Macromedia Flash MX 2004 – Design Professional Macromedia Flash MX DRAWING IN

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B2Drawing in Macromedia Flash Use the Macromedia Flash drawing tools Edit drawings Work with objects Work with text Work with layers Chapter Lessons

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B3Drawing in Macromedia Flash Flash creates and manipulates vector graphics Vector format Vs Bitmap format –Bitmap graphics are based on pixels –Altering pixels can result in jagged edges Drawing in Flash MX

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B4Drawing in Macromedia Flash Native to Flash Represent an image using lines and curves Can resize without losing image quality Generally smaller than bitmap images – Good for Web sites Not as effective at bitmaps for photo- realistic images Vector Graphics

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B5Drawing in Macromedia Flash Modifying vectors Vector objects have a stroke, fill, or both Strokes can be segmented into smaller lines You can modify the size, shape, rotation, and color of each stroke, fill and segment

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B6Drawing in Macromedia Flash The Drawing Tools SELECTION - Used to select an object or parts of an object such as the stroke or fill, and to reshape objects SUBSELECTION-Used to select, drag, and reshape an object –Anchor Points LINE-Used to draw straight lines LASSO- Used to select objects or parts of objects

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B7Drawing in Macromedia Flash The Drawing Tools PEN- Used to draw lines and curves by creating a series of dots TEXT-To create and edit text OVAL-To draw oval and circular shapes RECTANGLE- To draw rectangular and square shapes PENCIL-Used to draw freehand lines BRUSH- Used to paint with brush-like strokes

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B8Drawing in Macromedia Flash The Drawing Tools FREE TRANSFORM-Used to transform objects by rotating, scaling, skewing, etc FILL TRANSFORM-Used to transform a gradient fill INK BOTTLE-Used to apply line colors and thickness to a stroke PAINT BUCKET-Used to fill enclose areas of a drawing with color

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B9Drawing in Macromedia Flash The Drawing Tools EYEDROPPER-Used to copy stroke, fill and text attribute from one object to another ERASER-Used to erase lines and fills Many of the tools have options that you should become familiar with

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B10Drawing in Macromedia Flash Point to a tool to display its name Flash Drawing Toolbox

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B11Drawing in Macromedia Flash Tool options Pencil Tool Options Changing the Brush Size

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B12Drawing in Macromedia Flash Selecting Objects Before you can edit a drawing, you first must select the object Strokes and Fills can be selected independently Strokes can have several segments

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B13Drawing in Macromedia Flash Using the Selection Tools Arrow Tool -Used to select part or all of an object –To select multiple objects hold down “Shift” Lasso Tool -Provides more flexibility when selecting an area of the stage –Freehand –Polygon

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B14Drawing in Macromedia Flash Using the Selection Tools Unselected Stroke selected Fill selected Stroke and Fill selected Group selected

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B15Drawing in Macromedia Flash Working with Gradients A gradient is a color fill that makes a gradual transition from one color to another Apply a gradient with the Paint Bucket Tool The position of the Paint Bucket Tool determines the direction of the gradient fill

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B16Drawing in Macromedia Flash Working with Gradients The position of the Paint Bucket Tool determines the direction of the gradient fill Fill Transform Handles

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B17Drawing in Macromedia Flash Working with objects Objects can be copied and pasted Objects can be transformed with the Free Transform Tool –Select the object, then the tool to display the eight rectangular handles and center circular transformation point. –Rotate and Skew, Scale, Distort, Envelope

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B18Drawing in Macromedia Flash Free Transform Tool Scale with Corner handles Drag corner handle to Rotate an object Rotate an Object around its Transform- ation point Drag middle handle to skew an object

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B19Drawing in Macromedia Flash Reshaping a segment of an Object The Selection tool can be used to reshape the edge of an object –The pointer is context-sensitive –The Arc pointer drags out curved shapes –The L shaped pointer drags out corners of the object

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B20Drawing in Macromedia Flash Distorting with the Arrow and sub-selection tools Using the Selection tool’s Arc Pointer to reshape an object Using the Subselection Tool to drag a handle and reshape an object

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B21Drawing in Macromedia Flash Other transformations You can use other options to flip an object horizontally or vertically The Remove Transform Command allows you to restore an object to its original state

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B22Drawing in Macromedia Flash Treating text Flash provides a lot of flexibility when formatting text –Font –Size –Style –Color –Transformation

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B23Drawing in Macromedia Flash Entering Text and altering the Text Block Text is entered into “Text Blocks” Text Blocks expand as more text is entered and may extend beyond the edge of the stage You can adjust the size to a fixed width by dragging the handle in the upper right corner

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B24Drawing in Macromedia Flash Changing Text Attributes The Properties panel allows you to change the font, size and style of a single character or an entire text block The Properties Panel when a text object is selected

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B25Drawing in Macromedia Flash Working with Paragraphs Flash acts similar to a word processor You can align paragraphs –left, right, center, justified Use the Properties panel to set –Margins, indents, line spacing

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B26Drawing in Macromedia Flash Transforming Text Text is an object, and can therefore be transformed like other objects in Flash The entire block gets transformed Use “Break Apart” command to transform individual letters

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B27Drawing in Macromedia Flash Transforming Text Skewing a text block Reshaping a letter after the text block has been “broken apart”

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B28Drawing in Macromedia Flash Introduction to Layers Layers are used on the timeline to organize objects Placing objects on their own layer makes them easier to work with Six layer types

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B29Drawing in Macromedia Flash The Six Layer Types Normal-default layer type –All objects on these layers appear in the movie Guide(Standard and Motion) –Standard guide layers serve as a reference point for positioning objects on the stage –Motion guide layers are used to create a path for animated objects to follow

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B30Drawing in Macromedia Flash The Six Layer Types Guided –A layer that contains an animated object, linked to a Motion Guide layer Mask –A layer that contains and reveals portions of another layer Masked –A layer that contains the objects that are hidden and revealed by a Mask layer

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B31Drawing in Macromedia Flash The Six Layer Types Folder –A layer that can contain other layers Show/Hide All Layers Show All Layers as Outlines Lock/Unlock All Layers Lock/Unlock This Layers Show/Hide this Layer

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B32Drawing in Macromedia Flash Working with Layers Using the Layer Properties Dialog box, and the Layer section, you can –Name a layer –Lock a layer –View layers as outlines

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B33Drawing in Macromedia Flash Using a Guide Layer Used to align objects –Use the Layer Properties Dialog box to set the layer as a guide –Turn on “Snap to Guides” –Drag the desired object to the guide line –Guide is not visible in exported swf

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B34Drawing in Macromedia Flash Distributing Text to Layers Used when text blocks are made up of more than one character Distributes text to its own respective layer Distributing text to layers

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B35Drawing in Macromedia Flash Using Folder Layers Allows you to organize layers by creating folders and grouping other layers in them A folder layer

Web Collection: Flash MX 2004 Chapter B36Drawing in Macromedia Flash Chapter B Tasks Use the Macromedia Flash drawing tools Edit drawings Work with objects Work with text Work with layers