Transitioning MovieClips NOT .swf's

I have seen a lot posts about transitioning .swf’s but haven’t been able to find an answer to how to transition movie clips.

I have a set of buttons. Press one button, a movieclip plays up to a halfway point. When another button is pushed, I want that first movieclip to finish playing and then have another moveclip (that corresponds to the second button) play, and so on for the remaining buttons.

I’m guessing the swf transition tutorial can be modified, but have no clue how to even begin.

I’m fairly new to flash, so a thorough explanation would greatly appreciated!

-thanks