User Object

Creating User Objects

Here is a guide for you to create your own composition objects:

1. You can use any of the following media formats to prepare your artwork or animation in any way you want:

Static image formats: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PCT, TIFF, PSD (Photoshop) and TGA.

Movie formats: SWF (Flash), QuickTime, AVI, and MPEG.

Note: SWF format is generally preferred for scene objects because of its scalable vector graphics and versatility for animation. While SWF is defined as a "movie" object, you can always use it to play a still image (taking advantage of its ability to publish vector graphics).

2. Set the dimension of your object to 166px (width) by 162px (height). You may, however, use any other size or aspect ratio you prefer for your objects. But to prevent distortion of your bounding box controls and for optimum object maneuverability, you'd be better off staying close to the size and aspect ratio we recommend.

3. For SWF file, place your object (animated or still) at the center and within the confine of the recommended dimension (166px by 162px). Depending on your design, your Flash object usually works better without a background underneath.

Tip: If you'd like your Flash object to be cycle animated (e.g., a running cycle of a character), simply place your animation "Graphics" at the root level and add the following action to the last frame of your movie:

gotoAndPlay(1);

4. Now locate the directory where you installed your Comixware. In it, find a sub-folder called "elements" inside of "user" folder. Place your object file(s) in there. The next time you launch Comixware, voila, thumbnail(s) of your object(s) will show up in "user" bin (tag 5 of Scene Asset Bin) and ready for access.

Note: Comixware creates user thumbnail for you on-the-fly, dynamically drawing picture from the first frame of your user object.

5. There is a sample Flash user object file come with your Comixware package. Look for an empty Flash source file named "sampleObject.fla" in your "elements" folder. Use it as template for creating your own user object files.

6. The way to use your own scene assets is exactly the same as using our supplied assets. You simply drag and drop your objects onto COMPOSE stage and adjust their parameters as you would with other Comixware assets. Please note that the 'color' selection tool is not available for user objects, only the 'alpha' adjustment is.

7. A word of caution: depending on your system, objects contain fat soundtracks and/or heavy graphics could impair your Comixware performance. Just like in the case for user clips, we generally recommend converting your MPEG objects to QuickTime or AVI format for better performance.