Falling Snow - Page 5

Multiply

Now it gets fun. Close the movie clip you're working on and go back to the main stage.(Click "Scene 1" at the top of the movie area.) Select the "fall" movie clip and use Command + C to copy it.

Now use Command + Shift + V to paste a new one in exactly the same place. Paste it several times — maybe two dozen.(You can paste more flakes later if you want more, or delete some if there are too many.)

Double click one of the "fall" movie clips to edit it. (The changes you make will apply to all of your snowflakes.) Select frame 2 and delete the line:

step = 5;

Then add the following in its place:

magnify = Math.random();

flakey._xscale = (magnify * 75) + 25;
flakey._yscale = (magnify * 75) + 25;

step = (magnify * magnify * 2) + 3;

The random number magnify (between 0 and 1) is used define both the size of the flake and how fast it falls, to give the snowfall the illusion of depth. "Closer" flakes are bigger, and fall faster, and "farther" flakes are smaller and fall slower. Use Command + Enter to take a look.

Pretty close. The problem now is that all the snow starts at the top, offstage, and doesn't really start looking good until it's fallen a few times.

That's why we left Frame 1 empty. Copy all the ActionScript from Frame 2 to Frame 1, and add these lines at the bottom:

flakey._y = Math.random() * fallheight; 
gotoAndPlay(3);

Now the flakes will start at a random position, fall to the bottom, then jump to Frame 2 for a ride back to the top.

Save the movie and use Command + Enter to have another look.

You could actually stop here, if you're happy with how your snow looks. But we can easily add a couple of touches to make it even nicer.