Re: FLASH: Newby Q: Flash 3-- Transparency & file formats

[Marc Hoffman]

At 08:14 PM 1/19/99 -0800, you wrote:

>I recently purchased Flash 3 to use as a work-around to the limitations

>of animated gifs. Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to make my flash

>movies transparent. Or the proper format to save the movies in...

<SNIP>

>I know these are pretty basic and simple questions, but I have read

>through the whole book and cannot figure this out. Also, can someone

>recommend a good book on Flash that better explains how the program

>works.

>

>Thanks,

>

>Jim Butler


Jim, it is very tempting to be snappish with you.  If you read through the

whole book, how did you miss chapter 9, which begins:


"Once you've exported a Shockwave Flash movie, you must create an HTML

document that activates the movie.  These are a number of important HTML

parameters that control how a Flash Movie plays in a web browser...."


Chapter 9 may be found on pages 161-174 of the user's manual.


Appendix A is an HTML tag reference. It will allow you to write the code

yourself, if you don't want to use the AfterShock utility provided with

Flash3.  It may be found on pages 175-180 of the user's manual.


If none of this makes sense, you will probably need to spend two days or so

learning the basics of HTML. Sorry, but there's no way to use new

technology to make good web sites and know what you're doing without

knowing some basics.  If you use the advanced compositing tools to do all

the work for you, you won't know how to fix things when they don't work

right. And I guarantee that on a regular basis, they won't work right.


True transparency in Flash is currently available only for IE, not

Netscape.  This is explained in Chapter 9. If your background color matches

your HTML background color, and you don't use a background pattern of some

sort on the HTML page, you can fake transparency.  See the dog animation at

http://www.jps.net/dartfrog/sampler/flashinf.htm.


Flash also has the ability to export static or animated .gifs.  Static gifs

are exported via file>export image.  Animated gifs are exported via

file>export movie and choosing the format each of these menus offers.  Note

that animated gifs made by Flash are raster-based and as such hog all the

bandwidth of animated gifs created in other programs.  Furthermore they

lack the interactivity that makes Flash so cool, and they can't play sounds. 


Hang out on this list, visit the web-based support sites that are quoted

every day here, read the book some more, and hopefully you'll start to get it.



Marc Hoffman

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com (mailto:marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com)

View my Flash3 work: <http://www.jps.net/dartfrog/sampler>.

Play a virtual marimba: <www.dartfrogmedia.com>.

Read about Flash: <http://www.jps.net/dartfrog/sampler/flashinf>


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