Docked Panels always on top of movies?

[BradLee]

I've been using Flash CS3 for a week or so now and I really like it. There is just one thing that I find annoying.

When I test a movie in Flash, any docked panels always show on top of the movie. This makes it very difficult to work with traces and the like as the output panel automatically pops-up and covers up part of the movie.

I've been unable to find any option for disabling this.

This only seems to happen with docked panels, floating panels don't seem to cover up the movie.

[BradLee]

So is it that nobody else has had this problem? Or is it that nobody knows how to change it?

[sarahelizabeth]

that sounds really weird, i've never seen that happen. what os are you on?

[BradLee]

Windows XP... And it's not just my PC. All the PCs in our office with Flash CS3 installed have EXACTLY the same problem.

[540media]

I had the same problem with flash 8 on windows xp home, but on my other machine with xp pro its was fine, never worked out what caused it, probably something really basic

[BradLee]

Never had this problem with Flash 8. Just started when installed CS3. I'm working on the exact same movie as I was in Flash 8 too. Of course, it's not just that movie that does it. It's EVERY movie. And like I said, it's not isolated to my computer. Every machine we've installed Flash CS3 on at work has done the exact same thing.

I've been unable to find anything about this.

[sarahelizabeth]

:( sorry, i'm a mac person...

[hybrid101]

errr...flash 8 never had that problem too. tried reinstalling?

[BradLee]

Since it's happened on 4 different computers, I don't think that reinstalling would help.

One of my coworkers noticed that it started when clicked off the program and did something else (like using a web browser) while a moving was being published. When he came back, the docked panels were stuck always on top of the movie. There doesn't seem to be a way to fix this.

[joshchernoff]

go to preferences and set docks to auto hide ;)

::edit:::
or get your self a dual monitor set up.

[BradLee]

This probably seems to occur randomly, as it worked properly for a good portion of yesterday, but messed up later in the day. It seems to have something to do with hiding the program while a movie is being published.

I'll let you guys (and possibly Adobe) know if I figure out what exactly is causing this issue.

[jimhere]

Actually people (Win and Mac) have been complaining about Adobe's new Panel system for CS3 because it's too intrusive. I hate in in Photoshop for the reason you stated -- it gets in the way of the actual work.

[loudstone]

I know this thread is almost a year old, but I finally found a solution for this. So, hopefully someone will find this useful.

Download a program called DeskPins: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/Other-Desktop-Enhancements/DeskPins.shtml

This is a free program that allows you to make a window stay on top of other windows. Normally, when you use it on a window, a little pin image appears in the title bar (near the minimize button). Now, try using it on Flash CS3. Now, if you test a movie (or already have a movie playing), it's back on top! If you remove the pin (by clicking on it in Flash's title bar), it will still work fine. After this, you can completely exit out of DeskPins, to no ill effect.

I don't know why it works, I can only assume some internal window setting has gotten corrupted, and this resets it. It will persist through Flash being closed and restarted (though I have yet to reboot).

A warning, however: using DeskPins on Flash again will reset the behaviour. It's not a big deal, the third time through (remove the pin before you try to add it again) will fix it once more.

I hope this helps someone!

Update: The bad news is I had the problem show back up. The good news is that I now know how to reproduce this problem (and how to avoid it), and that this solution seems to work every time.

If you switch to another app window while Flash is in the middle of publishing your movie, you'll notice the panels dissappear (maybe it's not every time, but it has done it consistently for me). When you switch back to Flash, the panels will reappear over the newly published movie.

Now bust out DeskPins, and flash can be back to normal in seconds.