What are “Tweens”?

Let me first explain what a “Tween” means, at least according to “Adobe”:

A “Tween” is an animation that you can make by giving a value for an object property in a given frame, and another value for the same property in another frame. “Flash” automatically calculates the values for that property in the intermediate frames. The term “Tween” comes from word ‘between’ in English: ‘in between’.

We have “Shape Tweens” and “Motion tweens”.

Every “Tween” has a starting “Keyframe” and an ending “Keyframe”.

First thing we discuss is the “Shape Tween”.

 

“Shape tweens”

In shape tweening, we draw a shape in a “Keyframe” in the “Timeline” and change the form or sign to a different form in another “Keyframe”. Flash will automatically add intermediate forms in the intervening frames, creating an animation in which a shape blends into another.

To have a “Shape Tween”, you need two different forms.

One at the start of the main frame and one at end of the main frame.

In the first “Keyframe”, I have drawn a rectangle and in the second “Keyframe”, a circle.

Right-click anywhere on the “Timeline”, no matter where, between these two “Keyframes” and select “Shape tween” in the pop-up menu.

The “Shape Tween” is indicated by an arrow on a green background.

Possibly add some extra frames after the last “Keyframe”, this way you still have some extra time to see the last form, i.e “Flash” movie repeats itself as soon as the last frame is reached, remember?

Test your movie by using the “Ctrl + Enter” shortcut on your keyboard.

In shape tweening, you can modify the properties of each form in the “Properties window” or by using the tools in the tool bar.

 

“Shape Hints”

The “Flash” animation shown above is very easy with the rectangle and circle.

However, when we start using more complex objects, “Flash” can make a mess.

To have a little help, we use “Shape Hints”

“Shape Hints” places markers in the initial and final form.

To add a “Shape hint”, first select the start frame.

You click the “Modify” button in the menu bar.

You choose “Form” in the drop-down menu and click the “Add Shape Hint.”

This places a marker in the starting main frame and in the final main frame.

This marker provides a way to correspond with any point in the starting “Keyframe” to a certain point in the final “Keyframe”.

Drag the marker to a logical position in the form at the beginning “Keyframe”, which is possibily the left side.

Select the end “Keyframe”.

The final form appears in the “Shape hint” as a green circle with the letter ‘a’ sometimes.

Moving it to the end point in the main frame should correspond to the first point that you have marked in the beginning “Keyframe”.

We repeat this process to add more “Shape hints”.

New hints are shown with successive letters (b, c, etc.).

The more you use “Shape hints”, the better your “Tween” will run in “Flash”.

Test your “Flash” movie periodically to see how your settings get interpreted.

See this form with some used “Shape Hints”.

“Shape hints” are yellow in a starting “Keyframe”, green in a final “Keyframe”, and red when they are not on an edge.

To remove a “Shape hint”, drag it from the “Stage”.
To remove all “Shape hints”, click “Update” in the menu bar, select “Form” in the drop-down menu and click “Remove All Hints.”

When there is an error in your “Shape Tween”, for example you have an object in one of the main frames, “Flash” will display this error as a black dotted line on a green background.

You will see the difference as black arrow = everything ok and black dotted line = wrong.

 

We use “Shape tweens” only in “Aggregate forms”.

 

If you want to use in a “Shape Tween” in an object, a symbol or text , split it until you create a merged form.

Just click the “Modify” button in the menu bar and choose “Split” in the drop-down menu.
For your information:
In this text you will split at least twice to make the shape of each letter.
The first time, you split the text into individual letters (1).
The second time, you split the characters in forms (2).

 

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