Is there some way to create custom color variable?

[iblokh]

I'm creating a fairly complex animation frame-by-frame, but I would like to be able to change the color of certain parts of it dynamically. The only approach I can think of is changing each section into a movieclip, putting them all into an array and then looping through the array and assigning a color. However, the animation is long and since the colored shapes constantly change, I would end up with more than a hundred MCs.

A better option, if possible, would be to create a custom variable that I assign as a color in the color picker. So, instead of choosing a value like "#CCCCCC", I would be able to assign a name like "customColor", then I would dynamically change the value of "customColor" in AS3. Is that at all possible? Do you know of any extensions that add that functionallity?

[illustratedlife]

I'd love to see that. I remember hearing about it in InDesign CS3 (which I don't have), but I don't believe it's in the other CS3 applications.

[iblokh]

I've found nothing so far, so I'm considering trying to build my own panel/extension for it. Not sure how hard it would be though...

[Diniden]

Are you trying to accomplish something like this:

geocities.com/dr_baboom/UniversalTileEditor.html

(click a plus sign in the library panel then select the box next to it to see what I'm talking about)

I did that color box dynamically

[iblokh]

Hmmm....maybe? I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to work that application, but I think I got the gist of it. What I mean is a bit different - basically I'd like to be able to "paint by numbers".

Let's say I draw/animate a fairly complex scene in Flash and I don't want to cut up each individual color area into movieclips (which is one way to do this). Instead I have a custom panel, but when I am assigning a fill/stroke color, instead of choosing an actual color I can create a new "color variable" or assign a pre-existing one, like "backgroundColor" or "skinTone", etc.

Then in the same panel, I can at any point choose one of the variables and assign it an actual color value - and all the objects with that variable as their stroke/fill will change to the new color.

Finally, I can also dynamically change the value of that variable in AS3 and the color would change at runtime.

[swak]

Basically he wants a color pallet.

[fx.barrett]

I found this in the help file of Flash:

package 
{
    import fl.controls.ColorPicker;
    import fl.controls.ComboBox;
    import flash.display.BlendMode;
    import flash.display.Shape;
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.*;
    
    public class ColorPickerExample extends Sprite
    {
        var circle1:Shape;
        var circle2:Shape;
        var circle3:Shape;
        
        public function ColorPickerExample():void {
            setupCircles();
            setupComboBox();
            
            cp1.addEventListener(Event.RENDER, colorChange);
            cp2.addEventListener(Event.RENDER, colorChange);
            cp3.addEventListener(Event.RENDER, colorChange);
        }
        private function colorChange(e:Event):void {
            var cp:ColorPicker = e.target as ColorPicker
            switch (cp) {
                case cp1:
                    colorCircle(circle1, cp.selectedColor);
                    break;
                case cp2:
                    colorCircle(circle2, cp.selectedColor);
                    break;
                case cp3:
                    colorCircle(circle3, cp.selectedColor);
                    break;
                default:
                    break;
            }
        }
        private function setupComboBox():void {
            cb.setSize(150,24);
            cb.addItem( { label: "Select BlendMode:",     data:BlendMode.NORMAL } );
            cb.addItem( { label: "DARKEN",                 data:BlendMode.DARKEN } );
            cb.addItem( { label: "DIFFERENCE",             data:BlendMode.DIFFERENCE } );
            cb.addItem( { label: "HARDLIGHT",             data:BlendMode.HARDLIGHT } );
            cb.addItem( { label: "INVERT",                 data:BlendMode.INVERT } );
            cb.addItem( { label: "LAYER",                 data:BlendMode.LAYER } );
            cb.addItem( { label: "MULTIPLY",             data:BlendMode.MULTIPLY } );
            cb.addItem( { label: "SUBTRACT",             data:BlendMode.SUBTRACT } );
            cb.addEventListener(Event.CHANGE,blendChange);
        }
        private function blendChange(e:Event):void {
            var newBlend:String = cb.selectedItem.data;
            if (newBlend) {
                circle1.blendMode = newBlend;
                circle2.blendMode = newBlend;
                circle3.blendMode = newBlend;
            }
        }
        private function setupCircles():void {
            circle1 = new Shape();
            circle2 = new Shape();
            circle3 = new Shape();
            
            circle1.x = 127;
            circle1.y = 64;
            circle2.x = 87;
            circle2.y = 130;
            circle3.x = 164;
            circle3.y = 130;
            
            colorCircle(circle1, 0xFF0000);
            colorCircle(circle2, 0xFF0000);
            colorCircle(circle3, 0xFF0000);
            
            addChild(circle1);
            addChild(circle2);
            addChild(circle3);
        }
        private function colorCircle(circle:Shape, newColor:uint):void {
            circle.graphics.clear();
            circle.graphics.beginFill(newColor, 1);
            circle.graphics.drawCircle(0, 0, 50);
            circle.graphics.endFill();    
        }
    }
} 

It might not be the exact thing but it's a good start and by understanding how this works, the only thing left to do is to define a color palette. Not sure how to take at that one now, but if you sit down and plan a bit, I'm sure you'll find a way.

[iblokh]

Nice, thanks- that gives me a good start with how color is assigned. I'm going to read about custom panel creation and see where I get - I'll post back with any results.