bravemouse

There are many reasons to use symbols, but the one to concentrate on at the moment, is that in Flash CS4, you have to turn a shape into a symbol before you can apply classic or motion tweening to it.  Unless you know the symbol basics, you will get confused very quickly. Please note:  "Motion [...]

Create an image on the stage. Select this image with the Select Tool. go to Modify > Convert to Symbol The "Symbol Properties" dialogue box will open. Name the symbol in the "name" field. Choose the type of symbol you wish to create from the list, "Graphic", "Movie Clip" or "Button" (more about this later) [...]

To edit a Symbol, you need to enter that symbol's "Symbol Editing State": Double click on an instance of that symbol on the stage. This will dim other objects on the stage or Double click on the symbol's name in the library or Double click on the symbol's preview in the library window. To get [...]

To change an instance of a symbol back into a normal shape: Select the instance of the symbol Go to Modify > Break apart. The object you have broken apart is not an instance of a symbol any more. You can check whether an element on the stage is an instance by selecting it, and [...]

The Properties Inspector can be used to change the colour, brightness and transparency of an  instance without affecting other instances of the same symbol. It is not possible to change the colour, brightness or transparency of an instance using the mixer or swatches panel, as you would for a ungrouped shape. Instances are always grouped, [...]

If you have used previous versions of Flash,  what you used to know as a "motion tween" is now called a "classic tween". Classic tweening is used to animate: position scale size Its possible to use classic tweening to change colour, but that requires slightly more advanced techniques than we are touching on today. A [...]

Motion tweens are a new addition in Flash CS4.  If you have used a previous version of Flash, you will soon realise that what used to be called a "motion" tween is now renamed as "classic" tween.  Creating motion tween in Flash CS4 is more like animating in After Effects – but not quite as [...]

To use a shape in a motion tween, it must first be turned into a Movie Clip Symbol.  Flash will do this for you automatically – but its good habit to do this yourself so that you are in control of exactly what is going on.  Otherwise you could get very confused later on. Create [...]

Once you have created a motion tween, you may wish to fine tune it. By "fine tuning" I mean – you may wish to edit exactly how the shape moves from point A to point B, or the direction in which it rotates. Make a shape move along a curve or change direction Create a [...]

Where is the axis around which a shape rotates, and can you change it? When you make an object rotate by using tweening, it tends to rotate around its own centre, like the example on the below. But what if you want something to pivot around its [...]