- adobe flash general
- adobe flash
Adobe Flash
In this chapter, you will find general information about Adobe Flash.
The most important windows, like the timeline, tools, library, property,
and ActionScript window will be explained shortly, along 'symbols'.
Symbols are the building blocks on which Adobe Flash animations are built.
Most of the options in the tools window will be explained shortly as
well.
At the end of this chapter, the basic settings to create an Adobe Flash
animation are shown, and some extra information is given on how to
incorporate your flash movie into a webpage.
As you can see, Adobe Flash has many popup windows.
The disadvantage of these popups is that you constantly have to open,
close. and/or move them around.
A second monitor is ideal to reduce opening, closing, and dragging the
popups.
The most important popups will be explain shortly.
Timeline
The timeline is an important part of the program, and can be used to
animate either by hand and/or with ActionScript.
The timeline represents all frames of an animation; more frames means a
longer animation, less frames means a shorter animation.
A timeline repeats itself by default; as soon as the last frame is shown, the animation jumps back to its first frame and begins again.
If you take a close look at the timeline you will find some icons.
The most important icons are:
To insert a layer, use the 'Insert Layer' option.
A layer can also be added with the menu 'Insert > Timeline > Layer'; or
right-click and choose 'Insert Layer'.
Try to keep your animations as organized as possible. One way to stay
organized is by adding one element per layer.
Double-click on the default layer name to use a descriptive name, so you
can easily select the right layer.
Choose this option to add a so-called motion guide.
A motion guide is a path which is used for a timeline animation.
You can draw a line and attach a movieclip to this line. The movieclip
moves along the path during the animation.
The line itself will not be visible.
Folders can be used to group specific layers.
Again, try to keep your Flash animations as organized as possible, for this saves a lot of time.
A layer can be deleted with this option.
Select the layer you want to delete, and press on the 'Delete Layer' option or right-click and choose 'Delete Layer'.
This feature can be helpful if you want to lock individual layers, or all layers.
Click on the icon to (un)lock all layers, or click on the black dot underneath the (un)locked icon to (un)lock individual layers.
This options works the same way as the 'Lock/Unlock all Layers' option.
Click on this option to show/hide all layers, or click on the black dot underneath the Show/Hide icon to show/hide individual layers.
A simple timeline animation will be presented after the basic building blocks, also known as 'symbols', and the library are explained.
SymbolsContent in Adobe Flash is added to so-called 'symbols'. A symbol is an
object which can be reused again and again.
Copies of symbols are called 'instances'. An instance has properties
like size, color, and so forth, which may differ from it's original
symbol.
The reuse of symbols is a great feature of Adobe Flash. A symbol can be
made once, and used many times. Only the original symbol is stored, so
that the file size remains very small.
Symbols are divided into movieclip, buttons and graphics, and can be added with the menu 'insert > new symbol' or CTRL + F8.
The choice of symbol depends on its purpose.
Movieclip
A movieclip is a symbol with a timeline, just like the main
timeline.
The timeline of a movieclip can contain buttons, graphics, and/or other
movieclips
If a movieclip in a movieclip has a timeline, this timeline plays independently of the timeline it's running in. Suppose a movieclip has a timeline with 20 frames, and a movieclip in this timeline has a timeline with 40 frames, and the last frame of this timeline shows a red dot. This dot is seen every second time the 20 frames long timeline animates.
The properties of a movieclip, like size, alpha value (transparency),
dimension, and position, can be adjusted by selecting the movieclip on
the stage. As soon as a movieclip is selected, the Movieclip Properties
window is shown (see image).
ActionScript can also be used to change the properties of a movieclip.
A complete list of movieclip properties can be found in the 'ActionScript Basics' chapter.
Notice the movieclip icon on the left top side of the property window.
The Movieclip Properties window offers many options for changing the
properties of a movieclip.
On the left side of the property window, you find fields to adjust the
position (horizontal and vertical), and the width and height.
To adjust a movieclip with ActionScript, a unique instance name is
required.
On the right side of the property window, you find the options
'color' and 'blend'.
The 'Color' option has five sub-options; 'none', 'brightness', 'tint',
'alpha', and 'advanced' (see image).
The 'blend' option is similar to the layer option in Adobe Photoshop.
The independently running timeline and the possibility of nesting (movieclips in movieclips in movieclips), in combination with the property control and programming options of ActionScript, offer many possibilities. They make the movieclip much more flexible, compared to the following symbol, the 'graphic'.
Graphic
A Graphic can be used for static content, such as bitmap images or
vector images.
Like the movieclip, a graphic has a timeline, so that animation is also
an option.
Unlike the movieclip, the timeline of a graphic doesn't run
independently of its possible predecessor(s).
If the timeline of a movieclip with 20 frames contains a graphic with a
timeline of 40 frames, and the last frame of the timeline of the graphic
has a red dot, the red dot will never show up, since only the first 20
frames of the graphic will be shown.
The lack of an independently running timeline and the limited amount of control with ActionScript makes the graphic symbol less flexible compared to the movieclip. So use a movieclip instead of a graphic.
Notice the graphic icon on the left top side of the property window.
Button
The button is a straightforward symbol; all you can do with a button is click on it.
The timeline of a button symbol has only four frames/states: 'up',
'over', 'down', and 'hit'.
For each state, a different look can be applied. This can be done with
different bitmap images, which are made in an image manipulation
program, and then imported into Adobe Flash; or the button states can be
made directly in Adobe Flash.
The 'Up' frame shows the default state of the button and/or the state
when a user releases the button. The 'over' state is the frame which is
shown as soon as a user moves over the button with the mouse. The 'down'
frame shows the state of the button when a user clicks on the button.
The 'hit' state is not a visual state, but describes the area which the
mouse detects to trigger one of the three possible states. Usually this
is a plain rectangle and the size is the same as that of the other states.
Like the movieclip, the button symbol can be controlled with ActionScript; a unique instance name is required.
The button symbol is the only symbol which requires a minimum of ActionScript.
LibraryThe library contains all the symbols - movieclips, graphics, and/or
buttons - you use.
Besides the movieclip, graphic, and buttons, the library can contain a
few other symbols like a bitmap graphic, font, folder, VideoDisplay, and
so forth. Each different type of media has its own icon.
Symbols can be dragged and dropped from the library to the stage of any movieclip or graphic.
Keep the library organized; use folders to group related symbols and use description names for symbols.
Library and ImagesBitmap images can be imported easily in Adobe Flash: 'File' > 'Import' > 'Import to Stage'/'Import to Library', or CTRL + R.
Once a bitmap image is imported into Adobe Flash, it appears in the library.
An instance of the image can be used at several places in your animation. Properties, like 'brightness', 'tint', 'alpha', and 'advanced', can be used to change the look of the instance. The original bitmap is saved in your Adobe Flash animation, but the instances are not; they use a copy of the original bitmap in the library.
To show your carefully made pixel art illustration crisply in Adobe
Flash, you have to take care that the 'allow smoothing' option is
deactivated, and the compression should be 'lossless (PNG/GIF)' as well.
The Bitmap Properties window is accessible by double clicking on the
bitmap in the library.
Besides these settings, you have to take care that the pixel art
illustration, or the movieclip, containing the pixel art illustration is
positioned at a so-called integer position.
More details about integer positions are to be found in the
'ActionScript Basics' chapter.
With the knowledge of symbols and how to import images, a simple Adobe Flash animation can be made on the timeline.
For this basic example, you can choose to use a bitmap image - a graphic - directly on the timeline, or a movieclip containing a bitmap graphic, for your animation.
The ball - in this example a bitmap in a movieclip - has to animate from left to right in 25 frames. The movieclip is positioned on the left side of the stage. The first frame of the timeline shows a black point, which indicates the frame is a so-called 'keyframe'. A keyframe is a frame that stores all the properties of the content of a frame. In this example, a movieclip is used. Movieclips have many properties, such as size, position, and so forth.
The total length of the timeline animation is 25 frames; any other
amount of frames is fine too.
The timeline is still one frame long, so a number of frames should be added.
This can be done with the menu 'Insert' > 'Timeline' > 'Frame', or with
the shortcut F5. Or you can right click on the (key)frame and select
'Insert Frame'. F5 is the most efficient option.
To preview the animation, select 'File' > 'Publish Preview' >
'Flash', or press Ctrl + ENTER.
The ball doesn't move...
The position - and all other properties - of the movieclip remain the
same during the animation. The ball should move from left at the start
of the animation and end on the right.
Select the last frame of the timeline and choose 'Insert' > 'Timeline' >
'Keyframe'; or press F6; or right click and select 'Insert Keyframe'.
The last frame of the animation is now a keyframe, and like the keyframe
at the first frame of the timeline, all the properties are stored
(3).
If the animation is previewed, the ball still doesn't move, since all the properties remain the same during the animation.
If the last keyframe of the animation still isn't still selected, select
the last frame. Next, move the movieclip to the right (4).
The position of the ball is changed in the keyframe in the last frame of
the timeline. All the properties of the movieclip remain equal, only the
position changes.
If the animation is previewed, the ball jumps shortly to the right at the end of the animation.
In order to move the movieclip smoothly from left to right, the
properties stored in both keyframes should transite fluently during the
animation.
Select one of the frames between both keyframes, and right click. A menu
appears. Choose 'Create Motion Tween' (5).
As soon as you release the mouse, you will notice that the background of
the frames between both keyframes becomes blueish, and an arrow appears
(6). This indicates that a fluent transition of the properties of the
movieclip between both keyframes has occured.
If you preview the animation, the ball will smoothly animate from left to right.
By default the timeline has one layer. By clicking on the 'add layers'
icon, layers can be added.
Keep your organization of the timeline as neat as possible, since this
saves time. Double-click on the layer name to give the layer a
descriptive name, and use one symbol per layer.
The toolbar offers many options to draw, select, and/or magnify, etc.
Some menu icons, like the pen and the rectangle tool, have sub-options.
These sub-options can be made visible, by pressing slightly longer on
the icon than you would to only select a tool.
The Selection Tool is the tool you'll probably use most of the time.
Select the fill of a graphic by clicking on it. Double-click to
select both the shape and the stroke, if present.
Click and drag
to select an area.
Notice how the cursor changes for different tasks
Choose the Subselection Tool, in case you want to adjust the position of the vertices of shapes and/or the curvature of lines.
The Free Transform Tool allows you to scale, rotate, or distort any shape or object.
The first option is 'rotate & scale', the next option is 'scale', the third option is 'distort', and the last one is 'envelope'.
The cursor tells you which task will be performed; scaling, rotation or skewing.
The Gradient Transform Tool is used to move, rotate, and/or scale a gradient.
Select the gradient you want to adjust, and select this option. The
gradient can be moved by dragging the center of the gradient.
The gradient can be scaled by selecting the white box with a black arrow in it.
The gradient can be rotated by selecting the white circle with the black border.
Choose the Lasso Tool to select (parts of) graphics.
the 'Magic Wand' option allows you to select irregular areas in graphics.
the 'Magic Wand Settings' option allows you to specify magic Wand Tool settings.
Finally, the 'Polygon Mode' option can be used to select polygon-shaped areas.
This tool allows you to draw a line or a curved line.
If you want to draw a straight line, the Line Tool is a better option.
To draw a straight line between two points, simply click in on the stage once, move the mouse to a new position and click again.
To draw a curved line, click, hold down, and move.
If the curvature doesn't match up with what you had in mind, choose the
Subselection Tool or the
Convert Anchorpoint Tool
to adjust the curvature.
Once selected, the property window will shows all options having to do with drawing lines. You can adjust the thickness of the line and its styling as well.
To add an anchor point, choose this option.
Like the Pen Tool, click,
hold down, and move, if the newly added anchor point should have a curvature.
Choose the Subselection Tool, in case you want to adjust the curvature of lines.
To add a textfield on the timeline, choose this tool.
Once selected, the property window will show all options having to do with textfields. More details about the property window for text can be found here.
To draw a straight line, use the Line Tool.
Press somewhere in the stage for the starting position of a line, and
then click. Move the mouse to the end position of the line, and the line
will appear.
As when selecting the Pen Tool, the property window will offer some options for the thickness and look/styling of the line.
To change the line, select the Subselection Tool, and then select the line you want to adjust. Next, select the point of the line you want to adjust.
The Rectangle Tool can be used to draw rectangles.
To create perfect squares, hold down SHIFT when dragging.
To draw a circle and/or oval, use the Oval Tool.
The options in the property window allow you to draw a part of the oval. Choose 'Custom...' to adjust the styling of the oval.
To create a perfect circle, hold down SHIFT when dragging.
The rectangle Primitive Tool practically works the same way as the Rectangle Tool, and can be used to draw rectangles.
To create perfect squares, hold down SHIFT when dragging.
Use the Primitive Tool to draw circles and/or ovals.
The property window offers a lot of options, e.g. drawing a slice of a circle, etc..
Use the Polystar Tool to draw areas with at least three sides.
Choose 'Options...' in the property window to alter the number of sides.
The Pencil Tool offers three ways of drawing a freeform line: the first one is 'straighten', the next 'smooth', and the last one 'ink'.
If you select straighten and draw a line, flash tries to figure out what
you tried to draw, and then optimizes the line you just drew. Don't
expect too much from this option.
If you draw a rough circle, choose the Selection Tool,
and then choose the 'Straighten' option; the rough circle will be drawn as a circle.
The smooth option smoothes a line, hence the name.
The last option is 'ink'; choose this option if you like the way you draw without any automatic adjustments.
Use the Brush Tool to paint.
The Brush Tool has multiple paint options, and options for brush sizes and shapes.
The 'Paint Normal' option allows you to paint like normal paint, on top of whatever is on the stage.
The 'Paint Fills' option doesn't affect strokes, but otherwise it allows you to paint like normal paint.
The 'Paint Behind' option doesn't affect simple shapes; in effect, you paint behind those shapes.
the 'Paint Selection' option allows you to paint only selected filled areas.
Finally, ''Paint Inside' allows you to paint inside a filled area. The filled area functions as a mask; paint can only be applied to the inside of the filled area.
The Ink Bottle Tool functions almost the same way as the
Paint Bucket Tool.
The Ink Bottle Tool allow you to change the color of lines and shapes,
and doesn't affect the fills of shapes.
Select the preferred color and click on the line or fill, to change the color of the stroke. If the shape doesn't have an outline, the outline is added by using this option.
The Paint Bucket Tool can be used to change the color of fills.
Besides solid fills, gradients can be used as well.
To create a gradient, choose 'Window' > 'Color', or press SHIFT F9.
Notice how Adobe Flash uses fills, lines, and strokes.
The Eyedropper Tool functions the same way as in most graphic software. Choose a color, click, and the selected color is used.
If you select a fill color, the Paint Bucket Tool is automatically selected. If you choose the color of a line, the Ink Bottle Tool is automatically selected.
Use the Eraser Tool to remove parts of a graphic.
The Eraser Tool has various options, as well as options to change the
shape of the eraser.
'Erase Normal' removes lines and fills, 'Erase Fills' removes fills
only, and lines are not affected with this option selected.
'Erase Lines' removes lines and doesn't affect fills. 'Erase Selected'
removes selected fills, and finally 'Erase Inside' allows you to erase
inside a filled area. The filled area functions as a mask; erasing can
only be done inside the filled area.
The Hand Tool allows you to move the stage.
If you are using the Zoom Tool,
and need to scroll to your area of interest, this tool can be used.
Press and hold down the spacebar, to move the stage without the need to
zoom out and in. As soon as the spacebar is released, the tool you used
is automatically selected.
The Zoom Tool allows you to zoom in/out on the stage.
Click and drag, to select an area that you want to see magnified.
Double-click to increase the magnification, or use the keystrokes
'CTRL +' to zoom in, 'CTRL -' to zoom out.
The 'Stroke Color' option allows you to select a color that is used for strokes, hence the name.
Besides solid fills, gradients can be used as well.
The 'Fill Color' option allows you to select a color that is used for fills.
Like the Stroke Color option, gradients can be used as well.
Shortcuts Tools
Most tools can also be selected by a shortcut.
| shortcut | description |
| V | Selection tool |
| A | Subselection tool |
| Q | Free transform tool |
| F | Gradient transform tool |
| L | Lasso tool |
| P | Pen tool |
| = | Add Anchor Point tool |
| - | Delete Anchor Point tool |
| C | Convert Anchor Point Tool |
| T | Text tool |
| N | Line tool |
| R | Rectangle tool |
| O | Oval tool |
| R | Rectangle primitive tool |
| Y | Pencil tool |
| B | Brush tool |
| S | Ink bottle tool |
| K | Paint bucket tool |
| I | Eyedropper tool |
| E | Eraser tool |
| H | Hand tool |
| M & Z | Zoom tool |
Fonts in Adobe Flash
If a textfield is drawn with the Text tool or if it is selected, the Textfield Properties window appears.
The icon on the left top side again indicates that the options in the property window are related to a textfield.
Like the movieclip symbol, a textfield can be given a unique instance
name. This unique name is used by ActionScript to access the
textfield.
On the left side, you also find options to alter the horizontal and/or
vertical position, as well as the width and height.
Next to the icon, you find an option to specify which type of
textfield you need.
You can choose between three options.
| option | description |
| Static Text | Static text is used if text inside a textfield doesn't change during the animation. |
| Dynamic Text | Dynamic text is used when text is changing during the animation. The content of a textfield can be altered with ActionScript during the animation. |
| Input text | Input text is used for forms and so on. |
If static text is used, the characters/glyphs in the textfield are
included in the exported Adobe Flash animation.
By including the font information in the Adobe Flash animation, you
insure that other people will see the same font, even if the specific
font is not installed on their computer.
To reduce the amount of kilobytes, only the unique characters/glyphs in
the textfield(s) is/are used.
If a dynamic textfield is used, Adobe Flash itself can no longer analyze
which character/glyphs will be shown. Therefore, you have to explicitly
tell Adobe Flash which character/glyphs should be included, when
exporting to an Adobe Flash animation.
The 'embed' option allows you to embed/include ranges of
characters/glyphs, e.g. uppercase, lowercase, and/or specific
characters/glyphs.
Special characters/glyphs, like ü, ñ, å etc., can be
added at the bottom of the character embedding popup.
Of course more characters/glyphs means more kilobytes. The total size of
font information can be checked with the option 'Generate Size Report'
underneath Export Settings.
The property window allows you to select a font in a certain size.
The option 'Single Line', 'Multiline', 'Multiline No Wrap' - and if you
choose 'Input Text', 'Password' - are pretty self-explanatory; the
'Single Line' option restricts the textfield to only one line.
'Multiline' shows multiple lines and 'Multiline No Wrap' shows multiple
lines as well, but these lines will not respect wrapped with the
dimension of the textfield. 'Password' shows text as '*'.
Other options and their function:
Choose this option to change the color and/or alpha value of text in a textfield.
If the textfield has static text, every individual character may have it's own color.
If the text in the textfield is dynamic, all characters have one color if you select this option by hand. By using ActionScript, every individual character in a dynamic textfield can be colored.
Use this option to change the appearance of a font to normal or bold.
The Edit Format option includes multiple options.
The option 'indent' sets the amount of pixels at the left side of the text. 'Line spacing' is used to set the amount of pixels between two lines of text, and 'left margin' and 'right margin' sets the amount of pixels on the left or right side of the text.
To justify text, choose this option.
Justified text is text in which every line except the last one has the same width.
Choose this option to align the text to the right.
Choose this option to center text.
Choose this option to align the text to the left.
This option is used to increase/decrease the amount of space between individual characters.
Activate this option if the text should be selectable.
Most of the time you don't want this, since the cursor changes if you
move over a selectable textfield.
This option is handy in case the textfield contains an address. A
visitor doesn't have to type it over, but can instead easily copy and
paste the information.
If you use a dynamic textfield and the text will be altered with ActionScript, this option can be handy. It allows you to use basic HTML codes, like <b>, <i>, <font color='#FF0000'>, <p> to format text.
This option shows a border around the textfield.
The help option shows the help popup.
The accessibility popup allows you to make a textfield accessible.
Actionscript Window
ActionScript is added to the timeline by selecting a frame on the timeline. The next thing you have to do is open the ActionScript window and add ActionScript code to it.
The ActionScript code can either be typed directly into the ActionScript
window, or you can use a reference to an external ActionScript file. By
using external ActionScript files, all ActionScript involved in an
animation is immediately visible.
If the ActionScript is inside the animation itself, it's less clear
which and how many ActionScripts are involved. Especially if your
projects start to grow and/or if you use a lot of nested movieclips,
this can be annoying.
ActionScript can also be added to movieclips. To prevent spending a lot of time checking for ActionScript in specific movieclips, add ActionScript only to frames in the timeline.
An example of a simple ActionScript driven animation can be found in the 'ActionScript Basics' chapter.
Create an Adobe Flash MovieTo create an Adobe Flash animation choose 'File' > 'new', or CTRL +
N.
The New Document window appears in which you can choose between
different types of Adobe Flash animations.
'Flash File (ActionScript 2.0)' has been chosen for the examples in
this tutorial.
Take a look at the description information on the right side of this
window.
Depending on the choice you make, the 'Publish settings' will be set and
the main timeline will appear in Adobe Flash.
Next, save the newly created Adobe Flash animation in the menu 'File' >
'Save', or with the shortcut Ctrl + S.
Before you start working on the Adobe flash animation, choose 'Modify' >
'Document' in the menu or use the shortcut Ctrl + J to specify the
dimension, the background color, and frame rate of the animation.
The frame rate is the amount of frames rendered in exactly one second.
More frames per second result in a faster animation; less frames per
second result in a slower animation.
If the frame rate is 24 or greater, the animation will run smoothly.
The specified frame rate depends on the performance of the computer that
runs the Adobe Flash animation. If the computational power of the
computer is low, the specified frame rate will be less.
Inside the Adobe Flash environment, the animation runs faster compared
with a browser, since the browser needs to control other process besides
the Adobe Flash animation.
The main publish settings window on the left offers many
export/publish options.
The Adobe Flash animation can be exported in numerous file formats
besides SWF.
As soon as a specific format is chosen an extra tab appears at the top
of the menu.
| type | description |
| Flash (.swf) |
Publish setting for SWF flash animation. If the flash tab is selected, the publish setting for the Adobe Flash animation is shown (right image). These options will be explained in more detail later. |
| HTML (.html) |
Publish setting for the HTML file in which the SWF Adobe Flash animation will be embedded. You can either use the options Adobe Flash offers to generate HTML or use a so-called 'SWFObject' in your HTML page. The options Adobe Flash offer will not be explained in this tutorial; more details about SWFObjects are to be found at 'SWFObject'. |
| GIF image (.gif) |
Publish setting to export the Adobe Flash animation to GIF. By using this option your Adobe Flash animation will be converted to a GIF image. GIF doesn't offer options for interactivity and has a limited palette of maximum 256 colors. Exporting your Adobe Flash animation to GIF will be a disappointment. |
| JPG image (.jpg) |
Publish setting to export the Adobe Flash animation to JPG. Unlike GIF, JPG doesn't support animation, so your animation will be converted to a static image. |
| PNG image (.png) |
Publish setting to export the Adobe Flash animation to PNG. Like JPG, PNG doesn't support animation, so your animation will be converted to a static image. |
| Windows Projector (.exe) |
An Adobe Flash animation can be converted to an executable (EXE). This option can be handy for presentations; you don't need a browser to show your work. Depending on the installed plug-in, a SWF file can also be. |
| Macintosh Projector | An Adobe Flash animation can also be converted to a Macintosh Projector. |
| Quicktime with Flash Track |
The QuickTime option offers the possibility of exporting the Adobe Flash animation to QuickTime. This can also be done by the menu: 'File' > 'Export' > 'Export Movie', or CTRL + ALT + SHIFT F5. |
Publish Settings Adobe Flash
Most options in the Flash Publish Settings window are pretty self-explanatory.
If 'Protect from Import' is activated, the Adobe Flash movie can't be
imported by someone who saves your Adobe Flash animation from the
Internet.
Adobe Flash animation - even Adobe Flash animation with the 'Protect
from Import' activated - can be decompiled. Special programs are made to
reconstruct your original Adobe Flash FLA out of a SWF file.
If you use the ActionScript command 'Trace' in your Adobe Flash animation to keep track of what's going on under the hood, the 'Omit Trace Actions' can be used to prevent trace messages showing up in the output window.
The publish setting 'Generate Size Report' in the Adobe Flash tab can be used to find out which element of your Adobe Flash animation is responsible for the most kilobytes.
The above example animation contains a static textfield and a bitmap
graphic 'ball.png'.
If the 'Generate Size Report' is set, the output window shows the next
result.
At the bottom of the report, you will find information about the font in
the static textfield and the bitmap image.
If the overall size of the Adobe Flash animation is important, the
result can be used to find out which element needs attention. In this
example, the image is responsible for almost all bytes, so it doesn't
pay to figure out how to decrease the size of the textfield. All effort
can be focused on reducing the file size of the bitmap image.
In the example movie, a textfield with static text is used. The text in the textfield is 'drububu.com'. Adobe Flash automatically analyzes all static textfields and only embeds/includes the characters/glyphs that are used, in this case the characters/glyphs '.bcdmoru'.
SWFObjectSWFObject is a small piece of JavaScript code which embeds your Adobe Flash movie in a webpage.
As a consequence of a dispute about a patent, Microsoft changed the way their browser handles plugins. If a webpage contains an applet, object, or embed tag, the plugin will not react until the user clicks on it. If, however, an Adobe Flash movie, for example, is embedded in a webpage by JavaScript, a user can interact directly. By using JavaScript - SWFObject - the patent/initial click behavior is bypassed.
More details about SWFObject are to be found at Deconcept.
The SWFObject is a separate JavaScript file, and is included in the header of a webpage (see example code).
<head> <title></title> ... <script type="text/javascript" src="swfobject.js"></script> ... </head> <body>
To embed an Adobe Flash movieclip in a webpage, the following lines of code are used.
<div id="flashcontent"><strong>You need to upgrade your Adobe Flash Player</strong></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var so = new SWFObject("movie.swf", "flash_animation", "400", "400", "8", "#FFFFFF");
so.write("flashcontent");
</script>
| argument | example | description |
| swf | movie.swf | Name of the Adobe Flash animation. |
| id | flash_animation | The ID of your object or embed tag. |
| width | 400 | The Adobe Flash animation width. |
| height | 400 | The Adobe Flash animation height. |
| version | 8 | The required Adobe Flash player version. |
| background-color | #FFFFFF | The hexadecimal value of the background color of the Adobe Flash animation. |
