Creating a new skin

The best way to create a skin SWF file is to copy one of the skin files that come with Flash, and use it as a starting point. You can find the FLA files for these skins in the Flash CS3 application Configuration/FLVPlayback Skins/FLA/ActionScript 2.0 folder. To make your finished skin SWF file available as an option in the Select Skin dialog box, put it in the Configuration/FLVPlayback Skins/ActionScript 2.0 folder either in the Flash application folder or in a user's local Configuration/FLVPlayback Skins/ActionScript 2.0 folder.

You will find that simple modifications that change the appearance of a button or of the chrome (the background) of a button, without changing the dimensions, are fairly easy. All the installed skins have the same buttons based on different-colored chromes, so you can make dramatic changes by simply changing the color of the chrome. You can make changes, such as rearranging controls in the layout movie clip, by simply moving the placeholder clips. You can see these changes exactly as they will appear in the finished SWF file.

When looking at the installed skin FLA files, it might seem that certain things on the Stage are unnecessary, but many of these things are put into guide layers. To quickly see what actually appears in the SWF file, select Control > Test Movie to test the movie. This will also show you how 9-slice scaling affects certain controls, because 9-slice scaling is not in effect when you are authoring.

The following sections cover more complex customizations and changes to the SeekBar, BufferingBar, and VolumeBar movie clips.

Flash CS3