Problems with flash.....

[RobbyH]

Hey, I am trying to get some flash stuff happening...I'm on my third attempt, after viewing Coreys videos, which were quite helpful. I have the flash files, the problems start in AMS.
I have a few problems, that would require a lot of explaining on my part, but could be seen in a couple seconds. Corey, I read in another post if one wants to upload anything, ask you...
I have a copy of the page and files I am having problems with, approx. 25kb zipped.I would like to upload, so I can get some input.

[RobbyH]

Re: Problems with flash.....

Hello, anybody?
I need a little help with some flash files, and a bar graph page.

[Corey]

Re: Problems with flash.....

Gee I don't know what to tell you Robby, that video tutorial is the best I can do for you. I am confident that anyone who actually goes through it and builds a few bar graphs will figure out the process and also how to modify it to suit their needs. Look at it this way, the more resourceful you become, the better for your clients.

To me, and please don't be offended by this statement, it seems like you might benefit from some dedicated experimentation. It seems like if you would spend some time in AMS just trying stuff, i.e. throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, you would be able to figure out all the things you ask.

That being said, I offer that merely as a "handy shortcut to learning" from one designer to another. In my experience with a variety of software, the quality of your results is often a direct quotient of the effort you put in, and that often means late nights spent tweaking the tweakables just to see what happens.

BTW What is it about the video tutorial which confuses you? Maybe I can improve my future efforts if I can understand your personal barrier to learning a bit better.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[Derek]

Re: Problems with flash.....

Not wishing to offend anyone here ...

FYI, Corey ... I ran thru the tutorial myself and found it to be most helpful and well presented, tho I am sure yu know this anyway. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
I found it to explain all I needed.
I also added a "read in a txt file" when clicking on the [now seperated] months to adjust the monthly data 'on the fly' so one could see a month by month comparison, as it were, of the bars. It all works very well.

Well done, Sir! [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[/quote]
If you want to email me the files Robby and any needed explanations, I'd be glad to help if I can.

[Corey]

Re: Problems with flash.....

Cool variation, hadn't thought of that one. Clickable months, eh? Very, very cool... My mind boggles at the endless possibilities...

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[RobbyH]

Re: Problems with flash.....

Corey, I'm not saying that your videos weren't extremely helpful, and the thing is that I have spent two nights in a row(I havent even gone to bed yet from last night, when I posted that first message). I constantly experiment, and I don't have any "personal learning barrier", just limited resources by which to study.
I caught on right away with your tutorials, but I took it a lot farther, and that is where the problems begin. I am using 24 flash objects on my page(4 files based on your example). I have the one I made with your tutorials, another identical except for colour, and two more, which are the reverse of the other 2, where it "plays down" instead of up. Explanation(Here goes)

I have a listbox that loads up a bunch of bills, which are valuenames stored in an ini file. Their value is the amount of the bill that month. If, for example, you click on visa, it will get the value for that month, and the preceeding 11 months. It also gets a "baseline" value, which is entered when that bills profile is created. This value is represented on screen as the line in between the two rows of twelve flash files. So, if the value was $50.00, and that months bill was only 42.50, instead of going up the top bar(the one from your example), it goes down(on my revrese bar), and shows by percentage the drop. I did everything your video's said, but I end up with problems. For one, I have all of the videos set to "not start automatically", and also to "not loop". For some reason, they do play, and they do loop. I realize I post a lot of questions, but I don't think you would believe how much time I put into AMS. I have become hooked, and I seriously do try to figure things out on my own. Last night at about 7:30 pm I began my third attempt to get the results I wanted by completely restarting again. It wasn't until 6:30 am that I asked for some assistance. I've probably spent a good 22 hours tackling this myself, and I was just hoping someone could look at it and say "Rob, you've got the right thing happening, you just forgot to do this". Or, "You should be doing this instead of that". It's not that I ask a lot of questions in a short amount of time, it's that when you all wake up, I have done A LOT, and have a few questions in the end. I am extremely grateful for the help everyone here has given me, and every chance I get, I try to help someone else who is just starting, and has the same questions I had. Believe me when I say I am not taking your help for granted. I have reviewed and reviewed, and I just don't see what I have done wrong.
But, I'll keep ********, or just delete the **** thing....

[Corey]

Re: Problems with flash.....

Try breaking your project down to one single component. Make that component work. Don't proceed until you do. Then add another. Etc... Works for me when things get sketchy.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[RobbyH]

Re: Problems with flash.....

You're right, that is when things seem to mess up.
Sometimes I get "the idea" I've been trying to think of, and I go crazy getting it all in there before I go to bed.
Smaller steps might be a good idea though [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]