Building Flash® Web Sites For Dummies®

Chapter 6. Get a Move On and Animate the Site

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Mastering animations

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Creating motion tween animations

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Animating with a motion path

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Creating shape tween animations

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Animating an image sequence

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Animation is a staple of many Flash movies. However, some Flash designers take animation way over the top. When everything is moving, a viewer has no idea what the designer wants him or her to watch. There are lots of places you can use animation. You can use animation to amuse your viewers, to create a unique banner, or to create an introduction to your Flash Web site. Flash has many types of animations: frame-by-frame, motion tween, shape tween, and, for you control freaks, animating along a motion path. Animation in Flash can be daunting. In this chapter, I show you how to work with frames and keyframes, plus how to use this knowledge to create animations. And if you’d like, you can be animated while reading this chapter. Your pets will be endlessly amused.

Animation 101: A Tale of Frames and Keyframes and Blank Keyframes

Before you can create any animation in Flash, you need to know how to work with frames and keyframes. If you’ve already mastered this task, feel free to skip the upcoming sections. However, if you’re a neophyte, or if you’re a bit rusty on your animation techniques, read on.

Working with frames

When you create a new ...