Flash Article

Creating Animation

Understanding Animation

An animation is a sequence of images that create the illusion of movement when viewed in rapid succession. In Flash, these images are formed by content that’s placed on frames on the Timeline. You might use drawings, photos, or even ActionScript-generated graphics to create an animation or motion in your FLA files.

There are several different ways to create custom motion or animations in Flash. You can create motion tweens, shape tweens, or create frame-by-frame animation. Tweening refers to calculations made by Flash to animate or move or modify the properties or shape of an object in the SWF file. You create a beginning and an end for the particular transition using keyframes. When you apply a motion tween to the set of keyframes, Flash creates the movement itself by filling in the changes that occur between the two frames. Shape tweens are used to change a vector line or shape, such as changing a square into a circle. Motion tweens are used to change properties, such as move objects around the Stage or fade objects in and out. You will create both motion and shape tweens in this lesson.

A frame-by-frame animation is a more traditional way of creating animation. Instead of having Flash create a tween using automatic calculations, you draw each increment of the movement manually allowing you to create more complicated effects, particularly when motion or shape tweening doesn’t allow you to create the kind of animation you require. Frame-by-frame animations are usually more time-intensive to create, and they add more file size to the SWF.

Note: You can also create scripted animation using ActionScript and (typically) movie clips. There is a part of ActionScript called the Drawing API that is used to script lines and shapes on the Stage, and can be used in very complex ways. Although it goes beyond the scope of this book, it is definitely worth looking into if and when you choose to learn more about ActionScript.

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