Preserve swf transparency on forms vb

Question

Is there any way to include a .swf on my form and also preserve its original transparency? That is, so you can see any controls 'behind it' (obviously in the transparent areas). It's looking unlikely as I understand vb can't control the flash activex control (and hence the control's rendered background?) but wondering whether there's any workarounds?

relevant code thusfar:

    Dim flash1 As New AxShockwaveFlash
    .....
    flash1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(300, 23)
    Me.Controls.Add(flash1)
    flash1.Movie = "C:\Users\Steve\Scripts\Projects\CPWizBiz\Assets\Test SWFs\Artwork4.swf"
    flash1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(192, 400)
    flash1.Play()

Answer 1

In the absence of any other solutions, here's what I did:

Basically, I just created a new form with a transparetn background. You then overlay this onto your main form (you can link any forms to move and resize with each other etc). Then you set the flash background to match the form transparency key and you're done. Brief, illustrative code:

 Public Sub MarqueeFlash_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Me.TransparencyKey = Color.FromArgb(1, 4, 3)
        Me.BackColor = Color.FromArgb(1, 4, 3)

        dim FlashCtrl as As New AxShockwaveFlash
        Controls.Add(FlashCtrl)
        With FlashCtrl
            .BGColor = Me.BackColor.R.ToString("X2") & Me.BackColor.G.ToString("X2") & Me.BackColor.B.ToString("X2")
            .Movie = IndexedDR(0).Item("File")
            .Location = New Point(10,10)
        End With
        FlashCtrl.Play()
        FlashCtrl.Size = New Size(400,300)
end sub