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Tutorial – How To Use Flash What is Flash? Flash is a vector animation software, originally developed to create animations for display on web pages. Flash allows web designers the ability to import artwork using illustration tools to create animation and special effects.
Opening Flash and Creating Frames 1. Open Adobe Flash CS4 Professional 2. In the Timeline at the bottom of the screen, place the cursor on Frame 1.
3. Press F7 until you create 10 frames, or simply drag Frame 1 to create 10 frames
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Flash
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Inserting Images into Flash 1. Click Frame 1 2. File > Import > Import to Stage > Select one clip from your folder
3. Click Frame 2 4. Repeat process to import second clip 5. Repeat the process until you have inserted 10 clips into the 10 frames
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Adobe
Flash
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Creating Another Layer 1. Right click on Layer 1 and select Insert Layer
2. Notice how Layer 2 has been created
Tracing around Images 1. Select Frame 1 on Layer 1 2. Click on Frame 1 on Layer 2 and press F7 to create new frame 3. Select the Brush tool and a colour of your choice from the Tools Bar
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4. Trace around Beyonce
5. Once completed tracing of picture one, complete steps 1, 2, 3, 4 again until all 10 frames are completed.
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Adobe
Flash
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Adding background 1. Right click on Layer 1 2. Select Insert Layer to create Layer 3
3. File >Import >Import to Stage > Select background image from folder
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Adobe
Flash
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Changing Frame Rate 1. At the bottom of the screen, select the icon fps. 2. Change the frame rate to a desired speed. (Recommended 8 fps)
To View Animation 1. To view animation, select apple key and enter.
Save 1. Save file by clicking File>Save As. Enter your name and location.
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Adobe
Flash
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Additional Resources Additional information has been provided to help you use a range of different tools and techniques on Flash to create different projects.
Creating and Editing Artwork Drawing tools allow you to create lines and shapes for designs in your document. It is important to understand how Flash creates artwork and what tools you need to use to modify and paint shapes. For example: Direction lines are perpendicular to the radium. They allow you to move and resize directions to change the slope of curves in a shape.
Timelines and Animation To insert a frame, select Insert > Timeline > Frame To create a keyframe, select Insert > Timeline > Keyframe
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The timeline organizes and controls a document’s content over time in layers and frames. Layers in a document are listed in a column on the left side of the timeline. The timeline status displayed at the bottom of the timeline indicates the selected frame number, the current frame rate and the elapsed time to the current frame.
Parts of the Timeline A. PlayheadB. Empty keyframeC. Timeline headerD. Guide layer iconE. Frame View pop‑up menuF. Frame-by-frame animationG. Tweened animationH. Scroll To Playhead buttonI. Onionskinning buttonsJ. Current Frame indicatorK. Frame Rate indicatorL. Elapsed Time indicator
Using Sounds in Flash There are two types of sounds in Flash: event sound and stream sound. A sound must be downloaded completely before it begins playing to be an event sound. Stream sound begins playing as soon as enough data for the first frame has been downloaded. To import a sound file: Select File > Import > Import to Library In the Import dialog box, locate and open the desired sound file Flash stored sounds in the library. To open the sounds library, choose Window >Common Libraries > Sounds. You will need to import a sound from the Sounds library to your FLA file.
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Adobe
Flash
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Using Video in Flash When importing video into Flash, a video needs to encode into FLV or H.264 format. You may want to use the Video Import Video (File >Import> Import Video). The Wizard will check video files that you select from imports. It will alert you if the video is not compatible to play as it is not in the correct format.
Effects Blur Effect 1. To blur an image, import an image onto the stage in Flash 2. Select the blur symbol, on the stage 3. In the Properties Inspector, choose the Filters Tab 4. Click on the + icon and choose Blur 5. Choose 100 for Blur X and Blur Y and Quality as Medium 6. You can try different blur effects by adjusting the blur X and blur Y values
Zoom Effect 1. In a new layer draw a circle 2. Click F8 to convert the object into a symbol 3. Insert a keyframe by select F6 in the 10th frame. 4. In frame 1 click on he circle object. Reduce the size of it to 25% of its original size. 5. In frame 10, click on the circle. Reduce the Alpha Value from 100% to 20% in the colour panel 6. In frame 1, select Create Motion Tween 7. Save your work and select apple + enter to see the effect.
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Adobe
Flash
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Resources: Cool Flash Effects (2001). Retrieved 16/4/09, from http://www.smartwebby.com/flash/cool_effects.asp
Flash Tutorials and Resources (2008). Retrieved 16/4/09, from http://www.entheosweb.com/Flash/default.asp
Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Web Help (2008). Retrieved 16/4/09, from http://help.adobe.com
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