R – Actionscript 3 animation using png’s, reload or hide

actionscript-3animation

using flash and actionscript 3 I want to use a lot of png's as animation. I currently use a Loader object to load these images. But now I am wondering what the best way would be to show these animations:

Every time a have to show a new png, I could use the loader to load it, just having one loader:

var image:Loader = new Loader();

And using this function everytime a new image is used as part of the animation:

image.load(new URLRequest(location));

I could also create dozens of loaders, one for every image, and hide every loader except the one that I want shown. When I want to animation to continue, I hide the current one and show the next one. This would mean creating A LOT of Loader objects.

Which way would be the best? Or is there a third even better way to do this?

Best Answer

The Flash IDE's main purpose is precisely this... I know many people hate it to develop, and with good reasons, but I really think that the ideal tool for animating in Flash is the Flash IDE.

The Setup

Let's start by getting us a nice "loading" animation from http://ajaxload.info I'll be using enter image description here

Let's create an element that we can show/hide anytime we're making an ajax request:

<div class="modal"><!-- Place at bottom of page --></div>

The CSS

Next let's give it some flair:

/* Start by setting display:none to make this hidden.
   Then we position it in relation to the viewport window
   with position:fixed. Width, height, top and left speak
   for themselves. Background we set to 80% white with
   our animation centered, and no-repeating */
.modal {
    display:    none;
    position:   fixed;
    z-index:    1000;
    top:        0;
    left:       0;
    height:     100%;
    width:      100%;
    background: rgba( 255, 255, 255, .8 ) 
                url('http://i.stack.imgur.com/FhHRx.gif') 
                50% 50% 
                no-repeat;
}

/* When the body has the loading class, we turn
   the scrollbar off with overflow:hidden */
body.loading .modal {
    overflow: hidden;   
}

/* Anytime the body has the loading class, our
   modal element will be visible */
body.loading .modal {
    display: block;
}

And finally, the jQuery

Alright, on to the jQuery. This next part is actually really simple:

$body = $("body");

$(document).on({
    ajaxStart: function() { $body.addClass("loading");    },
     ajaxStop: function() { $body.removeClass("loading"); }    
});

That's it! We're attaching some events to the body element anytime the ajaxStart or ajaxStop events are fired. When an ajax event starts, we add the "loading" class to the body. and when events are done, we remove the "loading" class from the body.

See it in action: http://jsfiddle.net/VpDUG/4952/

Android: Expand/collapse animation

I see that this question became popular so I post my actual solution. The main advantage is that you don't have to know the expanded height to apply the animation and once the view is expanded, it adapts height if content changes. It works great for me.

public static void expand(final View v) {
    int matchParentMeasureSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(((View) v.getParent()).getWidth(), View.MeasureSpec.EXACTLY);
    int wrapContentMeasureSpec = View.MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(0, View.MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED);
    v.measure(matchParentMeasureSpec, wrapContentMeasureSpec);
    final int targetHeight = v.getMeasuredHeight();

    // Older versions of android (pre API 21) cancel animations for views with a height of 0.
    v.getLayoutParams().height = 1;
    v.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
    Animation a = new Animation()
    {
        @Override
        protected void applyTransformation(float interpolatedTime, Transformation t) {
            v.getLayoutParams().height = interpolatedTime == 1
                    ? LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
                    : (int)(targetHeight * interpolatedTime);
            v.requestLayout();
        }

        @Override
        public boolean willChangeBounds() {
            return true;
        }
    };

    // Expansion speed of 1dp/ms
    a.setDuration((int)(targetHeight / v.getContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics().density));
    v.startAnimation(a);
}

public static void collapse(final View v) {
    final int initialHeight = v.getMeasuredHeight();

    Animation a = new Animation()
    {
        @Override
        protected void applyTransformation(float interpolatedTime, Transformation t) {
            if(interpolatedTime == 1){
                v.setVisibility(View.GONE);
            }else{
                v.getLayoutParams().height = initialHeight - (int)(initialHeight * interpolatedTime);
                v.requestLayout();
            }
        }

        @Override
        public boolean willChangeBounds() {
            return true;
        }
    };

    // Collapse speed of 1dp/ms
    a.setDuration((int)(initialHeight / v.getContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics().density));
    v.startAnimation(a);
}

As mentioned by @Jefferson in the comments, you can obtain a smoother animation by changing the duration (and hence the speed) of the animation. Currently, it has been set at a speed of 1dp/ms

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Jquery – How to create a “Please Wait, Loading…” animation using jQuery

The Setup

The CSS

And finally, the jQuery

Android: Expand/collapse animation

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