Tag Archives: Flash

Computer Graphic Design

Spring 2014 – 42 – Animating Within a Symbol

Tuesday, April 15th, 2014
Objective:

  • Produce a Flash animation using animation embedded within a Symbol object.

Student-Friendly Objective:

  • I can create an animation using embedded frames of animation within a Symbol object in Flash.
Video Link:

None.
Topics Discussed:
  • Starting a new document in Flash CS5.5 using the Welcome screen.
  • Oval Primitive
  • Symbols
  • Isolation Mode
  • Embedded Animation
  • Motion Tweens
  • Keyframes
  • Layers

Assignment:

  1. Produce a new Flash ActionScript 3.0 file. Name it “Your Name – Flash Day 7″. Set the FPS to 30 and the Stage size to 800 x 600.
  2. Use the Oval Primitive Tool to draw a Pac Man shape. Convert this shape to a Symbol using any of the techniques we learned last week. Make the Symbol a Movie Clip, and name it “Pac Man”.
  3. Double-click on the Pac Man Symbol to enter Isolation Mode. Confirm that you are in Isolation Mode by looking at the grey bar across the top of the screen (it should read “Scene 1 – Pac Man”).
  4. Notice the timeline – it should currently have only one Keyframe. Click on Frame 3 and press F6 on your keyboard to create a copy of the first Keyframe.
  5. With Frame 3 still selected, close Pac-Man’s “mouth” by moving the opening and closing control points of the Oval Primitive to close the shape. This will establish a “closed mouth” pose on Frame 3 of your animation.
  6. Select Frame 5 on the Timeline. Press F6 on the keyboard to create a copy of the Keyframe from Frame 3.
  7. With Frame 5 still selected, open Pac-Man’s “mouth” by moving the opening and closing control points to their original positions.
  8. Slide the Timebar back and forth to test your animation. Pac-Man should now open and close his mouth rapidly.
  9. Double click on the Pasteboard (the gray area outside the stage) to get out of Isolation Mode and  return to Scene 1. Notice how the timeline changed. (Your animation didn’t disappear, it’s still embedded in the Symbol definition. You can see it again by double-clicking on the symbol.)
  10. Apply a Motion Tween to your Pac Man Symbol to move it across the stage. Scrub the timebar to test the animation. Notice how you do not see the mouth animation (Pac Man does not “wocka”!).
  11. Press Command + Return (Ctrl + Enter on the PC) to test your movie. Pac-Man should now move across the stage and the embedded mouth animation should be visible.
  12. Next, use what you have learned about Embedded Animation and Bone Tweens to produce a Bone Tweened IK shape that moves across the stage. Remember that you can use fn+F8 to make a Bone Tweened shape into a symbol, so you can apply a Motion Tween to it. Embed the Bone Tween animation inside the shape, and make it walk, slither, inch, roll or fly across the stage.
  13. Your work is complete when you have Pac-Man “wockaing” across the stage and one other shape moving across the stage with embedded animation.
  14. Save your work. Turn in the completed “Your Name – Flash Day 7.fla” file to folder “42 – Flash Day 7 – Animating Within a Symbol” in your period’s subfolder by the end of today.

Assigned: April 15th, 2014
Due Date: April 15th, 2014

Computer Graphic Design

Spring 2014 – 41 – Bone Tweens

Monday, April 14th, 2014
Objective:

  • Produce a Flash animation using Inverse Kinematics (a.k.a. Bone Tweens).

Student-Friendly Objective:

  • I can create a Flash animation using Bone Tweens.
Video Links:

Animating Bones:
https://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-flash-professional-cs4/getting-started-16-animating-bones/Using Inverse Kinematics:
https://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-flash-professional-cs4/using-inverse-kinematics/

Topics Discussed:
  • Starting a new document in Flash CS5.5 using the Welcome screen.
  • Shapes
  • Symbols
  • Registration Point
  • Tweens
  • Bone Tweens
  • IK Chains
  • IK Shapes
  • Keyframes
  • Layers

Assignment:

  1. Produce a new Flash ActionScript 3.0 file. Name it “Your Name – Flash Day 6″. Set the FPS to 30 and the Stage size to 800 x 600.
  2. Use the Shape tools to draw a shape. Convert this shape to a Symbol using any of the techniques we learned last week, and place five instances (copies) of this symbol on your Stage in a straight line.
  3. Use the process demonstrated in the video to create an IK Chain. Use the Bone Tool to draw Bones between the Registration Points (Center) of each of the five symbols. Note that as you add each Symbol to the IK Chain, it is moved from its original layer to the “Armature” layer that was automatically created when you linked the first two Symbols with the Bone Tool.
  4. Use the process demonstrated in the video to move and animate the IK Chain. (Note: This works just like a Motion Tween!)
  5. Create a new layer and draw a long thin horizontal rectangle. (Note: Do NOT make this a Symbol!)
  6. Select the Bone Tool. Starting from the left side of the rectangle, draw a bone from the left edge of the rectangle, about a fifth of the way across. Repeat this process until you have five bones linking the left edge of the rectangle to the right edge of the rectangle.
  7. Drag the last bone in the chain to transform the shape. You now have an IK Shape object. Animate a transformation (Curling, Waving, etc.)
  8. Finally, use the PolyStar Tool to draw a large, thin star. Use the Options to give the star at least five points and thin arms.
  9. Select the Bone Tool and starting from the center of the Star, draw four bones radiating from the center to the outer tip of the top arm.
  10. Repeat this process, starting from the center of the star each time, for each of the remaining four arms.
  11. Animate a separate transformation (Curling, Waving, etc.) for each of the five arms. (Make the star dance!)
  12. When you are finished, you should have three different IK animations (IK Chain, IK Shape, IK Star).
  13. Save your work. Turn in the completed “Your Name – Flash Day 6.fla” file to folder “41 – Flash Day 6 – Bone Tweens” in your period’s subfolder by the end of today.

Assigned: April 14th, 2014
Due Date: April 14th, 2014