| As you work with Flash, you'll discover that every new movie begins with the same default properties: a white background, a width of 550 pixels, a height of 400 pixels, a frame rate of 12 frames per second, and so on. Of course, you can modify the properties (Modify > Movie) that are created for each movie by default; however, if you find that you are consistently changing these defaults, it's time to change the default settings to suit your needs. Tip For quick and easy access to your Movie Properties, try double-clicking the frame rate indicator, which is just below the timeline.
There are several properties that you can change for a movie, including the following: -
Frame Rate. The Frame Rate is set in frames per second. For Web sites, an acceptable setting is 818 frames per second. The lower your frame rate, the smaller your final file size . Tip At Fig Leaf, we usually work with frame rates between 15 and 18 frames per second. Although it does increase the file size, it also gives a smoother playback.
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Width and Height. The dimensions for your movie are set under Ruler Units. You almost always work with pixels as your unit of measurement. The default size for a Flash movie is 550x400 pixels. The minimum allowable size for a Flash movie is 18x18 pixels. The maximum size is 2880x2880 pixels. Tip With 80 percent or more users now viewing Web sites with 800x600 or better resolution (http://websnapshot.mycomputer.com/monitorres.html), you can probably abandon the old 640x480 size limit for many of your projects, depending on your target audience.
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Match Printer. If you choose this option, Flash sets the Stage size equal to the maximum available print area. The maximum print area is determined by a combination of the currently selected paper size minus the margin settings. -
Match Contents. If you choose this option, Flash sets the Stage size so that there is an equal amount of space around the content on all four sides. As you might guess, you can use this setting only for a movie that already contains content. If you select Match Contents for an empty movie, absolutely nothing happens; that is, the default movie size doesn't change. -
Background Color . From the color swatch, you can choose any of the 256 Web-safe colors as a background color. If you want to use a color other than the 256 Web-safe colors for your background, you have to mix your own color and create a rectangular fill. Tip When you're trying to select a new background color in the Movie Properties, you'll notice that the eyedropper pops upand won't go away until you make a selection even if you mouse away from the color swatch pop-up. This can be a huge annoyance. Fortunately, if you don't want to make a color selection, you can simply press the Esc key to close the color swatches.
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Ruler Units. You almost always use pixels as your unit of measurement when you are working in Flash. However, you also can use Inches, Inches (decimal), Points, Centimeters, and Millimeters as units of measurement. In the first exercise, you'll change the Movie Property settings for your Flash movie, and then save your new settings as the default. Exercise 2.1 Customizing Your Default Movie Settings Customizing the default movie settings is a simple procedure. -
Open a new Flash movie. -
Open the Movie Properties dialog box (see Figure 2.1) by selecting Modify > Movie from the main menu. Figure 2.1. You use the Movie Properties dialog box to change your movie's default settings.  -
Change the following settings: Frame Rate: 12 fps Width: 600 px Height: 400 px Background Color: White (#FFFFFF) Ruler Units: Pixels 4. Click the Save as Default button, and then click OK. 5. Close your movie. You don't need to save it. Every new movie you open now will have your new settings. Try opening a new one to see. Now that you know how to change the settings, feel free to go back in and change them to whatever makes the most sense for you. |
