AS3 loop movieClip based on set timer - actionscript-3

Question

I want to set a duration of time by hitting space bar twice. I then want a movieclip to play for that exact amount of time, then loop to play again at for that set amount of time, and so on. until I set a different amount of time by hitting the space bar twice again.
var beat:int;
var beatcount:int;
var tempopress:int;
var num:Number;
num = 0;
tempopress = 0;
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN,checker);
import flash.utils.Timer;
import flash.events.TimerEvent;
import flash.events.Event;
var myTimer:Timer=new Timer(20,0);
myTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, stopWatch);
function stopWatch(event:TimerEvent):void {
beatcount = Number(myTimer.currentCount);
}
function checker(e:KeyboardEvent){
if(e.keyCode==Keyboard.SPACE){
if (tempopress == 0) {
trace('start');
beatcount = 0;
myTimer.reset();
myTimer.start();
tempopress = 1;
} else {
trace('stop');
myTimer.stop();
trace(beatcount);
tempopress = 0;
}
}
}
stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, loopPlayback);
function loopPlayback() {
var loopTimer:Timer=new Timer(20,beatcount);
myTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, loopWatch);
}
function loopWatch(event:TimerEvent):void {
if (MovieClipMan.currentFrame >= MovieClipMan.totalFrames ){
MovieClipMan.gotoAndStop(1);
} else {
MovieClipMan.nextFrame();
}
}
I know it's a mess haha. Please help! :]

Answer 1

I'd perhaps try something like this, which essentially is checking to see whether to do the loop or not each frame.
var timeStart:Number;
var loopDuration:Number;
var timeLastLoop:Number;
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, onKeyDown);
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onEnterFrame);
function onKeyDown(e:KeyboardEvent):void {
if (e.keyCode == Keyboard.SPACE) {
if (!timeStart) { // First time SPACE is hit
timeStart = getTimer();
} else { // Second time SPACE is hit
loopDuration = getTimer() - timeStart; // set the loop duration
timeStart = NaN; // reset the start time
loop();
}
}
}
function onEnterFrame(e:Event):void {
if (loopDuration && timeLastLoop) {
if (getTimer() >= timeLastLoop + loopDuration) { // if it's time to loop
loop();
}
}
}
function loop():void {
timeLastLoop = getTimer();
someMovieClip_mc.gotoAndPlay(0);
}

Answer 2

First, use getTimer() to find the difference in time between space bar keypress.
Next, would be to stop creating a new Timer in every frame. It should be created outside of the enter frame handler. Then on the second keypress, you can set the delay property to the difference, and restart the timer.
The most important changes would be here:
if (tempopress == 0) {
trace('start');
myTimer.stop();
startTime = getTimer();
beatcount = 0;
tempopress = 1;
} else {
trace('stop');
myTimer.delay = getTimer() - startTime;
myTimer.reset();
myTimer.start();
tempopress = 0;
}
Then, the timer event handler can just send the MovieClip to frame 1.