WEEK 7 - motion guide and shape tween tutorial

We went over motion guide in flash today in class. We used a background image of a map of the United States and an airplane. The point of the tutorial was to learn how to make the plane fly across the page (or across the map). Here are the steps to the tutorial that we did . . .
• import images to the library
• drag your background image from library onto the screen (make sure you are on the first layer)
• make the background image fit in the window
- modify the cordinates in properties table
- main menu - view - magnification - fit in window
- use the free transform tool and make it fit manually
• make sure you lock the background layer so nothing unexpected can happen to it
• create another keyframe in frame 40 so you have the length of your movie
• create a new layer and re-name it so you know what it is
• drag other image into the first key frame
- use the free transform tool to resize
- to deselect image click on any white or gray area outside the image
• insert motion tween in keyframe 1
- click keyframe 40 and move the plane to the end of the path (around california)
- make sure the dotted line turns into a straight line with an arrow
- the movie will now be the plane flying in a straight line from Newfoundland to California
• to make the plane have a more fun flying path you can insert a motion guide
• in the motion guide layer select the pencil tool (have the color be white) and draw your own creative path from Newfoundland to Californian
• then make sure you are on the airplane layer and using the free transform tool make the plane fit with the beginning of the path
- make sure you click "orient to path" in keyframe 1
• moving to key frame 40, move the plane, use the free transform (if needed) and click "orient to path" again
• now when you play the movie (control - test movie) the plane will not be flying in a straight line, but it follows the path you drew (it wil loop and bump along with whatever you drew)


Now we are creating a shape tween
• we imported the U2 Vertigo image into library
• resized the image to fit the stage
• then we clicked on frame 40 and created a keyframe
• main menu - modify - break apart
• select a frame inbetween (frame 20) and insert - shape tween
• using free transform you can movie and manipulate the image to make it turn and twist in the movie, you can also add color and any other affects you want