Setting Flash and Shockwave movie properties

To ensure the best results in both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, Dreamweaver inserts Flash and Shockwave movies using both the object and embed tags. (The object tag is defined by Microsoft for ActiveX controls; embed is defined by Netscape Navigator for plug-ins.) To view the following properties in the Property inspector, select a Flash SWF file or a Shockwave movie. For more information, see Inserting and modifying a Flash button object and Inserting Shockwave movies.

To see all Flash SWF file properties, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner of the Property inspector.

Name specifies a name to identify the movie for scripting. Enter a name in the unlabeled text box on the far left side of the Property inspector.

W and H specify the width and height of the movie, in pixels.

File specifies the path to the Flash or Shockwave file. Click the folder icon to browse to a file, or type a path.

Src specifies the path to a Flash source document (FLA), when Dreamweaver and Flash are both installed on your computer. To edit a Flash file (SWF), you update the movie’s source document.

Edit lets you start Flash to update a FLA file. This button is disabled if you do not have Flash loaded on your computer. For information about editing an inserted Flash SWF file, see Editing Flash content in Dreamweaver.

Reset Size returns the selected movie to its original size.

Loop, when selected, makes the movie play continuously; when unchecked, the movie plays once and stops.

Autoplay, when selected, automatically plays the movie when the page loads.

V Space and H Space specify the number of pixels of white space above, below, and on both sides of the movie.

Quality controls anti-aliasing during playback of the movie. A movie looks better with a high setting, but it requires a faster processor to render correctly on the screen. Low emphasizes speed over appearance, whereas High favors appearance over speed. Auto Low emphasizes speed at first, but improves appearance when possible. Auto High emphasizes both qualities at first, but sacrifices appearance for speed if necessary.

Scale determines how the movie fits into the dimensions set in the width and height text boxes. The Default setting displays the entire movie.

No Border fits the movie into the set dimensions so that no borders show and maintains the original aspect ratio.

Exact Fit scales the movie to the set dimensions, regardless of the aspect ratio.

Align determines how the movie is aligned on the page. For a description of each align option, see Aligning an image.

Bg specifies a background color for the movie area. This color also appears while the movie is not playing (while loading and after playing).

Parameters opens a dialog box for entering additional parameters to pass to the movie. For more information about adding or deleting parameters, see Using parameters to control media objects. The movie must be designed to receive these additional parameters.