Before we start, you should have a file (a media clip) such as a movie clip encoded or setup to be encoded by Flix.

Before we begin, there is a small clarification I'd like to make. In this page, we will be referring to tabs. You may be unfamiliar with what I may be  referring to, see the image below for the 4 tabs:

The 4 tabs: File, SWF, Audio, Video

Customizing The Animation To Hyperlink:

Under the default "File" tab, you should see a check box and box that say "Link". When you check the box, you can enter a URL to open in the user's browser. See image below:

You can modify some more settings for the URL to display on the user's browser. Under "Target", you can specify the new page that you linked to to either:

• _blank
  This is by far the most used target path for animations in Flash. This will open up the URL in a new browser window. A great way to link to another site while keeping the visitors on your site.
   
• _self
  This is the default target. Clicking on a link with the _self target will simply load the page in the current browser window. 
   
• _parent
  This target acts just like the _self target, except if your animation is inside a frame, this will load the site inside the Frame itself. This is a great way to break your users free from "framed" pages with frames that will not leave the screen.

Customizing The SWF File:

Now, click on the tab that says "SWF". Once you have that clicked, you should see some options to customize the SWF file. See image below:

Here is a brief explanation to what each does:

• Protect movie from import
  Checking this box will prevent users from importing your movie into Flash and using it in their animation.
   
• Loop movie
  Checking this box will keep on looping (repeating) the movie.
   
• Unload movie at end
  This is more of a feature that should be used when the animation will be used inside a Flash animation. Checking this box will remove the movie from the Flash animation after the movie clip has finished playing.
   
• SWF Framerate (fps)  
  This box is similar to the Framerate box used in Flash. The higher the number, the quicker your animation will play, the more system resources are necessary to play the movie, and a somewhat inflated file size. 

There are more options on the right that can be used for advanced flash functions. The Custom Variables box may be used if you are trying to integrate the movie with another movie or dynamically updating some content. This should be ignored for most cases.

Now that you have learned about the various customization options for the File & SWF tabs, we only have the Audio & Video tabs left.

Customizing Audio:

There are several options in this section that you can modify to get different results. See a cropped image below:

The Output audio section allows you customize the format in which the audio file gets exported. A general rule would be that, the higher the sampling rate, the higher the bitrate, and the box for "Stereo" is checked, the larger the file size will be. Of course, sound reproduction can be almost exactly that of the source by using higher rates and frequencies. See image below:

The Output Export Audio Options area is to simply specify the name and location of where you would want the audio file to go. Also, you may choose either the WAV format, MP3 format, or both to export. See image below: 

Customizing Video:
This is the final step to completing this lesson on customizing your Flix movies. Under the video tab, you see some options that are very similar to that of Flash's Publish Settings window. The list below will help explain what each feature does:

• Output Frame Options
  Here you can adjust the average image quality and/or smooth all of the images out. The higher the quality, the larger the output (SWF) file will be. The picture will look more realistic though.
   
• Image/SWF Movie Dimensions
  Here you can adjust the width and height of the resulting movie. For best results, it's best to leave that area alone. For skewing (stretching) movie clips will cause the resulting file to lose quality dramatically.
   
• Video Framerate (fps)
  Here you can customize how many frames per second that will display when the movie is played back. The larger the FPS, the larger the output file.
   
• Maximum bitrate
  You can specify exactly how many kbps shall be taken for video only. This option does not include the sound bitrate, and should be manipulated carefully. If you didn't specify any sounds, you can keep the bitrate at any rate you feel like keeping it at.

That concludes this tutorial on customizing Wildform Flix. Similar commands are also located on the program's toolbar. 

I hope the information helped. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to post them on the popular Message Board. There is no need to register! Just post your question and I, or our friendly flashers, will help answer it.

Happy flashing,
Kirupa Chinnathambi
Author FrontPage 2002: ABG