Any Flash Gurus here?

[SandmanNinja]

Hey,

 

I have Adobe Flash cs3 pro available to me through work, and I'm trying to achieve a particular flash effect and am hoping someone here can help.

 

 

Components:

main.jpg - an 800x600 .JPG file that will be the 'main' image

mask.jpg - a black-and-white image 800x600, made in photoshop

NewArea_01.jpg - an 800x600 .JPG that will show parts of itself thru the mask when a button is click

NewArea_02.jpg - an 800x600 .JPG that will show parts of itself thru the mask when a button is click

NewArea_03.jpg - an 800x600 .JPG that will show parts of itself thru the mask when a button is click

NewArea_04.jpg - an 800x600 .JPG that will show parts of itself thru the mask when a button is click

 

 

Goal:

I want to take 1 JPG (800x600 in size) and have irregularly shaped mask that will show pieces of different images (NewArea_xx.jpg) over/on top of the original (main) .JPG

 

Button 1 will load NewArea_01.jpg into the irregularly shaped area of the main .JPG

Button 2 will load NewArea_02.jpg into the irregularly shaped area of the main .JPG

Button 3 will load NewArea_03.jpg into the irregularly shaped area of the main .JPG

Button 4 will load NewArea_04.jpg into the irregularly shaped area of the main .JPG

 

I will need to change the components from time to time (i.e. new main .JPG, a different mask altogether, and different NewArea_xx.jpg files), and it would be great if the 4 areas were just external files that I could just replace the physical file itself rather than dink around with modifying script.

 

The Mask - it would be great if this was a black-and-white image that I create in Photoshop and load into the Flash script.

 

The Mask won't be animated - it'll just sit there.

The NewArea_xx.jpg will be controlled by the user/viewer, by clicking one of the buttons. So, if I click Button 1, NewArea_01.jpg loads into the mask. If I click Button 2, NewArea_02.jpg loads into the mask.

 

I hope this makes sense.

 

I'd be willing to pay (I don't have a whole lot of spare $$$) or swap services/favours (web hosting, 3ds mentor/tutors, etc).

 

Thanks...

[WAcky]

I've done this type of thing before. Its pretty tame stuff. I reckon if you go to kirupa.com and flashkit.com you should be able to find enough masking and button tutorials to be able to put this together yourself. Unfortunately I have no time and am going interstate in 2 days so I can't do it for you.

[SandmanNinja]

Thanks James.

 

Thanks for the websites - I'll dig around and see what I come up with.

I guess what's throwing me is the buttons that makes the new image go into the mask.

[WAcky]

I haven't done flash for a few years but the method should be simmilar. It will probably be a loader of some description.

 

You can make images into movie clips or even draw over the image of a mask to make a vector version in flash if images wont mask properly. Once they are movie clips you can just tie an action to a button and have an empty movie clip up in the top corner (0,0) load those masks into the said empty movie clip.

 

I'm not sure if i'm understanding the decription properly but it sounds like a pretty simple operation in terms of scripting.

 

It may a little difficult to get it all set out properly if you're using multiple tutorials.

 

I think these particular tutorials may be a good place to start

 

(flashkit is good but Kirupas are of a better quality i find)

 

 

http://www.kirupa.com/developer/actionscript/scriptable_masks.htm

http://www.kirupa.com/developer/mx/loading.htm

 

If you are unfamiliar with functions you should have a read of this

http://www.flashdevils.com/tutorials.php?id=1641&Introduction%20to%20Functions.html

[SandmanNinja]

Thanks mate,

 

I guess I have a project to keep me busy tomorrow then, eh?

 

That's what I've found - taking info from one tutorial and info from another tutorial and combining them. If I'm comfortable with the material/subject, I can usually tie the pieces together.

 

Thanks for the tips and I'll let ya know how I get on.