5 questions from that annoying n00b...

[annoying n00b]

^_^ i'm gratefull that you even clicked on the thread :-p


alrighty, first: is there a way to dynamically change motion guides. it's tricky since it can't be a symbol. i need a way to either redraw the original shape using actionscript and have the thing that's following it (let's say a ball) still follow the new line and not the old one. and not just a line, but curves too. i have no idea how to alter vector points of non-symbols ( ... or, because i'm a newbie, of symbols also) and thus finding a way of altering motion guides is not pleasent.
i've figured some ways around that problem but they aren't as pretty... if you know of a way to change motion guides (not while the animation is running, but right when the frame is activated), sharing it would be much appreciated ^_^

second... i want to copy a symbol over and over using actionscript, but within a mask. i'm using "duplicateMovieClip", but it seems the clones jump out of their layers and ignore the masking layer. one of the attributes of that command is "levels", which leads to the next question,

what is the difference between levels and layers? are levels just the z order within one layer, or are the two words unrelated?

fourth, is there a way to dynamically alter a "number of clones" variable based on the framerate. that is, if i'm duplicating a ton of symbols that make much use of transparency, i don't want the user's computer to get bogged down and for the animation to then become slow and jerky.

and last, concerning the first question, how, if it's easily possible, can i alter a shape's vector points with actionscript? i've seen a few examples on the internet, but they're all waaay over my head. cheerful explination would be great :D

thanks for reading this... please help!

[annoying n00b]

two other things i ran into ...

how do you set global variables, or, how can you call a variable from a different frame or symbol?

and,

this is kind of tied to my fourth question, is there a way to count the number of objects currently active?


sankyuu!

[holy_cheese]

i think, not sure, calling a variable form a symbol, i think that you just have to type in the entire path to the symbol, look at the paths tutorial, not sure about any of the others, i think, cant remebmer what the questions were :P

[annoying n00b]

darn immortal sprites...

what could be a reason that this.removeMovieClip() is not removing the clip?

it's really as simple as that ... to test it out i even have it right after the onClipEvent (load) opener. it was working before ... i changed they way it looked, and now it's all messed up. and slowing down my computer with it.

[Colin Campbell]

to declare a global variable, just put this:


_global.myVariable= "Hello. my name's colin :)"

[Ricod]

Hello, annoying_n00b ! Welcome to the board, but try not to live up to your nick too much, okay ? ;)

First, most questions you have are asked and answered a lot already. Use the search button to find a lot of info on those topics.

Second, do not ask a multitude of questions in a single thread. Make a seperate thread for each question, and title them descriptive. So no : "help me" or "I have 5 questions"

Try to narrow it down. Don't ask whatever you can't get working right away, leave and move on to something else, to get stuck there and repeat it all over again. That IS annoying. And when people get annoyed, they tend to not snwer your questions.

Just an advise of course. Rules are not enforced with an iron hand here. They're just there to make the board a nice place to hang around, have fun and learn from each other.