Animations built using the timeline and motion tweening are useful for testing and for implementation as part of a larger animation (for example, creating simple rotation for a loading animation). The real benefits of developing animations with ActionScript are scalability and the opportunity for dynamic movement in response to user input or other variables.
Once you start animating with ActionScript, it’s difficult to stop—this method really does act as a springboard for your creativity. And, don’t forget to save your experimental FLA files even if you don’t use them straight away. You never know when you might need them!
Creating Function Libraries
Once the ActionScript bug has bitten you, you’ll be infected permanently, and there’s no known antidote! You’ll create many FLAs over time, and will no doubt build up your own core set of scripts and methods. But, rather than reinventing the wheel every time you need to carry out a particular function, why not save your scripts in .as (ActionScript) files? These files can then be included dynamically in your creations as you need them.
I maintain a core of scripts that I’ve created over the past few years, and which I back up regularly. I’m always careful to sort my ActionScript files into a logical folder structure. That way, when I start a new project, I can go and grab my existing script files without any hassle.
Any scripts that are still in development, or that I haven’t had time to finish, I place in a file called unfinished.as. This way, I don’t lose the code or accidentally delete it, and I can come back to it later to finish or develop it further.
Hotmail for backups
If I lost all of my code snippets, I’d be very unhappy! And, even though I perform regular backups, I can never be sure of their integrity. For this reason, I set up a free mail account with Hotmail, and created an archive folder. Now, every month, I mail myself a ZIP archive of my .as files. This may seem a little extreme, but if you’ve ever lost your work in a hard drive or backup failure, you’ll understand why I go to such lengths to protect my code.
Creating a Simple Function Library
A simple animation library can help you clean up your timeline and make things more manageable. To create your own library, follow these steps, or simply locate Simple_Motion.fla and Simple_Motion.as in the code archive:
1. Look at the code from the ActionScript animation example you completed above; specifically, look at the onEnterFrame event handler. We can write a function that does the same job for a specified clip, given stepX, stepY, endX, and endY values:
function SimpleMovement (stepX, stepY, endX, endY, clip)
{
if (clip._x < endX) clip._x += stepX;
if (clip._y < endY) clip._y += stepY;
}
The structure of the SimpleMovement function is similar to the event handler, except that it accepts parameters to tell it exactly what to do (and what clip to do it to), instead of relying on predefined variables.
Type the code for this function into a text editor (e.g., Notepad on PC, or BBEdit on Mac) and save it as Simple_Motion.as.
2. To use this file, add the following line of ActionScript to the root of any movie, in the first frame
#include "Simple_Motion.as"This compiles the code from the Simple_Motion.as file into the SWF file when it is created, providing access to the SimpleMovement function we created above.
3. Alter the onEnterFrame event handler to use the imported function as follows:
scripted_animation.onEnterFrame = function ()
{
SimpleMovement(stepX, stepY, endX, EndY, this);
};Here, we’ve created a simple function call, passing the four variables defined on the root of the timeline, as well as the movie clip we wish to animate.
4. Preview you movie in Flash, and you’ll see it works exactly as before.
Including the function in another project is as simple as saving the .as file to the directory containing the FLA you’re working on, and adding the #include directive to the project. You can then use the function as often as you like.
Creating Master Libraries
When you’re working on a series of projects that share a similar theme, you may find they also share bitmaps and vector and sound objects. If you’ve forgotten which FLA these shared objects reside in, you’re left to choose between a timeconsuming search or laborious replication.
To avoid this situation, I create what I call master libraries for my buttons, movie clips, and animations, which I name according to their content. For example, I might create an FLA file that contains all plastic- or glossy-looking buttons, and call it Buttons - Plastic_Gloss.fla. I would then save this in a master directory. When I need them, I simply select File > Import > Import to Library…, locate my FLA file and, presto! The buttons appear in the Library Panel for use in the current project.
Even after several months, you may come back to a project to enhance it or add extra functionality. If you can’t remember where the source FLA files are, you’re going to waste a lot of time. Using this procedure allows you to be smart with your time and resources, and maintain a consistent look and feel across projects.
I think that, by now, we’ve covered most of the best practices and methods for increasing productivity when you work with Flash. The practices I’ve outlined here are only guidelines to make your life a little easier; they’re not hard and fast rules. So, feel free to embrace as many or as few of them as you wish.
Now it’s time again to “holster up” and get ready for a showdown with some very cool ActionScripted effects!
Random Motion
Have you ever wanted to create random movement for an object or a number of objects? There’s a simple technique that will take a single movie clip, create many copies of the object, and randomly place these on the canvas. It then creates the illusion of constant random movement. Best of all, this technique is easily extensible, allowing you, for example, to dynamically alter many of the properties of the object, including opacity and scale.
If you’d like to see the finished product before you proceed, have a look at Random_ Motion.fla in the code archive.
