Action Scripting

[kguerrero]

I am looking for recommended tutorials or tips for Action Scripting. I am very good with the basic Frame animation and layer control. But I have very little action scripting experience.

I would like to develop a simple clock using action scripting. Where input is taken to establish current time. Through action scripting this input is used to orient the Hour, Minute, and second hands. Then action scripting will take over to continue moving the clock hands as if a traditional (non-digital clock)

[NTD]

Hi,

The analog clock is not that difficult of a project but a good understanding of Actionscript is required. If you do a google search for "flash analog clock" you will probably find a few demo's. If you want to contruct one from scratch, I can help with some pointers and AS tips....

Basics:

Understand how to manipulate movieclip timelines in onEnterFrame events.

Movieclip properties... namely.... rotation

Ability to use the Date object in Actionscript

Flash has the ability to use two different types of codeing...... object and frame. Object code is placed directly onto the object the code is written for. Frame code applies code to an object by instance name and is placed, as the name says, on a frame(usually the first frame of a movie). To make this easy to understand, I'll use an object code example....

Create a movieclip to serve as a holder. Inside this movieclip create three layers that will each hold a single movieclip. The three movieclips will be the hands of the clock...... hours,minutes,seconds. Give each movieclip an instance name.........hour,min,sec.......Go back to the main timeline, select the holder clip and paste this code in the actionscript panel with the holder clip highlighted.....

onClipEvent (load) {
	timer = new Date();
}
onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
	hours = timer.getHours();
	minutes = timer.getMinutes();
	seconds = timer.getSeconds();
	if (hours>12) {
		hours = hours-12;
	}
	if &#40;hours<1&#41; &#123;
		hours = 12;
	&#125;
	hours = hours*30+int&#40;minutes/2&#41;;
	minutes = minutes*6;
	seconds = seconds*6;
	_root.holderInstanceName.hour._rotation=hours;
	_root.holderInstanceName.min._rotation=minutes;
	_root.holderInstanceName.sec. _rotation=seconds;
	delete timer;
	timer = new Date&#40;&#41;;
&#125;

Regards
NTD

[kguerrero]

Thank you! I am sure this will be helpful. I would like to learn more about action scripting. Are there projects or tutorials you recommend?

[NTD]

Many people overlook the built in tutorials that come with Flash. They are very good at teaching basic actionscripting. Beyond that, it is just a matter of getting your hands dirty and trying new things. The more you build with Flash, the more you learn. Tutorials are all over the internet concerning Flash development. Do a google search for any particular Flash project and your sure to find lots of info.