Question

Converting a Bitmap loader to a Movieclip loader - (Flash/AS3)

Asked by: furio13

Hi!

I received some help from blue-genie on creating an image gallery that loads external bitmap images with a nice fade in/fade out effect.

I was just wondering, based on how my code is setup, what would I need to change so that instead of loading external Bitmaps, it will load MovieClips from the library?

You can find my Bitmap loader code below. Any help would be great. Thanks!

import caurina.transitions.Tweener;
 
var btn:Object;
var disabledBtn:Object;
 
var currentPage:* = null;
var nextPage:* = null;
 
var loader:Loader;
var urlRequest:URLRequest;
 
//reference to all the buttons on the stage
var buttons:Array = new Array (b1, b2, b3, b4, b5, b6);
 
//this array holds all the names we want to use for our buttons
var button_name:Array = new Array ("Home", "About Us", "Selected Work", "References", "Jobs", "Contact");
 
//this array stores which images we want to load
var images_array:Array = new Array ("images/pic1.jpg","images/pic2.jpg","images/pic3.jpg","images/pic4.jpg","images/pic5.jpg","images/pic6.jpg");
 
for (var i:String in buttons) {
	buttons[i].button_txt.txt.text = button_name[i];
	buttons[i].alpha = .25;
	buttons[i].currentPage = images_array[i];
	buttons[i].buttonMode = true;
	buttons[i].button_txt.mouseChildren = false;
	
	buttons[i].addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER,onOVER);
	buttons[i].addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT,onOUT);
}
 
function onOVER(event:MouseEvent):void {
	btn = event.currentTarget;
	Tweener.addTween(btn, {alpha:1, time: 1});
	disableBtn(btn);
}
function onOUT(event:MouseEvent):void {
	btn = event.currentTarget;
	Tweener.addTween(btn, {alpha:.25, time: 1});
}
 
function disableBtn(btn:Object):void {
	loader = new Loader();
	urlRequest = new URLRequest(btn.currentPage);
 
	loader.load(urlRequest);
	loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, isLoaded);
	loader.x = 50;
	loader.y = 0;
}
 
function isLoaded(ev:Event):void {
	if (currentPage == null) {
		currentPage = ev.currentTarget.content;
		currentPage.alpha = 0;
		addChild(loader);
		fadeIn(currentPage);
	} else {
		nextPage = ev.currentTarget.content;
		fadeOut(currentPage);
	}
}
 
function fadeIn(who:*):void {
	Tweener.addTween(who, {alpha:1, time: 1});
	currentPage = nextPage;
}
 
function fadeOut(who:*):void {
	Tweener.addTween(who, {alpha:1, time: 1, onComplete:fadeIn, onCompleteParams:currentPage});
}
 
stop();

                                  
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Asked On
2009-08-24 at 07:43:28ID24676667
Tags

Actionscript 3.0

,

Flash CS3

,

movieclip

,

bitmap

,

loader

Topics

ActionScript

,

Adobe Flash

,

Adobe Flex

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
9

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Answers

 

by: TanLiHaoPosted on 2009-08-25 at 02:56:14ID: 25175885

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Photos_Graphics/Web_Graphics/Macromedia_Flash/ActionScript/Q_24652947.html

Didn't I show you before? Just apply the same export for actionscript, and then get the class definition, create new instance and then addChild.

 

by: tomaugerdotcomPosted on 2009-08-25 at 07:48:39ID: 25178159

Are you sure that your code (above) can't load SWFs?

From the AS documentation: The Loader class is used to load SWF files or image (JPG, PNG, or GIF) files.

You're adding the loader to the displayList already. So this should work perfectly with bitmaps AND SWFs.

What is it that your code is not doing for you?

T

 

by: furio13Posted on 2009-08-25 at 09:30:06ID: 25179326

TaniLiHao:

Sorry, I guess I should have referenced the question you helped me with from the get-go. Yes, the help you provided earlier did help me convert the bitmap loader to a movieclip loader. However, the fade in/fade out effects weren't working properly.

The code I've attached here is slightly different then the one I originally posted from the question you helped me with. It has added a fade in/fade out effect that works quite seamlessly with loading Bitmap images which I was hoping to implement with loading movieclips.

Instead of referencing two different questions and making things a little confusing, I just decided to repost the bitmap loader with the new code. Sorry about the mix up - don't want to make it seem that I don't appreciate you help :)

tomaugerdotcom:

I would like to load MovieClips from the library, not external SWF files.

 

by: tomaugerdotcomPosted on 2009-08-25 at 11:13:38ID: 25180456

Ah, from the library. It's actually not that bad, but you don't need a loader object to do it. Instead, you treat the elements from the Library as a Class. There are two possible scenarios:

1. you know exactly what the name of the library SWF is and that name will never change (not dynamic)

2. you don't know exactly what the name will be because it could be 1 of many possiblities (like "SWF1", "SWF2", "SWF3") so you will need to build the name dynamically.

Case 1 is fairly straightforward:

let's say you have a SWF in your library called, for lack of creativity, SWF1, and you want to put it on the display list as a movieClip:

import flash.display.MovieClip;
 
var libraryMC:MovieClip;
libraryMC = new SWF1() as MovieClip;
addChild(libraryMC);

                                              
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by: tomaugerdotcomPosted on 2009-08-25 at 11:17:41ID: 25180499

Case 2 is a little more complex since we have to dynamically build the name. Let's say you have a bunch of SWFs in your library, all named the same:

SWF1
SWF2
SWF3
... etc

Now the actual # of the movieClip you want to load is held in a variable - let's call it clipNumber. clipNumber could be 1, 2, 3 etc...

We need to build the library item's name dynamically like this:
"SWF" + clipNumber.

To access the class we use a little utility method called getDefinitionByName():

import flash.display.MovieClip;
import flash.utils.getDefinitionByName;
 
var clipNumber:Number = 2; // just for example's sake
var libraryMC:MovieClip;
var libraryItem:Class;
 
libraryItem = getDefinitionByName("SWF" + clipNumber) as Class;
libraryMC = new libraryItem() as MovieClip;
addChild(libraryMC);

                                              
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by: tomaugerdotcomPosted on 2009-08-25 at 11:19:03ID: 25180517

It's REALLY important though that you make sure to set a linkage name in your Library panel for each SWF you want to access in this way. Right-click on each SWF in the library panel and give it a class name that corresponds to the class name we are using in the AS code. In this example it's SWF1, SWF2, SWF3 etc.

 

by: furio13Posted on 2009-09-02 at 09:56:22ID: 25243007

Thanks for the reply tomaugerdotcom. Sorry its taken me so long to get back to you.

I was away on vacation last week. When I get my stuff back in order I'll look over your suggestions and see if I can get it to work.

I'll get back to you.

 

by: tomaugerdotcomPosted on 2009-09-02 at 10:34:26ID: 25243447

hehe. I've done the same with some open questions that I have. I know what it's like to be busy. Hope this works out for you.

T

 

by: furio13Posted on 2009-09-18 at 12:09:55ID: 31630756

Sorry for the delay, I just really haven't had time to go back to this question. I really appreciate the help so I'll award the points. However, I'm not entirely sure if this solution solves the issue. When I have time to return to this project, I may post this question again.

Thanks!

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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