Sounds

[gwx03]

When using sounds in flash, you can set flash to synchronize the selected sound instance. This can be done in 4 ways..event, start, stop and stream. I understand the sync and the stream methods now. But still don't understand the start and stop. For now, I'll just post the start property.

From "Macromedia Flash MX - Creative Web animation and interactivity from Derek Franklin "

STARTNormally, multiple instances of the same master sound can play on top of each other. If another instance of the selected master sound is already playing from beginning to end elsewhere in the timeline, this option will halt the first instance and begin a new one.

// The first sentence says that multiple instances of the same master sound can play on top of each other... That means..

Frame 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SoundA [-------]
SoundB [-------]
|||||||||||||||||||||
Result [A+B----]


// The second sentence says "If another instance of the selected master sound is already playing from beginning to end elsewhere in the timeline, this option will halt the first instance and begin a new one."

That means,

Frame 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SoundA [------------]<--- HALT
SoundB [--NEW INSTANCE----]

I don't understand what the author is driving at... can anyone PLEASE explain?:sad:

[gwx03]

hey, i've got a spark! Does the 'normally' mean that when the sync is NOT stop and something else? Oh, if thats the case, what a fuss I made out of something so easy to understand ??:

[Webforumz Staff]

If you are not using start, then sounds can play on top of one another, yes.

[courtjester]

A good example of this would be a Roll - over image. If you add a sound to the Over tab, Setting it to START would be a good idea. What will happen is it will play the sound until it is done, and no matter how many times you roll over it while its still playing it wont play again. If you use event, everytime you roll over it the sound will play. If you use stream it is the same thing as event, except the sound will only play the number of frames that you have specified. IF you use the STOP then that keeps a sound from playing until the previous one has stopped (NOTE: You Stop will stop the previous sound where specified... You must use START again to play the next sound). Stop works like stop, but it is a little different.

[gwx03]

ok; i'll do some experimentation before I post back. Thanks for the reply though

[gwx03]

Setting to START makes sure that the sound doesn't repeat itself again. If the first instance has not finished playing, the second instance WILL NOT start.

I tried setting the button to STOP ( on over ). When I rollover it, nothing happenned! Kule, I think you got this wrong...

Ok, I switched to event. Under EVENT, whenever I rollover, the sound will play, regardless of whether the previous instance has stopped or is still playing. That means rolling over it a couple of times will make the sound very distorted ( overlapping instances ).

Next, I tried stream. But knew it wouldn't work. Stream would mean that it only plays the no. of frames its assigned to. In this case, its only assigned to 1 frame. Therefore, any sound more than 1 frame long wouldn't play completely.

So for buttons, you can use both EVENT and START. For some reason, STOP doesn't work and STREAM of course doesn't.

Anyone has any idea why STOP doesn't work??

Confused

[courtjester]

Let me fully explain myself. The STOP command stops the sound that you started previously. This way you can cut the sound short. You can't actually start a sound with this command, all you can do is stop a specified sound at a certain part of the timeline. This command is like the start command in the way that they will both only play one time. The STOP command also will make the next START sound play as soon as it is executed. Does this make since to you? If not, maybe Sirkent will rewrite what I am trying to say.


If you would like me to show you how it is used I can build you a .swf file or even a .fla . Whichever you prefer.

[gwx03]

thanks

in other words, both are similar because they only allow 1 instance of a sound and not more.

and the STOP command stops any previously started instance and starts a new one ( on the next START command (if any) )?

[courtjester]

Well.. I kind of meant they both only work with 1 sound. To use the STOP command you have to specify what you are stopping. IF you want to stop all the sounds playing, that is something completely different. But yes, You do have to include another START command to let it play after you specify where a sound stops. The only time that I have ever used this is in things with looping backgrounds, but different songs.

[gwx03]

Thanks a lot kulegamr. You've been very helpful ,though you aren't very clear at explaining to me ... lol

[courtjester]

SOrry about that... I have a hard time getting in to words what I am thinking. I am usually doing about 6-7 things at once.. For example, right now I am watching Scare Tactics, on the phone with my mom, typing to you and on the internet, picking up my room, and I am also working on my HomeWork for school. I guess I just dont write down exactly what I am thinking.. I will try harder in the future.

[gwx03]

wow, you're sure a busy person