Haywire fills in .swf export files!!!

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:03 pm

OK. I've never posted about any bugs in Moho/Anime Studio before, but this one REALLY annoys me! I've spent a long time over the last couple of days adapting some of the Odd Job Jack artwork in public release. The work I produced in Anime Studio is on the left. On the right is the .swf output. This is totally unacceptable.

I'm using Windows XP Home edition, 2 gig processor, plenty of ram and hard disc space. This bug needs fixing real quick. I'm abandoning Anime Studio for this job, and I've wasted a lot of time.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:33 pm

Can you post a specific AS file with this problem to look at?

I would like to poke around in it for my own curiosity.

-vern

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:20 am

Heyvern,

The AS file concerned is 6 Meg...if you are OK about receiving something that size as an attachment, I'll send it to you. Is your email address available?

J

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:25 am

6mb!

Holy cow! What you got in there?

I will PM you with my email.

I have only done a few minor, simple things in Flash with "Moho" but not with AS yet... I've never had any trouble. This looks... really strange.

I had heard of "similar" oddities based on how the stroke width is defined in AS... so... I thought another set of eyes looking at the problem might be helpful.

You have checked that box on export for variable SWF line widths? I heard that might be an issue if you define widths in the style and use the "width" tool.

-vern

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:20 pm

I looked at your file John.

The first thing that jumped out at me were "duplicate" shapes.

You said you use fill shapes for strokes which is fine... I did find on one of the legs that the stroke fill had two identical shapes. The black "stroke" shape was in there twice on the same vectors.

I didn't check to to see how many other shapes were the same.

I don't know for sure if any of this would cause trouble exporting to SWF... but... yikes... it sure might.

I exported your file to SWF and saw those "new" artifacts you spoke of. They may actually be "pointing" to the shapes that still have problems.

I see lines shooting off from parts of the shapes. I am guessing it might be shapes from that specific area that are problematic.

I have gotten strange looking artifacts similar to this visible in AS/Moho files... usually caused by "bad" shapes or vectors.

-vern

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:25 pm

Vern,

Thanks for looking. I've hunted down a few more things -- maybe I need to really dissect these files before I try to export them! Just get so impatient after spending hours painstakingly putting them together...

I did send the file to Mike too -- maybe some feedback from him will also help. Appreciate it.

J

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:07 am

Quite frankly... I find Flash drawing format... weird and annoying sometimes.

I had a pain in the butt file a while back... drawn from scratch in Flash... that had a "buggy" fill shape in it.

I had to delete the whole shape and redraw it.. two or three times... to fix the problem. It kept "coming back" after I saved the file. I never did figure out what the problem was. Drove me nuts. It was like a haunted file. Every time I saved it and reopened it... this one symbol had a thin strip at the top "sheared off".

I think I finally had to delete the symbol and create a new one.

I don't think problems with SWF are always related to third party drawing applications. Problem is... you can never know for sure.

-vern

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:15 am

I agree. I went back to that file and I hunted through it with a fine tooth comb. Eventually, by breaking some shapes, re-connecting and then re-filling them, I solved the problem! Like pulling teeth...but at least it works now.

I want to get that woman to walk down the stairs in a convincing way -- quite frankly, without AS, it would be a whole lot more work. Even more!! Willl try to remember to post it when I'm done.

J