Effects and Sound:

Visual Effects

Visual Effects in Flash can be achieved both through using reshaping and sizing, but also through using the effects in the properties box for any given movie clip, button or graphic symbol. The field marked 'Color' has several options available: Changes using this setting can be applied to the symbol generally on the timeline, or as changes, using timeline keyframes. Each change would be applied at each keyframe, as the timeline progressed. This would achieve colour changes, for example, or, using Alpha, a typical 'fade in - fade out' effect.
Experiment with the different settings to see what they can do, and, if you want the timeline to remember your changes, don't forget to use keyframes to put the effect changes in, by pressing F6 to create the keyframe, and F5 to extend its range on the timeline.

Image 8

Image 8 shows the visual effect 'Alpha' being applied to a Graphic Symbol that is being used inside a button symbol. This will create the effect that when the button is rolled over by the mouse, the button will change colour.

To create a fade in - fade out effect, do the following:

Press F6 for keyframe, place symbol on timeline. Select symbol, and set color Alpha setting to 0%
press F6 again, further down the timeline, select the symbol and change Alpha setting to 99%
press F6 again, further down the timeline, select the symbol and set Alpha to 0%

This will achieve a visual fade in fade out effect. Note, when the symbol is faded in fully, the setting is 99%, not 100%. This avoids unecessary glitching of the symbol in the timeline. Also, to make the faded in symbol last longer, use more frames with the symbol on 99%. Do the same for longer faded out times.


Sound

Sound works really well in Flash and can be made to do all sorts, not just be used as background audio - though that's a good place to start!

To import a sound file into Flash, do the following:

File/Import (ctrl, R), select soundfile, press OK. Wv, mp3, aiff etc can all be imported.

To set compression, find the soundfile in the Library, and double click it to get the sound settings box (SEE IMAGE 9)

Set the compression to MP3 (default setting) and this will make sure the audio exports to the swf as small as possible.

Unclicking 'Use Imported MP3 quality' will offer different mp3 qualities to choose from, though you won't usually need this unless you are compressing a large wav or aiff file.

Image 9

Image 9 shows the sound file in the Library, displayed in the Library window. It can be played back in this window. The image also shows the sound settings box, which can be accessed by double clicking on the sound file in the Library. In the sound settings box, you can alter the compression, test its quality, update an edited version of the file, and generally mess about with it.

To assign a sound to a frame or symbol do the following:

Select the frame or symbol you want the sound to come in on
Look at the properties box (not the sound settings)
The field marked 'Sound' will say 'none', so pull down the menu, and it will show the sound(s) you have in the Library
Select the sound you want to come in on the frame you have selected, and hey, it will be assigned to that frame

To edit the soundfile in simple terms, also use the properties box:

Image 10

Image 10 shows the editing window, accessed from the sound properties box.

As soon as you assign a sound to a frame or symbol, the effects field becomes available. The editing button is also available now. Click on this and the editing window pops up. You can alter volume, fades and edits here, and the audio will be exported as you have edited it, without effecting the original file. This saves on sound editing time, as you only need do it in the Flash, not on the original source file.

Preset fade in and fade out settings are available, as well as cross fade from left to right channel. You can also turn off the left or right channel. For more complex editing, it's best to use a wav editor, as only basic editing is available in Flash.

More Advanced Sound

There are other ways of dealing with sound:

Sound Objects - click on SOUND OBJECTS for more information and some ActionScript to get you started.

TERMS:
EMAIL penworks@gmail.com for any information or enquiries, or recommended Flash websites.