MovieClip ... an example of use ?

GregBUG

hi!

is possible to have little working example of using MovieClip ?
i want to replace all my sprite animation (with classic mode animation) with the use of MovieClip function
how to use them?

thanks and sorry for the request but (at least for me) the docs for MovieClip is not clear!


in the init function of my sprite i put
-- setup animations...
self.anim = {
Bitmap.new(pack:getTextureRegion("ucello1.png")),
Bitmap.new(pack:getTextureRegion("ucello2.png")),
Bitmap.new(pack:getTextureRegion("ucello3.png")),
Bitmap.new(pack:getTextureRegion("ucello4.png")),
}
mc = MovieClip.new{
{1, 1, self.anim[1]},
{2, 1, self.anim[2]},
{3, 1, self.anim[3]},
{4, 1, self.anim[4]},
{5, 1, self.anim[3]},
{6, 1, self.anim[2]},
{7, 1, self.anim[1]},
}
mc:setGotoAction(7, 1)

then in function birds:onEnterFrame()

i put
mc:play()

but no animation...

ciao
Gianluca.

atilim

Your approach is correct but you need to change two things:

1. MovieClip accepts start frame, end frame. So you should write:

mc = MovieClip.new{
{1, 2, self.anim[1]},
{2, 3, self.anim[2]},
{3, 4, self.anim[3]},
{4, 5, self.anim[4]},
{5, 6, self.anim[3]},
{6, 7, self.anim[2]},
{7, 8, self.anim[1]},
}

2. You need to call mc:play() once, not in enterFrame event.

:ar!

GregBUG

doh!!!

now i'm at work!!! when i go home i'll try!!!

thanks.!

gorkem

Did you know series #1: Our key performance indicator (KPI) for Gideros forum is to answer every question in less than 3 hours on average.

GregBUG

hi!

i replaced the code of my animation using movieclip... it's very handy and is a more convenient way to setup animations... (no code to control frame animations!)

in my elicopter code now i'm using...

self.anim = {
Bitmap.new(pack:getTextureRegion("eli1.png")),
Bitmap.new(pack:getTextureRegion("eli2.png"))
}

local eliAnim = MovieClip.new{
{1, 7, self.anim[1]},
{8, 15, self.anim[2]}
}
eliAnim:setGotoAction(15, 1)

self:addChild(eliAnim)
eliAnim:play()

and my elicopter fly!

but if i want to speedup (at runtime) the animation (ex when the player accelerate) how can i do?

can i use this method also for animate characters with no predefinited path ? (like the main player?)

i can set it's position with eliAnim:setPosition(x, y)

in theory movie clip is much more efficent for sprite animation than classic way (like "Texture pack" example) ?


sorry for my continuous questions!

thanks.
Gianluca

atilim

Hi,

Currently there is no way to set the animation speed. But you can prepare different animations for different speeds like:

local eliAnim = MovieClip.new{ {1, 7, self.anim[1]}, {8, 15, self.anim[2]}, {16, 18, self.anim[1]}, {19, 21, self.anim[2]}, } eliAnim:setGotoAction(15, 1) --> frames 1-15: slow animation eliAnim:setGotoAction(21, 16) --> frames 16-21: fast animation   eliAnim:gotoAndPlay(1) --> play slow animation eliAnim:gotoAndPlay(16) --> play fast animation

And you can position your MovieClip whereever you want. (running player, walking player, flying helicopter, etc)

MikeHart

That is basically the same problem that C*r*na had. I modified their moviecliplua file. Will look for tommorow. Controlling the animation speed is a crucial feature.

GregBUG

I fully agree with MikeHart.

ernesto

It would be also an interesting example of this class with the tool zoe, which exports a Flash animation MC. http://easeljs.com/zoe.html

MikeHart

I had a look at the movieclip feature in Gideros. It isn't a lua fiel like in C*r*na. So I can't extend that. They solution that atilim posted is currently the only one. Add repeating images to the movieclip.

atilim

@ernesto exactly! Doing some tests and build an example with Zoë is in my list.

atilim

@MikeHart

I think MovieClip needs 2 main improvements:
- adjusting speed
- dispatching events when it stops or reaches a specified frame

Can you think of another improvement?

GregBUG

>> MikeHart

>> I think MovieClip needs 2 main improvements:
>> - adjusting speed
>> - dispatching events when it stops or reaches a specified frame

yes i think it would be really useful B-)

atilim

great then

MikeHart

Not sure if it can do that already, but besides the great enhancements you have mentioned, playing the animation backwards would be cool.

GregBUG

it's not directly related with Movieclip, but why not implement in gideros runtime
a DeltaTime? (yes i know i can implement my self but it is nice for a game sdk to have built in...)

atilim

@MikeHart totally agree

@GregBUG when the ENTER_FRAME event dispatches, the event object contains time and deltaTime:

local function onEnterFrame(event) print(event.time, event.deltaTime) end   stage:addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onEnterFrame)

GregBUG

oh! thanks! it's already there! :-\"

sorry useless question !

atilim

np It's only mentioned at http://www.giderosmobile.com/documentation/events.html and can be missed easily

GregBUG

:P

gorkem

We're rewriting our documentation now, and hopefully you'll benefit from these docs..

riyann68

I wonder, how to check if the MovieClip is playing or not?

plamen

movieclip has event when it reaches stop command i use it a lot.
current construction of movieclip has some limitations and flаws but it gives some unusual options. I'll give some example from my project. if you take a look to engines of the ships, the movieclip contains 2 sets of frames 1st for slow motion of the propellers and the second is for fast motion -->

local prop_t={}
for i=1,16 do
prop_t[i]=Bitmap.new(TextureRegion.new(ventilator_texture, 16*(i-1), 0, 16, 64))
prop_t[i]:setAnchorPoint(0.5,0.5)
prop_t[i]:setScale(0.5)
end

self.propeller= MovieClip.new{
{1, 1, prop_t[1]},
{2, 2, prop_t[2]},
{3, 3, prop_t[3]},
{4, 4, prop_t[4]},
{5, 5, prop_t[5]},
{6, 6, prop_t[6]},
{7, 7, prop_t[7]},
{8, 8, prop_t[8]},
{9, 9, prop_t[9]},
{10, 10, prop_t[10]},
{11, 11, prop_t[11]},
{12, 12, prop_t[12]},
{13, 13, prop_t[13]},
{14, 14, prop_t[14]},
{14, 15, prop_t[15]},
{16, 16, prop_t[16]},
}
self.propeller:setStopAction(10)
self.propeller:GotoAndPlay(1)
self.propeller:addEventListener("complete", self.onMovieComplete,self)

frames 1-10 are for slow motion and 11 to 16 are for fast motion
when i need them to run fast i do:

self.propeller:setStopAction(16)
self.propeller:GotoAndPlay(11)

i use event handler for my logic code to decide swapping the two sets
Also this construction gives you the option to animate lots of parameters and do tweens. Its very flexible but some how not very intuitive. It just needs more examples and it will be fine. First i was shocked about how different is from other frameworks but after two month extensive use i love it.

plamen

Here is another example of propeller:

local propeller_bmp = Bitmap.new(propeller_A_texture)
propeller_bmp:setAnchorPoint(0.5,0.5 )
self.propeller=MovieClip.new{
{1, 100, propeller_bmp,{rotation={0,360,"linear"}}}
}
self.propeller:setGotoAction(100,2)

This one just rotates single bitmap.

john26

Is there anything that MoveClip can do that GTween can't? GTween seems better to me as it merely moves/rotates existing sprites therefore providing a thin layer on top of sprites rather than introducing a new "object". Now that its possible to change the bitmap of a sprite, can't GTween do everything MovieClip can do?

plamen

MovieClip executes compiled C code. Perfect for like 200 instances... or 600 :>

ar2rsawseen

Additionally to what @planem said, that MovieClip is more efficient, it also provides a frame based animation, where you can easily switch between different bitmaps.

riyann68

Is there any method "resume" in MovieClip, it called play when the animation stops and do nothing when the animation plays? Or how can I do this?

GregBUG

@riyann68 as said by @ar2rsawseen and @plamen MovieClip is very efficient.
My TNT Animator is based over it.

maybe you can try it.

ar2rsawseen

@riyann68 you can use gotoAndPlay or gotoAndStop to go to specific action.

And yes, try out the TNT Animator, it would really ease things up.

atilim

My TNT Animator is based over it.

maybe you can try it.

definitely you should! \m/

Also @plamen's example is a great one. It's possible to put multiple animations into one MovieClip and separate them by using setStopAction function.