I wrote this very reusable class called the “CreateBitmapData” class a little while back. I’ve used it in multiple projects and it has saved me countless hours and natural hair color. Basically you pass and Array of image URLs and a callback function expecting an Array of BitmapData Objects and it’s as easy as that. It utilizes the built in MovieClipLoader class and will push in an undefined value into the returning Array if there is an error loading the image. This is a failsafe so that it doesn’t completely break whatever you are doing. I will try to have an AS3 version for it soon. Check it out, let me know if you make any modifications.

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How to use it:
//—————————————————

import CreateBitmapData;
var objCreateBitmapData:CreateBitmapData = new CreateBitmapData();

function bitmapsReciever($bitmaps:Array){
// Do what you want with the BitmapData Objects Array here.
}
objCreateBitmapData.create([”http://www.example.com/pic1.jpg”,”http://www.example.com/pic2.jpg”], {scope: this, func:”bitmapsReciever”})

//—————————————————

Here’s what the code actually looks like if your interested:
/*

Author: Charles D Clements copyright 2007
Email: charlesdclements@yahoo.com
WebSite: www.charlesclements.net

Pass an Array of image paths into this class and it will return an Array with all the
BitmapData Objects created into the specified return object as a parameter.

*/
import flash.display.BitmapData;
class CreateBitmapData {
/*
Variables
*/
// MovieClips
private var mcContainer:MovieClip;
private var mcInnerContainer:MovieClip;
// MovieClipLoader
private var objMovieClipLoader:MovieClipLoader;
// Numbers
private var numIncrement:Number = -1;
// Arrays
private var arrImageStrings:Array = [];
private var arrNewBitmaps:Array = [];
// Strings
private var strClassName:String = “CreateBitmapData”;
// Objects
private var objCallback:Object;
/*
Constrructor
*/
public function CreateBitmapData() {
trace(’CreateBitmapData’);
this.arrImageStrings = [];
this.arrNewBitmaps = [];
}
/*
Creates BitmapData from external Images.
$array: an Array of external image URLs.
$callbackObj: an Object containing a scope and a callback function in which it returns an Array of BitmapData Objects to.
The callback function should be expacting an Array.
———————————————————
ex: objCreateBitmapData.create([”http://www.example.com/pic1.jpg”,”http://www.example.com/pic2.jpg”], {scope: this, func:”bitmapsCreated”})
*/
public function create($array:Array, $callbackObj:Object):Void {
trace(’create’);
this.arrImageStrings = $array;
this.objCallback = $callbackObj;
this.mcContainer = _root.createEmptyMovieClip(”mcContainer”, _root.getNextHighestDepth());
this.mcContainer._visible = false;
this.loadImages();
}
/*
Load external images from Array.
*/
private function loadImages():Void {
this.numIncrement++;
if (this.numIncrement < this.arrImageStrings.length) {
this.mcInnerContainer = this.mcContainer.createEmptyMovieClip(”mcInnerContainer”, 0);
this.objMovieClipLoader = new MovieClipLoader();
this.objMovieClipLoader.addListener(this);
(this.arrImageStrings[this.numIncrement] == undefined) ? this.spotTaken() : this.loadClip(this.arrImageStrings[this.numIncrement], this.mcInnerContainer);
} else {
this.done();
}
}
/*
Local loadClip() function that calls the MovieClipLoader loadClip() function.
*/
private function loadClip($URL:String, $container:MovieClip):Void {
this.objMovieClipLoader.loadClip($URL,$container);
}
/*

*/
private function onLoadError(target_mc:MovieClip, errorCode:String, httpStatus:Number):Void {
trace(”>> loadListener.onLoadError()”);
trace(”>> ==========================”);
trace(”>> errorCode: ” + errorCode);
trace(”>> httpStatus: ” + httpStatus);
this.spotTaken();
}
/*
If the URL is undefined this inserts an undefined into the Array to be returned.
*/
private function spotTaken():Void {
this.arrNewBitmaps.push(undefined);
this.loadImages();
}
/*
Listens for when the image has loaded.
*/
private function onLoadInit($clip:MovieClip):Void {
var bmd:BitmapData = new BitmapData(this.mcContainer._width, this.mcContainer._height, true, 0×00000000);
bmd.draw(this.mcContainer);
this.arrNewBitmaps.push(bmd);
this.loadImages();
}
/*
Called when all images have been loaded.
*/
private function done():Void {
this.bitmapDataCreated();
this.clear();
}
/*
Load external images by passing an Array.
*/
private function clear():Void {
this.numIncrement = -1;
this.arrImageStrings = [];
this.arrNewBitmaps = [];
this.mcContainer.removeMovieClip();
}
/*
Load external images by passing an Array.
*/
public function getBitmaps():Array {
return (this.arrNewBitmaps);
}
/*
Calls the Callback passed into the setup.
*/
private function bitmapDataCreated():Void {
this.objCallback.scope[this.objCallback.func](this.getBitmaps());
}
}