behavior or action.

The instance name of the movie clip or screen to be unloaded.

Remake Movie Clip

Remake Movie Clip or Screen

The instance name of the movie clip to be copied.