Flash CS5: The Missing Manual

A Tour of the Motion Editor

The Motion Editor is like a powerful microscope that lets you examine a motion tween's innards. Combining the features of the timeline and the Properties panel, the Motion Editor focuses on a single tween span, showing you its workings at a seemingly molecular level. Not only that, but the Motion Editor also gives you the power to make a change to any tweenable property at any point in time. With all this firepower, you can create very complex tweens and control them with better precision than ever before.

To open the Motion Editor, go to Window→Motion Editor. The Motion Editor won't show its stuff unless you select either a tweened object on the stage or a tween span in the timeline. (If you want to experiment with an existing tween, you can download 08-4_Motion_Editor.fla from the Missing CD page at www.missingmanuals.com/cds.) At first glance, the Motion Editor may look a little intimidating, with lots of properties, numbers, widgets, and graph lines. Don't be put off—it's not tough to master these elements and bend those motion tweens to your iron will. If you've used Flash's custom easing feature before (it's been around since Flash 8), you have a head start.

Tip

Using the Essentials workspace, which this book uses throughout, the Motion Editor appears as a tab below the stage, next to the timeline (Figure 8-12). If you have room, though, you may want to drag the tab to a new location—like a second monitor. Giving the Motion Editor more room makes your ...