Flash sequence - help needed!

Question

I'm trying to create an entrance page to a website in Flash.
Here is the sequence I'd like to achieve:
1. (Page loads) - only the background picture should be seen for around 1 second. 
2. A translucient box-shaped menu unfolds (above the background, within an approx 1 sec time span) with two hyperlinked options inside.
3. If the cursor hovers over the unfolded menu box, the background fades to black and white - within approx 1/2 sec. time span, and if the cursor moves away from the menu box (returns to the background), the background changes back to its normal colour (in the same 1/2 sec. colour change sequence).
4. If the cursor hovers over one of the options then menu box, the text changes colour.
So far, I've attempted the menu but the unfolding sequence isn't very smooth.  Ideally, the box would begin as a 1 pixel dot, shoot out both ways horizontally into a line, and then unfold into it's full size.  But I can't seem to get the shooting motion of the pixel growing into a line - the pixel just becomes a line.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Cheers,
Bella

Answer 1

Are you using any kind of tweens for this?  To get a line to grow from a dot, the easiest way is to first make the line, then squash it into a dot by chhanging its width.  Make sure the line's registration is centered on the line.
If the menu is an object, you should be able to squash it down to a flat line by setting its height to 1 pixel.  Then you can turn that into a dot by changing its width to be 1 pixel.
You can use either timeline tweening or actionscript tweening.