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As our quick-start example, we are going to make a transition that goes from grey turbulent smoke to dark black turbulent smoke over a short period of time, then reset the effect by pressing the RIGHT ARROW key. The Flash file is located in the examples folder on the distribution CD.
1. Open Flash and create a new Flash document (or use one of the CommandSim templates).
2. On the Stage, load any background picture by choosing File > Import to Stage..., and then find a background picture you want to use.
3. Open the Components Panel (Window > Components). If the CommandSim folder is collapsed (plus sign on its left), click the plus sign to open it.
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CommandSim folder closed |
CommandSim folder open |
4. Drag an instance of CS Effects to the Stage.
5. The first thing we'll do is to give the CS Effects instance a name. Open the Properties panel (Window > Properties), and while the CS Effects token is selected (outlined in a blue line), enter the instance name "smoke1" into the box containing the words <Instance Name>.
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6. By default, the CS Effects will be a grey laminar/turbulent pattern, but let's use the Light Grey Turbulent effect in the Turbulent Smoke folder. Open the Component Inspector panel and, in the USE tab for the CS Effect instance, select the Light Grey Turbulent effect.
We want to create a new transition and set its target to black turbulent smoke. Open the Component Panel (Window > Components) and find the CS Transition token inside the CommandSim folder. Drag it anywhere onto, or off of, the Stage. It will remain hidden during movie playback even if you place it on the Stage.
7. With the CS Transition selected, open the Component Inspector Panel.
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8. If the panel is too small for you to read, you can move your cursor to one of the corners, and click and drag the corner to enlarge it. In the box marked INSTANCE NAME, type in the instance name of the CS Effect token we placed, smoke1 (make sure your upper and lower case are consistent--it matters to Flash).
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9. Since we want to start with the original (grey) pattern, we want to leave the WHERE EFFECT SETTINGS START FROM to be "Start from Current Settings". In the area marked HOW TO TRIGGER TRANSITION, we want to mark the circle next to TIME and enter the value 5 (seconds). The transition will wait approximately 5 seconds before making the transition to the new pattern.
10. In the END EFFECT tab, we will now tell the transition to go to the black turbulent smoke. Click on the END EFFECT tab, then on the button marked SET EFFECT.
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11. When you click on this button, the familiar CS Effects interface will show up. However, you will notice that the typical TEST MOVIE button, usually on the bottom left, has been replaced by two buttons, APPLY and CANCEL:
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12. You select/edit the effect you want to use as the end result. In our example, choose the Black Turbulent smoke in the Turbulent Smoke folder. Then press the APPLY button. This locks in your choice. If you do not want to change the setting you chose previously, press CANCEL.
13. When you return to the Transition interface, you will notice that the system has placed the effect code into the box underneath the SET EFFECT button. If you prefer, you could have cut-and-pasted an effect code into the box, bypassing the SET EFFECT process.
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14. By default, effects are set to transition over a 10 second period. You adjust the period in the TRANSITION PARAMETERS tab. If you want, click over there and set the transition duration to 3 seconds.
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15. Test your effect by clicking on TEST MOVIE. Once you wait 5 seconds, the transition will kick in and make the change over the next 5 seconds.
16. Once the transition has happened once, it will not occur again. If you want to restart the transition, you need to place a RESET transition. Let's do that now. Place another CS Transition onto the Stage and set its instance name to smoke1 (same token). You can have multiple transitions apply to the same CS Effects token or movie clip.
17. In the area on HOW TO TRIGGER TRANSITION, click on KEYSTROKE. Since we want to use the RIGHT ARROW key to trigger the reset, pull down the combo box marked "Type key in box" and choose RIGHT ARROW.
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18. Lastly, let's set the RESET functionality. Go to the END EFFECT tab, and choose the Reset Effect button. Test your movie by pressing the TEST MOVIE button, or Controls > Test Movie. You can press the right arrow key at any time, but if you do it after the first transition has occurred, you will see the effect go back to the original grey smoke.
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Congratulations! In future pages, we will examine the CS Transition functionality in more detail. Again, this example FLA is located in the examples folder on your distribution CD. It is called firstTransition.fla.
Here is the final result (click on the picture, then press the right arrow key to reset the sim):
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