Loading External Movies .....Questions

[sleblang]

Hi All ---

I have a question concerning loading external movies. I have my main
movie loading an external movie. If I load the ext. movie using
loadMovieNum, it loads and plays fine, however I can't seem to control
the placement of the clip. If I load the external movie using
loadMovie() the ext.movie begins to play but then stops suddenly. The
same is true if I load it into a dynamically created movie clip. I am
guessing that this is happening because the external movie is making
calls to (its) root which is now actually the main movie's root?Any
suggestions on how to solve this problem?

Also, if my guess is correct, in my external movie how should I make
calls to the ext.clip's main timeline so that the main movie doesn't
interpret them? Does that make sense (hope so)? If not please let me
know.

Thanks for any and all replies.

[oldnewbie]

That's why, when possible, it's allways better to have the "to be loaded" movies on other levels of the same size and created (designwise) in reference to the main movie in which they will be loaded.
When it's not the case, you can position your loaded external movie from the main movie, but only when your sure the "to be loaded" movie is fully downloaded and certainely not on the same frame's or button's actionscript as the loadMovieNum action itself.

But there's still a way out for ya! You can pre-position a "to be loaded" movie if you do it within the "to be loaded" movie itself, by adding this on it's first frame...

this._x = 125; // offset from top_left corner (0,0)
this._y = 250; // offset from top_left corner (0,0)

Play around with the coordinates, till you get it just right for you.

Another advantage to loading on another level (rather than in a holder movie clip) is that no script changes are necessary. References to _root will refer to the main timeline of the "to be loaded" movie itself, and not of the main movie's timeline in which this movie is loaded into.
To refer to the main movie's timeline (if needed!), you would then only have to use _level0 rather than _root, and that would target the main movie's timeline.

[sleblang]

Pefect! Thanks for the prompt reply. It works just like I need it to!

Glad I got in before #10,000

Cheers
BD