Creating Interactive Movies > Using basic actions for navigation and interaction > Controlling other movies and movie clips
Controlling other movies and movie clipsYou can control a movie clip or a movie that was loaded with the Load Movie action by targeting the movie clip.
You assign actions to the frame, button, or movie clip that will control the movie clip (called the controller), and then target the movie or movie clip that receives the action (called the target movie clip). To control a movie or movie clip, you can use the Tell Target basic action. Alternatively, you can use the With action to perform multiple actions on the same target without having to address the targeted movie clip in each action.
To control a movie or movie clip, the controller requires the following:
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A target (Timeline) on which the action will occur must be specified. You can use the Insert Target Path dialog box to target a movie clip. |
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The movie clip to be targeted must have an instance namea unique name given to a movie clip instance that lets you target it in scripts. To name a movie clip instance, use the Instance panel (Window > Panels > Instance). |
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A movie clip's Timeline must be on the Stage to be targeted. For example, if MovieClip A in frame 5 wants to tell MovieClip B what to do, MovieClip B must be on the Timeline in frame 5. |
For information on the With action and controlling multiple Timelines or controlling movie clips in other ways, see the movie clips chapter of ActionScript Help.
To control a movie clip:
1 | Select the frame, button instance, or movie clip instance to which you will assign the action. |
2 | Choose Window > Actions to display the Actions panel. |
3 | In the Toolbox list, click the Basic Actions category to display the basic actions, and select the Tell Target action. |
4 | To specify the target movie clip to be controlled, click the Insert Target Path button in the lower right corner of the Actions panel.
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The Insert Target Path dialog box appears, showing the movie clip hierarchy of the current clip. You use this dialog box to choose a target path for the Target text box in the Parameters pane.
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5 | For Notation, use the default Dots (similar to JavaScript). Slash notation, available for those more familiar with Flash 4 notation, uses slashes to delimit the movie clip target path. |
6 | For Mode, choose how to display the hierarchy of movie clip instances: |
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Relative (the default) displays only instances of movie clips that exist in the current frame of the current Timeline, and their children instances. The prefix this refers to the current Timeline. |
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Absolute mode displays every movie clip instance in every frame of every scene of the entire movie. This mode always includes a leading slash or _root prefix (or _level to indicate a loaded movie level) to the inserted target path. |
Note: Absolute mode displays every instance in every frame, but because of the complexity of movie clip interactions, some instances may not be available when the Tell Target action is executed. | |
You can freely switch between notations. However, changing between Relative and Absolute mode may deselect the movie clip. | |
7 | Choose a movie clip from the tree view. The Target text box displays the path to that clip. Click OK. |
8 | In the Toolbox list of the Actions panel, select any additional actions that will instruct the target movie clip what to do. |
Actions nested within the Tell Target block apply to the targeted Timeline. For example: | |
tellTarget (_root.plane){ stop(); } |
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