Question

Text flickers when it animates...

Asked by: befidled

I'm having problems with text flickering when it animates. Is there anyway to get rid of the flicker?

http://www.brianfidler.com/vvs/dayinlife/dil_button.html

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Asked On
2005-04-07 at 00:56:09ID21379702
Tags

flicker

,

text

,

animation

,

when

Topic

Adobe Flash

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
21

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Answers

 

by: negatyvePosted on 2005-04-07 at 01:05:20ID: 13724664

I don't see anything weird in that button and in the way text moves with the "curtain". Anyway, a couple of things you can do:

- set the alpha level of the movieclip with text to 99
- set the formula which the movement is based upon to change the button _x to rounded pixel

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-07 at 01:42:12ID: 13724847

I can't see anything wrong there either - it may just be your screen refresh rate...

Billystyx

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-07 at 01:46:50ID: 13724878

does this flicker happen with everything, or just this flash file?
(sounds like a silly question really - just trying to figure out what you are seeing...)
Billystyx

 

by: befidledPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:02:54ID: 13724964

well maybe it does have to do with frame rate. I see it on my Mac Powerbook 17" monitor but don't see it when it's on my second screen which is a 17" Envision monitor with a lower refresh rate.

Would a high screen refresh rate allow me to see flickers that a slower monitor might not catch?

thanks,
befidled

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:11:40ID: 13725013

here is a link re this - although I think it would be opposite to what you are experiencing

http://kb.indiana.edu/data/adjt.html?cust=4628

Billystyx

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:13:06ID: 13725018

Try then either slowing or increasing the fps of your swf and see if that changes anything - Billystyx

 

by: befidledPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:14:37ID: 13725028

yeah, it's not my monitor that's having the problem. It's specific to this Flash movie when I roll over it the text flickers/distorts a little.

I'm going to chalk it up to refresh rate since I can't recreate it when running off of the same computer but displaying on my 2nd monitor.

thanks for the feedback.
befidled

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:18:49ID: 13725054

no worries:)

Billystyx

 

by: befidledPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:25:49ID: 13725094

I already tried changing the fps of my movie and it really didn't have an effect other than if the fps was super slow then the flickering wasn't noticeable because the animation was too jerky.

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:31:58ID: 13725133

And you tried increasing the fps too?
I was just trying to think of a work-around:) - but as you confirmed,  it must be related to the screen refresh, (I thought it could be the display adaptor but since you are running the 2nd monitor on the same computer this doesn't make sense) of the 2nd monitor, or, hardware related...

Billystyx

 

by: befidledPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:39:08ID: 13725162

yeah, I tried 5 fps and 60fps.

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-07 at 02:52:22ID: 13725223

ok:)

 

by: simkissPosted on 2005-04-13 at 11:54:43ID: 13775448

You will almost always get flicker on an LCD display with text on Flash sites because LCD displays cannot diplay fractions of pixels like CRT monitors "can."  Also, as a general rule of thumb, never use fonts smaller than size 14 (or equivalent of 14 Arial/Verdana) in Flash sites.  People with monitors smaller than 19" and resolutions under 1024x768 with have difficulty reading the text.  (see if you get flicker on a site I recently published: www.aessportswear.com  :  it's 100% Flash)  

To fix the issue, you must round everything to avoid fraction-of-pixel positioning.  Flash is notorious for trying to display tenths of a pixel.  This a HUGE no-no for LCD displays.

If you need more detail on how to fix it, please let me know.  Otherwise, that should work fine.

 

by: befidledPosted on 2005-04-13 at 13:15:34ID: 13776260

I'm not sure it has anything to do with the display being in LCD as the problem is occurring on my Mac Laptop with a res of 1440x900 but doesn't occur on my second LCD screen which I've tried at each of its resolution settings from 800x600 to 1280x1024.

It also has nothing to do with the point size of the font as the larger type treatments are having the same problem as the smaller typefaces. Also I've set the type so that when stationary it is falling on the pixel grid (i.e. x=20 y=100 instead of x=20.2 y=100.8) however once type is animated it necessarily eliminates that particular point.

I checked your site but it wasn't particularly relevant because your type isn't animating. The problem that is occuring in my button, occurs when I animate the type, not when it is stationary.

Thanks for looking. At this point I've chalked the problem up to something that exists on certain displays and isn't fixable from Flash...but I'm open to solutions if anybody stumbles on to one.

 

by: simkissPosted on 2005-04-13 at 13:45:17ID: 13776520

Try changing to 1024x768 on your laptop. I know it will be distorted since your laptop is 16:9, but if it doesn't flicker then, the problem is due to LCD.  I see that you tried different non-native resolutions on your other display and that it didn't cause the flicker, but that is normal since the monitor creates its own algorithms to split pixels.  Flash cannot replicate that process though.  The website I sent you does have a scrolling marquee near the top.  I was hoping you would see that.  

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-15 at 08:20:00ID: 13791543

I think it has been decided it has to do with the monitor refresh rate relating to the flash - do you agree?
If so, could you (please:)) close the question.
Thankyou - and good luck - Billystyx

 

by: simkissPosted on 2005-04-15 at 08:25:23ID: 13791594

it is not due to the refresh rate.  it is a pixel fraction problem.

 

by: BillystyxPosted on 2005-04-15 at 08:33:49ID: 13791681

...or if not, please let us know

 

by: befidledPosted on 2006-01-10 at 12:56:36ID: 15664984

For the record and to avoid potential future confusion, the problem has nothing to do with either screen refresh rate or fractions of pixels.

Never resolved what the issue was, it happened on some machines and not others, and it happened on LCD displays and RGB monitors.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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