Many users have asked how to do a 3-D scroll into the distance text effect as seen in some very popular science fiction movies. Although scrolling text is reasonably easy to achieve, it is far more difficult to give it the 3-D look as seen in the movies. We have done all the work for you and produced a component that you can simply drag onto the stage.

This component will work with Max3 and MiniMax3 with build dates of 20090904 or later, and although the component is not included with the 20090904 build’s installer, it can be download here.

After downloading it, extract both files within the zip file to:

C:\Program Files\SWiSH Max3\Components\Text display

Note that the exact location may be different depending on where you installed Max3, or MiniMax3.

The component will also be included with future versions of Max3 and MiniMax3 within the Text display component group. The component requires Flash 8 or later because of its use of filters.

As the component is authored almost entirely with scripting and it contains no images or complex shapes, it is quick to load and could be used as a preloader displaying introductory text while the main part of your movie continues to download. Personally, I would rather read something (almost anything) than watch a progress bar while waiting for a site to load.  Note that that this component does not wait for the full movie to be loaded before proceeding. If used in this way, it is recommended that it progresses to a standard preloader scene on completion.

The parameters available for this component are shown below.

The text that was entered in the example is shown below:

"BLOCK BUSTER SCROLL"

Join the red carpet for
the Max3 premiere of
this new component.

Give your movies that
big screen feel with this
new Max3 component.

Simply drag it onto your
stage and alter the text
to your requirements. 

Colors as well as fonts
can be customised via
the parameters panel.

The effect can be
configured to repeat,
start automatically or
wait until started by
an event that occurs
within your movie.

Progress to a scene
or specific frame on
completion of the effect
can also be configured.

Note that each line of text is placed into a fixed size text block. If the text block is not big enough to hold the entire line, the text will be truncated. It is possible to alter the width of the text block via the Width parameter. Alternatively, select a smaller font size. Note that the width of the text block will affect how much the characters slope in towards the center.

If the Initial Pause parameter is set causing the component not to automatically display the text, the display can be started using the script command:

BlockBusterScroll.gotoAndPlay(“ShowText”);

Where BlockBusterScroll is the name of the component movie clip.

If an events function is defined by the Event Function parameter, then that function will be called with the parameters name, true when the scroll process is complete. Name is the movie clip name and true is a boolean value and will always be true. The 2nd parameter allows the same events function to be shared with other components that may assume a 2nd parameter.

Alternatively, a Scene can be defined by the Goto Scene parameter. If a scene is defined, then the movie will progress to the nominated scene / frame (or label) on completion of the scroll process.

Note that if a label is used, then the defined scene is ignored as labels are assumed to be unique within a movie (ie. progressing to a specified label can jump across scenes.)

I think that covers the major aspects of this new component. I hope you enjoy using it.

Tags: 3D, components, Max3, miniMax3, scroller

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Max3, components, miniMax3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.