Count
This is the number of movie clips that will be displayed flying out at the same time.
3D Flyout tm Users Guide
Overview
System Requirements
Installing 3D Flyout
Quick Start
The 3D Flyout Control Panel
Adjusting the 3D Flyout Size
Adjusting the 3D Flyout Colors
The 3D Flyout Live Preview
Creating a Custom 3D Flyout Component
Adding a Library Icon to Your Custom Component
Putting Your Custom Component Into the Components Panel
Support and Suggestions
3D Flyout adds the third dimension to Flash in a simple but compelling way: by making 2D movie clips fly out of the screen with realistic 3D geometry. 3D Flyout can move you through starfields or make any of your movie clips fly. 3D Flyout’s custom control panel and live preview make it easy to experiment and get just the right effect. Numerous examples are included to use directly in your projects, or create custom 3D Flyout components by adding your own movie clips to make them fly.
3D Flyout requires Flash MX for authoring. The Flash 5 player (or higher) is required for playback.
1. If not already done, unzip the 3DFlyout.zip file. Macintosh users can unzip files by using the latest version of StuffIt Expander, which is available for free at: http://www.stuffit.com
Unzipping should result in these files:
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3DFlyoutGuide.pdf |
3D Flyout Users Guide (this text). | |
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3DFlyoutLicense.txt |
License agreement for 3D Flyout. |
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3DFlyout.mxp |
3D Flyout file for Macromedia Extension Manager installation. |
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3DFlyout.fla |
3D Flyout file for manual installation. |
2. If you haven't already, read 3DFlyoutLicense.txt.
3. 3D Flyout can be installed by using either the Macromedia Extension Manager, or by manually copying a file to the Components folder.
Installing using the Macromedia Extension Manager
The Macromedia Extension Manager is free and can be downloaded here:
http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/flash/
Start the Macromedia Extension Manager by clicking on its icon, or by selecting in Flash:
Help -> Manage Extensions
From the Macromedia Extension Manager:
Select File -> Install Extension -> 3DFlyout.mxp file -> Install
Installing manually
Copy the 3DFlyout.fla file into the Components folder in the location indicated below for your operating system, and then restart Flash MX.
For Windows operating systems:
Windows 2000 or XP: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Components
Windows 98 or ME: C:\Windows\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Components
Windows NT: Windows directory\profiles\user\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Components
Note: If you cannot find the Configuration\Components folder nested inside the Application Data folder, go to the Folder Options settings for your operating system. Make sure the Hidden files and folders option is set to show hidden files and folders. See your operating system documentation for more information.
For Macintosh operating systems:
Macintosh OS X: Hard Drive/Users/Library/Application Support/Macromedia/FlashMX/Configuration/Components
Macintosh System 9.x, single user: Hard Drive/System folder/Application Support/Macromedia/Flash MX/Configuration/Components
Macintosh System 9.x, multiple users: Hard Drive/Users/user/Documents/Macromedia/FlashMX/Configuration/Components
In Flash MX:
1. Choose Window > Components > 3DFlyout.
2. Drag-and-drop a 3D Flyout component onto the authoring stage.
3. Adjust the position and size with the Free Transform Tool.
4. Adjust the parameters in the 3D Flyout control panel.
5. The live preview on the authoring stage will display a very rough indication of what the 3D Flyout will look like.
6. To see the final results, choose Control > Test Movie, or press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Return on a Mac).
To display the 3D Flyout control panel, click on the component’s active area on the authoring stage.
When the 3D Flyout control panel is displayed, click on the question mark in the upper-right corner of the Property inspector then "Help on this Component" for a description of the 3D Flyout parameters.
Count
This is the number of movie clips that will be displayed flying out at the same time.
There is a practical limit to this count. In our experience, a count of more than 50 will tax a moderately powerful computer. Note that this limit is cumulative over all running instances of 3D Flyout.
The 3D Flyout component can actually have more movie clips, but only this count will be seen at the same time. All of the movie clips will be rotated through the display sequentially in alphabetical order by their instance name.
This count can be set to 0 as a way to disable the component.
Speed
This adjusts the speed at which the movie clips will fly out.
Fractions less than 1 can be entered for really slow speeds.
The speed can be set to 0 for no movement. This will give a random static snapshot of the 3D Flyout every time it is run.
View
A lower number will give a dense view: the movie clips will start from a smaller area in the distance.
A higher number will give a diffuse view: the movie clips will start from a larger area in the distance.
Size of the Flyout Area
A 3D Flyout component will be set to the default size of 100x100 when it is first dropped onto the stage. The Free Transform Tool can be used to change the size, or you can enter values directly into the Transform or Info panels. Changing the size of a 3D Flyout component will set the flyout area, but it will not affect the size of the movie clips flying out.
Size of the Movie Clips Flying Out
To change the size of a flyout movie clip, after it has been dropped onto the stage select Window > Library > 3D Flyout Components > 3D Flyout Movie Clips > the name of the flyout movie clip. Edit the movie clip and change the size using the Free Transform Tool, or enter values directly into the Transform or Info panels. The size you set will be the maximum size that will be used as the movie clip moves to the foreground. Note that you can also make any other changes that you want to the movie clip- see Creating a Custom 3D Flyout Component for complete details.
Flash MX's tinting feature can be used to change the color of the flyout movie clips. The set of 3D Flyout components labeled “tintable” use only shades of gray and are especially designed for color modification.
With a component’s control panel displayed, click on the “Properties” tab in the upper-right. Select “Tint” from the drop-down box, pick a color, and set a percentage: 50% works well to maintain shades of coloring, or use 100% for solids.
If there are shades of color (like in the 3D Flyout Tintable Sphere component), then it can work better to select “Advanced” from the drop-down box and click on “Settings”. Put Alpha at 100% and keep all of the color settings at 0, except increase the color % settings for the color mix you want. For example, set Red=100% for purer reds than you can get just by tinting.
The 3D Flyout Live Preview
A live preview of a 3D Flyout component will appear when it is dropped onto the authoring stage. This will give you a very rough indication of what the 3D Flyout effect will look like in the actual Flash movie. The live preview will be based on the current control panel settings (Count, Speed, View) and the size of the 3D Flyout component.
Limitations
The live preview will always run at 1 frame per second (a limitation set by Flash MX). A red dot will represent the flyout movie clips. Any color modification (like tinting) will not be seen in the live preview. Obviously, you will want to see the final version of your Flash movie to fully evaluate the 3D Flyout effect. Select the Flash MX menu Control > Test Movie, or press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Return on a Mac), to see the final version of your Flash movie.
Disabling
You can toggle the live preview on and off for all components by selecting the Flash MX menu Control > Enable Live Preview. In some cases you might want to disable the live preview because it can make the Flash MX authoring environment sluggish.
Creating a Custom 3D Flyout Component
There are a lot of steps, but most of them are easy…
Step 1. Create the movie clips that you want to flyout. These movie clips can contain anything you want, even animations (like the 3D Flyout Gold Stars that spin). Set your movie clips to the maximum size that they should be after flying completely out to the foreground. You probably should align the registration point to the center of a movie clip so it will grow proportionally as it flys out. (But experiment; non-centered registration points can make interesting effects.) Your custom 3D Flyout component can have as many different flyout movie clips as desired, and you will be able to specify the order that they flyout (more about this later).
Step 2. From the Components panel, drag and drop the 3D Flyout Mars component onto the authoring stage. You will use this as a starting point for your customized 3D Flyout component. (Actually you can use any 3D Flyout component you want as a starting point, but we’ll use 3D Flyout Mars for this example.)
Step 3. Rename the 3D Flyout Mars component in the Library panel. In the Library panel you should see a folder labeled “3D Flyout Components” with the “Mars” component inside. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) on the component and choose Rename from the context menu, then enter the new name. Note that the component’s icon will change.
Step 4. Access your 3D Flyout component for editing. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) on the component and choose Edit from the context menu. You should see these layers in the Timeline:
Step 5. Delete the Mars movie clip in the “Flyout Movie Clips” layer. To keep things clean, you can also delete the Mars movie clip from the library if nothing else is using it (check the Use Count). You can find it in the “3D Flyout Movie Clips” folder.
Step 6. Add your movie clips from Step 1 to the “Flyout Movie Clips” layer. Be sure that all of your clips fit within the 100x100 bounding box, using the Free Transform Tool to shrink them if necessary. Note that it does not matter what size you set your movie clips in the flyout component because the sizing will be changed when the movie clips fly out. If you want to maintain the same organization for the library, put your movie clips in the “3D Flyout Movie Clips” library folder.
Step 7. Optional: name your movie clips to specify their flyout order. Click on a movie clip on the stage and enter an instance name in the Properties panel. The movie clips will flyout in alphabetical order based on their instance name. After all movie clips have been used, then the list will repeat in order.
Step 8. Save the file with your custom 3D Flyout component.
Step 9. Use your custom 3D Flyout component. When you want to use the component in a project, open the file from step 8 and drag and drop the component from its Library panel onto your project (either its stage or library). This will completely transfer the component and you can close the component’s file.
Adding a Library Icon to Your Custom Component
This is totally optional and will simply replace the default icon (it looks like 3 blocks) you see in the Library panel…
Step 1. Create a 24x20 bitmap of the icon. We usually use Flash to do this and then choose File > Export Image with the Smooth option enabled.
Step 2. Import this bitmap into the library with the exact same name as your component (choose File > Import to Library).
Step 3. Put the bitmap in the “FcustomIcons” library folder. This folder must be in the same folder as your component.
Step 4. Put a copy of the bitmap in your component’s “Library Icon” guide layer. This is a trick to make the icon follow your 3D Flyout component when it is put into another file. Since this is a guide layer, it will not increase your swf file size.
Step 5. To keep things clean, you can delete any other bitmap in your component’s “Library Icon” guide layer (like the “Mars” bitmap). The bitmap can also be deleted from the library if nothing else is using it (check the Use Count).
Step 6. You might have to save and reopen your file to see your new custom icon in the library folder.
Putting Your Custom Component Into the Components Panel
As another option, you can have your custom component(s) appear in the Components Panel. To do this, copy the .fla file with your custom component(s) into your computer’s Component folder in the location indicated below for your operating system, and then restart Flash MX. You should also see the 3DFlyout.fla file in this folder. Note that you can combine a set of components into one .fla file.
For Windows operating systems:
Windows 2000 or XP: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Components
Windows 98 or ME: C:\Windows\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Components
Windows NT: Windows directory\profiles\user\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Components
Note: If you cannot find the Configuration\Components folder nested inside the Application Data folder, go to the Folder Options settings for your operating system. Make sure the Hidden files and folders option is set to show hidden files and folders. See your operating system documentation for more information.
For Macintosh operating systems:
Macintosh OS X: Hard Drive/Users/Library/Application Support/Macromedia/FlashMX/Configuration/Components
Macintosh System 9.x, single user: Hard Drive/System folder/Application Support/Macromedia/Flash MX/Configuration/Components
Macintosh System 9.x, multiple users: Hard Drive/Users/user/Documents/Macromedia/FlashMX/Configuration/Components
Support and Suggestions
If you have questions or problems with 3D Flyout, let us know! We also welcome any comments or suggestions. Contact us at: info@methinks.com