Flash Article

Examining the ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery source files

The ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery is an interactive video showcase capable of displaying up to 36 videos in an easy-to-browse format (see Figure 1). The original Flash video gallery was built by Macromedia as a marketing piece in December 2003 (with subsequent revisions in February and August 2004) to promote Flash MX Professional 2004. Due to continued interest in the original sample application, we have updated the video gallery to ActionScript 3.0 using the FLVPlayback component in Adobe Flash CS3 Professional and external FLV files.

Note: The look and feel of the ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery is similar to the previous version, but the development experience and range of features has been improved. Please explore the previous version of the video gallery to find the ActionScript 2.0 source files.

Figure 1. Main view of the Adobe ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery

Updates to the video gallery include the following:

• Greater performance using less code (easier to understand)
• Simplified and organized template structure and XML structure
• More easily scalable code framework using ActionScript 3.0
• ActionScript 3.0 XML handling (cool stuff, very easy to use)
• ActionScript 3.0 components
• Complete skinning control for custom branding and design
• Use of an external FLV file, FLVPlayback component, and custom user interface components now used by the detail video
• Full-screen mode for the detail video
• Use of either an external FLV or embedded video for the thumbnail video

Exploring the video gallery

Visit the ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery

Note: Best viewed with Flash Player version 9,0,45,0 or later. Test your player to see what's already installed on your computer.

Read about deconstructing the ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery

One of the features of the video gallery is that it lets visitors filter the videos and preview a site they are interested in. Here's how users interact with the ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery:

• Visitors to the video gallery can roll over a thumbnail of a short video and preview it (see Figure 2)
• Users can filter videos using two sets user-defined selectors
• Clicking one of the thumbnails reveals a preview of a Flash video website, which a user can then choose to visit
• Clicking the close box in the detail view closes the panel and returns the visitor to the default state

Figure 2. Detail view of the ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery

Requirements

Many developers have shown interest in taking a look at the source files for the ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery project. We're providing them here for you to play with. Feel free to investigate the code and structure of the FLA and supporting files.

To examine the source files, you will need to install the following software:

Flash CS3 Professional

• Try
• Buy

Flash Player (9,0,45,0 or later)

• Download

Sample files:

• as3_flash_video_gallery.zip (12 MB)

Installing the source files

To install the source files, simply unzip the archive to your hard drive. You should be able to run the movie as is.

The ZIP file contains the following:

• Main project FLA (FlashVideoGallery.fla) file
• Published version of the FLA file (FlashVideoGallery.swf) and its accompanying HTML page (FlashVideoGallery.html)
• Thumbnails and video folders each containing 36 FLV source files
• Dependent ActionScript class files (fvg package).
• Settings.xml file which holds text information that the FLA consumes

Classes used by FlashVideoGallery.fla are in the fvg folder. If the FLA file remains in a relative path to the fvg folder, the classes will be active in the FlashVideoGaller.swf file. That's all there is to it.

Let us know what you end up doing with the ActionScript 3.0 Flash video gallery.

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