Flash CS3 Professional

SITA 2008

Instructor: Tyler Schroeder

SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 2

About Flash
FLASH – hybrid between web-oriented bitmap handler and a vector - drawing
program
o interactive multimedia-authoring program and sophisticated animation
program
o viewed with Flash Player
o Generates very small file size with high-quality animation and optimal
sound

Search engines have a difficult time indexing content.

o Provide HTML content on page with movie.
o Use HTML pages for pages that are mostly textual information and simple
graphics.
o Limited accessibility with screen reader. Provide user an option to access
regular HTML version.

Access HELP menu for lessons and tutorials about using Flash.
Download a free trial version of Flash at http://www.adobe.com/downloads/.

The Flash Environment

Areas within the Document windows

Toolbox on the left Timeline at the top
Various panels on the right
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 3

Center white area is the stage framed by the light gray work area. Objects “off-
stage” are not visible.
Actions panel is below the stage area along with the Properties inspector – short
cuts located at far right end.

Flash document: .fla (extension)

1) scenes – a segment of a Flash movie
o Stage – where the action takes place
o Timeline – where duration is controlled

o Layers – keeps objects separated and "stacked" in depth.

covers entire work area
objects move within layers – layers DO NOT move
Four types of layers:
1) Normal layer – default layer type
2) Guide layer – not exported with final file, used for
holding reference items
3) Motion guide layer – contains a line along which objects
travel
4) Mask layer – used to selectively mask layers beneath
In layer section: Eye icon – used to show/hide layers
Pad lock icon – used to lock/unlock layer
Label or organize stacks of frame rows
Icons directly below layer area:
Add layer, Add guide layer, Add layer folder, Delete layer

o Timeline Frames sections – content planned along duration of movie

Frames – can be labeled
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 4

1) Normal frames
2) Keyframes – marked by filled black circles contain contents that
may differ from previous or next frames
3) Blank keyframes – marked by an empty white circle; does not
contain any content
Icons below frames in order: center frame, onion skin, onion skin
outline, edit multiple frames, modify onion markers. Also – current frame, frame
rate, elapsed time

2) Library – storage area

Symbols – multiple use items (instance)
1) Graphic – still images
2) Button – four-state event handler
3) Movie Clip – self-contained
animation
Bitmaps – imported raster images
Sounds – imported audio files
Video – imported digital video

[Icons under the tab, at top of work area: return arrow, current scene, edit scene
for menu of scenes, edit symbol for menu of symbols, and stage view control with
submenu % and show frame (without cropping visible area) / show all (includes
elements in work area).]

Flash movie: .swf (extension – pronounced 'swiff') – exported movie format for
delivery over the networks (better to use multiple movies rather than one movie
with multiple scenes
1) Portable Cross-platform binary format – compatible with all major
operating systems
Small file sizes – optimized with specialized Compress Movie
option
Individual resource compression – bitmaps individually compressed
No compression used on entire file – allows streaming playback
Speed – vector format draws quickly on slower computers
No external resources required – do not need fonts installed; do
need plugIn
2) Extensible Tagged format – each data type has a unique tag defining its
use and its function
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 5

Can reuse any element without additional storage requirements

Allows new features to be added in subsequent versions
Open source code for developers – other formats can support SWF
output
3) Scalable
Movies can be played at multiple resolutions
Maintain high quality presentations at any size

To convert a Flash document into a Flash movie, select EXPORT MOVIE from
the File menu.

To begin developing a Flash document:

o Sketch out the design to be developed
o Use the first layer provided as a background layer. Name the layer
appropriately.
o Add more layers to contain the various objects that will move. Name
each layer.
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 6

Flash Tools:

Hand Zoom
Arrow Subselection (grabber) (magnifier)
(select) Lasso
Line (straight) (select) Stroke Color
Pen Text Color swatch
Oval Rectangle Fill Color Color
Pencil Brush Black/White swatch
(lines/shapes) (mark/shape) No
Free Fill Modifiers here color/Swap
Transform Transform depend on tool (reverses
fill/stroke)
Ink Bottle Paint Bucket selected

Eyedropper Eraser
(select)
Arrow = move whole object The Stroke Color and Fill Color controls in the
Subselect = moves individual anchor points toolbox let you select a solid stroke color or a
within object solid or gradient fill color, switch the stroke and
Shift key down with Oval = perfect circle fill colors, or select the default stroke and fill
Shift with Rectangle = square colors (black stroke and white fill). Oval /
Pencil tool = solid line rectangle objects (shapes) = both stroke and
Paintbrush = filled shapes fill Text objects and brush strokes = only fill
colors
Lines drawn with Line, Pen, Pencil tools = only
stroke

Symbols: [Menu: Window – Library to show symbol library]

o Reusable element residing in Library
o Each time symbol placed on stage or inside another symbol, are
working with instance
o Best to convert every main item within Flash document to a symbol
o Any edit in design applied to original is applied to every instance of that
symbol
o Color effects and behavior properties (applying just to that instance)
can be modified.
o Start with a white colored symbol, then color each instance with TINT.

To CREATE a graphic symbol:

o On a layer, select Insert – New Symbol – name it – Select
GRAPHIC as type
o Draw symbol near the crosshairs "+" which represent the
center of the symbol
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 7

To TINT a symbol:
o Select the symbol
o In Properties: change color to TINT, Select color, Set % to
100%

To convert multiple graphics into one graphic symbol

o select all the graphic symbols (arrow or lasso)
o menu: MODIFY – GROUP
ƒ to reverse the process, menu: MODIFY – ungroup

To change a graphic symbol's direction

o select the graphic symbols (arrow or lasso)
o menu: MODIFY – TRANSFORM – select the appropriate
choice from menu

Animation: default of 12 frames/second (e.g., for a 3-second animation need 36

frames)
Frame – by – frame animation: manually changing the individual contents
of any number of successive keyframes

TWEENED animation:
Shape tweening – morphing – changes shape over time
Motion tweening – change in size, location, or rotation over time
- can only be applied to one group, symbol, or editable text
per layer
- use multiple layers to motion tween multiple items in
same span of timeline
- For each item on a given layer…
o start with keyframe
o add group, symbol, or editable text
o click in frame where motion is to end
o right-click to add keyframe
o click on object and move it to a new location,
change its size, or rotation
o click on any frame between keyframes
o change TWEEN type to MOTION from the
Property Inspector (or right-click and select from
the menu)
o if done correctly, tweened section will turn blue in
color

Motion Tweening must use a SYMBOL, not raw graphics.

To convert raw graphics into a symbol

SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 8

o select the raw graphics (arrow or lasso)

o menu: MODIFY – convert to symbol
o name, select center (registration)

To use a Motion Guide

o [may find it easier to make regular motion tween first then
add guide layer]
o select frame 1 of layer containing graphic symbol to use the
motion path
o DO NOT ADD a layer – instead select INSERT - Timeline:
MOTION GUIDE – it must be above the graphic layer
ƒ Make sure Snap to Objects is active (View –
Snapping – Snap to Objects)

o On Guide layer – use pencil to draw path, click to end

o On graphic layer, use arrow tool to move graphic to start of
path in first frame
o On graphic layer, use arrow tool to move graphic to end of
path in last frame
o Click on any frame of the layer and add Motion Tween
ƒ Select Orient to Path in frame 1 of the layer with the
symbol to change the symbol's direction along the
path
ƒ To rotate the symbol, Modify – Transform – Rotate &
Skew

Shape tweening – Morphing – applied only to raw data

- best to put each shape tween on its own layer
o start with keyframe
o add raw graphic (must be ungrouped – dots will
appear in the graphic)
o end with keyframe (or blank keyframe if adding
new raw graphic)
o alter existing raw graphic or add new raw graphic
o from properties, tween:shape – cannot select from
pop-up menu
o change TWEEN type to SHAPE from the Property
Inspector (cannot click and select from the menu)
o if done correctly, tweened section will turn green in
color
o Error checking – if something doesn't work,
probably because of a missing keyframe, multiple
symbols on the layer, or not raw data.

To convert an existing graphic symbol into raw data

SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 9

o select the graphic symbol (use arrow)

o menu: MODIFY – break apart

To add sound:
o Create a sound layer – check out Window – Other Panels –
Common Libraries
o If sound library not there – import one
File – IMPORT – Open External Library
(find SoundsLib.fla file in DeptDir/cs/Harrison/AMCS 318 lab
or PMCS318 lab)
o Drag sound to layer.

To Publish:
o File – Publish Preview – Default (or F12) … make
corrections if necessary
o File – Publish into .swf file (Shift + F12)
ƒ Saves a .swf file which cannot be edited
o Be sure to save the .fla file as well, which can be edited.

To Insert FLASH into a Web page:

o Put the cursor where you want the movie to appear on the
web page.
o INSERT – MEDIA – FLASH
o Locate the .swf file to be inserted
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 10

Intermediate Flash
(as taken from UWEC website)
What is a Movie Clip?
o A movie clip is a type of symbol. There fore, just like symbols, movie clips
can be manipulated on the stage – resized, skewed, rotated, tweened, etc.,
all while the animation within them continues to play.
o As symbols, the clips are stored in the Library.
o As symbols, the original of the clip is not brought over and placed on the
stage – just the instance of the clip is brought to the stage.
o Therefore, it is vital that each instance of the clip is named so one can refer
to that particular clip by name when necessary.

How do Movie Clips work?

o During playback as a Flash movie, unless a stop action is placed within the
clip, the instance of the movie clip placed on a timeline begins to play as soon
as the frame on which it occurs is reached, whether or not the Main Timeline
is playing.
o A Movie Clip plays back autonomously - meaning that as long as it is
present on the Stage, it is not governed by the playing or stopping of the Main
Timeline.
o All timelines play at the frame rate specified by the Document Properties
dialog box or the Property inspector.
o BE CAREFUL – sometimes the unplayed frames of one clip are accidentally
truncated because another clip on the same layer is activated before the
original clip has time to finish.

Why use a Movie Clip?

o Each movie clip symbol has its own timeline independent of the Main
Timeline.
o Each movie clip can be placed as an object on a single frame in the Main
timeline. This:
ƒ cleans up the Main Timeline
ƒ provides for better organization
o Movie Clips are useful for reuse of motion. The same clip can be used
multiple times. For example, two instances of the same flicking flame were
used on the cupcakes in the Kelly clip.
o Movie Clips act as fully functional Flash movies.

What about graphics?

SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 11

o Even though Flash is a vector program and anything created with Flash
drawing tools is described in vector format, Flash has the capability of
importing both vector graphics and raster (bitmap - .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .pict, .tiff,
etc.) images.
o For some raster images, it is better to recreate or retrace the image with
Flash drawing tools rather than use the original images as the final Flash
movie will be smaller, look cleaner, and be scalable.
• Vector – smaller, scalable • Raster – larger, more
download time
o If you need to use bitmap images, do so, but try to minimize the impact of
large bitmap images on Flash playback performance.
o Regardless of how many times the bitmap is placed on the stage, the
actual bitmap is downloaded before the first occurrence of the bitmap.
o Limit the number of bitmaps used in any one frame of a Flash movie.
o Try spreading out the bitmap usage or hide a symbol instance of a
bitmap offstage in an earlier frame before it is actually visible so that it
will be loaded before you need it.

What are the three ways to bring a bitmap file into FLASH?
o Import a bitmap file directly to an active, unlocked layer (File – Import –
Import to Stage)

o Import a bitmap file directly to the library (File – Import – Import to Library)
o Copy the bitmap from an application, paste it on an active, unlocked layer
(Edit – Paste)

o When importing bitmaps directly to the stage, the file is also placed in the
library.
ƒ Remember - none of the bitmap files can be manipulated as symbols!
Since the very essence of Flash movies is the manipulation of
symbols, any image that will move in any way or be resized or skewed
must be converted to a symbol. Only images that will not be motion
tweened can remain as bitmaps.

o Importing vector graphics is similar. To learn more about the many properties
that can be set for bitmap images, converting raster images to vectors,
scanning sketches, and importing vector graphics, check out the on-line
HELP within Flash or consult the FLASH books in the library.

Movie Clips:
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 12

o All Movie Clips are symbols.

o It is a good habit to begin adding the letters MC after the name of each Movie
Clip and L after the name of each Layer.
o Be sure to build the Movie Clip on the center cross in the new symbol
window.
o Bit map graphics can be used in a movie clip if the graphic will not move.
o If the graphic is to move, it must be a symbol.
o For each item moving within the clip, make a separate layer.
o To switch between symbols for editing, use the Edit Symbols icon in the
upper right corner.
o To modify the size of an image: Modify – Transform – Scale (hold shift key
down and resize)
o (Eventually) put a STOP action on a Movie Clip to cause it to REST at the first
frame.
o Try out the movie from the menu: Control – Test Movie (Ctrl – Enter)
o To have constant movement in a clip, while the rest of the clip is at rest, one
must use a clip within a clip – a sub animation.
o Be sure to always name every layer used.
o Carefully think through where the actual object is drawn.
o The main difference between a movie clip and clip within a clip (sub
animation): when the movie clip is in a resting state because of a STOP
action, the sub animation will still continue to play.
o One can double - click on a movie clip within a scene to open it for editing.
o Remember, to change a bit map into a symbol, select Modify - Convert to
Symbol.
o To separate bitmaps and graphics in the Library, click on KIND to sort items
by kind.
o To show the grid to help line up the objects – View - Grid - Show Grid (CTRL
+')
o To allow one to more freely move an object, turn off View – Snapping – Snap
to Grid (CTRL + Shift + ') and View – Snapping – Snap to Objects (CTRL +
Shift + / )

Helpful keyboard shortcuts (full list available from Edit – Keyboard Shortcuts)
Cut frame Ctrl+Alt+X Convert to symbol F8
Copy Frames Ctrl+Alt+C Transform – Scale & Ctrl+Alt+S
Rotate
Paste Frames Ctrl+Alt+V Remove Transform Ctrl+Shift+Z
Clear Frames Alt+Backspace Group Ctrl+G
Insert Frame F5 Ungroup Ctrl+Shift+G
Remove Frames Shift+F5 Break Apart Ctrl+B
Clear Keyframe Shift+F6 Actions panel F9
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 13

Convert Frame to F6 Library panel F11

Keyframe
Convert to Blank F7 Edit symbols/document Ctrl+E
Keyframe (if something
disappears)
Note: to play a Movie Clip timeline as if you were moving the playhead, just
press Enter.

Behaviors and Events

Interactivity in Flash is composed of two parts: the behavior (what happens)
and the cause of the behavior (what makes it happen). Behaviors are referred to
as actions. What makes the action happen is referred to as an event.
Flash ActionScript is the language used to code the instructions so Flash will
know what action to do based on the event. To work with ActionScripts, the
ActionScript editor environment is used.

The ActionScript editor environment has two sections: the Script pane on the
right where code can be entered and the Actions panel toolbox on the left where
the choices of Actions that can be included in a Flash Action Script are listed.
The name of the object to which actions are being assigned is listed in the title
bar of the Actions panel.
In the bottom part of the toolbox is a Script navigator which is a visual
representation of the locations in the .fla file that have associated ActionScript. If
you click on an item in the Script navigator, the script associated with that item
appears in the Script pane and the playhead moves to that position on the
Timeline.
Several buttons are above the Script pane:
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 14

Of all the possible actions, six different ones are commonly used:
Common Meaning ActionScript Notation examples
Actions
Global Functions: Timeline Control
Go to and Play Changes the current frame gotoAndPlay(“frameLabel”);
to the frame specified and gotoAndPlay(2);
then executes a play
action.
Go to and Stop Changes the current frame gotoAndStop(“frameLabel”);
to the frame specified and gotoAndStop(2);
then halts playback. Better to use a frame label.
play Sets a movie or a movie play();
clip in motion.
A single play action affects
only a single timeline.
stop Halts the progression of a stop();
movie or Movie Clip that is
in a play state.
stopAllSounds Mutes any sounds playing stopAllSounds();
in the movie at the time
the action is executed. Not
appropriate for stopping
individual sounds.
Global Functions: Browser/Network
getURL Similar to an anchor tag in getURL(“http://www.uwec.edu”);
HTML. One can specify getURL(“http://ed.com”,“_blank”);
the target for the new
window.
Action notes: Both Go to and Play and Go to and Stop can use either a frame
number or frame label. While using frame numbers works, it can lead to major
problems with scalability. Adding frames in the beginning or middle of a movie's
timeline will alter the number of the frame. Since labels move with the labeled
frame, it is better to use a frame label. With Play, once the end of a movie clip's
timeline is reached, playback loops back to the beginning of the clip, and the clip
continues playing. To prevent looping, add a stop action to the last frame of the
movie clip.
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 15

How does one add an action layer?

An action layer should be added to the timeline to keep the movie clip timeline
organized.
There are 3 ways to add an action to the script pane:
By dragging an action from the Actions toolbox to the Script pane.
By selecting an action from the Actions menu, accessed by clicking the +
icon.
By double-clicking an action in the Actions toolbox.

To view information about what parameters to use in the script, right-click on the
code and view help.
Notice a lower case ‘a’ appears indicating an action has been added to the
frame.
Be sure to add a keyframe to frame 2 so that the stop action is only
associated with frame 1.

To stop a movie clip from playing:

1. Open
the
movie
clip.
2. Add an
action
layer.
3. Add a
STOP
action to
frame 1
in the
action
layer.
4. Add a
keyfram
e to
frame 2.
5. To refer to frame 2 later, add a frame label in the Properties inspector.
Notice the name appears along with a little label flag.

Three choices for playing the movie clip –

¾ Have the clip play just once and return to frame 1. Place a Stop action on
Frame 1.
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 16

¾ Have the clip play just once and end on the last frame. Place a Stop action
on Frame 1 and a Stop action on the last frame.
¾ Have the clip continually loop until some other event triggers a stop. Place a
Stop action on Frame 1 and add a gotoAndPlay action on the last frame
which sends control back to frame 2.

How does one activate a movie clip?

To activate a movie clip, buttons are commonly used.
Buttons UP – any elements placed in the UP
Button symbols have a special keyframe appear on the Stage when the
timeline structure linked to mouse button is in a normal, unactivated state.
states. OVER – any elements place in the OVER
keyframe appear when the mouse rolls over
the button on the stage. As soon as the
mouse rolls off the button, things revert to
the UP state.
DOWN – any elements placed in the
DOWN keyframe appear when the mouse
is clicked and held down over the button on
the stage. As soon as the mouse is
released, things revert to the OVER state.
HIT – any element placed in the HIT
keyframe is never visible on stage. The
shape of the element defines the area of
the button that is sensitive to the mouse
and forms the hit area. The area must be a
SOLID area. This is the area where the
cursor changes into a hand.

Simple buttons – with internal animation – included if you wish to explore

this area
- Insert a new symbol – name: name the button – behavior: button
- Select the layer – name it: outline (for the base of the button)
- Click UP frame – place objects that will appear when mouse is UP
o If same objects are to appear at all times, click on UP and right-
click, insert a frame. Repeat again until the frames extend to Over
and Down as well.
- Add new layer – name: HitArea
- Add a Blank Keyframe to HIT
o Define the hit area – either draw something new or copy existing
shape
- IF animations are contained directly in the button, add an animation layer.
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 17

o Click on UP in the Animations layer and add what you want to the
UP frame.
o Click on the Over frame. Insert a blank keyframe to remove the
contents. Add something here if wanted. Repeat for the Down
frame.
o Remove the Hit frame – Right-click, Remove frame.
- Be sure to drag the finished button onto the stage.

Player Control Buttons

Player control buttons are available in the Common Library of buttons.
o Open the common library. Window – Other Panels – Common Library
– Buttons
o A list of pre-built buttons is shown.
o Many layers were used to build the button. Only 1 layer has color so
the same basic button can be used to build many buttons of color.
Buttons available from the Common library don’t have any actions – an
action layer along with actions would need to be added to make the
button useful.

How does one make an Invisible Button?

When working with invisible buttons, be sure the button layer is on top of all the
layers so the buttons will not be hidden by any of the symbols on the stage.
To make an invisible button:
- Insert – New Symbol . Name: Invisible, Behavior: button
- When creating an invisible button, one only needs to identify the Hit Area
of the button.
o Label the one layer: HitArea
o Add a keyframe to the HIT frame of the HitArea layer and draw a
solid element.
- Drag the finished button over the items on the stage.

One can’t edit the invisible button and use the natural up, over, and down frames
of the button, because if the code for one button is changed, all instances of the
button will have the same code and cause the same movie clip to play.
In order to specifically direct the actions, it is important to name all instances of
symbols in the scene.
The name of the movie clip as a symbol is NOT the same as the instance. Since
it is possible to have multiple instances of the same movie clip, Flash expects a
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 18

specific name for each instance on the stage in order to use ActionScript to
specifically play a movie clip.

To name movieclips already on the stage, hide the button layer. Access the clips,
name them, show the button layer again.
If the size of the invisible button needs changing: Modify – Transform – Scale
To code a button to start a clip when the mouse moves over the button:
o Be sure the correct button is selected
o Open the Movie Clip control booklet
o Double - click on ON to send the code to the script pane and reveal
the choices

o Select rollOver from the list

o Open the Timeline Control booklet
o Click first right behind the { in the script pane, then double-click
gotoAndPlay in the Timeline Control options.
o Add the frame name in "quotes".
o Use DOT NOTATION to direct the action to the specific instance of
the movie clip.
o Type in the instance name of the clip right before the action name.
Be sure to have a dot between the names.

format of a final on (eventName) {

ActionScript clipInstanceName.action(“framename”);
}
Code for HeartClip on (rollOver) { HeartClip.gotoAndPlay("StartThrob");
}
Code for HouseClip on (rollOver) {
HouseClip.gotoAndPlay("StartCookieman");
}
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 19

Segmented Timelines
To animate the main icon that will travel to each corner, segment the timeline.
(See the tutorial.) When using ActionScript to activate a movie clip, be sure to
refer to the instance name of the movie clip on the scene, not the original name
of the movie clip in the library.

Publish Settings
¾ Check the Publish Settings
¾ FORMATS defaults as set so that Flash MX 2004 will export a Flash
movie and an HTML file with the proper markup tags to utilize Flash
Player 6 plug-in or Active X control.
¾ CLICK on the FLASH tab
o Selecting Flash 6 ensures compatibility with all of the new Flash
MX features.
o Load order determines how the Flash Player will draw the first
frame of the Flash movie.
ƒ Bottom up – layers load in ascending order
o Use Version 1.0 for the Action Script. Options include:
ƒ Generating a text report to help pinpoint bandwidth-intensive
elements.
ƒ Select Protect from IMPORT to safeguard your Flash movie
to prevent the .swf file generated from being able to be
imported back into Flash MX or altered in any way.
Macromedia Director can import and use Flash protected
movies and there even is an application called Action Script
Viewer that can extract ActionScript from your .swf files!
Never store any type of password information within your
FLASH movie.
ƒ Omit trace actions removes the trace actions used to help
debug the movie.
ƒ If debugging is permitted, a .swd file used for debugging is
also created.
ƒ Compress movie enables compression in Flash 6 movies
only to greatly reduce the size of text or ActionScript-heavy
movies. Little or no difference will be seen on other Flash
elements such as artwork and sound.
ƒ If Debugging is permitted, then a password can be entered
to access the Debugger panel live over the internet.
ƒ The JPEG slider is applied to bitmapped artwork in the Flash
movie.
ƒ Audio Stream displays the current audio compression
scheme for Stream audio.
ƒ Audio Even applies to default compression-enabled event
sounds.
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 20

ƒ The Override box can be checked to disregard any unique

compression schemes specified in the document’s Library.

¾ HTML tab.
¾ The HTML tab includes a number of settings that control the way in which
Flash MX will publish a movie into a complete Web page with HTML tags
specifying the Flash Player. Options include:
o Template allows you to select a predefined set of HTML tags to
display your Flash movies. All templates use the same options
listed here in the HTML tab – the template simply places the values
of those settings into HTML tags scripted in the template. All of the
preinstalled templates include HTML tags to create an entire web
page, complete with <head>, <title>, and <body> tags.
o Dimensions controls the WIDTH and HEIGHT values of the
<object> and <embed> tags.
ƒ Match movie matches the same dimensions set in the
Modify Document options
ƒ One can find these options in FLASH itself using MODIFY –
DOCUMENT…
ƒ The other two options for dimensions are pixels or percent.
• Percent scales the movie to the size of the browser
window or a portion of it. Using a value of 100 on both
width and height expands the Flash movie to fit the
entire browser window.
• Width and Height can only be entered if pixel or
percent is selected.

o Playback
ƒ Pause at start is like adding a stop action. This is usually off
as play control is handled within the movie itself.
ƒ Loop causes the movie to repeat an infinite number of times.
If it is not checked, the Flash movie stops on the last frame
unless some other ActionScript event is initiated on the last
frame.
ƒ Display menu controls the user’s access to the shortcut
menu anywhere within the movie area.
ƒ When the device font is checked, fonts that are not installed
on the Player’s system are replaced with other system fonts.
o Quality determines how Flash artwork in a movie will be rendered.
While best quality is nice, it may cause problems with slower
processors.
o Window mode applies only to 32-bit windows versions of IE.
o HTML alignment determines how the align attribute will be set in
the object and embed tags.
o Scale works with the dimensions setting and determines how the
movie displays on the HTML page.
SITA 2008 – Flash CS3 Professional 21

ƒ Default Show all fits the entire Flash movie into the area
defined by the dimensions setting without distortion.
ƒ No border forces it to fill the area defined by dimensions
without leaving borders
ƒ Exact fit stretches the movie to fill the entire area defined.
ƒ No scale prevents the movie from scaling beyond its original
size as defined by the document properties.
o Flash alignment determines how the movie is aligned within the
player window.
o Show warning messages alerts you to errors during the actual
publish process.

Working with HTML pages

¾ While one can directly link to flash movies with the <A> tag, it is better to use
either the object or embed tags.
¾ While this works, you have no control, as the link opens to the swf file in a
separate browser.
¾ In Dreamweaver, click at the place you want to insert the movie on a web
page.
o Click on the ACTIVE X choice under the media icon in the Common
category.
o Double-click the AX icon that appears, Switch the type of document to
Shockwave Flash
o Find the .swf file, Click OK
o Click on the icon and make it large enough to match the size of the
flash movie wanted
ƒ Check out the code – a very simple OBJECT with an EMBED
tag as well.

¾ Finally, Click on the FLASH choice under the media icon in the Common
category.
o Double-click the "F" icon that appears, Switch the type of document to
Shockwave Flash
o Find the .html file, Click OK
o Click on the icon and make it large enough to match the size of the
flash movie wanted
ƒ Check out the code – a more detailed OBJECT with an EMBED
tag in included – all the parameters are included.