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How to Control Timeline Playback through Flash

Article by Manish Shrivastava - June 16, 2009

In Flash, ActionScript can be used to control the running sequence of a movie or a SWF clip. ActionScript can control the behaviors like stop and play Timelines, jump to different frames or Levels and control button actions or events. In Flash game design or development, it is important to control these functions properly for a smooth run of the entire animation.

In the "Instance Name" box of the Property Inspector, one can set the stop action by simply writing 'stop_btn'. However, it should be noted that ActionScript can be added only to symbol instances and keyframes. Otherwise, in the Actions Pane of the Actions Window, the actions will be grayed out. To add an Action to an object, the object must be selected first and the action can be added. Here, it is important to name the symbol instances before writing the actual script and the action name along with the symbol icon should be visible at the upper-left corner of the Property Inspector.

One can select Window > Actions (F9) to open the Actions panel. In the Actions panel, the Script Assist button and the Global Functions category in the Toolbar can be used to access a list of all the actions that fall under that category. The Stop action can be added by double-clicking the Stop action in Global Functions > Timeline Control option. An action can also be added to the list by dragging it from the Toolbar to the Script pane or by selecting the Add (+) button and choosing the action from the pull-down menu. As in any Flash web development project, the movie clip should be tested and the play and stop actions should be checked once the actions are set in the animation.

Additionally, for a more vivid Flash graphic design, the playback head should be set to a frame number or a frame level using the 'goto' action (that has several parameters to move the playback head.

About the author
I am the webmaster at www.synapse-consultants.com - a Flash web development company offering numerous services, such as content management, offshore software development, online marketing, search engine optimization, search marketing, and website maintenance services.



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