Load Movie

Load Movie loads a new SWF into the Flash player. This feature can be used to string together multiple SWF files. Because the project is broken up into multiple movies, the individual SWF files are smaller in size. Smaller files load faster, and manage memory more efficiently.

Flash can play multiple timelines simultaneously. Each timeline is assigned a level. The main timeline is always Level0. Level0 sets the frame rate, background color and frame size for all the other loaded movies. Additional timelines load into higher numbered levels and are displayed in a stacking order with level0 being the bottom-most level. When using the Load Movie action, a level must be specified, to define where the SWF will be loaded. If loading one movie only, any level 1 or higher will work fine.

A movie can also be loaded into level0. This will replace the contents of the main timeline with the loaded movie. This is an effective method of stringing multiple SWF files together in a continuously running show.

If the loaded movie is loaded into a level, it is positioned relative to the upper left corner of the movie that loaded it.

Using relative paths with load movie can be confusing. Since any timeline can perform a load movie action, what path is the movie being loaded relative to? Is it relative to the main timeline at _level0? Or is it relative to the timeline that performed the Load Movie action? The answer is simple: Loaded Movies are always relative to the timeline that loaded them.