Adobe Flash Lesson 05
Adobe Flash Lesson 05
TWEENING
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do the following:
• Use the Motion Editor to refine and create complex animation
• Understand when to use the Motion Editor
• Change the Motion Editor view
• Edit a property curve
• Copy and paste a property curve
• Use eases to create more realistic motion
• Add different eases to different property curves
• Modify an ease
• Remove an ease
• Understand the difference between a property curve and an
ease curve
• See how an ease curve affects the animation
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5 Choose File > Save As. Name the file 05_workingcopy.fla, and save it in the
05Start folder.
Saving a working copy ensures that the original start file will be available if you
want to start over.
4 Select all three blocks and, while holding the Shift key down, move them up
onto the Stage. The y value for the multiple selection should be at Y=40.
The initial value of the curve appears to be greater than 400, and the final value of
the curve appears to be a little less than 150. However, those values don’t seem to
match the initial Y=400.00 and Y=100.00 values when you look at the position of
the movie clip in the Properties inspector. Why the discrepancy?
The Motion Editor measures from the transformation point of your object. Since
the transformation point of your object is in the center, the Motion Editor vertical
values show the Y-property values as the initial position (Y=400) plus half of the
movie clip’s height (H=70). So, (400 + (1/2)*70) = 435.
Transformation point
The movie clip’s final position is at (Y=100) + half of the height (H=70), which is 135.
The anchor point allows you to change the motion of your animation. The new
curve overshoots the final y-value of the motion tween just before the final
keyframe. The resulting motion makes the movie clip move rapidly up, then fall
back its final Y-position value.
4 Select the Add Anchor point option again.
5 Click on the Y-property curve at frame 5, and drag the new anchor point to the
right to about frame 9.
Flash adds another anchor point to the graph and a new keyframe to the motion
tween. The new curve looks like a broad “S” shape, with a smooth flattened
slope at the beginning, a steep section in the middle, and the bump at the end.
6 Test your new motion by pressing Return/Enter. P Note: You can
also double-click on a
Your red playhead moves through the motion tween. Your new curve makes property curve to add a
your movie clip ease in to its motion, then rapidly shoot past its destination, new anchor point.
and then fall back to its ending value.
At the moment, your animation has a tween for only one property—the Y-property,
so deleting the curve would remove the whole tween. Use the Remove Tween
option if you want to delete the animation of a particular property when you have
multiple properties changing.
• Change the zoom level with the magnification menu at the bottom of the P Note: You can enter
Motion Editor. a custom magnification
level for the Motion
The vertical axis expands to show a more granular level of property values. Editor, but the minimum
Scroll up or down to see the top or bottom of the curve. value is 100% and the
maximum value is 400%.
• Click the Restore to 100% option.
Flash resets the Motion Editor at 100% to show the property curves at its P Note: You can
also hold down the
default view. Command/Ctrl key and
scroll inside the Motion
• Click the Fit to View option at the bottom of the Motion Editor. Editor to change the
Flash expands the Motion Editor to fit the existing space on the Timeline. Click magnification.
the option again to restore the default view.
The Motion Editor in the US layer collapses and the Motion Editor in the Euro
layer expands. Both the X-property and Y-property curves of the motion tween
in the Euro layer are straight, linear motions.
4 Select the Y-property.
P Note: At the time of 5 Right-click/Ctrl-click on the Y-property curve and choose Paste.
this writing, the paste
operation does not
correctly paste all the
information from the
copied curve. Choose
Paste twice.
8 Hold down the Shift key and click and drag the anchor point at frame 21 to
about Y=100 in the Motion Editor.
Both the US and the European Union blocks slowly ease in to their motion, fly
up high, and then settle back down in the middle of the Stage.
3 Right-click/Ctrl-click and choose Copy Motion, or choose Edit > Timeline >
Copy Motion.
2 Select frame 40 in the Emerging layer and insert a new keyframe (F6).
Flash creates a motion tween for the Emerging movie clip instance.
4 Move the red playhead to frame 55.
5 Hold down the Shift key and move the Emerging movie clip instance onto the
Stage so that its right edge butts up against the stack of blocks. The x-position
should be at 100. Make sure that the Y-position remains at Y=45 in the ending
keyframe as in the beginning keyframe.
Flash splits the motion tween in the Emerging layer into two motion tweens—
one that begins at frame 40, and another that begins at frame 56.
Adding an ease-in
The Motion Editor provides a host of different ease types that can give a simple
motion, like the Emerging movie clip’s shove, a more interesting appearance.
1 Double-click the motion tween in the Emerging layer, or right-click/Ctrl-click
and choose Refine Tween.
Flash expands the motion tween in the Emerging layer, revealing the Motion
Editor panel. The Motion Editor contains property curves for both the X- and
Y-properties. The X-property curve slopes upward while the Y-property curve
is flat.
2 Select the X-property curve.
3 Choose the Add Ease option at the bottom of the Motion Editor.
Flash displays an ease curve, which graphically shows the intensity of the ease.
The Slow ease is fairly shallow and closest to a straight line. The Fastest ease has
the largest curvature.
6 Change the Easing value to –60. P Note: You can use
the Up, Down, Left, and
Right Arrow keys to
navigate the ease types
in the Ease panel of the
Motion Editor.
The Easing value determines the strength of the ease for each ease type, and the
direction of the ease. A positive number represents an ease-out, and a negative
number represents an ease-in.
The motion tween of the Emerging block proceeds slowly, gaining momentum
until it finally collides with the stack of smaller blocks in the middle of the Stage.
The motion tween path on the Stage shows the position of the instance at each
frame. The clustering of the dots on the left side of the tween path means that
the object doesn’t move very far in the beginning of its motion, but gradually
speeds up.
Flash removes the ease. Choose Command/Ctrl+Z to undo the removal of the
ease. You’ll keep the ease in place for this project.
Flash splits the motion tweens in the US, Euro, and Yen layers. New motion
tweens begin at frame 56 for all three layers.
5 Move the Euro movie clip instance to the bottom of the Stage at X=551 and
Y=310, and using the Free Transform tool, rotate it 90 degrees clockwise.
The final position should be at X=620 and Y=310.
The three blocks fall gracefully in a diagonal direction, rotating as they fall. You’ll
want a more violent, realistic tumble, so the next step is to add some eases.
3 Choose the Add Ease option at the bottom of the Motion Editor.
Flash opens the Ease panel, which lists the different ease options.
Review Answers
1 To open the Motion Editor panel, double-click a motion tween span on the Timeline,
or right-click/Ctrl-click a motion tween span and choose Refine Tween.
2 A property curve is the graphical representation of how a property of a motion tween
changes values over time. An ease curve represents a different rate of change that you
can apply to an individual property curve. Flash displays the effects of an ease curve on
a property curve as a dotted line.
3 The Easing value changes the strength and direction of an ease. Easing values affect
eases differently, depending on the type of ease selected. For example, the Easing
value for BounceIn eases determines the number of bounces, while the Easing value
for a Simple Fast ease determines whether the ease is an ease-in or ease-out, and the
strength of the ease.
4 To change the curvature of a property curve, select the property in the Motion Editor
and choose the Add Anchor option. Click on the curve to add a new anchor point and
move the handle bars to change the tangent at that point. You can move the anchor
points up or down to change the property value, or you can move the anchor points
left or right to change the position of the keyframe within the motion tween.