MovieClip Timeline Control

Controlling the main timeline from a movie clip should be as easy as this:

function goHome(e:MouseEvent):void {
this.gotoAndStop("one");
}

But it doesn't work. Turns out that you can't do this in AS3 because root, this, and parent refers to display objects that don't have multiple frames. You need to encase the script with the MovieClip object as follows:

function goHome(e:MouseEvent):void {
MovieClip(root).gotoAndStop("one");
}

Strange, but true.

FlashDevelop 3.0

I've heard a lot of complaints from people about Flash's built-in ActionScript editor. There has been third party development going on for a while. One application that I've tried in the past was SEPY, but the Mac version was buggy and I never tried the PC version. Lee Brimelow swears by it though.

Another editor that's been in the works for a few years now and has finally yielded a full-fledged version is FlashDevelop. FlashDevelop is PC only now and I'm not sure if they're planning to develop a Mac version, but this is a pretty awesome editor. Very quick with a lot of code hinting.

Give it a spin!

AS3 Keyboard Events

Learn how to respond to Keyboard Events in AS3.

Flash Catalyst

Yet another tool has been added to the Flash Platform. This time, it's for designers and it's called Flash Catalyst. Download the Beta at labs.adobe.com.

What this tool does is allow designers to work in familiar tools, Photoshop and Illustrator, and then make their designs interactive - without writing any code. Sounds like Dreamweaver for Flash. I know it's weird.

I'm just looking into it now.

Make Those SWFs Smaller

I always thought that Flash compression was amazing and it is, but you can compress those SWF files further with Eltimer's Flash Optimizer. The Mac OSX utility program claims to compress SWF files to 80% of their original size. At $99, it might be worth looking into for anyone publishing dense content.

ActionScript 3.0 Migration Cookbook

Adobe is still trying to get Flashers to migrate to ActionScript 3.0. It's so late in the game with this, but their efforts have stepped up now with the ActionScript 3.0 Migration Cookbook. 21 PDF pages of code examples and a list of 5 misconceptions about AS3 and a list of 5 benefits of AS3.

So if you're still AS2, then you'll want to check this out.

Lynda.com has a new Flash SEO course

Lynda.com has a new Flash with Todd Perkins entitled: Flash CS4 Professional: Building Search Engine Friendly Sites. [Login required to view full course.] Perkins starts off with some straight HTML fundamentals and how search engines work. So for the advanced user, you might want to skip ahead.

Al Lemieux
Lemieux Design