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Flash MX ActionScript Parameters...

   Clip Actions    Pr 1    Pr 2

The easiest way to add Actions is to first select one from the Toolbox List on the left. Either double-click the desired Action or drag it to the right side of the Actions panel (the Script Area). Each Action you add occupies one line on the right. Rarely is an Action just one word; more often an Action is complex enough to require a whole sentence, or statement. A statement is a code sentence that uses only words from the ActionScript language. The entire assembly of statements is a script.

After you add an Action, there are a few ways to modify it. As you add Actions, each appears as a complete statement in the order that you add them, and they'll occur in that order. You can change the order of any statement either by clicking its line in the Script Area and dragging it to another position or by selecting it in the Script Area and clicking the Up or Down arrow at the top right.

Another way you'll likely need to modify an Action is to specify parameters. For example, the Action called gotoAndPlay makes the playback head jump to a different frame. However, you need to specify the frame to which you want to go. In this case, the frame number is a parameter. To view the Parameters Area of the Actions panel, make sure the panel is in Normal mode and you've selected a line of code that was added to the script area. Some Actions don't need parameters.

Specifying Actions with Parameters

Now is a chance for you to try out Actions and parameters. You'll see that some Actions are quite simple. However, most Actions are more complicated.

Actions That Loop Parts Of Your MovieActions That Loop Parts Of Your Movie

Actions That Loop Parts Of Your Movie

  1. In a new file, use the Text tool to create a text block containing the word Welcome. Select the block and convert to symbol (Ctrl+F8). Make it a Movie Clip and name it "Welcome Text".


  2. Position the clip instance in the center of the screen, and insert keyframes at frame 20 and frame 30.


  3. Move the red current frame marker to frame 1 and move Welcome Text all the way off the stage to the left. Set Motion Tweening for both frame 1 and frame 20. In frame 20, use the Properties panel to make the tween rotate one time clockwise (CW) on it way from frame 20 to frame 30. Test the movie. Notice that the whole movie loops over and over. Instead we're going to make the rotation part (from frame 20 to frame 30) loop forever.


  4. We need to make a new layer just for the Actions. Name the first layer "Animation" and then choose Insert > Layer and name the new one "Actions." Make sure the current layer is Actions (you'll see a pencil in the layer). Select frame 30 in your Actions layer, insert a keyframe (F6), and then access the Actions panel (either by selecting Window > Actions or right-clicking on the keyframe and selecting Actions). Make sure frame 30 remains selected when you edit the Actions panel. We're going to set an Action to execute when the playback head reaches frame 30.

    5. Opening the Actions Panel
  5. Insert a gotoAndPlay Action, click the plus button and then Actions > Movie Control > goto (or "gotoAndPlay" if you don't see goto listed). You should see a gotoAndPlay Action added to your script in the Script Area on the right. Notice that in the Timeline, a small a appears in the keyframe where you added the Action.

    6. Adding a gotoAndPlay in the Actions Panel
  6. If your Parameters Area is not revealed, make sure you're in Normal mode by selecting the Options menu or View Options menu (both in the Actions panel).


  7. The Parameters Area is where you specify all the details for the selected Action (gotoAndPlay, in this case). For this exercise, leave most of the the defaults but enter 20 in the Frame field. The final Action in the script area should read gotoAndPlay(20).

    8. Spinning Welcome sign


  8. Test the movie (don't just play in the authoring environment). It plays once, and then every time it get to frame 30 it goes back to frame 20 and plays again.

    9. There is a better way to accomplish the above so that if you change the frames for better timing, you don't mess up your animation. Instead of making the destination of your gotoAndPlay an explicit frame number, you can change the parameters to make the destination a named frame label, which will be the same for the frame no matter where it is located in the Timeline.



    Hide Practice Session 1

Using Frame Labels as the Destination of a GoToUsing Frame Labels as the Destination of a GoTo

Using Frame Labels as the Destination of a GoTo

Using the session from above let's make life a bit easier for you.

  1. In the file you just finished, click frame 20 of the Animation layer. In the Properties panel you should see a place where you can type a frame label. Label this frame "Loop Start".


  2. Go back and click on frame 30 in the Actions layer and open the Actions panel.


  3. You are going to modify the gotoAndPlay line in the Frame Actions panel. Select the line and change the Type drop-down list to Frame Label. Then, select the Frame drop-down list and you should see all the labels available in the current Timeline. Since you only have "Loop Start", that's all that's available—but if you had more, they'd be there. Select Loop Start.

    4. Typing the Frame Label in the Properties Panel
    The Frame Label shows in the Timeline

  4. Test the movie; it doesn't look any different to the user. Now go back to the Timeline and click and drag the Loop Start keyframe to frame 10.

    5. Dragging the keyframe back to frame 10
  5. Test the movie again. The animation now loops back to frame 10, where you moved the Loop Start keyframe. This little trick will help you work with your movies without the grief!


    6. Hide Practice Session 2

Actions are instructions that we want Flash to follow. Actions do things. You can modify Actions by changing their parameters. So if Actions are instructions, how does Flash follow those instructions?

The answer depends on where you put the Action. The three places you can put Actions are in keyframes, on Button instances, and on Movie Clip instances. We just did a couple of exercises with frames, if you put an Action in a frame, it will not be followed until the playback head reaches that frame.

This is powerful stuff, but it's not interactivity with the user, it happens all by itself. If you wanted an animation to stop by itself, all you'd need to do is place a keyframe where you want it to stop and add a Stop Action. In the next section you'll see how to work with the remaining two places to put Actions.

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Page Updated on March 2, 2003