Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional Bible

Chapter 28. Animating with ActionScript

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Copy Motion as ActionScript 3.0

• Moving objects with the Tween class

• Building a graphic that follows the mouse cursor

This chapter teaches you how to use new and old features of Flash animation capabilities with ActionScript. If you've ever wondered how dynamic random motion can be created in Flash content, then look no further. You can start learning about ActionScript-based motion by using good old-fashioned motion tweens that you learned how to create in earlier chapters of this book.

Note

Flash CS3 introduces a new way for designers to share creative animations with developers, using the new Copy Motion as ActionScript 3.0 command.

Copying Motion as ActionScript 3.0

Prior to Flash CS3, the ability of a Flash developer to translate a Flash designer's vision of Flash motion, which could encompass several layers of tweens with multiple keyframes, into ActionScript-based motion was not necessarily a one-to-one translation. Meaning, it wasn't uncommon for a developer to recreate a designer's work without the designer feeling that something was missing or left out.

A common scenario with Flash production involving a team effort is to have a designer (or team of designers) create a Flash prototype, indicating the look-and-feel of each screen of the Flash content, and, most importantly, the motion between transitions, menu, and other elements. When the development team is given the hand-off of the prototype, it's the Flash developer's job, ...