Flash extensions

Welcome to this new section. As with Dreamweaver, Macromedia's Flash can be extended with add-ons, a large number of which are available from the Macromedia web site.

On this page are some Flash extensions of my own. They are all simple libraries of primitive shapes. One of the slight problems with Flash is that it does not come with very many inbuilt shapes, and not being designed as a drawing program, doesn't make it that easy to draw more. The shapes here were all produced using the package Xara X, exported from that program in Shockwave format, then imported into Flash and resaved as a native Flash (.fla) file.

Extension set #1: Polygons

These four extensions contains regular polygons with 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12 sides. Each set is provided with straight and curved edges; two sets are outline shapes, while the other two are the same shapes but solid filled. The first two sets have sharp angles while the second two have rounded corners.

Download extensions:

Polygons #1 (outline, sharp angles)
Polygons #2 (filled, sharp angles)
Polygons #3 (outline, rounded corners)
Polygons #4 (filled, rounded corners)

All these extensions are installed in the usual way with the Extension Manager, and the libraries will be placed in the Flash\Libraries folder.

Extension set #2: Stars

These five extensions include star shapes with different numbers of points. Each set includes stars with very acute angles, leading to thin, narrow points, and a set with much less acute angles giving shorter, wider points. There are two sets (outline and filled) with sharp angles, and two with rounded angles. The fifth set contains filled stars which have been 'twisted' through about 45 degrees, which gives them a useful rolling appearance when animated and rotated.

Download extensions:

Stars #1 (outline, sharp angles)
Stars #2 (filled, sharp angles)
Stars #3 (outline, rounded corners)
Stars #4 (filled, rounded corners)
Stars #5 (filled, twisted stars)

Page last updated: March 14th 2004