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Using SWiSH with Flash

This is a step-by-step tutorial on using your SWiSH (.swf) Movie in Flash.

Note: Flash cannot embed your .swi (SWiSH working file format) Movie, so you will need to export your Movie from Swish as a .swf file


Exporting your .swf Movie from SWiSH

1.Start with the Movie you created in the first tutorial or open "first.swi" from the Samples Menu  
 
2.Uncheck the 'Offset Movie to suit use as a Movie Clip' option on the Movie section of the Export Panel  
 
3.Press the exportswf.png 'Export to SWF' button on the Export Toolbar, or select Export | Swf from the File Menu. You should now see the 'Export to SWF' dialog box  

Note: If the 'Export' Toolbar is not visible, select View | Customise | Toolbars. The dialog box will enable you to turn on the Export Toolbar

fl_swish_exportswf.png  

4.   Choose the folder where you want to export the .swf file, enter a file name of "first.swf" (without quotation marks) and press the 'Save' button


Importing your .swf file into Flash
There are three possible techniques for importing SWiSH .swf Movies into Flash.

Note: There is a bug in Flash, in addition to the limitations mentioned above, where it will not import some valid SWF files. In particular, it will crash if a SWF file does not have a particular record that not actually required in a SWF file. There are two situations in which SWiSH leaves out this optional record. The first is when you select the [x] Solid shape with overlap filled checkbox on the Shape Panel. This option tells SWiSH to export a shape as a font, which has different behavior for self-overlapping shapes. The information Flash requires is not applicable and so is not exported. The second is when you explicitly turn off the font info record with the [x] Allow import of text as text object checkbox on the Export Movie Panel. This tells SWiSH to omit the optional record for all text, which reduces the size of the resulting SWF file.

Method 1. Importing a SWiSH .swf Movie into a Flash layer
This is the simplest way to import a SWiSH .swf Movie and is an appropriate method if you do not want to reposition the SWiSH animation after you have imported it into Flash.

1.   Start the 'Macromedia Flash' application and open the Flash Movie (.fla file) you wish to add the SWiSH Movie to

2.   Select Import from the File Menu. You should now see the 'Flash Import' dialog box:

fl_file_import_dialogue.png  

3.   Select "Flash Player (*.swf, *.spl)" from the 'Files of type' box

4.   Locate to the folder where you exported the .swf file, choose "first.swf", and press Open

5.   You should now see a new layer in the Flash Timeline. This layer will contain the entire SWiSH Movie

fl_import_as_layer_timeline.png


Note:
·Swish cannot export a .fla file directly because .fla is a closed format. Only Macromedia Flash can read and write .fla files  
·All Keyframe and tweening information is lost when the SWiSH .swi Movie is converted to a .swf file and imported into Flash. Flash will import every Frame as a Keyframe. This does not mean .swf files made with SWiSH are larger than those made with Flash. No .swf file made with any application contains Keyframes or tweens. This is not really a problem unless you want to edit the tweens on individual letters in Flash. It is much easier to do your edits in SWiSH and import the whole thing into Flash  
·To relocate your imported elements you will need to move every Keyframe, and for this reason, it may be better to import your SWiSH .swf into Flash as a Movie Clip symbol  


Method 2. Importing a SWiSH .swf Movie into a Flash Movie Clip
When a Swish .swf Movie is imported into Flash as a new layer, it can be difficult to select and move around the stage. The Swish Movie is much easier to manipulate if you import the .swf into a Movie Clip first, and then place an Instance of the Movie Clip on the stage.

1.   Start the 'Macromedia Flash' application and open the Flash Movie (.fla file) you would like to add the SWiSH .swf Movie to

2.   Select New Symbol from the Insert Menu

fl_insert_symbol.png  

You should see the 'Symbol Properties' dialog box:  

fl_symbols_dialogue.png  

3.   Call the symbol "first.swi", select the 'Movie Clip' Behavior and press OK

4.   Select Import from the File Menu. You should now see the 'Flash Import' dialog box

5.   Select 'Flash Player (*.swf, *.spl)' from the 'Files of type' box

6.   Change to the folder where you exported the .swf file, choose "first.swf", and press Open

7.   Now select the Flash Scene where you would like to add the SWiSH animation

8.   Select Library from the 'Window' Menu if the Library is not already open

9.   Drag and drop "first.swi" from the 'Library' window onto the stage. You can now select and move the SWiSH animation as a single object

10.   Select Control | Test Movie or File | Publish Preview to play the complete animation

Note:
·Unless instruct otherwise, the SWiSH Movie Clip will begin playing at the Frame where you dropped it  
·You can stop and start the SWiSH Movie Clip by giving it an Instance name and using Tell Target to control the SWiSH animation  
·Flash does not import the attached sounds and Actions with any .swf file, regardless of whether the .swf file was made with SWiSH, Flash or any other application  


Method 3. Importing a SWiSH .swf Movie using the Load Movie Action
To get around the limitation of not being able to import sounds and Actions, it may be better to use the Load Movie Action in Flash.

1.   Start the 'Macromedia Flash' application and open the Flash Movie (.fla file) you would like to add the SWiSH .swf Movie to

2.   Click the 'Add Layer' button in the bottom left of the Flash Timeline

3.   Double-click on the Frame where you would like the SWiSH Movie to begin

4.   Select the Actions tab on the 'Frame Properties' dialog box

clip0002.png  

5.   Click the '+' button and choose Load/Unload Movie

6.   In the 'URL' box type "first.swf"

7.   Select Control | Test Movie or File | Publish Preview to play the complete animation

Note:
·The SWiSH .swf Movie should be exported to the same folder as the Flash Movie, otherwise the Load Movie Action will fail  
·The 'Flash Output' window will display an error message when it cannot load a Movie  
·Flash uses the Windows Temporary Folder when you select the Control | Test Movie option  
·Flash uses the Flash installation folder when you select File | Publish Preview  
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