Release notes information about Flash 4.0 release version.
Specific information about the Players included with Flash 4 can be found in the Readme document in the Player folder in the Flash 4 folder.
You can leave
Flash 3 installed with Flash 4 but, you may wish to uninstall Flash 3 before installing
Flash 4.
To uninstall Flash 3 on Windows, select Flash 3 from Add/Remove Programs.
Start Menu>Settings>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs.
To uninstall
on Macintosh, move the entire Flash 3 folder to the trash. Do make sure you haven't
saved any of your Flash movies into the Flash 3 folder before you empty the trash.
You cannot open a Flash 4 file in Flash 3 due to the many new features in Flash 4. You can export your Flash 4 Flash movie as a Flash 2 or 3 movie. (Flash Java Player requires Flash 2 version movies.) Once you open and save your FLA file in Flash 4, you will not be able to use it in the Flash 3 editor.
To export a Flash 4 movie as an older version:
The Flash 4 authoring tool is not compatible with the Developer Studio Extensions for Macromedia Generator version 1. You should not attempt to install the Generator version 1 Extensions into the Flash 4 application. You can continue to use the Flash 3 authoring tool to create template files for Generator 1. Contact Macromedia for information on upgrading to Generator 2.
Working with large audio files can require large amounts of memory. In order to import a sound the entire file must fit into memory. For example, a 62MB sound file needs an unused 62MB block of memory. If you don't have enough memory, your system may become very slow or behave unpredictably. If your files are too large, reduce the sample rate or remove the stereo information with your sound editor.
Load
Movie action: If you are trying to load a movie, make sure the movie is in
the same folder as the parent movie.
Update
Use Counts
Use Counts are the number of times a Library element is used
in your Flash editor document. The use count is listed in a column in your library
window along with information such as size and date modified. Use Count does not
appear for Flash documents that are opened as Library, by either using the Open
as Library command or opening from the Library pull down in the title bar.
The
library's use count tracking feature can sometimes slow down the opening of a
document, depending on the document's complexity. To minimize this problem, two
commands have been added to the library's Options menu. They are: "Keep Use
Counts Up To Date" and "Update Use Counts Now"
Keep Use Counts
Up To Date: The "Keep Use Counts Up To Date" command is a check marked toggle
that turns on and off the library's use count tracking feature. The "Keep Use
Counts Up To Date" command is always available and its state is remembered when
the document is saved. When "Keep Use Counts Up To Date" is on (check marked),
the library will automatically keep the use counts of library items up to date.
If "Keep Use Counts Up To Date" is off, use counts are not updated.
Note:
Even when "Keep Use Counts Up To Date" is off, any use counts that have already
been calculated will be accurate. If the usage of an item is changed while "Keep
Use Counts Up To Date" is off, the use count entry of that item will be a "-".
Update
Use Counts Now: The "Update Use Counts Now" command is available only when
"Keep Use Counts Up To Date" is off. Choosing the "Update Use Counts Now" will
trigger an update of the use counts for every item in the library. The "Update
Use Counts Now" command is not available when "Keep Use Counts Up To Date" is
on since use counts are already being constantly updated.
Be sure to use the latest version of QuickTime 4, available on http://quicktime.apple.com. Publishing a QuickTime movie that is already open in the browser may cause publish to fail. Close the QuickTime movie in the browser before trying to publish.
Rendering
Problems with Macintosh G3 Blue & Whites with ATI Video Card:There is a known
conflict with the ATI Graphics Accelerator extension, version 3.7.9 and Flash.
This conflict can cause rendering issues when drawing in the Flash editor. For
example, black and white boxes might fill the stage when the pencil tool is used.
A refresh of the screen (such as hiding and redisplaying the application window)
will clear any lingering redraw effects, but they may appear again upon further
use of the drawing tools.
For more information about this issue see the technote
on: http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/ati_ga_conflict.htm
When
using the FSCommand or JavaScript to control the Flash 4 plug-in in Netscape Navigator,
you must add the setting swliveconnect=true to the Embed tag. By
default, the swliveconnect flag is set to false so that the Flash 4 plug-in does
not need to load Java. This makes accessing Flash web pages much faster for Netscape
Navigator 4 users.
Problems opening
PC created files on a Macintosh: Double-clicking on a FLA file created on
a PC will not open the file on Macintosh. This is due to differences between the
PC and Macintosh operating systems. There are several ways to correct this:
| Type | Creator | |
|---|---|---|
| FLA files (editor) | SPA<space> | MFL2 |
| SWF files (player) | SWFL | SWF2 |
In the example, <space> represents the space bar character.
POST and Internet Explorer for Macintosh: The POST operation in the Load Movie and Get URL action is unsupported on Internet Explorer for Macintosh.
Internet Explorer on Macintosh: To use Internet Explorer 3.0 or above on a Macintosh to view any SWF type files stored locally either:
Macromedia Flash Newsgroup: This is an open forum for users to discuss
technical issues and share helpful techniques using Flash. More information about
Macromedia newsgroups can be found at: http://www.macromedia.com/support/general/ts/documents/tn3535-newsgroupfaq.html
Additional Support: Additional information about Flash 4 such as learning tips, support, technical notes, and updates can be found online: http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash