How to animate this feature?

Question

Appreciate any help in figuring out how to animate something
using Flash MX. I am recreating the illustration shown in the
following link:
Piston action..
(Scroll down to the first animation of the cylinder and piston.)
I've been able to recreate everything except the motion of
the connecting rod (part labeled "N"). How do I animate both the
vertical movement of the rod and the rod's radial movement at the
point "O" axis?
Thanks for you help.
John

Answer 1

This is where flash falls a bit short and why a nice IK
(inverse kinematics) or "bones" feature
would make life so much easier.
Here's the best i can do inside of 5 min:
http://www.mudbubble.com/piston.swf
download flash 8 source:
http://www.mudbubble.com/piston.zip
hope this helps.
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JJWolf wrote:
> Appreciate any help in figuring out how to animate
something using Flash MX. I
> am recreating the illustration shown in the following
link:
>
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm.
(Scroll down to the first animation
> of the cylinder and piston.)
>
> I've been able to handle everything except the motion of
the connecting rod
> (part labeled "N"). How do I animate both the vertical
movement of the rod and
> the rod's radial movement at the point "O" axis?
>
> Thanks for your help. (Sorry about the double post; I
put this question on the
> SWF forum by mistake.)
>
> John
>