Distributed Multimedia Programming Week - 3 Shape Tweening Symbols and Instances

Shape Tweening   What is Shape Tweening ?   Shape Tweening Text   Shape Hinting   Multiple Shape Tweening   Animating Gradients

Shape Tweening By tweening shapes, you can create an effect similar to morphing, making one shape appear to change into another shape over time. Flash can also tween the location, size, and color of shapes.

To tween a shape: Click a layer name to make it the active layer, and create or select a keyframe where you want the animation to start. Create or place the artwork for the first frame of the sequence. Select the keyframe in the Timeline. Select Window > Properties. In the Property inspector, select Shape from the Tween pop-up menu.

Drag the arrow next to the Easing value or enter a value to adjust the rate of change between tweened frames: To begin the shape tween gradually and accelerate the tween toward the end of the animation, drag the slider down or enter a negative value between -1 and To begin the shape tween gradually and accelerate the tween toward the end of the animation, drag the slider down or enter a negative value between -1 and To begin the shape tween rapidly and decelerate the tween toward the end of the animation, drag the slider up or enter a positive value between 1 and 100. To begin the shape tween rapidly and decelerate the tween toward the end of the animation, drag the slider up or enter a positive value between 1 and 100. By default, the rate of change between tweened frames is constant. Easing creates a more natural appearance of transformation by gradually adjusting the rate of change.

Select an option for Blend: Distributive creates an animation in which the intermediate shapes are smoother and more irregular. Angular creates an animation that preserves apparent corners and straight lines in the intermediate shapes. Create a second keyframe the desired number of frames after the first keyframe. With the second keyframe selected, select the artwork you placed in the first keyframe and do one of the following: Modify the shape, color, or position of the artwork. Modify the shape, color, or position of the artwork. Delete the artwork and place new artwork in the second keyframe. Delete the artwork and place new artwork in the second keyframe.

Symbols and Instances Symbol and Instance structure Symbol Naming Conventions Graphic Symbols Creating Symbol instances Editing symbols Editing symbols Animating Graphic symbols

To create a new empty symbol: Make sure that nothing is selected on the Stage. Then do one of the following: Select Modify > New Symbol. Click the New Symbol button at the lower left of the Library panel. Select New Symbol from the Library options menu in the upper right corner of the Library panel. In the Create New Symbol dialog box, type the name of the symbol and select the behavior—Graphic, Button, or Movie Clip. Click OK. Click OK.