Creating remote rollovers

Remote rollovers are interactions between multiple objects. They are triggered by one object (the trigger object), but affect one or more other objects (the target objects). The trigger object usually has a rollover state (Over, Down, or Out) that is triggered by a user's mouse. The target objects have custom states that are linked to rollover states on the trigger object. For example, moving the mouse pointer over the trigger object (such as a menu button) would switch the object to its Over state, which would trigger all the states it's linked to in the target objects (such as names of menu choices).

You must prepare your target object before using it in a secondary rollover effect. You do this by creating a custom state for the target object, and then modifying this custom state.

Note: To add a transformation such as changing the rollover's position or rotating it, you need to make the rollover a movie clip group. (See Creating animated rollovers.)

To create a remote rollover:

1. Create an object to act as the trigger for the remote effect, and a second object to act as the target.

Trigger object on left, and target object on right
2. Select the target object.
3. Use the States palette to create a custom state for the target object.

This state represents what the target object looks like when the trigger object is triggered. For instance, you could create a custom state called "yellow" if the target object is to change from purple to yellow when triggered by the trigger object. For more information on custom states, see Creating basic rollovers.

4. Modify the target object to how you want it to appear in the new custom state. Using the previous example, you could change the target object to yellow.

Target object with custom state applied
5. Select the trigger object.
6. Create a new rollover state for the trigger object, such as Over or Down, to react to the user's mouse action. For instance, if you wanted the target object to turn yellow when the mouse is clicked on the trigger object, you could choose Down for the new state of the trigger object.
7. With the new state of the trigger object selected, drag the targeting icon for this state onto the target object. You can tell that the target object is selected when its selection border appears.

Dragging the target icon onto the target object

The target object is added to the description of changes to the state of the trigger object.

8. Use the State pop-up menu to select the target object state you want activated by the trigger. Again, if you wanted the target object to change to the state you named "yellow," choose Yellow from the pop-up menu.

Setting the target object's state
9. To make the target object return to its normal state after being activated by the trigger, select the normal state of the trigger object, drag the target icon onto the target object, and use the State pop-up menu to select the normal state of the target object.