1) In the main timeline of a new movie, insert an
animated movie clip symbol, a separate button symbol and a text box.
These items should all be inserted into the same layer. Position these
items in relation to each other as you wish them to appear. Re-arrange
the order if necessary so that the button is on top of the rest so it
is accessible. This, however, can be used to your advantage, if hiding
the button behind a movie clip is a desired effect.
2) Select all of the symbols you would consider a
"unit" and group them ("Modify>Group") Then edit
the selected group. Care should be taken that you are editing where
you think you are. Pay attention to the top left section above the layers
window. There it will show you a hierarchical path of where you are
currently editing.
3) Name the instance of the movie clip "MC1",
then edit the movie clip and insert the following action script into
the first frame:
If (Playing eq "True")
// Condition = Expr.
Play
Else
Stop
End If
4) Then insert the following action script into the
button:
On (Roll Over, Drag Over)
Set Variable: "Playing" = "True"
// Variable = String, Value = String
Play
End On
On (Roll Out, Drag Out)
Set Variable: "Playing" = "False"
// Variable = String, Value = String
End On
Notice in the above action script
how when we set the variable "Playing"
that we did not use the tell Target
action to call the timeline for
the movie clip. If you are unclear
on why this is, go back to the previous
tutorial Symbol Combinations,
Part I
The drawback to this method is that with a large number of buttons,
this .swf file will be larger than necessary, depending on the amount
of other scripting is used for each button and movie slip "unit"
or group. The next tutorial will produce a far smaller .swf file and
be slightly more responsive on slower machines.
Next
Tutorial: Symbol Combinations, Part
III (Adding Movie Clips
to Buttons)
