Picture-fade to-picture-fade to-picture loop.

I have been trying to find a tool which will allow me to make a Picture-fade to-picture-fade to-picture and loop effect. I started with LiveSwif, couldn't get it to work, but learnt a little. I then used the demo versions of Swif 'n Slide, and WonderShare's tool. Whilst these were easy to use, they didn't quite seem to give the right control. So now I am playing with the current demo version of KoolMoves.

I can already see that this is a bigger tool then I probably need for this task, but if I am going to buy something, I'd rather buy something I am going to grow into, rather then something I will quickly grow out of!

I have almost got what I want, but have a problem. I started with an image, then changed it's effcts to fade in and out adding the frames as necessary. I added a blank frame to the end, added the second image and adjusted the effect on that fram in the same manner. Finally I added the last frame and adjusted that in the same way.

What that gave me is the 3 images fading in and out but going all the way to background in between. So I moved the dots to the left on the timeline to get the second to overlap the first, and the third overlap the second.

Now I have the first-fade to-second-fade to-third-fade to-background-fade to-first! I cannot get the last frame to overlap the first frame. I tried to start with the first frame full then fade out, go through the other frames then add the first frame as a "fourth frame" with just the fade in, but it seems to "jerk" or "flicker" between the fade in and the start of the film?

Second question, can I at the same time these images are drifting in and out, add a second time line which drifts a text string across the existing animation?

I suppose I should add, I started fiddling with this just a few days ago and know very little about Flash and animation in general. I am not, however, a computer newbie, I have been a professional software engineer for 25 years - C/C++ and Fortran stuff though, not much web work, and that is vanilla html/css and Perl cgi scripts.

Welcome to the KM forum Adrian.

Assuming the pictures have the same size; why not use the KM slideshow component? You can make anything you don't need to see invisible - buttons and slider - and you don't need AS to make it work.

You can find the slideshow on the "Tools" toolbar.

:cap:

Looping is tricky. I'll assume you are fading in the first frame alone. I'll also assume that what you want is the last photo to fade into the first one....

Obviously looping won't work as it's not really what you are after. Try adding the first image again at the end fading in only, in the last frame add a gotoAndPlay command and go to the same full view of the first image.

Thanks for the replies.

@Nightcap

I finally found the tool, and got rid of all the un-necessary decorations. What I can't do though is get the fading, it seems to want to use some kind of diamond shaped transition. I explored the "tween" sub-menu but the many alternatives didn't seem to do anything.

@blanius

Yes, I had tried to add the "fourth frame", but when I did, I got a flicker between the final "fade in" and the solid at the start of the film.

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Originally Posted by adrianxw

Thanks for the replies.

@Nightcap

I finally found the tool, and got rid of all the un-necessary decorations. What I can't do though is get the fading, it seems to want to use some kind of diamond shaped transition. I explored the "tween" sub-menu but the many alternatives didn't seem to do anything.

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Glad you found it and got it working. The Slideshow properties window, where you added the picture filenames, also contains a "Transition" combobox. Select "fade smoothly" for every(!) picture in the slideshow and you're on your way!

:cap:

You're quite right, it does indeed! I'll play with it when I get home.

Off topic, I replied at least twice to the thread but the posts did not appear, hence posting more or less the same thing again. :confused:

Nightcap, it seems like you are suggesting to cover the controls. I'm not sure if you are doing things that way or if I misunderstood you. Anyway, if you access the SlideShow properties and set 'Navigation controls' to 'no' , 'Border' to 'no' and 'Border shadow' to 'none', only the background will remain.

Me bad probably, when I said I'd gotten rid of the "decorations" I meant things like the frame, shadows and VCR type controls. I did it the way you suggest.

I also found the .pdf manual for the thing today. I am sure I will get stuck, but there seems to be plenty to keep me amused for now at least.

I will also try to get the loop thing I'd done first working. Never hurts to have another way to acheive a result, and learn some along the way.

I haven't actually loaded a film onto a web page yet, so perhaps I will try that next just to make sure I can go forward.

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Originally Posted by w.brants

Nightcap, it seems like you are suggesting to cover the controls. I'm not sure if you are doing things that way or if I misunderstood you. Anyway, if you access the SlideShow properties and set 'Navigation controls' to 'no' , 'Border' to 'no' and 'Border shadow' to 'none', only the background will remain.

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No Wilbert, that's not what I was suggesting. I'm sorry if that's the way it sounded.

:cap:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by adrianxw

I will also try to get the loop thing I'd done first working. Never hurts to have another way to acheive a result, and learn some along the way.

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I tried to do the same a few months ago and after fiddling around with the pictures for some time I switched to the slideshow component, since it was so much easier to achieve the effect I was looking for. ;)

:cap: