Objects placed using Insert Object display as red boxes in Flash PlayerProducts affected
Issue
Inserted objects appear as red boxes in the exported Flash movie. These objects were placed using Edit > Insert Object or by selecting Insert Object in the context menu (Right mouse click on the stage). Inserted objects that appear available for placement include Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, AVI, MIDI files, and others. This is a function of Window's OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) feature. Using the drag and drop method to drag an object into Flash also uses OLE.
Reason
This will work fine while authoring in Flash, allowing you to import and manipulate several kinds of content for playback on your machine, within the Flash editor. However, OLE is designed to only share content in a Flash FLA file on a single machine. For that reason, OLE objects can have different issues when displayed inside the Flash Player. Many do not appear in Test Movie or the final SWF or Projector. A red placeholder can appear in the same location, replacing the object, to indicate that a particular object cannot be displayed.
There are several things to consider when using OLE objects.
- These objects can often be linked to this FLA file on your machine. When transferred to another machine, the link may be broken and the OLE item may not be available.
- Many of the OLE objects displayed in the context menu are not supported file types within Flash.
- Using OLE in a Flash FLA file will not allow that file to be opened on a Macintosh.
Solution
Use File > Import to make external files available in a Flash movie. Export objects from other applications to one of the supported file formats, as listed in the Flash Manual.
Doc ID
(tn_14164)
Last updated
2007-06-05
Products affected
