Dynamic Buttons - Flash

This week, find out why movie clip symbols are a Good Thing, andlearn to add interactivity to your Flash movies with the built-in Actions.And when you're done, use the new Flash Projector to distribute your moviesto all and sundry. Who needs Hollywood when you can just roll your own?!

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By: Vikram Vaswani, (c) Melonfire

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January 25, 2001

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By allowing authors to separate animation sequences into separate movie clip symbols, Flash makes it possible to add animation and interactivity to buttons as well.

In your existing Flash movie, create a new button symbol named "spiral-button", and insert an instance of the static graphic symbol "spiral-image" for the Up state (in symbol-editing mode). Next, insert instances of the rotating movie clip symbol "spiral-movie" for the Over and Down states. Finally, for the Hit state, draw a filled box which encloses the entire spiral - this identifies the active area of the button.

Now, each time the button symbol receives a "hover" or "click" event, it will automatically activate and play the movie clip.

Go back to the Stage, and insert an instance of your new button symbol "spiral-button". Use Control -> Test Movie to view the movie clip - you'll see something like this:

Now, isn't that just dandy?

This article copyright Melonfire 2001. All rights reserved.

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