Some Flash Questions

Question

Hi to all you Flash users. I am new to Flash and just started
learning it a week ago. I am an avid Illustrator user, so naturally
I have a few questions about what I found I cannot do in Flash. My
two general questions are: 1. can you change the corner radius of a
square after it's made. I cannot figure out how to do this. 2. How
do I change the angle of my gradiant. What if I don't want it going
horizontally or vertically? Can you do this in Flash? My big
question relates to sound. I am having a very hard time trying to
synchronize my audio to the mouth of my figure. I am finding it
hard to find a way to either put a tick on the timeline to
determine a change in the keyframe. When I go into the edit portion
of the properties widow for the audio file, I can set it to either
frames or seconds, but when I play the audio there is no marker on
the timeline to accurately mark the second or frame where my change
needs to take place. Hope my questions are clear enough. Thanks for
any help regarding these matter.
Thanks very much,
Jordianne

Answer 1

Jordianne wrote:
> Hi to all you Flash users. I am new to Flash and just
started learning it a
> week ago. I am an avid Illustrator user, so naturally I
have a few questions
> about what I found I cannot do in Flash. My two general
questions are: 1. can
> you change the corner radius of a square after it's
made.
no you can't, it has to be set prior to drawing the shape
> 2. How do I change the angle of my gradiant. What if I
don't
> want it going horizontally or vertically?
yes, there is a "gradient transform" tool , the F key. Right
under the whit
arrow on tools menu. Or while in the Pain Bucket you can
click the shape you
like to fill from different sides. It will then adjust the
gradient accordingly.
Tho, while using Bucket, make sure the Gradient LOCK icon at
the bottom of the
tool bar is not selected. It prevents gradient from changing
directions it fills
shapes in.
> question relates to sound. I am having a very hard time
trying to synchronize
> my audio to the mouth of my figure. I am finding it hard
to find a way to
> either put a tick on the timeline to determine a change
in the keyframe. When I
> go into the edit portion of the properties widow for the
audio file, I can set
> it to either frames or seconds, but when I play the
audio there is no marker on
> the timeline to accurately mark the second or frame
where my change needs to
> take place.
Let me paste something I wrote few times for different users.
Explains in details
the types of sounds and usage.
If you choose the Event option, the sound will start at
whichever frame you attach
the sound and will continue to play in its entirety. If you
have set a certain number
of loops, all the loops will play out in their entirety. It
is important to note that
once an Event sound starts to play, it will continue to play
independently of the timeline.
For example, if you import a song 30 seconds in length and
set it to Event, it will play
out entirely and run independently of what is occurring
visually, even after the animation
in the timeline may have ended. Generally the Event setting
is ideal for short sounds or
effects containing a single audio message such as a door
slamming or a cannon firing.
This allows you to sync up the sound with the graphics for
the effect desired in a short
time frame. Also Event sounds must be loaded entirely in
order for them to play (unlike
Stream as you will see below). One great advantage of using
Event is that once your import
a music track, let’s say 5 seconds in length, you can
use an Instance of that track anywhere
in your movie without adding file size to your movie. That
is, you can loop that track 100
times for example or use it anywhere in your movie 100 times
and the Flash player will
treat it only as a 5 second sound file in regard to file
size.
Stream is very different from the Event option. The Stream
option synchronizes the sound
with the animation thereby forcing the animation to keep pace
with the sound. If for whatever
reason (memory or processor speed), the viewer’s
computer cannot draw each frame, Flash will
skip as many frames as needed in order to keep pace with the
sound. Unlike an Event sound,
a Stream sound cannot play outside of the timeline. That is,
once the timeline ends or there
are no more frames to play, the sound ends. Stream also
allows the music (and presentation)
to stream over the web; that is, once enough data is loaded,
it begins to play. For example,
if you set a 30 second song to Stream, it will begin to play
sooner than if you set it to Event.
Event will require the song to fully load before playing.
Finally, one important thing to
remember regarding Stream: If you import a 5 second music
track and loop it 10 times, set at
Stream, Flash will export the music track the same as if you
had used a 50 second piece of
music (5 seconds x 10 loops). That is Stream does not save
file size, as opposed to using Event.
So you are better off using a longer, more varied piece of
music (50 seconds for this example),
if you are going to use Stream, rather than using a 5 second
music track and looping it
incessantly.
Best Regards
Urami
!!!!!!! Merry Christmas !!!!!!!
Happy New Year
<urami>
If you want to mail me - DO NOT LAUGH AT MY ADDRESS
</urami>