Things you need to remember

I am not an all powerful superhuman, and I do make mistakes. If you believe any of the information contained here to be incorrect, please notify me (One of the few subjects that I will not refer to the message boards).

Always check your naming conventions. This is of utmost importance - a missed instance name can wreak utter havoc and make things not function. Go over every single element in your flare[x] related elements and check they are correctly named!

Second to naming is layering. flare[x] must be a targeted load. It will call for its _parent quite frequently, so if you are embedding flare[x] inside another movieClip, remember to move your movieWidth, movieHeight et al variables to within the holding movieClip's timeline. flare[x] also needs to be able to find _parent.flareDrag - make sure it can!

Variables that flare[x] can supply you with
Some useful variables that flare[x] can supply for you are:

screenWidth - The width of the stage
screenHeight - The height of the stage
screenWidthHalf - Half the width of the stage
screenHeightHalf - Half the height of the stage
dragXdiff - The X difference between the flareDrag and the centre of the stage
dragYdiff - The Y difference between the flareDrag and the centre of the stage
flareDrag - The flareDrag object. Whilst not a variable, it is useful with the getProperty function

Remember to use the correct target referencing with these variables, eg. _parent or _root.flareX

How to use the flare[x] tester SWF
Included with flare[x] is a nifty little movie that you can use to test your lensFlares and alphaMods with. It's really easy to use - just remember that it also looks for a folder called flarex below it, which contains your lensFlares and alphaMods. For example, if the tester was located in C:\Flash , you would put your lensFlares and alphaMods in C:\Flash\flarex . Remember that flare[x] automatically adds the "f-" or "a-" and the ".swf" for you.

If the helix button is toggled, flare[x] will require you to load an alphaMod as well as a lensFlare before it will display anything.