Red mask instead of black in Flash

[gigglygecko]

I am currently working on an animation using flash cs5.5 since this is the only version the client can work in. I am using a basic masking technique but I cannot figure out when my mask outline changed from black to red and can only pinpoint this as the cause for my current grievances with my animation. The mask simply zooms in on one point of the animation highlights user interaction and zooms back out. The mask however is red. When I watch the animation in the program it is fine, but when I publish the animation the mask continues to blink on and off and the content of the masked selection is out of sync with what was masked within the program. I do not understand the difference between the red mask and the black so perhaps this is my first problem but if anyone has any helpful advice I would really appreciate it! Thank you in advance

[kglad]

i'm not sure what you're seeing, but a mask is not visible.  so, no matter what 'color' your mask is in the ide, it won't be visible when testing.

if you're using an alpha-gradient in your mask, convert the mask and masked objects into movieclips and enable their cacheAsBitmap property using actionscript, or in the properties panel.