how to play scene 1 for 20 seconds before scene 2

i've searched for a few answers to this on the board, and found similar q/a's, but not something as exact, so ill ask here:

i want scene 1 of my movie to play for, oh, 20 seconds or so before moving on to scene 2.

currently, my scene 1 is 10 frames.

an instance of a movie begins on frame 2.
when the player reaches frame 10, there is an action script there to jump back to, and play, frame 2 (thus, starting another instance of the MC).

so, my move repeats 2-10 over and over and over again, only advancing to the next scene by the click of an "enter" button.

but, is there anyway to have it automatically advance to the next scene after a certain time period? (if i put some sorta script in frame 1, telling the movie to advance, to scene 2 frame 1 after 20 seconds)

?

thanks in advance

um...

...please?

Well, thinking about this one, since no one else has answered.

The problem is that Flash doesn't really work in terms of time, other than in frames per second, and even that can be off a bit, depending on computer speed, i think.

It seems like there ought to be a way to query the system for time, set a variable, and then compare another variable each time your loop repeats until it shows that 20 seconds have passed. I don't personally know how to do that, so I'm just throwing out the kinds of things that I would start looking for.

Otherwise, you could rely on the 12 frames per second thing, and make sure it repeated enough times that 240 frames went by before you started the second scene. Maybe a little more, for safety's sake. Set a variable to increment each time at the beginning of the loop, and when it reaches a certain number, kick the playhead on to the next scene.

heya jillibit -- thanks for the reply

i was actually hoping there was an answer along the lines of your thought -- that in the first frame, i could set/start a timer, and that once it reached 15 or 20 seconds (or their equivelant in miliseconds) that the playhead would advance to the next scene, regardless of where it currently was.

unfortuantely, im clueless as to how to go about this :)

urmmm no one reply u so thought i might try.. i know there is a get timer fuction which gets the time in terms of milliseconds so perhaps u can try this...

timecount = getTimer()/1000;
timecount = parseInt(timecount);
if(timecount =20) {
do whatever here..
}

dont know if it works yet but thats the riugh idea...
hope this helpd to trigger off some thoughts..

good luck

Why not create a timer object to do all this delay stuff.
Create a 'timer' image, hmm say a clock and name it something meaningful like 'timer'. Add the following movie code:

onClipEvent(load){
_visible = 0;
totalTime = 10;
}

************************************************** ***
The above code sets the time to elapse in order to do something like goto the next scene.
************************************************** ***


Go into the timer movie and add a new layer for actions. In the actions layer, for frame 1 (1) enter the following code:

counter = 0;
stop();

In frame two (2) add the following code (Note: Comment '//' out the 'trace' line to not show progress):

if(counter == totalTime){
gotoAndPlay("<scene>");
}else{
trace("Counter: "+counter);
gotoAndPlay(3);
}

************************************************** ***
Enter the scene you wish to start playing replacing
<scene> with the actual scene name.
************************************************** ***


In frame three (3), add the following code:

play();

Now count the number of frames from frame three which make 1 second of time, in my case frame 13 makes a second. Make sure you check your frame rate before doing this else you notice 10 secs just aint quite 10 seconds! Add the following code to frame eg frame 13:

counter++;
gotoAndPlay(2);


Viola, end of tutorial. Now to use the timer, simply start the timer by stating the following code (obviously you should be aware of where the timer movie is positioned within movie(s). I've assumed the timer is in the root timeline):

timer.gotoAndPlay(2);

So when you play the movie, your actually using a timer object which after each second, the counter increases closer towards the totalTime.

This is one easy way to achvieve your delay problem and is simple to understand as the timer will then control the next part of flash application.

Good luck, and enjoy.
Send me questions if in doubt

Mark :)

Why not create a timer object to do all this delay stuff.
Create a 'timer' image, hmm say a clock and name it something meaningful like 'timer'. Add the following movie code:

onClipEvent(load){
_visible = 0;
totalTime = 20;
}

************************************************** ***
The above code sets the time to elapse in order to do something like goto the next scene.
************************************************** ***


Go into the timer movie and add a new layer for actions. In the actions layer, for frame 1 (1) enter the following code:

counter = 0;
stop();

In frame two (2) add the following code (Note: Comment '//' out the 'trace' line to not show progress):

if(counter == totalTime){
gotoAndPlay("<scene>");
}else{
trace("Counter: "+counter);
gotoAndPlay(3);
}

************************************************** ***
Enter the scene you wish to start playing replacing
<scene> with the actual scene name.
************************************************** ***


In frame three (3), add the following code:

play();

Now count the number of frames from frame three which make 1 second of time, in my case frame 13 makes a second. Make sure you check your frame rate before doing this else you notice 10 secs just aint quite 10 seconds! Add the following code to frame eg frame 13:

counter++;
gotoAndPlay(2);


Viola, end of tutorial. Now to use the timer, simply start the timer by stating the following code (obviously you should be aware of where the timer movie is positioned within movie(s). I've assumed the timer is in the root timeline):

timer.gotoAndPlay(2);

So when you play the movie, your actually using a timer object which after each second, the counter increases closer towards the totalTime.

This is one easy way to achvieve your delay problem and is simple to understand as the timer is in control of play.

Good luck, and enjoy.
Send me questions if in doubt

Mark :)

heya guys

thanks for the responses

i tried both techniques, but unfortunately, couldnt get either to work.

mgardoz, yours sounds like it should work (and, odds are, its some sorta error on my part) but i just cant get it to work.

my original thought, tho, was more along the lines of skmok's -- just a simple little timer in the first frame that would run and run and run for 20 seconds, then know to advance to the next scene (but, again, with all that i have going on in that scene, im not even sure if thats possible).

whut else y'got? :)

Seems like Smoks would work... but you need more than one timecount variable. you need an initial timecount, and then you need to compare the following timecounts to the original until the difference is 20.

Urmmmm... sorry... think i missed out one equal sign in my code (under the if)... here's what it shld look like anyways...

timecount = getTimer()/1000;
timecount = parseInt(timecount);
if(timecount==20) {
do whatever here..
}

Best of luck.. Hope this helps..

heya guys -- thanks again for the continued help.

i now have this as an action in my first frame of that scene:

timecount = getTimer()/1000;
timecount = parseInt(timecount);
if (timecount == 20) {
gotoAndPlay ("Scene 1", 1);
}


it doesnt generate any errors when tested, however... doesnt seem to be working, either. :(

am i still missing something else?

Quote:

---

Originally posted by drkknght
heya guys -- thanks again for the continued help.

i now have this as an action in my first frame of that scene:

timecount = getTimer()/1000;
timecount = parseInt(timecount);
if (timecount == 20) {
gotoAndPlay ("Scene 1", 1);
}


it doesnt generate any errors when tested, however... doesnt seem to be working, either. :(

am i still missing something else?

---

here;s how to do it. first of all, you should be saying:
if (timecount >= 20) {
//whatever
}
or else the count of 20 will fly by before flash has a chance to check it.

BUT: getTimer() is the way to go. but you have to load it's current value into a variable in order to "zero out" to it since getTimer() starts immediately when the flash file starts, regardless of load times. plus, you cannot reset the getTimer, so if you want to start counting somewhere other than the beginning the movie, you're screwed. so do this:

zeroValue = getTimer();
//make sure this isn't in your timer loop or it'll keep initializing. so put it in a load script or a separate frame script. then say:
if (getTimer() >= zeroValue + 20 *1000) {
whatever;
}

the 20 is how many seconds you want to count and the *1000 converts it to milliseconds.

hope that helps
-n

Try this in a movie clip...


mydate = new Date();

sec = mydate.getSeconds();
x = sec;

//have the above coding played once


sec = mydate.getSeconds();
if(x >= sec + 20)
{
gotoandPlay(scene 2, 1);
}

//have the above code work indefinetly

eh? eh?

Quote:

---

Originally posted by jseinfield
Try this in a movie clip...


mydate = new Date();

sec = mydate.getSeconds();
x = sec + 20;

//have the above coding played once


sec = mydate.getSeconds();
if(sec >= x)
{
gotoandPlay(scene 2, 1);
}

//have the above code work indefinetly

eh? eh?

---

whoops little error :).

well well....its bit simple..

okie put the your 10 frames movie clip on the stage.

now make the one empty mc and put it on the stage.

Now put the following action on the empty mc action :

Code:

---

onClipEvent(enterFrame){
this.timecount = getTimer()/1000;
this.timecount = parseInt(this.timecount);
if(timecount >= 20) {
// put the action over here for to goto next scene.
}
}

---

Urrmmm.. Hi drkknght...

Guess the method i described using the timecount works. I think u are still in trouble maybe because of where the script should be placed. Perhaps its the placement.

rock22k's one seems the best... so good luck in figuring out where u place your script..

Hope I had helped.....:)

Good Luck

Quote:

---

Originally posted by jseinfield

Quote:

---

Originally posted by jseinfield
Try this in a movie clip...

---

mydate = new Date();

sec = mydate.getSeconds();
x = sec + 20;

//have the above coding played once


sec = mydate.getSeconds();
if(sec >= x)
{
gotoandPlay(scene 2, 1);
}

//have the above code work indefinetly

eh? eh?

---

this won't work for the simple reason that getSeconds() returns a value of 0-60 then resets. if getSeconds() returns 45, 20 seconds later getSeconds() will = 5 but your script will be waiting for 65.

so getTimer() is the way to go.
[Edited by nicholas.w on 02-08-2002 at 10:48 AM]

Quote:

---

Originally posted by rock22k

Code:

---

onClipEvent(enterFrame){
this.timecount = getTimer()/1000;
this.timecount = parseInt(this.timecount);
if(timecount >= 20) {
// put the action over here for to goto next scene.
}
}

---

---

this won't work either because what if you don't use this script until somewhere in the middle of your project? getTimer() will *always* be > 20. And even if this is used at the very beginning of your movie, it might take 20 seconds to load your movie, by which time getTImer() will be way past 20 before your script begins to run. so, i still recommend my method:

onClipEvent(load) {
zeroValue = getTimer();
}

onClipEvent(enterFrame) {
if (getTimer() >= zeroValue + 20 *1000) {
// do whatever here;
}


[Edited by nicholas.w on 02-08-2002 at 10:46 AM]

That is why you put it in a movie clip, you can tell that to play whenever you want.

That was just the fast version off the top of my head, you can debug that easily, I just thought yours was a little confusing and put in some other option for the kid

Quote:

---

Originally posted by jseinfield
That is why you put it in a movie clip, you can tell that to play whenever you want.

---

yes, but getTimer() starts immediately when flash begins to play. So testing for getTimer() >=20 isn't going to work anywhere but the very, very beginning and even then the chances of your code running before 20 seconds has elapsed or even begun is very slim. At best you'd have a counter which is halfway to 20 before it should be, but most probably it will already be past 20 and there won't be a delay at all.

or in the case of getSeconds(), it won't work at all for the reasons in my previous post

Quote:

---

That was just the fast version off the top of my head, you can debug that easily, I just thought yours was a little confusing and put in some other option for the kid

---

confusing? it's five lines... plus it works:

onClipEvent(load) {
zeroValue = getTimer();
}

onClipEvent(enterFrame) {
if (getTimer() >= zeroValue + 20 *1000) {
// do whatever here;
}
}
[Edited by nicholas.w on 02-08-2002 at 11:01 PM]

i dont know how the stuff the guys said doesnt work for you. All those ways work, but if you want the easiest, it would be IMO to make a blank movieclip that has blank frames in it except the last frame which says "go to and play" your scene that you want.

If you want approximately 20 sec, and your running your animation at 18 Fps, then just make a movie clip with 360 frames in it (18fps * 20sec). When it reaches frame 360, appx. 20 sec will have elapsed and you can have it send you to the next scene. This would be your timer i guess.

Of course this may be the easyest but also the one with least control. GetTimer is a better solution for exact measurements.

Anyway Gl with it, let us know what happens.

wuhoo!!

heya guys... cant thank you all enough for the help!!! ill start messing around with these more tonight.

unfortunately, my first test runs this afternoon didnt go so well (i have a feeling my own code in the scene itself on the other items is conflicting... more than likely cuz the playhead is already scrolling form frame 2-10, then jumping back to 2 again, over and over).

anyway, just wanted to make sure i thanked you all for your help, regardless of if it works -- its definitley appreciated!!!!!

Don't act stupid, quantity doesn't make something less confusing! Especially in a computer language!

Mine doesn't use miliseconds mine uses actual seconds, I think that is a little bit less confusing, plus one can activate it anytime one wants with simple tricks of a movie clip.

I know yours works, that is not what coding is all about. That is not what this logic is all about. This logic is about having many ways to figure a problem, as I said before I was giving the kid another option to enhance the subject and to enhance the logic of the situation.

Plus, I don't think you know what my code does exactly. Maybe you should review it again, it is posted up higher :) .

Quote:

---

Originally posted by jseinfield
Don't act stupid, quantity doesn't make something less confusing! Especially in a computer language!

Mine doesn't use miliseconds mine uses actual seconds, I think that is a little bit less confusing, plus one can activate it anytime one wants with simple tricks of a movie clip.

I know yours works, that is not what coding is all about. That is not what this logic is all about. This logic is about having many ways to figure a problem, as I said before I was giving the kid another option to enhance the subject and to enhance the logic of the situation.

Plus, I don't think you know what my code does exactly. Maybe you should review it again, it is posted up higher :) .

---

Heeeey, peace brother. you don't have to call someone stupid just because they're correcting your code, i'm just trying to point out that your script is flawed. also, quantity *does* mean something in a computer language. the less lines of code it has to process, the more efficient it runs. i understand exactly what your script does, so let me explain to you why it won't work all of the time. here is your code:

mydate = new Date();
sec = mydate.getSeconds();
x = sec + 20;
//have the above coding played once

sec = mydate.getSeconds();
if(sec >= x)
{
gotoandPlay(scene 2, 1);
}

Your code calls the internal computer's clock and queries the seconds. However, that will only return a number from 0 to 59, because the seconds roll over to 0 as the minute is increased by 1. So if the first part of your script is invoked while the seconds are at 45... x will equal 65 because 45 + 20 = 65. But whenever you check mydate.getSeconds() it will never be 65, at that point it will be returning 5 because it ROLLS OVER the minute and begins again at 0. Get it? Your script will be hung up looking for 65 and never progressing. Have you ever seen a watch with a second hand that counts to 65? So what's so hard about getTimer()? I do not think having to count in milliseconds is very confusing at all. It's very simple math. Is 20 * 1000 that confusing to you? but hey, let's all chill and have fun with this, no need to get ruffled over it :) .

[Edited by nicholas.w on 02-09-2002 at 03:40 AM]