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Irenabys
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Shape Hints Bug

Aug 14, 2012 6:51 PM

Tags: #flash #bugs #shape_hints #tweens

I have a file with complex shape hints. If I change computers or even change users on the same computer it looses all the shape hints when opened. The identical file on a different machine works fine. Are there preferences in Flash that I can turn off to fix this?

Windows 7. Flash Pro CS6, latest updates

1483 Views   14 Replies   Latest reply: Irenabys, Aug 26, 2012 4:14 PM
 
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  • realisticgames
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    1. realisticgames,
    Aug 19, 2012 7:39 PM   in reply to Irenabys
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    I have had what sounds like the same problem but in CS5.5. I was hoping that upgrading to CS6 might solve it, but now I read that you are using CS6!

     

    Did you find a solution?

     

    I spent 6 months making a cartoon using a lot of shape hints on shape tweens for the character's organic movement. Then one day, any shape tween with a shape hint on it stopped working. As far as I am aware, I did not install any update, they just stopped working;- faces, ears, eyes etc just vanish at different points as you watch the cartoon.

     

    Now you could say that maybe the file got too big and complex as I added more pieces (and indeed the file was pretty big at this point), BUT, when I tried opening some very small source files that I drag into the bigger file (let's say an animation of an hand all on it's own) the hinted shape tweens in the very simple source files had also stopped working. To reapply all the hints (if indeed that will solve it) will take me at least 2 months of solid work which will take me way past my deadline.

     

    Like you, I try opening the files on another computer and the animation works fine, so no data in the actual files is lost; the problem seems to be with Flash Pro itself; the way it interprets shape hints seems to have altered at a very deep level for no obvious reason.

     

    Trouble is, out of 3 computers that I have access to, 2 of them have now developed this Flash Pro fault both completely without doing anything to cause it. I have tried uninstalling then reinstalling all of Master Collection and even using Adobe Cleaner, but upon reinstalling I find that Flash is STILL not reading hinted shape tweens. So that must means it is some deep registry thing and as we know, Adobe never lets you do a true clean reinstall.. All I have left to try is reinstalling Windows which may have to include a formatting of hard drive total clean install. That's gonna cause me huge problems.

     

    If this cannot be solved without too much trouble, then I simply cannot ever trust Flash again, and a lifelong user will cease to be a user.

     

    Please Adobe, help us here!

     
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  • realisticgames
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    2. realisticgames,
    Aug 19, 2012 8:07 PM   in reply to realisticgames
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    UPDATE:

     

    I just tried installing the trial version of Flash CS6 and the files now open properly so maybe my cartoon will get finished yet!

     

    However I have a sneaky suspicion that if I pay for a full upgrade to CS6, the error will happen again. The uninstall/reinstall described above did not solve it, because Flash does not see it as a true clean install and so the problem persists. With installing a trial version as i have done,

    UPDATE:

     

     

     

    I just tried installing the trial version of Flash CS6 and the hinted shape tweens now open properly so maybe my cartoon will get finished yet!

     

     

     

    However I have a sneaky suspicion that if I pay for a full upgrade to CS6, the error will happen again or more precisely, I think the error will INHERIT into the upgrade. The reason I think this is because the uninstall/reinstall of CS5.5 described above did not solve it, because Flash does not see it as a true clean install and so the problem persists. By installing CS6 upgrade I fear Flash will see it as part of the continuum and inherit any faulty logic into CS6. With installing a trial version as I have done, no serial number is used and so it DOES see it as a clean install.

     

     

     

    And even if upgrading to CS6 does solve it, the same error might happen independently again in CS6 as it has done for you, Irenabys.

     

     

     

    We really need to talk to a highly technically Adobe employee please, preferable a Flash programmer!

     
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  • Irenabys
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    3. Irenabys,
    Aug 19, 2012 8:28 PM   in reply to realisticgames
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    Files with hints still fail to open correctly in the original Windows User profile, however I have successfully created a new user profile and been able to edit them. Later I might attempt deleting some files in the original user profile and see if it helps. Would have to say though that work arounds like this aren't very becoming of fully paid for, well established software.

     
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  • realisticgames
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    4. realisticgames,
    Aug 20, 2012 3:41 AM   in reply to Irenabys
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    I hadn't thought it might be a per-user problem, and it seems completely bizarre that it would be - I mean WHY Adobe, why?

     

    So just to be clear: in your old Windows User profile, hinted shape tweens disappear between keyframes but when you open the same files in a new Windows User profile created after the bug began, all the animation between hinted shape tweens keyframes appears again as it should?

     

    I will try this tonight....I pray it will work for me too! Many thanks for the advice.

     
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  • Irenabys
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    5. Irenabys,
    Aug 20, 2012 4:00 AM   in reply to realisticgames
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    That is correct.

    I am working through this solution for activescript to see if it fixes it in one of the users: forums.adobe.com/message/4402578

     
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  • realisticgames
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    6. realisticgames,
    Aug 20, 2012 5:42 AM   in reply to Irenabys
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    I'm not a Flash coder so not sure what activescript is. Just to confirm, are your hinted shape tweens that don't appear properly ones made by hand on the timeline (like mine are)? They aren't some kind of code-generated ones are they?

     
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  • Irenabys
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    7. Irenabys,
    Aug 20, 2012 5:46 AM   in reply to realisticgames
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    That's right, placed by hand at different points along the timeline. I was only refering to the other page as a source of a similar appearing problem which might help solve it. Did you have any luck creating a new user. I repeated the process (create new user then open file with hints) and it works each time.

     
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  • realisticgames
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    8. realisticgames,
    Aug 20, 2012 6:34 AM   in reply to Irenabys
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    Won't be able to test new user 'til about 6 hrs time! A very painful wait! Will let you know how it goes. Have you had any direct contact with Adobe on this?

     
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  • realisticgames
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    9. realisticgames,
    Aug 21, 2012 10:53 AM   in reply to realisticgames
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    I opened the files logged in as a different user (another account that already existed, actually) and am glad to report that the hinted shape tweens open perfectly! Thank goodness!

     
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  • realisticgames
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    10. realisticgames,
    Aug 21, 2012 10:59 AM   in reply to realisticgames
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    Oh, and many thanks Irenabys. Your solution has prevented 6 months of work from being wasted.

     
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  • Irenabys
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    11. Irenabys,
    Aug 21, 2012 11:42 AM   in reply to realisticgames
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    Glad it helped. Can I ask if you were using a file that was last saved before the error crept in? That is the case for me - as soon as I realised it was wrong, I found the last known good copy and placed a copy in a zip folder so that Flash couldn't overwrite it with a 'hintless' version.

     

    I still havn't had a chance to really explore the user folders and see if I can find the files responsible for this error. Will report back on this.

    All the best

     
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  • realisticgames
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    12. realisticgames,
    Aug 22, 2012 3:27 AM   in reply to Irenabys
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    Luckily I did not save over my previous files after the error manifested, and I had a back-up on an external drive anyway.

     

    I have since been contacted by an Adobe employee asking if (s)he can call me one phone about this. (S)He also said that they were unable to reproduce the error. Well, I have no idea how to reproduce it even though it has happened to me twice now, though I suspect it might be to do with some kind of memory upper limit being breached which then goes on to ruin how Flash interprets hinted shapes tweens in general, even for other small files that had nothing to do with the error.

     
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  • Irenabys
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    13. Irenabys,
    Aug 22, 2012 2:45 PM   in reply to realisticgames
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    Hi, Adobe have also contacted me. I have shown them the issue and just now have managed to completely reproduce the problem: a shape tween created in the problem windows user profile tweens incorrectly despite shape hints etc. Saved and reopened on a second user profile without any editing it works straight off.

    It seems to be related to the addition of the fill; in other threads Adobe have suggested fills and strokes be on different layers, however this is painful for complex structures that need subtle edits in relation to others and the fact that the same file works on one user profile and not another still suggests a bug in flash.

    For interest I have put the reproduced versions here, it is nothing more than a rough hand drawn shape. test2 original user.swf was exported after it was made. test2 user2.swf is the fla file reopened and exported in a different user.

    http://www.irenabyss.com.au/flashtest/

    I have sent the files and app data to Adobe to see if they can figure it out. Hope it helps.

     
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  • Irenabys
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    14. Irenabys,
    Aug 26, 2012 4:14 PM   in reply to Irenabys
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    Following these steps corrects the issue in the affected windows user profile. Hopefully the bug can be tracked by Adobe soon.

    http://helpx.adobe.com/flash/kb/re-create-preferences-flash-profession al.html

     
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