Creating simple photo gallery

Question

Hi,
I'm trying to create a simple photography portfolio in Flash
8, whereby the user clicks on a thumbnail and the image fades up. I
have 24 thumnails, so do I need to create 24 different 'fading
image' movie clips, or is there an easier way to do this? Is it
possible to create one movie clip and then just update the image
within it?
I'm quiet a newbie so i might be missing somehting here...
Any help greatly appreciated. David.

Answer 1

Ok,
So many of you started using this that I had to look it over
and figure out how to make things easier. The setup on the stage is
exactly the same, except you should now create a simple preloader
movieclip and place it on the stage - name it "loader". Remove all
the actionscripts you had attached to your buttons and the holder
movie clip and everywhere else. The script below should be the only
script in the movie and should reside in the first frame. Simply
copy and paste the following script into the first frame of your
timeline:
/* SCRIPT STARTS HERE - COPY FROM HERE DOWN */
/* make sure your jpegs are named Image1.jpg, Image2.jpg,
etc., etc... */
var reset:Boolean = false;
/* change numOfImages to the total number of images you have,
and create this many buttons on the stage named button1,
button2, etc., etc... */
var numOfImages:Number = 3;
/* ====================== */
/* create a movie clip that will act as your preloader and
place it on the stage,
name it "loader" */
this.loader._visible = false;
/* ======================== */
this.holder.createEmptyMovieClip("jpegTarget",0);
for (i=1; i<numOfImages+1; i++) {
this["button"+i].ID = i;
this["button"+i].onRelease = function() {
_root.loader._visible = true;
var targetName:String = "Image"+this.ID+".jpg";
reset = true;
_root.holder.jpegTarget.loadMovie(targetName, 0);
_root.holder._alpha = 0;
this.holder.onEnterFrame = function() {
fadeIn(this);
function fadeIn(clip) {
if (clip.jpegTarget._width>1) {
_root.loader._visible = false;
dif = 100-clip._alpha;
if (Math.abs(dif)>1 && reset == true) {
/* the .3 in the next line controls the speed of the fade
change it and experiment */
clip._alpha += dif*.3;
/* ================= */
} else {
clip._alpha = 100;
reset = false;
/* END OF SCRIPT - DON'T COPY BELOW THIS LINE */
The only things on the stage should be:
1 blank movie clip named "holder" - position where you want
picture to load
1 movie clip named "loader" which is your preloading
animation (or text or whatever)
your buttons (thumbnails) which should be named button1,
button2, etc.
Make sure of the following:
- Change the numOfImages variable in the script to match how
many images and buttons you have. so if there are 5 buttons on
stage loading 5 jpegs, change it to 5.
- Target AS 2.0 in your publish settings
- name your jpegs EXACTLY as follows: Image1.jpg, Image2.jpg,
etc. If you move them to another folder, i.e., "images", make sure
to put this in the script
- name your button instances EXACTLY as follows: button1.jpg,
button2.jpg, etc.
The loader movie clip is up to you, and you may figure out a
better way to handle this. This is pretty simple but should work if
simple is what you're after. Please let me know if it doesn't work
- good luck!