This document discusses adding interactivity to Flash documents by creating buttons, adding actions, and incorporating sounds. It covers how to create buttons with different states, add pre-made buttons from the Common Buttons library, and add custom buttons. Actions are explained as instructions to control animations, and how to add actions to buttons and frames using the Actions panel. Different types of sounds are described, such as event and stream sounds, and how to find, import, and add sounds to buttons and frames. The document provides examples of how to add interactivity to a banner by including buttons to control animations and a background sound.

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Tutorial 5
Adding Buttons, Actions, and Sounds

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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

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Objectives (continued)
• Add sound effects to buttons
• Add a background sound to a document

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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

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Sample Button States for Each Frame

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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

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Buttons Library

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Text Added Above Button

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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

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Play Button Instance Added to
Document

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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
– Buttons should also be evenly spaced

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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

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Sample Script

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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

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Stop Script

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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

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Frame Action

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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

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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

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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: http://www.flashkit.com
– Go to Sound FX or Sound Loops
• Check license before using prerecorded sounds

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Flash Kit’s Web Site

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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

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Sound Waveform in Frame

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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

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Sound Settings

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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

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Bubbles Sound Waveform in Layer