# Flash MX movie clip symbols won't play!



## RMFOberon (Aug 22, 2004)

I'm having trouble getting movie clips to play when they are imported as symbols into another movie.

This is exactly what I'm doing, but the damn movie clip never plays.
Step by step, here is what I'm doing, just as a test:
1) Open new .fla file
2) Ctrl+F8 (Create new symbol), call it symbol 1, make it a movie clip.
3) draw a rectangle and group it so you can add motion tweens.
4) Add a 15 frame motion tween from left of stage to right.
5) Hit play and watch it move.
6) Step out into main movie using the links just above the stage.
7) Drag a copy of the symbol from the library onto stage.
8) Add a 15 frame motion tween to the symbol, going from top of stage to bottom.
- Now if I hit play I want the rectangle to move in a diagonal line, since it should have two motion tweens acting on it - one on the main stage and one in its own timeline.

9) Hit play and then curse as the rectangle moves from top to bottom only - no sideways movement. What gives?


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

Try the test video or control enter.
Also, if you are importing clips it may not be quite compatable. Are they both the same. The latest goods are in Flash MX Professional 2004 7.02


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## RMFOberon (Aug 22, 2004)

OK - that seems to work. Which is good, but also bad. WHY DOES FLASH NOT PLAY THE CLIP IN NORMAL PREVIEW MODE??!!! Also, WHY DO NONE OF THE BOOKS I HAVE TELL ME YOU HAVE TO USE TEST VIDEO!!! </rant>
Bloody computers.....


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

Yes. But there is a reason. In the normal preview mode as you are working on it. Playing the movie from the normal timeline will only play the main timeline, not the movie clips. You have to view the full preview to play both clips. Remember the trick involves really two movies.
Oh, and i don't pay for my flash knowledge. I don't get books. I read free faqs online.


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## RMFOberon (Aug 22, 2004)

I would have thought most people would want to see the preview with all the timelines running, since that is the end effect. It's not an especially useful preview if it dosn't represent what the movie eventually looks like. What if you want to line things on other layers up to parts of your movie clip symbol as it plays/moves around?

Books on Flash, or indeed computing in general are 30 quid a throw most of the time, but I know a bookshop where you can buy rejects for a fiver each. They are perfectly good books but just with the odd typo that you will never find in all its thousands of pages, or with a bend in the cover or something.


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## I Fix 4 U (Jul 19, 2004)

Yeah, well the timeline for the movie does not represent that of the movie clips, because they have their own. It would be harder to quickly render it w/ all the other main timeline tweens etc that a pro video would have. Most people would just choose the preview file instead of viewing from flash stage itself.


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