In this tutorial, we're going to create a menu with a bar underneath it that moves left and right based on which button the user is hovering over. This tutorial is created with Flash CS3 and ActionScript 3. Here's what it will look like when you're done:
In case you don't already know this, it's very easy for someone to take your Flash (swf) files off your website and decompile them in order to customize them and use them for themselves. For many people, this isn't much of an issue, but I've gotten several questions lately regarding ways to secure and protect swf files, and I've found a website that has a solution.
swfProtect offers software that allows you to encrypt your swf files so that anyone trying to decompile your work will not be able to. I haven't tried the software myself, because I don't really have any files that I need to protect, but if this is a concern for you, it's at least worth a look. They even have a free trial version of the software so you can try it out for yourself.
One of the many things that have changed in ActionScript 3 has been the way that Flash handles depths, or the stacking order of objects on the stage. In ActionScript 2, there was a practically unlimited number of depths into which you could place an object. These depths determine what objects appear in front of other objects. An object with a depth of 100, for example, would cover up an object with a depth of 50. But in ActionScript 2, these depths didn't have to be consecutive. In other words, if you only had 2 objects on the stage, you could very well set one of them to a depth of zero and set the other one to a depth of 1000.
Many Flash beginners stick with using button symbols when creating navigation links for their Flash websites. And why not! That's what button symbols are made for, right?
Well, you can also create buttons using movie clip symbols. Movie clip buttons are basically buttons on steroids. With movie clip buttons, you have much more control over how your button behaves.
From time to time, I like to showcase Flash work that other people are doing, and it would be impossible to do so without at some point mentioning Homestar Runner. If you've never heard of Homestar Runner, then you're really missing out. Creators Matt and Mike Chapman have built a small empire on a few crudely animated--and insanely hilarious--characters.
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