Adobe 38039336 - Flash CS3 Professional Operation instructions

The Flash Classroom — www.flashclassroom.com

Tutorial by Kristine Kopelke—Page 1 of 4

FLASH CLASSROOM TUTORIAL - USING MOTION GUIDES IN FLASH CS3

USING MOTION GUIDES IN FLASH CS3

- THE ANTS NEST TUTORIAL

A motion guide is a line you have drawn with the pencil tool on a guide layer.

You can attach your object or character to the line to make it follow that path.

This can save time, particularly when doing an animation sequence that involves

substantial movement.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a motion guide by designing your own

ant’s nest. You will create the different tunnels and then make a guide to show

your ant where to move within the nest.

1. Start by selecting a light brown colour for the background in the properties

section.

2. Rename Layer 1 with the name Background by double-clicking on the text

Layer 1 and typing in Background.

3. Using your rectangle tool, draw a large dark brown rectangle over the whole

stage area. To make the tunnels in your nest, set your eraser to the largest

size in the tool modifiers and rub out parts of the rectangle. This will create a

tunnel-like look similar to the image below.

The Flash Classroom — www.flashclassroom.com

Tutorial by Kristine Kopelke—Page 2 of 4

4. Make a new layer on the timeline using the add layer button ( )

or by selecting Insert > Timeline > Layer.

Name the new layer ant.

5. On the ant layer draw an ant. You can do this

simply by drawing three overlapping circles and

adding small lines to make antennae and legs.

6. Select the ant and make it into a symbol in the

library by choosing Modify> Convert to Symbol.

7. Name the symbol ant and select the graphic option from the type

options. Select the centre square in the Registration option.

8. Your ant is now ready to be given a guide. To create a guide layer, select

the ant layer on your timeline and then click on the following symbol to add

the guide layer.

9. Your timeline should look like this.

Note: Your guide will only work if

the guide layer is directly above the

layer containing the object using

the guide. For example, if you

dragged the ant layer below the

background layer, the guide

would not work.

FLASH CLASSROOM TUTORIAL - USING MOTION GUIDES IN FLASH CS3

This button will add a guide layer to the

layer you have selected on the

timeline.

The Flash Classroom — www.flashclassroom.com

Tutorial by Kristine Kopelke—Page 3 of 4

10. Click on the first keyframe of the Guide: ant layer and ensure it is

highlighted as in the above picture.

Using the pencil tool, draw the path you would like your ant to follow

through the ant nest. An example is showed below.

10. It is now time to snap the ant to the guide. To do this, we need to follow

these steps:

a) Ensure that the magnet icon in the tools options is

pressed on.

b) Select the ant on frame 1 of the ant layer. Position

your mouse on the centre of the ant where you will

see a crosshair. Move the ant using the crosshair

to the starting point of the guide.

c) You will be able to tell your object has ‘snapped’ to the guide, because

you will see an outline of a circle just behind the crosshair when

you attach it to the guide.

d) You have just positioned the ant at the start

of the guide. It is now time to position the

ant at the end of the guide. To do this you

will need to Insert a Keyframe further

down the timeline.

I will position mine at frame 50 by clicking on this frame and selecting

Insert > Timeline > Keyframe (or F6).To be able to see the

background and guide at frame 50, I will need to add a keyframe at frame

50 to their layers too. At this point your timeline should look like this.

FLASH CLASSROOM TUTORIAL - USING MOTION GUIDES IN FLASH CS3

The black line is the

guide for the ant to

follow. This line is

sometimes referred to

as the motion path.

The Flash Classroom — www.flashclassroom.com

Tutorial by Kristine Kopelke—Page 4 of 4

e) Click on frame 50 of the ant layer and drag the ant to the end of the

guide. Ensure the ant snaps to the guide by watching for the blue

circle.

f) You have now positioned the ant at the start and end of the guide.

To make him move along the line, we will need to add a motion

tween.

To do this we need to click

between the two keyframes on

the ant layer and select motion

from the tween dropdown menu.

Congratulations, your ant should now move along the pencil guide you

have drawn on the guide layer. If it is not doing this, delete the guide

layer and begin the process again.

FLASH CLASSROOM TUTORIAL - USING MOTION GUIDES IN FLASH CS3

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