Flash symbols and particles.

Squeakydave · Post by **Squeakydave** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:49 pm

If I export a particle layer with just one particle as swf it imports into Flash with just one symbol which it repeats. That is a REALLY good thing.

What would also be a really good thing is if Moho did the same with identical layers. So, for example. If I duplicated an object in my scene to build a bg it would only export one symbol and instance it in Flash.

cribble · Post by **cribble** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 3:33 pm

*Rubs Chin*

Hmm... i suppose it would be useful, but it all depends of the flash outputter. It seems to have a mind of its own at the moment - symbol one minute, grouped objects the next - Maybe if there was an option to switch on the type of export "symbol (movie clip)" or "normal"... but then it'll confuse people, or there'll be more flash exporting problems.. on of the two, tick one and discuss!

Squeakydave · Post by **Squeakydave** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:31 pm

I think it would help a great deal and knowing LM any controls would only actually be evident to those who needed them. As it works with particles I'm hoping there is a straight forward way of doing this. Mind you when has anything to do with Flash been straight forward?

It seems an increasing amount of my work needs to be delivered as Flash files so I end up spending a stupidly large amount of time finding ways of reducing file sizes. Or rebuilding things in Flash which would take less time to do in moho.

Some sort of scene organisation would help too. To get the most out of symbols I guess you have to export the whole movie in one shot. At the moment this is very fiddly in moho so I just end up exporting individual scenes and taking the file size hit.

Maybe I should change the feature request to 'anything at all that would make the file size in Flash smaller'.

Post by **Lost Marble** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:07 pm

The problem is that when you duplicate a layer in Moho, it's like a copy and paste - when you're done the program has no knowledge that the two layers are the same. So, to make this work, we would need some new mechanism in Moho, maybe something like a "reference layer".

A reference layer would be a duplicate of an existing layer. It could have its own layer movement, but would use the same shapes, colors, and other specific details of the original layer. This, of course, would be very much like a Flash symbol, and could be exported as such.

Without some kind of new feature like this in Moho, I don't think it would be possible. It can't just be an improvement to the SWF exporter, because there is no known relationship between the two layers.

Squeakydave · Post by **Squeakydave** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:17 pm

I would find that feature VERY useful if you could do it. Not just for Flash export. It could be quite handy inside of Moho too if it works a little like symbols. Could there be a way to tint the 'child layers' as in Flash without destroying the linkage?

Post by **Lost Marble** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 10:56 pm

I guess the way to tint them would be to not modify the copy, but to use a combination of masking and layer blending modes. Unfortunately, that wouldn't export to Flash...

jordanek · Post by **jordanek** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 2:35 pm

If you're going to spend time working on symbol export enhancements, I would just reiterate that it would be wonderful if there were a way to have each layer in Moho be exported as a single Flash symbol, and if the symbol retained its Moho layer name.

Thanks for all your work, LM. Moho's working wonders for me.