Flash: Movie Clips
You are going to learn about Movie Clips today!!
This tutorial applys to all versions of Flash.
As a side note, I will be reffering to Movie Clips as MCs from now on in this thread...
Let's begin with the basic question. What is an MC?
Well, an MC is a "Symbol" in Flash. MCs are used for various things. Lots of times in Flash movies, authors will use MCs to repeat an animation or "loop" it. What this means is that the animation will replay over and over...forever! (Unless stopped by a script)
MCs are used all the time, in almost every Flash movies and ESPECIALLY Flash games.
Can't you just repeat the frames on the timeline instead of an MC?
Why bother? Thats my question to you now. Why on Earth bother? MCs are a faster and an easier way to repeat and loop animations. But the real reason isn't "Why bother?" heh, the real and most important reason is because when you have an animation inside an MC that you want looped over and over, you can easily move the MC, keeping the animation in place with where the MC is on the screen.
Basically, you can take an MC and put an animation in it, and then move the MC anywhere on the screen that you want, with barely any effort, where if you had the animation on the timeline, you would have to copy and paste each frame and then move the drawing/image on the frame. Let's just say, it is a LOT more work to do that then to just stick it in an MC and move it wherever you want without any work.
So that is basically what an MC is in terms of animation. Now lets move onto game making!!
MCs are used in games, oh lets see... ALL THE TIME!! Whether the MC is created by some drawings that you made, or by Actionscript... MCs are used all the time.
Unlike graphics that you may see when going to insert an MC onto the stage, MCs are the best "Symbols" for storing and using Actionscript (AS). Although Buttons can store AS too, they can only be used to target certain things, mainly for changing frames on something.
Anyway, as you can see, MCs are a very important part of Flash. So now your next question is probably,
"How do I use an MC??"
Well, you don't really "use" an MC. You make one! So let's start off by drawing a basic square. Highlight the square with your mouse and then Right Click on it. A list of options comes up. What you want to do is select the one that says "Convert to Symbol...". This will allow you to convert it to a symbol of your choice, an MC in this case. So once you click Convert to Symbol, another box will come up. This box will allow you to change the name of the Symbol, as well as select the Symbol you want, AND change the Registration Point( this will be explained next). By changing the name of your Symbol, this allows for a unique name. This is preferred for Flash Collabs that you can participate in at www.ngcollabs.com or right here on the NG BBS! If you have 2 MCs with the same name, well, you CAN'T have 2 MCs with the same name =D. So make sure all your symbols are named uniquely! Now, select Movie Clip and click Okay. Finally, your square is converted to an MC, allowing you to animate inside it and make a basic animation loop, or give you the ability to make games.
*Note* Keep in mind that MCs can make buttons as well!
Now, the Registration Point. What on Earth is that??
The Registration Point is the... point of your MC in which the MC is located. This is used for making your own custom cursors, and for making other forms of games usally. You can set the registration point at any time, by moving the MC around! To edit the MC itself, you would need to double click on the square that you convereted to an MC. This will allow you to edit the actual square, and change its Registration Point. The Registration Point is the little "plus" (+) sign on the screen. Depending on where that is, determines certain things when making a game...
Now you know the basics of an MC. Keep in mind that an MC can be used for MANNNNYYY different things. One more example of a thing you can do with an MC is make copies of the same thing. By doing this, you now have the freedom to be able to change 1 thing in the MC, and all of the MCs that you pasted on the screen will change as well!! This is good for animation and game making. You can use it for limbs, and hair strands, or even eyes and eye brows.
MCs can be used for many different things so keep your mind open and explore the possibilities!!
EDN
Hope you enjoyed =P
Afro_Ninja, I know you locked the other thread but I already typed this up before you locked it and I wanted to get this last one out too. I didn't type all this for nothing :P Lock it if you will though, I'm not stopping you
