My brain is made of honey. In my previous post on lmc_tween. I wrote I would explore ways of getting lmc_tween working in Flash 8 which did not require installing the extension.

The obvious solution that came to me five minutes after posting is to stick all the lmc_tween classes into a directory and include it in your classpath.

Disclaimer: I recommend this method only for working with old code that uses lmc_tween. For new projects I strongly suggest you use Fuse Kit instead.

1. Go to the lmc_tween site.
2. Scroll down to the “Ziped version” (sic), and download version 120. Direct link. (lmc_tween is no longer in development, this is the last version).
3. Extract the downloaded file and copy the new directory to your source folder.
4. Somewhere inside your code you should have

   #include "lmc_tween.as".

   You need to modify this to point to the new source directory. For instance I renamed the extracted directory “lmc_tween”, so my line changes to

   #include "lmc_tween/lmc_tween.as".

5. Add your lmc_tween directory to your FLA’s classpath:
   File > Publish Settings > Flash Next to ActionScript version select the Settings... button and add your extracted directory to the list of classpaths.

6. If you have previously installed the lmc_tween extension, you can disable it now by selecting:

   Help > Manage Extensions

   And untick the box next to Movieclip Tweening Prototypes. You will have to restart Flash.

Now you, and anyone else who works on this project, will be able to compile it without the installing extensions and overwriting Macromedia’s core classes.

Happy Minor Edits!

Update 2007/05/23: I’ve found a better way of dealing with legacy lmc_tween code.

Maybe a little harsh, it’s definitely frustrating though.

Since I started my new job in November I have had to deal with legacy code left behind by the previous Flash developer.

I’m not one for working with another’s code to start with. I always get an itch to redo from scratch about a quarter of the way in, but time waits for no redevelopment. I end up hacking at code till it limps in the right direction.

The previous developer had a taste for lmc_tween.

One of lmc_tween’s pitfalls is that in order to use it to extend MovieClips you need to replace Macromedia’s core classes. Which means every person in the workflow who has to work with it needs to know about this, and mess with their core classes. This leaves me feeling uneasy.

Of course the previous developer extended his MovieClips in every project — it’s a natural way of working with objects.

And of course the above method works only in Flash MX 2004. Flash 8 just spits out errors and does no tweens. I have always managed to work my way around this, but tonight I decided to find a proper solution.

After lots of googling I found a very simple answer. Put the location of the two classes you need to replace in your class path:

Preferences > ActionScript > ActionScript 2.0 Settings

C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash 8\en\Configuration\Shared\zigo

This way your core classes remain untainted and the tweens bounce about happily.

This does not help the designers on their Macs, though. I’m going to investigate the possibility of not having to install the extension. Trying to explain to client how to install lmc_tween over the phone is an enriching exercise.

If you’re looking for programmatic tweens — the newer and friendlier Fuse Kit reigns supreme at the moment. It uses the same Zigo engine and Penner tweens as lmc_tween.

You do not have to install the extension, just place the classes in your source directory and import the classes normally. That way you can package the Fuse classes with the project anyone who comes into contact with it can build it without jumping through any hoops.

It can do more than that though, Fuse is a sequencer…