Creating A Flash Movie
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Each time you open Flash, the application creates a new file with the FLA extension. You can create additional new Flash documents as you work. To set the size, frame rate, background color, and other properties of a new document, you use the Document Properties dialog box.
You can also open a template as a new document. You can choose from standard templates that ship with Flash, or open a template you have saved previously.
To create a new document and set its properties:
- Choose File > New.
- Choose Modify > Document. The Document Properties dialog box appears.
For Frame Rate, enter the number of animation frames to be displayed every second. For most computer-displayed animations, especially those playing from a Web site, 8 fps (frames per second) to 12 fps is sufficient. (12 fps is the default frame rate.)
For Dimensions, do one of the following:
* To specify the Stage size in pixels, enter values in the Width and Height text boxes.
* The default movie size is 550 x 400 pixels. The minimum size is 1 x 1 pixels; the maximum is 2880 x 2880 pixels.
*T o set the Stage size so that there is equal space around the content on all sides, click the Contents button to the right of Match. To minimize movie size, align all elements to the upper left corner of the Stage, and then click Contents.
*To set the Stage size to the maximum available print area, click Printer. This area is determined by the paper size minus the current margin selected in the Margins area of the Page Setup dialog box (Windows) or the Print Margins dialog box (Macintosh).
* To set the Stage size to the default size, click Default.
To set the background color of your movie, click the triangle in the Background Color box and select a color from the palette.
To specify the unit of measure for rulers that you can display along the top and side of the application window, select an option from the pop-up menu in the upper right. See Using rulers. (This setting also determines the units used in the Info panel.)
When finished, do one of the following:
To make the new settings the default properties for your new document only, click OK.
To make these settings the default properties for all new documents, click Make Default.top
Using layers
Layers are like transparent sheets of acetate stacked on top of each other. Layers help you organize the artwork in your document. You can draw and edit objects on one layer without affecting objects on another layer. Where there is nothing on a layer, you can see through it to the layers below.
To draw, paint, or otherwise modify a layer or folder, you select the layer to make it active. A pencil icon next to a layer or folder name indicates that the layer or folder is active. Only one layer can be active at a time (although more than one layer can be selected at a time).
When you create a new Flash document, it contains one layer. You can add more layers to organize the artwork, animation, and other elements in your document. The number of layers you can create is limited only by your computer's memory, and layers do not increase the file size of your published movie. You can hide, lock, or rearrange layers.
You can also organize and manage layers by creating layer folders and placing layers in them. You can expand or collapse layers in the Timeline without affecting what you see on the Stage. It's a good idea to use separate layers or folders for sound files, actions, frame labels, and frame comments. This helps you find these items quickly when you need to edit them.
Creating layers and layer folders
When you create a new layer or folder, it appears above the selected layer. A newly added layer becomes the active layer.
To create a layer, do one of the following:
Click the Add Layer button at the bottom of the Timeline or Choose Insert > Layer.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a layer name in the Timeline and choose Insert Layer from the context menu.
To create a layer folder, do one of the following:
Select a layer or folder in the Timeline, then choose Insert > Layer Folder.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a layer name in the Timeline, then choose Insert Folder from the context menu.
The new folder appears above the layer or folder you selected.
Viewing layers and layer folders
As you work, you may want to show or hide layers or folders. A red X next to a the name of layer or folder name indicates that it is hidden. Hidden layers are not preserved when a movie is published.
To help you distinguish which layer objects belong to, you can display all objects on a layer as colored outlines. You can change the outline color used by each layer.
You can change the height of layers in the Timeline in order to display more information (such as sound waveforms) in the Timeline. You can also change the number of layers displayed in the Timeline.
To show or hide a layer or folder, do one of the following:
Click in the Eye column to the right of the layer or folder name in the Timeline to hide that layer or folder. Click in it again to show the layer or folder.
Click the eye icon to hide all the layers and folders. Click it again to show all layers and folders.
Drag through the Eye column to show or hide multiple layers or folders.
Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) in the Eye column to the right of a layer or folder name to hide all other layers and folders. Alt-click or Option-click it again to show all layers and folders.
Editing layers and layer folders
You can rename, copy, and delete layers and folders. You can also lock layers and folders to prevent them from being edited.
By default, new layers are named by the order in which they are created: Layer 1, Layer 2, and so on. You can rename layers to better reflect their contents.
To select a layer or folder, do one of the following:
Click the name of a layer or folder in the Timeline.
Click a frame in the Timeline of the layer you want to select.
Select an object on the Stage that is located on the layer you want to select.
To rename a layer or folder, do one of the following:
Double-click the name of a layer or folder and enter a new name.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the name of a layer or folder and choose Properties from the context menu. Enter the new name in the Name text box and click OK.
Select the layer or folder in the Timeline and choose Modify > Layer. In the Layer Properties dialog box, enter the new name in the Name text box and click OK.
To delete a layer or folder:
Select the layer or folder.
Do one of the following:
1.Click the Delete Layer button in the Timeline.
2.Drag the layer or folder to the Delete Layer button.
3.Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the layer or folder name and choose Delete Layer from the context menu.
Note: When you delete a layer folder, all the enclosed layers and all their contents are also deleted.
To move a layer or layer folder into a layer folder:
Drag the layer or layer folder name to the destination layer folder name. The layer or layer folder appears inside the destination layer folder in the Timeline.
To change the order of layers or folders:
Drag one or more layers or folders in the Timeline to the desired position.top
About tweened animation
Flash can create two types of tweened animation, motion tweening and shape tweening.
In motion tweening, you define properties such as position, size, and rotation for an instance, group, or text block at one point in time, and then you change those properties at another point in time. You can also apply a motion tween along a path.
In shape tweening, you draw a shape at one point in time, and then you change that shape or draw another shape at another point in time. Flash interpolates the values or shapes for the frames in between, creating the animation.
Creating a Motion Tween
To create a motion tween using the Motion Tweening option:Click a layer name to make it the current layer, and select an empty keyframe in the layer where you want the animation to start.
To create the first frame of the motion tween, do one of the following:
Create a graphic object with the Pen, Oval, Rectangle, Pencil, or Brush tool, then convert it to a symbol. For more information on converting objects to symbols, see Creating symbols.
Create an instance, group, or text block on the Stage.
Drag an instance of a symbol from the Library panel.
Create a second keyframe where you want the animation to end, then select the ending frame (immediately to the left of the second keyframe on the Timeline).
Do any of the following to modify the instance, group, or text block in the ending frame:
Move the item to a new position.
Modify the item's size, rotation, or skew.
Modify the item's color (instance or text block only).
If the Property inspector is not visible, choose Window > Properties.
Double-click the ending frame in the Timeline.
Select Motion from the Tween pop-up menu in the Property inspector.
To create a motion tween using the Create Motion Tween command:
Select an empty keyframe and draw an object on the Stage, or drag an instance of a symbol from the Library panel. Note: In order to create a tween, you must have only one item on the layer.
Choose Insert > Create Motion Tween. If you drew an object in step 1, Flash automatically converts the object to a symbol and assigns it the name tween1.
Click inside the frame where you want the animation to end, and choose Insert > Frame.
Move the object, instance, or type block on the Stage to the desired position. Adjust the size of the element if you want to tween its scale. Adjust the rotation of the element if you want to tween its rotation. Deselect the object when you have completed adjustments. A keyframe is automatically added to the end of the frame range.
Create A Shape Tween
To tween a shape:Click a layer name to make it the current 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. For best results, the frame should contain only one item (a graphic object or broken-apart group, bitmap, instance, or text block).
Select the keyframe in the Timeline.
Choose Window > Properties.
In the Property inspector, select Shape from the Tween pop-up menu.
Choose 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.
Note: Angular is appropriate only for blending shapes with sharp corners and straight lines. If the shapes you choose do not have corners, Flash reverts to distributive shape tweening.
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.
Delete the artwork and place new artwork in the second keyframe.top
As you create a movie, you'll need to play it back to preview animation and test interactive controls. You can preview and test movies within the Flash authoring environment, in a separate test window in Flash, or in a Web browser.
To preview the current scene, do one of the following:Choose Control > Play.
Choose Window > Toolbars > Controller (Windows) or Window > Controller (Macintosh) and click Play.
Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh). The animation sequence plays at the frame rate you specified for the document.
To step through the frames of the animation, use the Step Forward and Step Backward buttons on the Controller, or choose those commands from the Control menu. You can also press the < and > keys on the keyboard.
To jump to the first or last frame in a movie using the Controller, use the First Frame or Last Frame button.
Note: You can also drag the playhead to view frames in a document
To test all interactive functions and animation:
Choose Control > Test Movie or Control > Test Scene.
Flash creates a Flash movie (a SWF file), opens it in a separate window, and plays it with the Flash Player. The SWF file is placed in the same folder as the FLA file.
To test the movie in a Web browser:
Choose File > Publish Preview > HTML.
Flash creates a Flash movie (a SWF file), opens it in your default Web browser, and plays it with the Flash Player. The SWF file is placed in the same folder as the FLA file.top