AS3 animate dynamically created movie clips with ENTER_FRAME - actionscript-3

Question

I have some code which loads a movie clip from the library, reproduces it and spreads it around the stage in different sizes, positions and rotations. What I can't figure out is how to then animate each one with an ENTER_FRAME event listener - So maybe I can also animate the scale, position and rotations? Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.
for (var i = 0; i < 20; i++ )
{
//Generate Item from library
var MovieClip_mc:mcMovieClip = new mcMovieClip();
addChild(MovieClip_mc);
//Size
var RandomSize = (Math.random() * 0.5) + 0.5;
MovieClip_mc.scaleX = RandomSize;
MovieClip_mc.scaleY = RandomSize;
//Rotation
var RandomRotation:Number = Math.floor(Math.random()*360);
MovieClip_mc.rotation = RandomRotation;
//Position
MovieClip_mc.x = Math.floor(Math.random() * CanvasWidth);
MovieClip_mc.y = Math.floor(Math.random() * CanvasHeight);
}

Answer 1

For performance benefits, it is better to do it using one ENTER_FRAME handler. The handler can be located in your main class and update each mcMovieClip's properties by calling certain methods declared in the mcMovieClip class. Below is a simple example.
Main class
var mcs:Array = [];
for(var i:int = 0; i < 1; i++)
{
mcs.push(new mcMovieClip());
addChild(mcs[i]);
}
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, updateTime);
function updateTime(e:Event):void
{
for(var j:int = 0; j < mcs.length; j++)
{
mcs[j].updatePosition(Math.random() * stage.stageWidth,
Math.random() * stage.stageHeight);
mcs[j].updateRotation(Math.random() * 360);
mcs[j].updateSize(Math.random());
}
}
mcMovieClip class
function updateSize(size:Number):void
{
this.scaleX = this.scaleY = size;
}
function updateRotation(rot:Number):void
{
this.rotation = rot;
}
function updatePosition(newX:Number, newY:Number):void
{
this.x = newX;
this.y = newY;
}

Answer 2

You don't actually need to do that from the outside. You can animate it with its own script in the first frame, so each instance will be animated:
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onFrame);
function onFrame(e:Event):void
{
// Math.random() - 0.5 will produce a random value from -0.5 to 0.5
x += Math.random() - 0.5;
y += Math.random() - 0.5;
scaleX += (Math.random() - 0.5) / 10;
scaleY = scaleX;
rotation += (Math.random() - 0.5) * 5;
}