Flash CS5: The Missing Manual

Testing on the Stage

If all you want to do is check out a few simple frames' worth of action, this is the option to use. It's also the best choice if you want to see your motion path or not see the layers you've marked as hidden. (For the skinny on hiding and showing layers, check out Showing and Hiding Layers.)

To test your animation on the stage:

1. Select Window→Toolbars→Controller.

   The Controller toolbar you see in Figure 19-1 appears.

2. Turn on the checkbox next to one or more of the following options:

   • Control→ Loop Playback. Tells Flash to loop playback over and over again after you click Play on the Controller. Flash keeps looping your animation until you click Stop. If you don't turn on this option, Flash just plays the animation once.

     

     Figure 19-1. You can reposition the Controller by dragging it to wherever it's most convenient for you. Or, if you prefer, you can skip the Controller altogether and use the button-equivalent menu options: Control→Stop, Control→Rewind, Control→Step Forward One Frame, Control→Play, Control→Step Backward One Frame, and Control→Go to End.

   • Control→Play All Scenes. Tells Flash to play all the scenes in your animation, not just the scene currently visible on the stage.

   • Control→Enable Simple Frame Actions. Tells Flash to play the actions you've added to frames in the timeline. If you don't turn on this option, Flash ignores all frame actions.

   • Control→Enable Simple ...