Week 4: Adobe Flash Tutorial

Techniques and Skills Gained- Adobe Flash

Throughout today’s Adobe Flash workshop I have gained a lot of new skills some of these include:

Motion Guide- pen tool to create paths for ball to follow. Last week I was introduced to the motion guide tool, today I put this into action. I used inserted the motion guide tool which created a layer, I then used the pen tool to create the paths. This is a tool which I found slightly difficult to use, I did manage to create the paths, but this is a tool which I need to concentrate on improving my skills to use this tool in the future. I did create the path and added the circle to this; I had a bit of trouble in attaching the centre point of the ball. With some help I managed to attach the ball to the path and create the animation.

I added the easing effect to this motion; I selected this within the bottom properties. Selecting -100 and adding a keyframe to this point in the timeline, when the animation played the easing was clearly shown at the selected point. I found this an easy technique to use and I was able to apply this to my animation.

Organising Folders: organising folders is key within Adobe Flash when creating animations. I will be creating different animations which cannot be added on the same layer. So by organising the different layers of animation into folders will help me in creating the different parts of the animation. This is an aspect which I will definitely be using when creating my own animation as it will make the creating of the animation easier.

I also imported some images into Adobe Flash; I imported images from my saved pictures on my desktop. I imported these images into the library panel within my Flash setup. I added timeline effects to this image and selected Transform. This allowed me to add different effects, these included: number of frames, blur, final colour and rotate. When the effects were added it created a folder within the library panel, which I then dropped onto the scene where the animation is created. This was shown as a layer in the timeline; I then also added another image (on a separate layer) and merged these together within the timeline. I believe I used this tool well and I will be able to use this creatively when creating my own animation.

Adding Text and Masking
Throughout the second half of this workshop I learnt how to add text and mask within Flash. The text tool is similar to Photoshop to create the text. I selected the text tool and selected the size, style and colour of my font. I was then introduced to masking; this would create text appearing across the screen. To create the masking effect I added the oval tool by inserting a new symbol and dropped this onto the stage along with the text (two separate layers on timeline) I then selected keyframe 35 and positioned both the text and oval in first and last position by using the keyframes. The text and shape will be opposite each other in their first and last positions. The shape symbol would not be seen as it is an ‘invisible’ layer, therefore the text would only be seen when I motion tweened the sequence. I right clicked on the mask layer and selected mask, this would hide the shape and the text would be seen in motion across the screen. Through creating the masking I have learnt a new skill which will help me in my own animation, although I believe this is a tool which will take me a bit of time to get used to. I did create the masking; I believe that after repeating this process a couple more times I will feel more confident in the process of creating the masking.

Importing Video and Sound
I also imported video and sound into Flash; I created a new document and created 2 layers: Audio and Video. From the archives on the college system I added in the video (.mov) file by ‘Import- Import Video’. I then selected the video and I went through a process of settings for the video, once this was completed the video was added to the library panel. This was then added to the scene (stage) and I then selected the end keyframe, the number of keyframe determines the speed of the video. I imported sound into the document; I selected ‘Import- Import to library’. I selected the file (wav file) and this was imported into the library panel.  I selected keyframe 40 on the audio layer timeline and dragged the sound clip onto the scene. As the sound is not visible the sound line would be shown within the layer timeline to represent the sound file. I could also change the properties of the sound, by fading in and out. By being taught how to import sound and video I feel confident with this. I believe I will be able to use this tool, especially sound as this is an aspect I need to include within my animation.

Overall, through the workshop today I have learnt a lot of new skills which will help me within creating my animation. I have learnt how to: created motion guide, easing, importing images, organising folders, masking, text and importing video & audio. I feel confident in terms of many of these different tools, but I believe one of the main tools which I need to concentrate on is the pen tool. I found this tool a little difficult to use, but I will concentrate of creating a smooth path using the pen tool to ensure I can use this tool correctly. I will be updating my Skills Audi document with the new skills I have learnt throughout the workshop.