Let's build a slideshow using SlideShowPro Player for Flash with SlideShowPro Director. Click here if you're not using SlideShowPro Director and need instructions for creating your own XML data and slideshow content. Everyone else, follow along.
If you haven't already, install the component by following these instructions.
Launch Flash. Select File > New from the application menu. If Flash CS3 or newer, select "Flash File (ActionScript 3.0)" if you installed the ActionScript 3 version, or "Flash File (ActionScript 2.0)" if you installed the ActionScript 2 version. If you are using Macromedia Flash MX 2004 or Flash 8, select "Flash Document" from the left frame. Click Okay.
Next, select Window > Properties to open the Properties panel. Increase the frame rate of your movie to 31fps. This will allow the slideshow transitions to be smoother.
Click on the "Window" menu item at the top of Flash and select "Components". The "Components" panel will appear. Toggle the "SlideShowPro" item open, then click, hold, and drag the component to the Stage (the large white area underneath the timeline). An instance of the SlideShowPro Player will appear.
Click on the component instance on the Stage to select it. Return to the Properties panel. Change both the X and Y fields to zero to align the component with the upper-left corner of the Stage.
Open your web browser and sign-in to SlideShowPro Director (installed on your own server or through a SlideShowPro.com subscription), and click on the Albums tab. Every installation of SlideShowPro Director comes with a "Demonstration Content" album to test things out. Click the "Publish" button in that album's table row. In the window that appears, click the "Copy" button in the "Copy XML File Path" option. The XML File Path is now copied to your clipboard.
Return to Flash and click on the SlideShowPro Player component instance on the Stage. If using Flash CS5, open the Window > Properties panel. If an older version of Flash, open Window > Component Inspector. You should now see all the component parameters. At the top will be a parameter labeled XML File Path. Erase the "images.xml" default value currently assigned and paste your clipboard.
Underneath that, change the XML File Type parameter from "Default" to "Director".
Go the File menu at the top of Flash and select Publish Preview > Default. Flash will publish a test SWF, and you should now see the Demonstration Content album loading from SlideShowPro Director.
So after following the above you now know how to load SlideShowPro Director content in the Flash component. The same principles will apply when you want to upload your own content to SlideShowPro Director and create custom slideshows in Flash on your desktop.
When you're ready to publish a SWF to use online, you can have a couple of options. One, if you want to use your own player embed code in your HTML document, we provide instructions for doing so using SWFObject. Two (and the option we recommend), you can leverage SlideShowPro Director's slideshow embed code to display your SWF and Director's HTML5 mobile fallback player for Apple iOS and Android users (who don't have the Flash Player plugin). You can find directions for doing the aforementioned here.
Last but certainly not least, get creative! With SlideShowPro Director taking care of all your content and data needs, you're free to experiment with the Flash component all you want. Change its size, its style, behavior...whatever you like. If you need a reference for what's possible with the SlideShowPro Player, check out its User Guide.