Macromedia Flash Tutorial, Continued

Adding Animation

After all of the numbers (0-9) have been created, we need to create a Movie Clip for each unit of time in the timer (tens of seconds, seconds, minutes, tens of minutes, and hours). Or in other words, for every digit that the clock displays, we need to create a Movie Clip.

Movie Clips are a new feature of Flash 3. A Movie Clip has its own timeline which can run independently of the main timeline. When a Movie Clip is placed on the main timeline, it will begin to play when the movie gets to the frame it is in. The Movie Clip can continue to run even if the main timeline is stopped.

We'll start this example with seconds. First, create a new symbol and name it "1 Second." Make sure the behavior is set to Movie Clip. Insert a new layer, then open the library. Drag a copy of Numbers onto the stage. Then go to frame 11, click the right mouse button, and select Insert Frame. When you've done that, click the right mouse button and select Insert Blank Keyframe.

Now go back to the first layer of your 1 Second symbol. Go to frame 11 of that layer and highlight frames 1 to 11. Click the right mouse button and select Insert Blank Keyframe. In frame 1, assign a frame action of Stop (to do this, click the right mouse button and select Properties > Actions > + and select Stop from the drop down list).

Go to each Blank Keyframe in frames 1 through 10 and add a label (0-9). To do this, select each frame and then click the right mouse button, then choose Properties > Label. The labels should match up with the numbers displayed on the stage. In frame 11, add the action "Go to", making sure the Play box on the right is unchecked and the Label is checked and set at 0.

Next, add another action. Highlight "Go to and Stop," then +(Plus) > Tell Target. Add /Clock/10Seconds in the Target box on the right. Then add another "Go to" action, this time checking Next Frame. It should look like this when done:

Go to and Stop           Label 0
Begin Tell Target        /Clock/10Seconds
   Go to Next Frame
End Tell Target

If items end up in the wrong order use the up and down arrows on the right side of the dialog box to rearrange them.

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