This
tutorial will take you through to the process
of creating a Flash banner in minutes with the Wild
FX Flash Text Animator. It will review the
basics of how to create and output a text effect
in Wild FX, add background images to your file,
and generate the HTML code to play your banner
on a website, as well as in a javascript pop
up window.
This tutorial will show you how to create the
file displayed here:
Getting
started: enter your text, choose an output file,
select an effect
Using
Wild FX is easy. To create a text effect, simply
open Wild FX, enter in your text in the text
field and select an effect. In this case I’ll
enter the text,
“Create your own effects templates
with Wildform's new Wild FX 3.0!”
and select the effect “Flow In” located
in the Custom Effects folder. Before previewing
your file, you will be asked to choose an output
path and filename. I am going to label my file
as “CreateYourOwnBanner.swf”.
Note: In order to generate a
preview in Wild FX you must first specify the
output filename and path. If you have the auto-preview
option selected, you will be continuously prompted
to enter an output filename and path.
In
the Font section of the Main tab, I will choose
the Verdana font, bold, size 16. I also want
to apply a color to my text, which I will do
by clicking on the Fill box to launch the Choose
Fill box. I have the option to select a solid
color, colors in a linear or radial gradient,
or an image. I am going to select a solid crimson
color.
Setting
your swf dimensions & adding a hyperlink
to your swf
Now
I want to set the dimensions of my SWF file to
conform to the standard banner size – 468x60.
In the Movie section of the Menu tab, I enter
468 in the width box and 60 in the height box.
I also want to add a link to my SWF file. To
do this, I check the link box in the Movie section
of the Menu tab and type in my desired url, in
this case http://www.wildform.com/products/wildfx/.
I
want to reposition the text effect in my SWF.
If I have the “View Cursor” button
in the toolbar activated, I can simply drag the
cursor with my mouse in order to position my
effect to wherever I want. I also have the option
of positioning my effect more precisely by entering
the coordinates in the X and Y boxes, which are
located in the Font section of the Main tab.
Now I am going to enter:
Next
I will add a background color to my file. Clicking
on the background fill (Bg Fill) box in the Movie
section of the Main tab launches the Choose fill
box. I am going to select Linear Gradient and
choose the colors below. (I also have the option
to select a radial gradient or solid color.)
I
also want to add a background image to my SWF
file. I can either select the image icon in the
menu bar
or go to the View Menu and choose Choose Bg Image:
This
will bring up the Choose Background Image Box.
I
am going to choose the Wild FX icon and then
in the Options section of the Choose Background
Image Box, I am going to translate the image
I
can easily preview my file at any time by clicking
on the preview icon in the menu bar, ,
or by selecting Preview in the preview menu (or
Control P). If you have auto-preview selected,
Wild FX will automatically preview your file
with each change you make to your SWF.
To
export my SWF I click the “Export SWF” button
in the Main Tab, ,
or under the Wild FX menu choose Export SWF (or
Control E).
You can view your exported SWF by selecting the
Play Output option in the tool bar, .
You can also select Play Output from the File
Menu.
Exporting
your swf in an HTML page
To
automatically generate the HTML code to play
your SWF, select the HTML tab and under HTML
options check the Export HTML box.
Exporting
your swf in a pop up window
To
automatically generate the HTML javascript code
to play your SWF in a pop up window, check the
Place SWF in a Pop Up Window box located in the
Pop-up Options of the HTML tab.
A pop-up window is a browser window that opens
separately from the main HTML page. A key benefit
of using pop-up windows is that the dimensions
of the window can be specifically defined.
There
are several options for how pop-ups can be
displayed and what appears in the browser window:
Directories: Selecting
this option will cause the directories to be
displayed in the pop-up browser window. Location: Selecting this option
will cause the location to be displayed in
the pop-up browser window. Resizable: Selecting this
option will enable the viewer to resize the
pop-up browser window. If this is not selected,
the pop-up window cannot be resized. Status: Selecting this option
will cause the status to be displayed in the
pop-up browser window. Toolbar: Selecting this option
will cause the toolbar to be displayed in the
pop-up browser window.
Note: The Pop-up options will only be displayed
once the "Export HTML" checkbox is
checked.
The
last thing I am going to do is save my settings
file so that I can work on this file later. To
save your settings file go to the File Menu -> Save
Settings. I am going to label my settings file
as “CreateYourOwnBanner.sfx”. A Wild
FX settings file saves all settings in the Wild
FX UI that are set at the time of saving.
Another useful feature of Wild FX that is worth
mentioning here is that you can automatically
save all the settings from the Main tab and the
text entry field in your SWF so that you can
re-load those settings and text using the File>Import
SWF Settings feature. This can be handy if you
don’t want to save a settings file every
time you make a change, or if you forget to save
a settings file. If you want to save the settings
from the Main tab in your output SWFs make sure
that the option for “Save settings in SWF
output” in the View>Options window is
checked. If you want to save the text from the
text entry field in your output SWFs make sure
that the option for “Save text entry in
SWF output” in the View>Options window
is checked. Be aware that saving settings will
add a very small amount to your file size and
saving text will add a relatively small amount
to your file size – depending on how much
text is in your effect.
These
are the basics of using Wild FX. There are many
more functions and features available in the
software, but this should help get you started.
If you have more questions, consult the included
help file which explains all the features in
Wild FX.
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