Adobe Flash CS4 Professional on Demand

11. Creating Masks

What You’ll Do

Understand Masks

Create a Mask Layer

Draw a Mask

Activate a Mask

Editing a Mask

Remove a Mask

Add Layers to a Mask

Animating a Mask Layer

Introduction

You can create mask layers to show and hide parts of your artwork on the Stage. A mask works like a window blocking out everything but a certain area that you define. Any shape, symbol or text object can be used as a mask. The shape you place in a mask layer defines the area that will be visible in the linked layers below it. You can animate a mask to reveal the content on a layer in stages or animate the art in the layer beneath the mask. It is useful for spotlighting and controlling the shape of the viewable area. Masks are great tools ...