Preload
Animations in Flash
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by Don Herion
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Have
you ever wondered how to add that 'loading' animation effect while your main animation
preloads? Well, I have, and this tutorial will lay out the process step by step.
Create a 'Loading' Animation
My first step was
to build a very tiny animation that will play while my main animation preloads
in the background. The animation will be saved as a 'movie' symbol. The design
was simple. I wanted an animated graphic with the word 'loading' fading in and
out. Remember, keep it simple, small and save it as a 'movie' symbol. A movie
symbol can play within a single frame of another Flash animation.
Here
is mine. The file is less than 2kb in size.
Rules
There are some basic rules you must follow to preload an animation.
- Frames 1 and 2 must be blank keyframes. These are needed to add the preload
actions.
- The animation can begin on frame 3 or later.
- You should
have a loading 'movie clip' symbol to play so your audience knows what is happening.
I
decided to open an existing Flash project that comes with the program - Spotlight
Mask.fla. I shifted the keyframes for this project to frame 3.
Step
1
As stated in the 'Rules', create 2 blank keyframes (F7) in layer 1 (rename
the layer 'Preload Action') at frame 1 and 2. The 'Spotlight Mask' animation will
start in frame 3.
Step 2
Double click Frame 1. This brings opens
your 'Frame' actions Palette.
Step 3
Click 'Actions.' In the 'Action' category locate 'IfFrameLoaded.'
Double click to insert the action. Under 'Type' choose 'Expression' from the drop
down menu. Then type in '_totalframes' in the 'Frame' text field.
