Purpose of motion tweens + movie clip symbols

Hello. I've been going over several tutorials and whatnot and I'm confused on the point of movie clip symbols and motion tweens. To me using the other tweens and symbols are "easier". Can someone explain to me why they're so beneficial to have been added to CS4/CS5? Except I understand that movie clip symbols can be adjusted using the 3D tools but is that the only difference?
Thanks so much

it's easier to fine-tune different movieclip property tweens using the motion editor than it is to control those tweens using the classic tween.  that said, for most tweens, the classic tween works well and it's easier to implement.

Similar Messages

  • How can i let a move clip complete his motion tween movement after dragging and dropping it

    hi how can i let a move clip complete his motion tween movement after dragging and dropping it
    i am using this code and there is a motion tween applies to the movie clip r_mc
    r_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN,fun); r_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP,fun2); function fun(event:MouseEvent):void { stop(); r_mc.startDrag();
    function fun2(event:MouseEvent):void {
    play(); r_mc.stopDrag();

    i have a simple .fla file wich contains MC that has
    a motion tween(its moving from the left to the right of the stage)
    this motion tween covers the whole time line (  there is only 50 frames in the time line)
    i mean in the frame 1 the MC appears in the left of the stage
    and in the frame 50 the MC appears in the right of the stage and there is a motion tween between them
    every thing till now working well
    i want to make that MC dragabble
    so when i drag the MC i will use stop()
    and when i drop it i will use play()
    but the problem is that the mc doesnt move and complete
    his motion tween movement when i drop it
    for example the MC will be in the middle of the stage in frame 25
    in this frame (25) i am draging the MC ,stoping the timeline,dropping the MC and resum playing the timeline again
    but the MC freezes in the middle of the stage and doesnt go to the right of the stageo until the flash loops and start from the frame 1 again
    here is the example wich i am worikng on
    http://www.mediafire.com/?ia47r4owha7sz8v
    thank u very much and sorry for my bad English

  • Motion tween copy stacks symbols at end

    I am trying to copy a motion tween to another symbol, and at the end of the motion, the symbols end up stacked on top of each other. How to I adjust the second symbol so it stays behind the first at the end of the motion path.

    Yes, I did that when I first created the action layer before I thought about the timeline tween. So, after I created my tween and stretched all the other layers to match the THX sound duration, I neglected to delete the first stop(); action in the first frame of the action layer. I placed a blank keyframe at the end of my action layer and put the stop action there. That did the trick!
    Thanks Ned.

  • Do I need to stop a tweened movie clip if it's not visible?

    Hi,
    I'm a beginner.
    I have a tweened movie clip (it has a changing alpha state that makes it fade up from invisible). I hide this movie clip when the movie starts (with "myMovieClip__MC.visible = false" at the top of the frame script. My question is this: Is this movie clip still tweening while it's hidden (and using processor resources)? IOW: should I hide it AND stop it at the movie start...or is that unnecessary because when it's hidden it's stopped?
    Thanks

    it's still playing and using some resources even if not visible and not on the stage or in the display list, but it may not be using that many resources.

  • Motion tween within a symbol (CS5)

    hi, im doing an animation (in CS5) for an independent art class and i had a question
    in short im trying to get a motion tween, which is within a symbol, to show up in the main animation
    i have a guy who is swinging a sledge hammer using the bone tool, and his hands and the hammer are one symbol.
    i want the hand in front to move up on the handle (which within the symbol is on its own layer and is already perfectly animated)
    unfortunately the animation within the symbol doesn't show up outside
    so im wondering how I can do this
    thanks in advance for any help you can give me

    the animation isnt well organized
    but here are some screen shots with the time line
    http://imageshack.us/f/848/timeline.png/
    http://imageshack.us/f/141/timeline2.png/
    the hammer with the hands is a symbol and within the symbol (2nd picture) i have the motion tween

  • Motion Tween Movie

    I have a motion tween that goes from object A to object B, then C, D and finally E. How do I make the whole shooting match one big (small) movie? I've tried highlighting all the frames then pressing F8 but that doesn't seem to work (just makes the first frame a movie). Please advise.
    beno

    Create the new mc.
    Highlight the frames you want from the main timeline.
    Right click over that highlighted section and select "Copy Fames".
    Open the new mc.
    Right click over the timeline in the new mc and select "Paste Frames"

  • Animation inside movie clip symbols in "header" part of web site

    Question: i have to make an animated header for the web site. several seconds it's going on and is stoped with action script command stop(); but i need one elenment inside flash-header continue animating like here: http://ves-lab.ru/ a rolling logo in upper left corner of header. If somewhere the answer has already been written - it would be nice someone write a link to this source. Thanks.

    Make that entity that continues to animate a separate movieClip with its own animation.

  • How to play a movie clip with a tween animation

    I created a movie clip symbol with a tween animation and created an instance of it on the main stage. The animation is in the movie clip timeline, not on the main timeline. I cannot get the mc to play using mc.play() or mc.gotoAndPlay.  What am I missing??

    Hi Ned, thanks for the response;
    1.Yes I named the instance.
    2.I  don't beleive so. I started from the library creating a new symbol, added the graphics, added the key frames, then created the tween. Then I dragged the symbol onto the main stage and named the instance. So I don't think there is a movie clip inside an mc.
    Here is the main timline:
    Here is the mc timeline:
    Here is what I'm trying to do:
    stop();
    blk1._visible = false;
    blk2._visible = false;
    blk3._visible = false;
    ppk1._visible = false;
    ppk2._visible = false;
    ppk3._visible = false;
    storeCartons = new Array();
    storeCartons = [blk1, blk2, blk3, ppk1, ppk2, ppk3];
    startButton.onRelease = function() {
        myNumber = Math.floor(Math.random()*storeCartons.length);
        trace("myNumber "+myNumber);
        activeCarton = storeCartons[myNumber];
        activeCarton._visible = true;
              activeCarton.play();

  • Character Animation: Movie Clip or Graphic Symbols?

    Should I use Movie Clip or Graphic Symbols for Character
    Animation? What do people who make TV shows use. If I'm not
    planning on manipulating any symbols with ActionScript and I'm not
    using a symbol that requires it's own time line like a walk cycle,
    is there any reason to use movie clips symbols? If I put my
    animation on the web will it download noticeably faster if I use
    graphic symbols instead of movie clip symbols?

    What I meant is, there are different ways of setting up a
    workflow for Flash animation. Studio animators are trained in
    traditional frame-by-frame animation. So their workflow is usually
    to do the same in Flash: make every frame a keyframe, then copy and
    paste everything from one frame into the next, then make whatever
    changes are needed. A classically-trained animator can get a good
    momentum working this way.
    But for making the most streamlined SWF files, this method is
    not the best. It's much better to rely on library assets, place
    major parts or sets of parts on different layers, and only keyframe
    those things that need keyframes. If good planning is done in
    advance, it can be just as fast as doing straight-ahead keyframed
    animation.
    Either method may end up with the same result. But when you
    want to go back and tweak things, it's a whole lot easier to do it
    when method 2 is used.
    I'm sure I'm not very clear. PM me and I'll send you a list I
    created of "best practices" which I give to e-card animators.
    One of these best practices is: place a thumbtack on the "G"
    key on your keyboard. The very WORST habit that is taught to studio
    animators using Flash is to use neither Graphics nor Movie Clips,
    but to immediately click Ctrl-G every time they draw something.
    This creates a Group. It's faster than hitting F8 and typing in a
    name, but it causes ENORMOUS problems, especially when doing
    retakes and revisions. And it results in gargantuan SWF files.
    I literally GLUED a thumbtack to one one animator's keyboard,
    since he seemed unable to remember this rule. Luckily this wasn't
    in America, or I'd have been charged with grievous bodily
    assualt.

  • Urgent Need of Help Playing Movie Clips

    I'm a complete noob when it comes to AS. I know basic things like stop(); and gotoAndPlay.
    Here's my dilemma.
    Dearest Professor has given us a task of creating a website in Flash. You need to have 15 links, or 15 pages. He states that you can only go frame by frame on the main timeline with no tweening spaces in between. So I'm virtually creating all of my animations in symbols.
    This isnt such a problem... I created a short introduction title video in Flash using a Movie Clip Symbol... placed it on the main timeline on the first page, and then called ActionScript to play the video.
    Here's the problem... So.... the movie will play, but it will continuously loop... I've tried putting stop(); on the home page, under the AS... I'm just completely lost on how to get this to play the short clip and go straight to the home page... Could someone PLEASE, direct me on how to do this and give me an explanation as to why this way is the way it is... I would very much like to understand how it works.
    Thanks
    The Flash Noob

    Thanks Rob!
    I did what you suggested but I think I may have messed it up...
    Here's the output error I have going on right now.
    TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert flash_website_template2_fla::MainTimeline@7fff0d7aea1 to openingtodogwood.
      at openingtodogwood/frame9()[openingtodogwood::frame9:3]
    In the end of the timeline of the movie clip I put this:
    stop();
    openingtodogwood(parent).play();
    I think that might be wrong but I'm unsure on what I should have really put. I was also reading that having the name of the movie clip the same as the class in the properties panels is not a good idea?
    Thank you so much for your help!

  • Motion tween using actionscript

    I'm pretty sure there has to be a way to do this. I want an
    object to move to certain coordinates when certain objects are
    moused over. Any help?

    Bryan,
    > Thank you so muck...honestly. I hate to ask for more
    help,
    > but i need to ask ONE more thing.
    's okay. :)
    > I got the movement working but the thing i need now is
    for
    > the puck to stay under the button when i mouse off.
    Well ... okay, I looked at your code. Honestly, bro, it's a
    complete
    hodge-podge of new and old style coding. I know it's because
    you're on
    unfamiliar territory, and I'm not slammin' ya ... but really
    -- really,
    really, really -- your life will be soooo much easier if you
    step back and
    look at the big picture. Sooner or later, this will all gel
    for you, and it
    suddenly becomes very easy.
    Forget that tellTarget() business. That's old; like, Flash 3
    old. In
    fact, it was deprecated in Flash 5. If you want to path to an
    object, you
    use its instance name. Of course, first, that means you need
    to give your
    relevant assets instance names. You've already done with with
    the revolving
    "police" lights -- but make sure you're consistent. Name them
    light1,
    light2, light3, and so on (yours were a bit dissheveled).
    An instance name is just a "handle" that lets ActionScript
    "talk" to a
    given object. That light exists as a single movie clip symbol
    in your
    Library, but you want to talk to each one individually, so
    each one gets its
    own instance name.
    Do the same thing with your "net" instance (the tab/button
    movie clips).
    Rather than this ...
    tellTarget(this._parent.light4) {
    gotoandplay(this._currentframe+70);
    ... just refer to objects by instance name.
    light1.gotoAndPlay();
    Much cleaner code. Now, this isn't relevant in your case,
    but if that
    "light" symbol had another movie clip inside it, you could
    give *that*
    symbol an instance name, too. For example, you might name the
    bulb "bulb".
    If you needed to instruct that bulb movie clip, you could
    react it inside
    each instance of light like this ...
    light1.bulb.gotoAndPlay();
    light2.bulb.gotoAndPlay();
    // etc.
    It's just like folders and subfolders on your hard drive.
    Next, you've GOT to make sure you use the correct case.
    gotoandplay
    doesn't exist in ActionScript, but gotoAndPlay does.
    Thankfully, the
    ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference is only a click away, and
    besides,
    script code changes color to indicate when you've spelled
    something
    correctly.
    Next, while it's perfectly legal to use the on() event
    handler, it's
    also pretty old. It was deprecated as of Flash MX (aka Flash
    6), so use the
    approach I showed you in previous posts. Just use the clip's
    instance name
    and assign a function to its event.
    You want those instances of "net" to respond to mouse
    events. I gave
    each movie clip an instance name ... mcHome, mcCalendar,
    mcRecord, and so
    on.
    This allows you to neatly put all your code into frame 1 of
    the main
    timeline. No more hunting and pecking, having to click on
    each movie clip
    separately, etc.
    mcHome.onRollOver = function() {
    // instructions here
    That also means you don't have to keep repeating the import
    statements
    for each button. It's just much cleaner and more efficient.
    Give yourself
    a Scripts layer dedicated to scripts only, and put all your
    code there.
    Just remove all the on() stuff.
    Now here's the part that should make a halogen bulb go BOOM
    in your
    head. I'll repeat what you were asking:
    > I got the movement working but the thing i need now is
    for
    > the puck to stay under the button when i mouse off.
    Okay. That means you want the puck not to start from its
    original
    position every time. (In your Tween instantiation, you were
    always starting
    from 66.3 -- which of course means that's where the puck will
    start from
    every time.) So, how are you going to know where the puck is?
    Well, the puck is a movie clip -- so look up the MovieClip
    class. The
    MovieClip class lists a bunch of properties, which refer to
    characteristics
    of the object at hand. In other words, the MovieClip class
    TELLS YOU what
    properties are available to any movie clip out there --
    because classes
    define objects, and this is a movie clip object.
    So if you need to know where the puck is horizontally, look
    up its
    MovieClip._x property. Badda bing.
    mcHome.onRollOver = function() {
    new Tween(puck, "_x", Elastic.easeOut, puck._x, 58, .5,
    true);
    light1.gotoAndPlay(2);
    That puts the current _x value of the puck instance as the
    fourth
    parameter of that Tween constructor. Make sense? Here's
    working code for
    your Flash banner ...
    import mx.transitions.Tween;
    import mx.transitions.easing.*;
    mcHome.onRollOver = function() {
    new Tween(puck, "_x", Elastic.easeOut, puck._x, 58, .5,
    true);
    light1.gotoAndPlay(2);
    mcHome.onRollOut = function() {
    light1.gotoAndPlay(this._currentframe + 70);
    mcHome.onRelease = function() {
    getURL("site.php?page=press&links=home");
    mcCalendar.onRollOver = function() {
    new Tween(puck, "_x", Elastic.easeOut, puck._x, 215, .5,
    true);
    light2.gotoAndPlay(2);
    mcCalendar.onRollOut = function() {
    light2.gotoAndPlay(this._currentframe + 70);
    mcCalendar.onRelease = function() {
    getURL("site.php?page=press&links=home");
    mcRecord.onRollOver = function() {
    new Tween(puck, "_x", Elastic.easeOut, puck._x, 373, .5,
    true);
    light3.gotoAndPlay(2);
    mcRecord.onRollOut = function() {
    light3.gotoAndPlay(this._currentframe + 70);
    mcRecord.onRelease = function() {
    getURL("site.php?page=press&links=home");
    mcTitans.onRollOver = function() {
    new Tween(puck, "_x", Elastic.easeOut, puck._x, 533, .5,
    true);
    light4.gotoAndPlay(2);
    mcTitans.onRollOut = function() {
    light4.gotoAndPlay(this._currentframe + 70);
    mcTitans.onRelease = function() {
    getURL("site.php?page=press&links=home");
    mcPressBox.onRollOver = function() {
    new Tween(puck, "_x", Elastic.easeOut, puck._x, 688, .5,
    true);
    light5.gotoAndPlay(2);
    mcPressBox.onRollOut = function() {
    light5.gotoAndPlay(this._currentframe + 70);
    mcPressBox.onRelease = function() {
    getURL("site.php?page=press&links=home");
    ... keeping in mind, of course, that each instance of the
    "net" movie clip
    needs the relevant instance name, and that each instance of
    the "light"
    movie clip should be named as shown from left to right. NO
    CODE exists as
    attached to any movie clips. It's all in frame 1 of a new
    layer named,
    arbitrarily, scripts. The correct case is in use --
    Elastic.easeOut, rather
    than elastic.easeOut (or easeIn, whatever you prefer). And
    make sure to
    correc the getURL() parameter as needed.
    > I owe you big time!
    If you really feel that way, I do have an Amazon Wish List.
    ;) Write
    me off line, if you're so inclined. I'll reply with your FLA.
    You're under
    NO obligation to buy me anything. I mean that. If the spirit
    moves you, I
    won't complain -- but write me so I know where to send you
    your FLA. I
    think seeing it will help you out.
    David Stiller
    Adobe Community Expert
    Dev blog,
    http://www.quip.net/blog/
    "Luck is the residue of good design."

  • Movie Clip in swf won't show animation in adobe premiere pro cs4

    Hi, I am new to this forum and as well as a beginner user of adobe premiere pro cs4. I am recently making a animation using Adobe Flash CS5, I've been using movie clips symbol to create all the movement of the character, background and stuff. Unfortunately, swf movies exported from Adobe Flash CS5 do not show any animation at all in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. I have to use movie clips symbol instead of graphic symbol because filters can be added to a movie clip symbol but not graphic symbol. Is there any way to help making the movie clip symbol to be shown in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4? Your help is much appreciated.

    Check Flash help in the "video" section, specifically "moving content between" PR and FL. (I was looking at CS4, but it must be there in CS5 help as well.)
    Your movie is to be watched on a TV?  I would do this in After Effects. because you'll lose most of the flash functionality once you go to video anyway,

  • Making movie clips play in reverse in AS 3.0

    Hey all. I'm changing all my files to AS 3.0 because of some
    new elements I'd like to use in flash CS4.
    Here:
    http://www.iaw-atlanta.com/IvyLeague1-13-09.html
    I have the menu navigation at the bottom with 4 buttons. When the
    buttons are moused over they ascend and when they are moused out
    the movie plays in reverse so that they descend. Basically in the
    movie clip, I have it stopped as well as gotoAndPlay the next frame
    when the button is moused over and then have a script telling it to
    reverse when moused out. I know how to do this in AS 2.0 but how
    can I translate the script to 3.0?

    DjPhantasy5,
    > Ok thanks, I'll see what he also has to say as well.
    Actually, NedWebs pretty much nailed it. :) The approach
    you've taken
    is an interesting one, because it scales all the way back to
    Flash Player 5,
    which didn't yet support the MovieClip.onEnterFrame event.
    Without that
    event, you need something like your "controller" symbol -- a
    separate
    looping timeline -- to perform code that depends on frame
    loops.
    Available as of Flash Player 6, that event would allow you
    to
    consolidate your code a bit by putting it all in a single
    frame and avoiding
    the extra movie clip symbol. That doesn't mean your approach
    is wrong, by
    any stretch. In fact, it's good to know your options, because
    if you ever
    need to publish to Flash Player 5, you'll probably do best to
    use the setup
    you've taken.
    I'll demonstrate onEnterFrame in just a bit, in case you
    want to take a
    look at that.
    >> there's no _root reference in AS3, but you can use a
    >> MovieClip(this.parent) (which replaces what _parent
    >> used to do) to locate something outside of the
    immediate
    >> movieclip.
    The term "parent," in this context, is technically a
    property of the
    MovieClip class, which means all movie clips in AS3 have
    access to the
    "parent" feature, which points to the timeline that contains
    the movie clip
    in question. Buttons also feature a "parent" property. In
    AS2, this
    property acted exactly the same, only it was preceeded by an
    underscore.
    In fact, NedWebs' suggested code works the same in your
    existin file.
    Instead of this:
    // Your existing code ...
    if (_root.animation._currentframe>1) {
    _root.animation.prevFrame();
    this.gotoAndPlay(2)
    if (_root.animation._currentframe<=1) {
    this.gotoAndStop(1);
    ... you could be using this:
    // Alternative code ...
    if (_parent.animation._currentframe>1) {
    _parent.animation.prevFrame();
    gotoAndPlay(2)
    if (_parent.animation._currentframe<=1) {
    gotoAndStop(1);
    ... because from this scope -- that is, from this point of
    view -- the
    MovieClip._parent property points to the same timeline that
    _root does.
    That changes, of course, based on how deeply nested the
    current scope is.
    The term "this" in the above code is optional, because Flash
    understands
    what scope you're in. From the point of view of this code,
    _parent is
    understood to refer to the current scope's parent timeline,
    just like
    gotoAndPlay() is understood to refer to the current scope's
    own timeline.
    You could precede either of those by "this" or not.
    Many people will argue that _root is probably best avoided,
    only because
    it's a slippery slope. It doesn't always refer to the main
    timeline you
    think it does, depending on whether or not your SWF is loaded
    into another
    SWF at runtime. Meanwhile, _parent *always* refers to the
    immediately
    parent timeline.
    So when you look at it that way, this perfectly valid AS2:
    if (_parent.animation._currentframe>1) {
    ... isn't much different at all from its AS3 counterpart:
    if (MovieClip(parent).animation.currentFrame>1) {
    It would be nicer if you didn't need to cast the parent
    reference as a
    movie clip here, but if you don't, AS3 doesn't realize that
    the scope in
    question is a movie clip.
    >> You can string them along as...
    >> MovieClip(this.parent.parent)
    Exactly.
    >> Your _currentframe in the the controller becomes
    >> currentFrame. That's about it. The rest of what I
    >> saw will fly as is.
    Not quite. AS3 doesn't support the on() or onClipEvent()
    functions, so
    you won't be able to attach your code direction to the
    button. Instead,
    you'll have to put it in a keyframe -- which you can also do
    with AS2. It's
    a good idea, in any case, because it allows you to put all
    your code in one
    place, making it easier to find.
    Here's a quick note on direct attachment:
    http://www.quip.net/blog/2006/flash/museum-pieces-on-and-onclipevent
    To convert your existing FLA structure to AS3, you might,
    for example,
    do this:
    animation.buttonMode = true;
    animation.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, outHandler);
    animation.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER,
    overHandler);
    function outHandler(evt:MouseEvent):void {
    controller.gotoAndPlay(2);
    function overHandler(evt:MouseEvent):void {
    controller.gotoAndPlay(4);
    That takes care of the on(rollout) and on(rollover) code in
    your current
    version. The first line (buttonMode) is only necessary
    because I got rid of
    the button symbol and, instead, associated the event handlers
    directly with
    your animation clip. (Movie clips handle button-style events,
    too, so you
    don't need the button.) In AS3, event handling is very
    straightforward:
    you reference the object (here, animation), invoke its
    inherited
    addEventListener() method, then pass in two parameters: a)
    the event to
    listen for, and b) the function to perform when that event
    occurs.
    You can see that spelled out above. In AS2, there are quite
    a few ways
    to handle events, including on()/onClipEvent(), so it's
    harder to know when
    to use what approach. For buttons and movie clips, the
    princple works the
    same as I just showed, but the syntax is different.
    Let's take a quick look at reducing all this code by using
    the
    onEnterFrame event. First, check out this AS2 version:
    animation.onRollOut = outHandler;
    animation.onRollOver = overHandler;
    function outHandler():Void {
    this.onEnterFrame = reversePlay;
    function overHandler():Void {
    this.onEnterFrame = null;
    this.play();
    function reversePlay():Void {
    this.prevFrame();
    All of that code would appear in frame 1. You don't need the
    controller
    movie clip. The animation clip no longer contains an orb
    button, because
    we're using animation itself as the "button". (You can always
    see what
    functionality any object has by looking up its class. If
    you're dealing
    with a movie clip, look up the MovieClip class. See the
    Properties heading
    to find out what characteristics the object has, see Methods
    to find out
    what the object can do, and see Events to find out what the
    object can react
    to.)
    In the above code, it's all laid out pretty easily. This is
    AS2,
    remember. We have two events we're listening for:
    MovieClip.onRollOut and
    MovieClip.onRollOver. Those events are established for the
    animation movie
    clip by way of its instance name, and associated with
    corresponding custom
    functions. The outHandler() function associates yet another
    function to the
    MovieClip.onEnterFrame event of the animation clip. Very
    simply, it
    instructs animation to perform the custom reversePlay()
    function every time
    it encounters an onEnterFrame event. The overHandler()
    function kills that
    association by nulling it out, and telling animation to play,
    via the
    MovieClip.play() method. Finally, the reversePlay() function
    simply invokes
    MovieClip.prevFrame() on the animation clip.
    Here's the AS3 version:
    animation.buttonMode = true;
    animation.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, outHandler);
    animation.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER,
    overHandler);
    function outHandler(evt:MouseEvent):void {
    animation.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, reversePlay);
    function overHandler(evt:MouseEvent):void {
    animation.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,
    reversePlay);
    animation.play();
    function reversePlay(evt:Event):void {
    evt.target.prevFrame();
    It looks wordier, but if you look carefully, you'll see that
    it's
    essentially the same thing. The main difference is the way
    scope works in
    AS3. In AS2, there are numerous references to "this", because
    the event
    handler functions operate in the same scope as the object to
    which the
    association is made. In AS3, the references aren't to "this",
    but rather to
    the same animation clip by its *intance name*, because in
    AS3, the scope
    operates in the same timeline in which the code appears
    (namely, in this
    case, the main timeline).
    In the reversePlay() function, in order to emulate a "this"
    sort of
    setup, I'm referring to the parameter that gets passed to all
    event handler
    functions in AS3. I happened to name it "evt" (for event),
    but you can call
    it what you like. In the case of reversePlay(), the evt
    parameter refers to
    an instance of the Event class, which has a target property.
    The target
    property refers to the object that dispatched the event --
    happens to be
    animation, in this case. So evt.target, in this context,
    refers to
    animation, which is what I invoke the MovieClip.prevFrame()
    method on.
    I've uploaded a handful of FLA files to my server. I won't
    keep them
    there forever ... maybe a couple weeks, as of this post:
    http://www.quip.net/RewindTestAS3.fla
    http://www.quip.net/RewindTestAS3_new.fla
    http://www.quip.net/RewindTestAS2_new.fla
    David Stiller
    Co-author, ActionScript 3.0 Quick Reference Guide
    http://tinyurl.com/2s28a5
    "Luck is the residue of good design."

  • Animating in movie clips

    I have 6 movie clip symbols on my timeline and each movie clip symbol has a short animation contained within itself. When I bring it to the timeline, they all animate simultaneously. I want them play sequentially but when I play them in on different layers in different keyframes it doesn't work.
    Any idea how to make this work?
    Thanks!

    Pretty much anything is possible, just need to get the intentions straight.  The answer to my question would seem to be that you want only one showing at any time.  How you go about coding this depends on which version of actionscript you're using, but here's the general plan for one approach...
    In the last frame of each animation except the last one, add code telling the parent timeline to move to the next frame...
    In AS2 that could be:  _parent.nextFrame();
    In AS3 that could be: MovieClip(parent.nextFrame();
    Then place each moivelcip on the main timeline, one frame after the other.

  • Combining a path motion tween with a mask

    I have a mask layer that I have animated and underneath that
    I have a motion tween of a symbol using a path motion guide. The
    mask doesn't seem to work with those layers. Is that a restriction?
    If so BIG BIG BUMMER!!

    create a black shape in your bottom-most layer.  above that layer create a while shape that covers you black shape.  above that layer create your oval and tween it.  finally right click the oval containing layer and click mask.  test.

Maybe you are looking for