intermediate developer seeks efficient building tips

[rex dart]

Hey all, I am an html/dreamweaver designer in the process of converting my site to Flash. Most of my Flash experience is not website-based, so integrating and putting together my website with flash has run my intuitiveness dry. I know exactly what I want my site to look like and I'd prefer to build it from scratch. The thing is, I'm not sure what the most effecient method is to build site in Flash (i'm running on OSX with Flash 8). Right now i've got basic action script jumping all over my timeline, so basically to get from one fade in and fade out to the next i'm literally playing the same sequence backwards and i know there is a better way to do this. One specific thing I want to know is how to automatically collapse the information from an expanded menu option when a person clicks on a different menu option. I'm pretty proficient in Flash, but not necessarily with this type of design. If anyone can email me or even recommend a good resource for this sort of information that'd be life-savingly helpful. I appreciate it.

Thanks,
Rex

[kool-Aid]

One way to do that is by using emptyMovieClips and dynamic text boxes to hold info.

_root.createEmptyMovieClip("mcImageHolder",5);
mcImageHolder._x = your coordinates;
mcImageHolder._y = your coordinates;

//the scripting for your buttons to fill emptyMovieClip w graphics from your server

yourButton1.onRelease = function() {
mcImageHolder.loadMovie("yourFile1");
}

yourButton2.onRelease = function() {
mcImageHolder.loadMovie("yourFile2");
}

when you navigate to a new sceen or keyframe you use this script.

stop();
removeMovieClip("mcImageHolder");

This keeps your file size down by keeping some of your files on your server rather than in your flash movie itsealf

[rex dart]

Thanks!

Will that work if the menu content is another movie/symbols that involve tweening & such?

[kool-Aid]

ya that will work for that, but the best way to present objects with tweening and such is to create a symbol. Right click in you libray and go down to new symbol.make it a movie clip. create your mc(movie clip). Go back to your main stage from your library to the main timeline the object you just created and it will operate independently. You can script in your symbol editing window too. for instance if you want a box to build then stop after building. you script stop(); in the symbol editing window.