Types of animation

In “Flash”, we have different ways of adding animation and special effects to our movie.

We have the “Frame-by-frame animation”, the “Shape tweens”, the “Motion tweens”, the “Classic tweens” and “Inverse Kinematics” which is new in Flash CS4.

A word of explanation:

“Frame-by-frame animation”:
In this animation technique, we give another illustration for each frame in the “Timeline”.
We use this technique for complex animations in which the graphic elements of each frame must be different.

“Shape tweens”:
In shape tweening, when we draw a shape in one “Keyframe” of the “Timeline” and draw a different form in another “Keyframe”, “Flash” will automatically form the intermediate shape and add the intervening frames, causing an animation to be created in which the one form blends with the other. For example, from square to circle.

“Motion tweens”:
This technique is new in “Flash CS4”.
This is useful for animations which consist of a continuous motion of an object. For example, a car that runs from left to right across the “Stage”.

“Classic tweens”:
Classic tween animation is similar to “Motion tweens” but, slightly more difficult and less flexible. Those of us who are already introduced to the previous versions of “Flash” might prefer this method.

“Inverse Kinematics” poses:
This option also is new in “Flash CS4”.
We use this in order to bend objects so that they move in a natural way.

 

We will, of course discuss all these options in this course.

“Frame-by-frame animation”

A “frame-by-frame animation” changes the contents of the “Stage” in each “Keyframe” and is best suited for complex animations in which an image changes in each “Keyframe”.
In a “frame-by-frame animation”, you can transform each frame as a “Keyframe” and place different images in each frame.

I had already mentioned this in Lesson 21.

‘Test Movie”

When we have made an animation, we would like to test and see it .
This can be done in different ways.
One way is to click “Ctrl + Enter” on your keyboard or, a second way is to select “Control” in the menu bar and choose “Test Movie” from the drop-down menu.

Cover use

In “Flash” we have the ability to view multiple frames on the “Stage”. Under normal circumstances, we see only one, but we can have two or more frames in a work area. This makes it easier to edit “frame-by-frame animation”.

Place the play button in the first frame.

Click the “Cover” button at the bottom of the “Timeline”.

This puts the “Cover” on the “Timeline” to define “Begin cover” on the first frame that you can see, and highlight “End Cover” on the last frame that you can see.

Place your mouse pointer over a “Cover markup” and drag it to a position on the “Timeline” that you want.

The frame under the playback head is shown in color, while the other frames will be displayed slightly transparent.

To view the contents of a frame, you first move the play button on that frame, you select the selection tool in the tool bar, and move the contents of that frame.

A second way is to use the arrow keys on your keyboard.

When the “Contour Tracing” button is clicked, only the contours of the non-selected frames will be displayed.
Clicking on the “Cover Markup” opens a drop-down menu with several options:
“Always Show Markers”: Always indicates that the “Cover Markups” in the header of the “Timeline”, enable tracing .
“Cover Markers anchor”: Locks the “Cover markup” on the current position in the header of the “Timeline”. Normally, the cover area is relative to the pointer of the current frame and the cover markers. You can place the cover markers anchor in order to prevent moving the pointer from the current frame.
“2 frames”: Shows two frames on either side of the current frame.
“5 framesows: Shows five frames on both sides of the current frame.
All frames: Displays all the frames on both sides of the current frame

Edit multiple frames

“Flash” allows us to edit multiple frames simulataneously.
Place the play button in the first frame.
Click the “Edit Multiple Frames” button at the bottom of the “Timeline”.
Set the top two marks in the “Timeline”.
Click the “Ctrl + A” on your keyboard to select all and change the selected frames.

This is a useful option, especially if your “Frame-by-frame animation” has gone into hours, so you want to change the position. How this changes is what I think you would want to know. For those of you who still have not recollected, select the selection tool in the tool bar and click and drag the selected objects to the position you want.

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