A Beginner’s Guide to Flash Animation

Step 1 – A Simple Shape Tween

1. Open a new Flash document and use the drawing tools to draw a
suitable shape.

2. In the timeline, select Frame 25 and press F6 (Insert new keyframe).

3. Drag the shape to the right of the frame.

4. Click back into Frame 1, look in the Properties window and set the
Tween to Shape.

5. Press the Return key to test the animation.

Note: You can only perform a shape tween with a shape drawn in Flash
(effectively, this isn’t strictly the case).

Note: If the long arrow in the timeline is broken (a dotted line) then there is a
problem with the tween.

Extension: Try deleting the shape in the end frame and drawing a different
shape or using a different colour.

Extension: Try drawing more than one shape in each frame and see what
happens!
A Beginner’s Guide to Flash Animation

Step 2 – A Simple Motion Tween

1. Open a new Flash document, click File >> Import >> Import To
Stage and choose a picture.

2. In the timeline, select Frame 25 and press F6 (Insert new keyframe).

3. Drag the picture to the right of the frame.

4. Click back into Frame 1, look in the Properties window and set the
Tween to Motion.

5. Press the Return key to test the animation.

Note: You can only perform a motion tween with a ‘symbol’ – but you can do
much more with a motion tween.

Note: If the long arrow in the timeline is broken (a dotted line) then there is a
problem with the tween.

Note: You can only create a motion tween with one symbol at a time.

Extension: Try using the Free Transform Tool to resize the picture in the final
frame to make the picture get bigger or smaller.
A Beginner’s Guide to Flash Animation

Step 3 – Fade In / Fade Out

1. Open a new Flash document, click File >> Import >> Import To
Stage and choose a picture.

2. Right click on the picture and Convert To Symbol. Use a suitable

name and choose Graphic.

3. Select the picture and in the Properties window click Color >> Alpha
and set it to 0. Alpha is how solid/see-through the picture is.

4. In the timeline, select Frame 25 and press F6 (Insert new keyframe).

5. Again, click on the picture and set the Color >> Alpha >> 100 to
make it completely visible.

6. Click back into Frame 1, look in the Properties window and set the
Tween to Motion.

7. Press the Return key to test the animation.

Extension: Set another keyframe at Frame 50 and have the picture fade back
out again.
A Beginner’s Guide to Flash Animation

Step 4 – Frame By Frame Animation

1. Open a new Flash document, leave the opening slide blank..

2. In the timeline, select Frame 2 and press F6 (Insert new keyframe).

3. Draw the first part of your animation (maybe part of a letter).

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until you have completed your animation.

5. Press the Return key to test the animation.

Extension: Click the ‘New Layer’ button at the bottom of the timeline
window. In the bottom layer create a motion tween fade-in. In the top
layer use a frame by frame animation to add text.