1. Adding Buttons, Actions, and Sounds
Tutorial 5
Adding Buttons, Actions, and Sounds

2. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Objectives
Create buttons and add them to a document
Learn about actions
Use the Actions panel to add actions to buttons and frames
Learn about different types of sound effects and how to acquire sounds for your documents
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

3. Objectives (continued)
Add sound effects to buttons
Add a background sound to a document
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

4. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Creating Buttons
Buttons: symbols with a four-frame Timeline
Four frames correspond to four button states
Up: button’s default state
Over: responds to a mouse rollover
Down: button appearance after being clicked
Hit: represents clickable (active) area of button
Movies with interactive controls raise user interest
Add buttons to quickly provide interactive controls
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

5. Sample Button States for Each Frame
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

6. Adding a Button from the Common Libraries
Flash Common Libraries provide ready-made symbols
The Buttons library: a member of Common Libraries
Accessing button symbols in the Buttons library
Go to Window  Common Libraries  Buttons
Drag button symbol to the Stage or Library
A prefabricated button in Flounders Pet Shop banner
Playback - stop button used to mute background sound
Enable Simple Buttons: used to test button on Stage
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

7. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Buttons Library
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

8. Text Added Above Button
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

9. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Creating a Button
Buttons can take on various forms
Examples: rectangles, ovals, and text
Two commands used to create a button
Convert to Symbol: converts existing object on Stage
New Symbol: creates button in symbol-editing mode
Modify four button frames in symbol-editing mode
Stop and Play buttons will be added to the Banner
Text will be added to help identify button functions
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

10. Play Button Instance Added to Document
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

11. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Aligning the Buttons
Similar objects in a document should be aligned
Align buttons vertically or horizontally
Buttons should also be evenly spaced
Use the Align panel to align a group of objects
Alignment specifications for buttons in the banner
Three buttons should be aligned by bottom edges
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

12. Understanding Actions
ActionScript: Flash’s programming language
Action: instruction used to control an animation
Script: a set of one or more actions
Event: situation triggering execution of a script
Example: clicking a button and then releasing it
Event handler: tells Flash how to manage an event
Example: on release of button, stop an animation
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

13. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Sample Script
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

14. Adding Actions Using the Actions Panel
Actions panel provides two modes of operation
Normal mode: developer writes scripts
Script Assist mode: guides scripting of actions
Actions toolbox: actions directory to panel’s left
Behaviors: pre-written ActionScripts
Add behaviors to objects through Behaviors panel
Add actions to banner buttons for animation control
Actions are added to instance of buttons on the stage
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

15. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Stop Script
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

16. Adding Actions to Frames
Actions in a frame execute when a frame is played
No event handler is required
Control sequencing of frames using frame actions
Example: add play action in last frame to create a loop
Label frames before referencing in script
Create a separate layer to add frame actions
Use of a frame action in the banner
Displays text animation only once
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

17. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Frame Action
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

18. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Adding Sounds
Sounds may play continuously in the background
Sound effects can be added to button instances
Buttons with sounds are more interactive
Sounds can be synchronized with the animations
Sounds can be added in the form of voice narrations
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

19. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Types of Sounds
Event sounds
Default sound type
Play after the entire sound has downloaded completely
Not synchronized with the Timeline
Stream sounds
Synchronized with the Timeline
Begin playing during file download
Example: narration matches text animation
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

20. Finding Sounds for Your Documents
Some sources for sounds
Sounds created by developer in sound-editing program
Prerecorded sounds on CD-ROM or the Web
Sounds must be imported into a Flash document
Supported sound formats: WAV, AIFF, and MP3
Flash Kit’s Web site:
Go to Sound FX or Sound Loops
Check license before using prerecorded sounds
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

21. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Flash Kit’s Web Site
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

22. Adding Sounds to Your Documents
Sounds are imported into the document library
Sounds are represented by a waveform
Separate layers should be created for each sound
Sound may only be added to keyframes
Adding and using sounds
Select keyframe in Timeline for sound placement
Add sound from Library or Property inspector’s Sound list
Sound plays when playhead reaches the keyframe
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

23. Sound Waveform in Frame
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

24. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Sound Settings
Control sound using settings in Property inspector
Sync list box options
Set sound to event or stream type
Control when event sounds start and stop
Loop setting: causes sound to play continuously
Repeat setting: specifies number of times to play
Effect list box: modifies the way a sound plays
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

25. New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8
Sound Settings
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

26. Sound Settings (continued)
A background sound will be added to the banner
WAV sound should first be imported to Library
Experiment with various effects, such as Fade In
Add action to Mute button to turn off sound
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8

27. Bubbles Sound Waveform in Layer
New Perspectives on Macromedia Flash 8