Moving objects with ActionScript part 1

You're probably familiar with motion tweens and using them to create movement in a Flash movie. Motion tweens move objects around the Stage, rotate them and fade them in and out. What you might not know is that you can achieve the same effect using ActionScript. This approach gives you much more flexibility and you can write functions that you can reuse in your Flash projects.

This is the first in a series of articles looking at scripted motion in ActionScript. In this article, we'll start by creating simple motion in a straight line. We'll look at how you can bounce an object off the walls of a movie clip.

The other articles will be on:

• Circular motion
• Fades and rotations
• Inertia and gravity effects
• Creating springs
• Tweening and Transition classes

By the end of each article, you'll be able to create a function that you can reuse throughout your movies. I

I've assumed that you are using Flash MX or Flash MX 2004 and that know how to add ActionScript to a movie. I've used ActionScript 1.0 for my examples.

You can download the source files for the tutorial from the blue Properties box that contains the article PDF. There's a heading titled Code Download and you can click the Details link next to it to get the zip file. The download includes the starter files you'll need as well as the completed files.

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