Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional Bible

Chapter 12. Applying Filters and Effects

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Applying Flash Filters

• Animating Filter effects with Motion tweens

• Comparing the Adjust Color filter and Advanced Color Effects

• Working with Blends

• Setting and modifying Timeline Effects

• Importing custom Timeline Effects

In this chapter, we'll introduce you to some of the key tools in the Flash authoring environment that support expressiveness — another term for creative options for designers. If you've worked with other graphics programs, you'll appreciate the creative potential of the Filters panel and the Blend menu built into the Property inspector. If you've never used a filter or heard of a blend mode, you'll be relieved to discover how easy it is to apply these features and will be amazed at how much they can do to enhance your projects.

Note

Flash CS3 now includes a handy option in the Filters panel that enables you to copy and paste Filter effects from one item to another.

Applying Filters in Flash

Filters offer shortcuts for adding visual polish to your Flash designs. Rather than manually editing shapes to create drop shadows or adjusting gradient fills to create bevels, you can simply apply a live filter and use the built-in settings to adjust the final effect. Unlike Timeline Effects, filters are rendered on the fly and do not result in any additional symbols being generated and added to the Library. In addition, filters do not interfere with the "editability" of your content — you can always modify the original text or symbol ...