13.1 Animate object

This action event allows you to dynamically animate an object. This is a very powerful action event which can be used for many different purposes. For example, you can scroll an object, rotate it, scale it, change its transparency and tint settings, or all of this together.

The basic idea behind this action event is that you specify how the object should be animated and how many frames the animation sequence should have. For example, if you want to create an animation sequence that moves an object 100 pixels to the left, and you define that the animation sequence should use 50 frames, then the result will be that Hollywood Designer moves your object two pixels to the left per frame.

The following options are currently supported:

‘Move’

Here you can specify values for moving the object. You can specify separate values for the x and y axes. Please note that these values are delta values, i.e. they are relative to the current position of the object. If you enter "100" for x, the object will be moved 100 pixels to the right starting from the current position of the object. If you enter "-100" for x, the object will be moved 100 pixels to the left starting from the current position.

‘Scale’

Here you can specify how the object should be scaled. If you don't want scaling, set both fields to 1 (= identity). If you want scaling, the new size must be expressed as floating point values relative to the current size of the object. A value smaller than 1.0 shrinks the object, a value greater than 1.0 enlarges the object, a value of 1.0 means no change. 0.0 and negative values are not allowed. You can specify separate scaling values for the x and y axes. An example: A value of 2.0 on the x axis, and a value of 0.5 on the y axis would mean the following: Enlarge the object by 200% on the x axis and shrink the object to 50% of its size on the y axis. This will of course generate a distorted image. Normally, you will want to use identical values for both axes.

‘Texture scroll’

These two fields can be used to scroll the texture on objects that use a texture filling.

‘Rotate’

This field allows you to specify by how many degrees the object should be rotated. The value you enter here is relative to the current rotation angle of the object. A positive value rotates in anti-clockwise direction, a negative value rotates in clockwise direction. If you don't want any rotation, set this field to 0.

‘Transparency level’

Here you can set the desired transparency level for the object. This is useful for fade effects during the animation sequence.

‘Tint level’

Here you can set the desired tinting level for the object. This is useful for blending effects during the animation sequence.

‘Tint color’

Here you can set the desired tinting color for the object. This is useful for blending effects during the animation sequence.

‘Frames’

Here you have to enter the number of frames for this animation sequence. The more frames you enter here, the longer your animation sequence will run.

‘Frame delay’

This field allows you to specify the number of milliseconds that Hollywood Designer should delay after each frame. Set this to 0 for no delay.

‘Passive’

If you select this checkbox, the animation sequence won't run on its own. Instead, it is automatically started when another, non-passive animation sequence gets started. When setting this checkbox, you will normally also want to set the animation sequence to asynchronous mode. Otherwise you are likely to end up in a deadlock.

‘Synchronization’

This cycle widget allows you to specify if the animation sequence should be displayed synchronously or asynchronously. Synchronous means that the project execution is halted until the animation sequence has finished playing while asynchronous mode continues immediately.

‘Identifier’

This widget allows you to assign a UID to this animation sequence. This UID must be unique inside the range of the current page. You only need a UID if you want to stop an animation sequence using the Stop animate object action event or if you want to wait for an animation sequence using the Wait animate object action event.

For most fields it is also possible to enter variable names instead of numeric constants here. It is even possible to enter complete expressions like "x+1" or function calls for maximum flexibility.