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FlashEff2
Quick
Guide


The
FE2
Package

Inside
this
package
you
should
find
the
.MXP
installer,
the
manual
and
the
ActionScript

documentation,
a
few
tutorials
with
demo
files
and
some
links
to
additional
content
found
online.


Quick
Installation

Run
the
.MXP
file
that
comes
with
this
package.
The
Adobe
Extension
Manager
will
take
care
of
all

installation
for
you.
After
this
step,
it
is
recommended
to
restart
your
Flash
IDE.


Index

1.
Overview

2.
FlashEff2
Panel

3.
Choosing
patterns

4.
Choosing
presets

5.
Editing
presets


6.
Tween
settings

7.
Show
and
Hide


8.
Filters

9.
Button

10.
Button
commands

11.
Optimize
FLA

12.
Update
FLA


In
the
following
guide
we’ve
compressed
most
of
the
information
needed
to
start
using
FE2

(FlashEff2)
to
achieve
professional
effects
with
NO
coding
skills.



1.
Overview

FE2
refers
to
3
different
parts:


A. FE2
Component
(or
simply
FE2)


Drag&drop
the
FE2
Component
over
each
of
the
objects
where
you
want
to
apply
an

effect.
This
is
the
core
component
that
controls
all
effects.


B. FE2
Patterns

The
FE2
Patterns
are
pieces
of
code
needed
to
actually
create
effects
that
are

automatically
embedded
in
your
project
library
when
needed.
Each
pattern
enables
a

certain
type
of
effect
that
can
be
further
customized
by
adjusting
its
parameters.


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C. FE2
Panel

Open
Window>Other
Panels>FlashEff2
Panel,
choose
a
FE2
Component
instance
on
the

stage
and
customize
it
from
the
FE2
Panel.


Note.
While
FE2
Component
and
FE2
Patterns
are
needed
to
be
inside
a
FLA
project,
FE2
Panel
is

only
a
utility
tool
like
a
more
advanced
Component
Inspector.



2.
FlashEff2
Panel

FE2
Panel
is
the
part
of
FE2
that
actually
makes
your
life
easier
and
enables
you
to
achieve
great

results
very
quickly.



There
are
3
distinct
types
of
effects
(patterns)
that
can
be
achieved
using
FE2
as
follows:



A. Show/Hide

Can
be
used
to
build
in
and
build
out
objects
from
invisible
to
visible
and
reverse
through

various
patterns
of
your
choice.


B. Filters

Can
be
used
to
add
static
or
looping
effects
on
the
visible
object.
(e.g.
Shadow,
Reflection)


C. Button

The
button
mode
turns
any
object
(including
text)
into
an
animated
interactive
button
with

just
the
help
of
one
click.
Just
choose
a
button
preset
of
your
choice
and
compile.


Command
patterns
are
some
additional
pieces
of
code
that
can
be
used
in
conjunction

with
buttons
to
event‐triggered
actions
such
as
CallFunction
or
NavigateToURL.



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3.
Choosing
patterns

When
you
select
a
FE2
Component
for
the
first
time,
the
Show>Effect
tab
opens
up.
Then,
you

have
the
option
to
select
a
pattern
from
“Symbol
Patterns”
or
“Text
Patterns”.


Rollover
a
pattern
to
get
a
quick
preview
of
the
default
preset
for
that
pattern
(Scale1:2).

Text
Patterns
can
ONLY
be
used
on
Dynamic
TextFields


Note.
The
FE2
Panel
is
not
able
to
recognize
whether
the
selected
FE2
Component
is
attached
to
a

MovieClip/Sprite
or
a
TextField,
due
to
Adobe
Flash’s
JSFL
internal
communication
inconsistency.

This
is
why,
you
have
to
manually
choose
your
desired
type
of
effects.
(Symbol
or
Text).


4.
Choosing
presets
(Premium
feature)



Once
you
have
clicked
on
a
pattern,
you
get
to
choose
between
various
presets.
Some
patterns

have
fewer
presets
since
they
are
not
as
versatile
as
others.



Rollover
a
preset
and
you
will
get
a
quick
preview
of
how
it
looks
on
a
medium
size
sprite/text

(Scale
1:2).
Once
you
click
on
it,
you’ll
be
able
to
see
a
larger,
1:1
preview.



Note.
Some
of
the
presets
are
limited
to
Premium
or
Premium
Plus
users.



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5.
Editing
presets
(Premium
Plus
feature)



Once
you
click
the
“Edit
settings”
button,
you’ll
be
able
to
customize
a
certain
preset
by
tweaking

its
specific
parameters.
After
customizing
a
preset,
you
can
save
it
under
a
new
name
or
over
a

previous
one
using
an
existing
name.



6.
Tween
settings



From
the
Tween
tab
you
can
edit
the
tweening
settings
applied
to
the
FE2
effect.
The
tweening

settings
are
either
inherited
from
the
preset
you
choose
or
you
can
use
custom
tweening
settings

over
all
presets.


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Note.
Once
you
check
the
“Use
custom
tweening”
box,
all
your
effects
will
be
compiled
with
that

setting.
To
load
the
preset
default
tweening
setting,
make
sure
that
the
box
is
unchecked.


7.
Show
and
Hide

“Show”
means
making
an
object
visible.
The
appearing
action
will
happen
using
the
chosen

pattern
+
preset.



“Hide”
is
the
opposite
for
“Show”.
When
you’re
making
an
object
invisible,
you’re
practically

hiding
that
object
from
the
eye.


The
same
pattern
types
are
used
for
both
show
and
hide
transitions,
meaning
that
each

show/hide
pattern
can
do
both
of
these
actions.
On
any
object,
you
can
have
either
only
show
or

only
hide,
either
both
show
and
hide
transitions.



When
you
select
both
(a
show
and
a
hide),
you’ll
be
able
to
use
a
delay
before
the
hide,
to
keep

the
object
visible
for
a
few
seconds
between
them.
Also,
in
this
case,
the
show
transition
will

perform
first.



8.
Filters




Filters
are
effects
that
can
be
applied
using
the
“Filters”
tab
on
any
object
using
FE2.
The
filters

work
over
the
show/hide
transitions,
meaning
that
you
can
use
any
combination
of
these
effects.


There
are
several
types
of
filters:
static
and
loop/progressive
filters,
most
of
them
distorting
the

object
or
adding
details
to
it.


Note.
You
can
use
maximum
3
filters
on
any
object.
Some
filters
may
not
produce
the
best
output

in
conjunction
with
others
or
in
conjunction
with
some
show/hide
or
button
effects.



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9.
Buttons



Using
the
“Button”
feature
you
can
turn
virtually
any
object
into
an
interactive
button.



There
is
only
one
single
button
pattern
now
(different
from
FE1)
that
uses
all
advanced
object

properties
(e.g.
Position,
Alpha,
Scale)
and
combine
them
on
each
preset
in
order
to
make
a
cool

interactive
button
out
of
almost
any
static
object
(MovieClip,
Sprite,
Dynamic
TextField
etc).


Each
button
preset
is
made
up
of
6
states:
Up,
Over,
Down,
Selected
Up,
Selected
Over
and

Selected
Down.
The
transition
through
states
is
done
using
the
6‐state
“Tween”
tab
that
can
be

fully
customized
to
obtain
professional
transitions.


Buttons
can
also
be
grouped
together
so
users
will
be
able
to
make
a
single
selection
from
a
set
of

choices.
In
this
case
the
buttons
will
behave
like
a
group
of
radio
buttons
and
only
one
of
the

buttons
will
be
selected
at
any
give
time.
Selecting
one
of
the
buttons
inside
a
group
will
deselect

another
button
from
that
same
group
that
was
currently
selected.
To
specify
in
which
group
a

button
should
be
placed,
you
have
to
set
the
Group
name
property
in
the
Button
‐>
Options
tab.


Note.
The
transition
between
states
is
handled
in
such
a
professional
way
that
if
a
down
state,
for

example,
doesn’t
complete
the
transitions
while
the
mouse
makes
a
roll‐out,
it
will
automatically

adjust
transitions
from
intermediate
positions
to
accomplish
the
up
state
(needed
by
the
roll‐out

move).



10.
Button
commands

Each
button
can
also
have
event
actions
applied
that
can
be
set
up
using
the
“Command”
tab

under
the
“Button”
menu.


There
are
several
commands
available
that
can
be
triggered
on
all
button
events,
CallFunction
and

NavigateToURL
commands
are
the
most
frequently
used
ones.


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11.
Optimize
FLA



Each
time
you
select
a
pattern
within
the
FE2
Panel,
the
corresponding
SWC
pattern
will
be

automatically
included
inside
your
project
library
that
gets
compiled
and
it
will
NOT
be
removed

automatically.



Therefore
the
“Optimize
FLA”
function
will
enable
you
to
manually
clear
up
the
library
of
all

unused
patterns
(it
will
remove
all
unused
patterns
even
those
that
could
be
used
in
runtime

directly
from
code).


12.
Update
FLA

When
we
update
FE2
packages,
it’s
very
likely
that
the
new
FE2
Panel
will
not
work
with
previous

FE2
Component
and
Patterns.
This
is
why
you
will
need
to
run
this
action
called
“Update
FLA”
to

renew
the
content
of
your
current
project
that
is
associated
with
FE2.


Note.
Normally,
previous
settings
will
be
kept
in
place
and
will
work
with
the
new
update.
On

compile,
you
may
see
differences
(positive
ones)
in
the
overall
quality
of
the
output.


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