Now Includes Demo SWF Files

I have a fair number of posts on here that describe funky uses of actionscript, but without showing examples of what I am talking about.

The good news is that I have now started adding demo SWFs to previous blog posts, and all future posts will include working examples by default.

Hopefully this will make it that little bit easier to see if my code is doing the thing you are needing help with.

What fun.

Playing Sound with your Computer Keyboard - Flash

I had a chat with one of my old Multimedia students on Facebook today. I pointed him to my Ukulele Tuner and he told me that he was currently building a Flash based interactive drum kit (he is a drummer after all).

He had already produced a prototype that worked by clicking each drum with the mouse, but was not happy with the inability to play the drums properly on it. To play drums you need to be able to switch instrument quickly and at times strike two instruments at the same time. You can't do this with a single mouse and clicking on each drum. It's like playing the drums with one stick.

He had the idea of allowing the user to play the drums using the keys on their computer keyboard, but was unsure how to proceed. Unable to leave teacher mode with a challenge like this I put together the following code.

Stage 1

Create a new AS2 Flash file and insert the following code into the first keyframe:

//This attaches the sound for drum 1, make sure you did the linkage thing in the library

var sound1:Sound = new Sound();
sound1.attachSound("drum_1");

//This attaches the sound for drum 2, make sure you did the linkage thing in the library

var sound2:Sound = new Sound();
sound2.attachSound("drum_2");

//This code listens out for the user to press a key, then, depending on which key is pressed will trigger one of the sounds attached above.

var myDrumKeyListener:Object = new Object();
myDrumKeyListener.onKeyDown = function () {
if (Key.getCode()==65) {
sound1.start();
} else if (Key.getCode()==66) {
sound2.start();
}
}
Key.addListener(myDrumKeyListener);

Stage 2

You will notice a bit where it says:

(Key.getCode()==

and then there is a number, this number is the keycode for the key that plays the sound. You can find a list of keycodes online here:

http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/mx2004/main_7_2/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/wwhelp.htm?context=Flash_MX_2004&file=00001113.html

Stage 3

Now you need to add the actual sound files. Do this by importing the sounds into the Library. Then right click the first sound and choose "Linkage" from the menu. Select the "Export for Actionscript" and "Export in First Frame" options. Then make sure you give the sound an identifier. This is the name by which the sound will be referenced in the actionscript above. I called the sound for the first drum "drum_1". Then in the actionscript it is referenced as follows:

var sound1:Sound = new Sound();
sound1.attachSound("drum_1");

If you put a different name as the identifier, make sure you also change it in the actionscript.

Once that's all done you can press "OK". Then just repeat Stage 3 for each sound in the library.

And that is about it.

The challenge for my ex-student then, is to modify the code to include more drums and have them respond to an appropriate range of keys on the keyboard.

Have jolly fun.

Demo SWF

Flash Projects - #2 - Converting Video to SWF

The video player you created in the last tutorial allows the user to select and control the playback of video files in SWF format (not FLV format).

The reason for this, as I mentioned at the introduction of the last tutorial, was because I wanted to have a video player that worked with the features of Flash MX 2004 standard (which lacks the additional video capability of MX 2004 Professional).

One of the limitations with the standard version of Flash was that it could only encode video to be embedded in the timeline; this would then be exported in SWF format (not FLV).

Note: Freeware applications for converting video to FLV however have become more commonplace, so I have already begun work on a player that uses the netconnect and netstream capabilities of Flash to play FLV videos instead. Look out for this tutorial in a few weeks. Meanwhile...

So how do you encode video to SWF?

You can use Flash to encode video to SWF or some available freeware.

The Flash method

If you have Flash you can do it very easily by choosing File > Import > Import Video.

Flash MX 2004 standard will only encode video to be emdedded into the timeline, Professional and later versions give more options - make sure you select the option that embeds video into the timeline.

Work your way through the wizard and when the video has encoded, make sure the document size (and the video) are the right size for your player (see previous tutorial).

Then export the movie as a SWF and save it with the name you programmed into your player and in the same directory as the player.

All done. However I tend to find that Flash takes an excessively long time over encoding video, and sometimes prefer to use a freeware programe that seems a bit quicker.

The freeware method

One programme that has worked for me without trouble is Free Video to Flash Converter.

It is completely freeware and can convert video into SWF or FLV. You can even export video with its own player interface - and, while this defeats the object for my use of it, since I wanted a custom interface of my own design, some people may find this feature helpful.

The program is pretty self explanatory, all you need to do is remember to export the movie as a SWF and save it with the name you programmed into your player and in the same directory as the player.

And thats it. Again any problems just leave a comment and I will try to help.