Chapter 17 Putting It All Together

Viewing the Preloader To view the preloader, 1.CTRL-Enter to test the movie. 2.View > Simulate Download

Using Scenes It’s a good idea to use a different scene for each separate web page or link. To do this, you would export each scene individually using the Test Scene command, and then use the loadMovieNum ActionScript to load the correct page on demand when the user clicks a button.

Using Layers Layers are similar to transparent sheets stacked one on top of another. Layers also help you organize the content of the frames. Some of the types of layers are: –Guide Layers – Motion Guide Layers and Guided layers. Motion Guide layers are not exported when the movie is published and serve as a path for an object to follow. –Mask Layers- Mask and Masked layers. A mask layer defines what is visible on the layers below it. The layers that are attached under the mask layer are called masked layers. –Layer Folders – A special kind of layer that can hold other layers inside it.

Library Organization Since you will often use the Library, it’s important to keep it organized and consistent in its naming schemes. Be consistent in your naming conventions. Choose brief, descriptive names. Use folders to organize the Library elements and stay consistent with the folder names (sounds, buttons, graphics, bitmaps, etc.)

Using the Movie Explorer The Movie Explorer is a handy tool that provides you with a visual representation of every aspect of the project file, organized into a hierarchical structure. It can be used to search and display all the text within a movie that uses a specific font. It can be used to list all the graphic symbols or sounds within a scene. It can also be used to locate an element when you know its name, but not its location. Window > Other Panels > Movie Explorer

Preloaders A preloader is used to give users visual feedback that a movie is being downloaded while they wait. It uses ActionScript that detects whether the SWF file has finished downloading or not. Once the whole movie has downloaded, the movie will play, assuming that you set up your ActionScripts correctly. A preloader uses ActionScript that detects whether the SWF file has finished downloading or not. Once the whole movie has downloaded onto the user’s machine, the movie will play.

Building a Preloader Remember that the Preloader must be in the first scene to play. 1.Find the frame in which the animation begins. In our example, it is frame 5. 2.Insert a new scene for your preloader (Insert> scene) and name it intro. Make sure that it is the first scene by opening Window> Design> Scene and dragging it to the top. 3.Insert a layer for the loader, click on frame 1, and drag the preloader (mcLoading) to the Stage. 4.Insert a layer for labels (above the loader layer), and insert a label in the frame that begins the animation. (In our example, that’s frame 5). Add blank keyframes so that you can see the label.

Building a Preloader Cont. 5. Insert a layer for actions (above all layers). In frame 2, add the following ActionScript: if (_framesloaded >= _totalframes) { gotoAndPlay("intro","start");} else { gotoAndPlay("intro",1);} Intro is the scene name and start is the label of the first scene. 5.To test the preloader, we’ll use the Bandwidth Profiler.

Using the Bandwidth Profiler The Bandwidth Profiler is a feature in the Test Movie environment (CTRL Enter) that allows you to see how the movie streams based on different connection speeds. View > Bandwidth Profiler View > Download Settings > 56K View > Simulate Download

Printing from the Project File You can print from inside the project file to show a client the page layouts for a Web site. 1.File > Page Setup 2.From Frames option, choose First Frame Only to print the first frame in each scene or all frames to print all. 3.From the Layout drop-down menu, choose Storyboard – boxes. 4.File> Print

Exporting the Scenes Now that you have created the Preloader and identified the printable frames, you need to export the SWF file for each scene so that the site will work correctly. First, test and export each scene: –Click the Edit Scenes button –Open a scene Control > Test Scene This will create a separate.SWF file for each scene Rename each scene so that it matches your ActionScript by removing the initial project name. Now test the entire movie and check all buttons. Control > Test Movie