Complex Rotation Animation

Hello to everyone,
This is my first time here in the forum.
I have recentyl started using after effects and I am very surprised at how easy it is to create animation & effects with it.
My question is about a rotation animation I have come across.
Particularly, although I thought it was easy, I am not able to recreate the rotation of the icons at approximately 40sec of
this bluefx video. When the main icon explodes they all start to make a rotation animation around their vertical axis.
However, I cannot recreate it with simple rotations.
I have seen this animation in other videos as well, so I believe that there must be some kind of a technique (like a design
pattern) for it.
I have tried using the combination of a null object controlling a camera and setting the object to be rotated to "orient towards
camera". I see the animation in the RAM preview through another camera of the composition. However, when I render it the
animation does not show because the active camera is the one moving. And it is moving in order for the object to follow it. So,
the animation cannot be rendered.
I would be very grateful if anyone could help me out with this. Ideas, known techinques, anything.
Thanks a lot!

I'm not sure I follow you. Rotation values are always based on the x, y, and z planes of the layer. You can change the way the rotation tool (w) effects these numbers by selecting Local, World, or View axis modes or by picking Rotation or Orientation in the tool bar.
I usually do all of my rotation manipulation in the timeline.
Taking a closer look at the animation on my computer it looks like you can duplicate it with z and x rotation only. It just takes 3 keyframes for x and 2 for z with a little graph editor tweaking.

Similar Messages

Some of my rotation animation is stepping at about one degree increments instead of tweening smoothly. I'm using classic tweening. I see that if I select the whole interval and use F6 to convert every tween frame to a key and then select the object at t

Some of my rotation animation is stepping at about one degree increments instead of tweening smoothly. I'm using classic tweening. I see that if I select the whole interval and use F6 to convert every tween frame to a key and then select the object at the different frames, that I see under transform that the skew values are changes from frame to frame aroung that same one degree range. Is there a solution to this?

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Photoshop CS6 Extended Timeline Video Animation - How to make rotation animation

Hi All
In the timeline panel in CS6 EXTENDED, you have a video feature, where you can animate three things:
Position
Style
Opacity
What I would like to know, is: How can I animate rotation of a layer? I want to rotate my layer at an angle and animate it. But when I rotate, the first animation frame is also rotated, resulting in NO animation between the frames.
Thank you

You can also create a COUNTERCLOCKWISE rotation animation using the Adobe Photoshop CS6 Timeline:
1. Make your first rotation keyframe by rotating your smart object layer -1 degrees.
2. Make your second rotation keyframe by clicking near the middle of the timeline and rotating your Smart Object layer -179.9 degrees.
3. Click near the end of your timeline, and make your third rotation keyframe by rotating your Smart Object Layer 1 degree.
Create CLOCKWISE rotation, as described in JJMack's post:
1. Make your first rotation keyframe--no need to rotate because we want the rotation Value to be Zero.
2. Make your second rotation keyframe by clicking near the middle of the timeline and rotating your Smart Object layer 180 degrees
3. Click near the end of your timeline, and make your third rotation keyframe by rotating your Smart Object Layer 180 degrees.
Thanks JJMack, your input and animation helped me immensely.

Motor rotation animation (clockwise, anti-clockwise)

hi all, can anybody tell me how the shaft of a motor can be animated to rotate clock-wise and anti-clockwise direction. precisely , from this website below, how can i make similar
http://members.lycos.co.uk/sgctek/motor.html
plz guide
Thanks

Hey freemason,
Mike has a good suggestion. It sounds like you may also be interested in setting up a picture ring control. Check out this Knowledgebase for some more information on how to set up a picture ring control.
Essentially, the examples that can be found on the website you linked are just a series of 7 pictures that represent the entire revolution of the shaft. Each picture is associated with an integer. There is then a loop that controls the speed at which the program goes through the 7 integers and thus the 7 pictures. If you haven't already, take a look at the block diagram and you might get a little more insight into how those examples work.
Hope this helps.
-Ben
Applications Engineering
National Instruments
Hope this helps.
-Ben
WaterlooLabs

Rotating Animation with a Seamless Loop

Hey all,
I'm trying to do something very simple in PS CS6 that's proving to be, well, not so simple (for me at least). All I want to do is animate a layer in a clockwise direction and end up with a seamless looping animated gif. I discovered rotation can't even be animated unless you convert the layer to a smart object, first of all (and by accident. And the "Motion" function doesn't seem to work much at all, where there is a "Rotate" option.). And of course simply copy-pasting the first keyframe in the timeline to the end of the timeline just makes the layter rotate clockwise, then counterclockwise back to it's original position.
So.. I'm sure this is a simple task for experienced animators in Photoshop, so if someone could fill me in I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks!
Andy

Thanks for replying conroy,
Well, PS only lets you rotate up to 180 or -180 degrees for starters, and also if I do like you suggest with 0* at the start and end, it will just cause the last rotation to turn counterclockwise back to the initial position of the smart object, which is not what I want. I want the smart object to keep rotating clockwise. But thanks anyway for the input, and maybe I've misunderstood in some way.
In the meantime, I have actually figured out a crude way to achieve the continuous clockwise rotation of the smart object... Simply use the Shift key and rotate in 15* increments, making keyframes along the way until the layer is rotated back to it's initial position. Unless someone else has a better method, it looks like I'll have to live with that.
Thanks again!

Rotation animation using an array

Hi, I'm fairly new to using java and I've been trying to figure out a couple of things but I just can't find what im looking for by searching. The IDE i'm using is BlueJ and any help would be appreciated.
1. Take an array of N images (no X or Y movement) and get it to track the mouse so that as the mouse moves in a circle around the image the imageIndex changes so that the current image is facing the mouse
2. Setting up keybindings so that an array of images will "rotate" the same way as in number 1

Add a MouseMotionListener.
Determine the position of the cursor relative to your image.
Determine the image that's to be shown.
Draw it.

Animated Gif - Aligning Multiple layers

Hi All
I am creating a rotating animated gif in PS. Now I have about 37 layers, where I increment the angle of each layer with 10 degress relative to the previous one. But even when aligning all my layers with the aligning tools the layers still not align...How can I align them perfectly? See what I mean on the image below here:
NOTE: If the gif here does not animate, see this link:
You can see it is off-center

DexterDave wrote:
@JJMack. I am not sure how to rotate the layer without the older frame copying the new rotated position...that is why I used copies of layers
You do copy the layer and rotate. The layer needs to be perfectly aligned to the center of a is square 1:1 aspect ratio canvas. Guide lines were added 50% Horizontal and Vertically three were added a 49%, 50% and 51%. Then using the elliptical tool set to path mode a circle path was drawn by holding down the Alt key so the path would be from the center and holding the shift key down so the ellipse would be constrain to a circle. You click at the 50% 50% crossed guide line which the mouse pointer snaps to and you drag out the first otter circle. You then set the path mode to subtract and drag out the inner circle. Your path is now a ring. Then switch you the rectangle tool and subtract a rectangle path using the 49% and 51% guide lines. Your Path is now two arcs. Create two filled Shape layers the colors in the ring delete 1/2 of the layer so you have two colored arcs. Rastersize the two and merge the two layers int one. You now have you arcs aligned from the center. Next the action its simple dupe the layer rotate the layer 10 degrees select previous layer turn off visibility select layer forward. Play this action till you the required 36 ring layers. Create a frame animation have Photoshop make frames from the layers using the frame animation palette's fly-out option. Delete the first IK frames and turn on the IK layer visibility in what in now the first frame. It will turn on in all frames. You the save for web the animated gif. PSD file http://mouseprints.net/old/dpr/ik.psd also tried using a smart object ring layer to loose less quality rotating the layer however there seem to be movement in the rotation. Photoshop may be having a problem dealing wit the transparency in the layer and the break in the circle. http://mouseprints.net/old/dpr/ikso.psd so then I put all the ring layers into a group and masked the group with a vector mask. http://mouseprints.net/old/dpr/iksomask.psd the best tool you have when using Photoshop is the gray matter between your ears let it do its thing it may even surprise you sometimes.

Looking for a more suitable animation tool

I've been creating animations from sprites in After Effects, with mixed results. The input is a number of pixel art sprites (exported from elsewhere), and the output is a video, characters running around and interacting. I have AFX doing quite a lot, but it's very awkward and I'm pretty sure it's the wrong tool for the job. Can anyone either suggest better approaches, or more suitable software? I'll describe what I'm doing now:
- Many sprites are bodies or heads to combine, eg. a smiling or angry faces and walking or standing bodies. I set the head position for each body sprite, so any head fits in the right place on any body (trivial rigging), then apply it with a script, so I can change the body and the head moves to the right place automatically.
- Some sprites have multiple layers. For example, while heads are normally on top of bodies, a body may have an arm raised, which needs to be above the head instead of below it. I can create the extra layer for the body separately, and it works for any head.
- I can set the draw order per-layer. Usually, one character and all of its parts is drawn on top of another--body1, head1, body2, head2. But, if two characters collide, handshake, or interact in other complex ways, I may want to draw both bodies, and then both heads, even though the heads and bodies are still anchored normally. Some sprites may have multiple layers, eg. body, head, hands, legs. (Z position hack...)
- Individual layers can be adjusted separately, eg. to adjust the default head position downwards to give a nod.
- Some sprites are hue shifted (hair color, clothing color) or have more complex adjustments applied, so I can reuse more sprites.
(I'm only describing what I'm doing and not how. I wrote more detail about what I'm actually doing in AFX and the specific issues I'm having, but it was too long and people can probably already guess the practical issues of using AFX like this. I'll post more info if anybody asks.)
The result is functional, but a real hassle to actually work with. AFX is a compositing and effects tool and it's not really designed for animations, and only its scripting support has let me abuse it this much. I don't know of a better tool, though--searches for animation tools mostly come up with things like Spine (authoring individual models for importing into games), and nothing suitable for creating complex video animations from sprite sets.
There are probably many tools to do small pieces of this (sprite animation sequences, effects, scene animation, camera), but I'd really like to not split into a multi-tool workflow, since I want to experiment freely with a scene, not lay out an entire scene and then create it start to finish. Does anyone have any suggestions (or better places to ask)?

There are many other DTP applications:
http://www.freeforum101.com/iworktipsntrick/viewtopic.php?t=137&mforum=iworktips ntrick
You have to be more specific about what you are looking for.
Peter

How do I create an interactive rotating model in Flash from a 3D model created in Maya?

Hi,
I have never used Flash before!
I have created a 3D model in Autodesk Maya and I would like to use it to create something a user can interact with i.e. rotate it or zoom in and out using a mouse. I have been told that if I create a 360 degrees rotation animation in Maya and render it into JPEGs I can then import them into Flash. The next part is where I need help! Is there a way of doing this?
Many thanks.

Whatever interaction you want to involve will dictate what you need to do internally to make the movieclip react to interaction. Being that you have never used Flash before, you need to learn how to implement event listeners, for either or both the mouse and the keyboard.
Your best bet at finding some help with learning about event listeners would probably be to search Google using terms like "AS3 MouseEvent tutorial".
As far as exporting goes, what you are most likely to end up doing is to publish an swf. As far as my experience goes, Flash automatically sets up your Publish Settings to create an swf and an html page to display it in ( including whatever supporting javascript files are needed). If you wish to tailor the Publish Settings to produce other outputs, or want to change aspects of the defaults, then you need to acxcess the PublishSettings in the same File options where you find the Import command. The Publish command is also located there.

Rotate not working in chrome

I created a circle in edge animate(3), created a rotation animation, previewed in chrome and it is not working.
Firefox, IE 11, Safari all working smoothly.
Actually, chrome was working few days ago, I don't remember what I did wrong it is not working anymore, still other browsers are working perfectly.
Any clues ?

Hi Phyle,
The issue is because of Chrome now recognizes the transform-origin as the preferred method for the browser, rather than the more specific vendor prefixed property value "-webkit-".
Here is a link to 2 Google Chrome related threads with this issue -
Issue 382905 - chromium - 'transform' property with '-webkit-' vendor prefix is ignored in latest build - An open-so…
and
Issue 394723 - chromium - Wrong CSS Transforms in Adobe Edge Animations - An open-source project to help move the we…
You can check this thread for more info : Re: BUG: transform-origin not properly being set for Chrome v36
We have an internal bug tracking this issue. Will keep you updated.
Thanks and Regards,
Sudeshna Sarkar

Cant get flickering out of animation

Hello all,
please take a look at following Applet:
www.coskuns-castle.de/rotation
It is a rotating animation. It is realtime, means you can rotate the scene with your mouse. It is not bad at all, but I cant get the damn flickering out of the animation. Here is the full code (2 files) of the application version:
file RotatingPanel.java
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class RotatingPanel extends JPanel
private Graphics2D g2D;
private int freq;
private int startFreq;
private double theta;
private Point rotationCenter;
private Timer timer;
private boolean frozen;
public RotatingPanel()
this(false);
public RotatingPanel(boolean activateMouse)
this(5, Math.PI/25.0, activateMouse);
public RotatingPanel(int freq, double theta, boolean activateMouse)
super();
this.freq = freq;
startFreq = freq;
this.theta = theta;
UniversalListener uL = new UniversalListener();
timer = new Timer(freq, uL);
if (activateMouse)
{   this.addMouseMotionListener(uL);
this.addMouseListener(uL);
public void startRotation()
g2D = (Graphics2D) this.getGraphics();
rotationCenter = new Point(this.getWidth()/2, this.getHeight()/2);
timer.start();
private void rotate(double theta)
g2D.rotate(theta, rotationCenter.getX(), rotationCenter.getY());
paintComponent((Graphics)g2D);
private class UniversalListener extends MouseAdapter implements MouseMotionListener, ActionListener
private int x, altx;
boolean toleft = false;
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent event)
if (x < event.getX())
rotate(theta);
else if (x > event.getX())
rotate(-theta);
altx = x;
x = event.getX();
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent event)
x = event.getX();
timer.stop();
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent event)
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent event)
timer.setDelay(freq = startFreq);
timer.start();
if (altx>event.getX() && !toleft)
{   theta=-theta;
toleft = true;
else if (altx>event.getX() && toleft)
{   theta=-theta;
toleft = false;
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event)
rotate(theta);
timer.setDelay(freq++);
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
file Rotation.java
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Rotation extends JFrame
public static void main(String[] args)
new Rotation();
public Rotation()
MyRotatingPanel rP = new MyRotatingPanel();
rP.setDoubleBuffered(true);
this.setContentPane(rP);
this.setBounds(200,50,500,500);
this.setTitle("2D Rotation by Fatih Coskun");
this.show();
rP.startRotation();
private class MyRotatingPanel extends RotatingPanel
private int x;
private int y;
private Font f;
public MyRotatingPanel()
super(true);
f = new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 18);
this.setBackground(Color.black);
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
x = ((int) this.getBounds().getWidth())/2;
y = ((int) this.getBounds().getHeight())/2;
g.setColor(Color.white);
g.setFont(f);
super.paintComponent(g);
g.drawString("Fatih", x-40, y-10);
g.drawString("Coskun", x-10, y+20);
g.drawRect(x-50,y-50,100,100);
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I thank all, who took the time to look 10 seconds on my Applet. If you have any suggestions, please tell. I have already tried to draw first to an off screen image. But that will not solve the problem.
thx, Fatih

I done some more changes:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Rotation extends JFrame
public Rotation()
     addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter()
    {     public void windowClosing(WindowEvent ev)
               dispose();
               System.exit(0);
     MyRotatingPanel rP = new MyRotatingPanel();
     setContentPane(rP);
     setBounds(200,50,500,500);
     setTitle("2D Rotation by Fatih Coskun");
     show();
     rP.startRotation();
private class MyRotatingPanel extends RotatingPanel
     private int    x;
     private int    y;
     private Font   f;
public MyRotatingPanel()
     super(true);
     f = new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 18);
     setBackground(Color.black);
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
     super.paintComponent(g);
     x = rotationCenter.x;
     y = rotationCenter.y;
     Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g;
     g2.rotate(ror,x-50+100/2,y-50+100/2);
     g2.setColor(Color.white);
     g2.setFont(f);
     g2.drawString("Fatih", x-40, y-10);
     g2.drawString("Coskun", x-10, y+20);
     g2.drawRect(x-50,y-50,100,100);
     g2.dispose();
public static void main (String[] args)
     new Rotation();
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class RotatingPanel extends JPanel
     private Graphics2D g2D;
     private int     freq;
     private int     startFreq;
            double theta;
               double ror = 0;
               Point   rotationCenter;
     private Timer   timer;
     private boolean frozen;
public RotatingPanel()
     this(false);
public RotatingPanel(boolean activateMouse)
     this(5, Math.PI/25.0, activateMouse);
public RotatingPanel(int freq, double theta, boolean activateMouse)
     super();
     this.freq = freq;
     startFreq = freq;
     this.theta = theta;
     UniversalListener uL = new UniversalListener();
     timer = new Timer(freq, uL);
     if (activateMouse)
          this.addMouseMotionListener(uL);
          this.addMouseListener(uL);
public void startRotation()
     rotationCenter = new Point(this.getWidth()/2, this.getHeight()/2);
     timer.start();
private void rotate(double theta)
     ror = ror + theta;
     repaint(rotationCenter.x-80,rotationCenter.y-80,160,160);
private class UniversalListener extends MouseAdapter implements MouseMotionListener, ActionListener
     private int x, altx;
     boolean toleft = false;
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent event)
     if (x < event.getX()) rotate(theta);
     if (x > event.getX()) rotate(-theta);
     altx = x;
     x = event.getX();
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent event)
     x = event.getX();
     timer.stop();
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent event)
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent event)
     timer.setDelay(freq = startFreq);
     if (altx > event.getX() && !toleft)
          theta =-theta;
          toleft = true;
     else if (altx > event.getX() && toleft)
                theta =-theta;
               toleft = false;
     rotationCenter = new Point(event.getX(),event.getY());
     repaint();
     timer.start();
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event)
     rotate(theta);
     timer.setDelay(freq++);
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class Rotation extends JFrame
public Rotation()
     addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter()
{     public void windowClosing(WindowEvent ev)
               dispose();
               System.exit(0);
     MyRotatingPanel rP = new MyRotatingPanel();
     setContentPane(rP);
     setBounds(200,50,500,500);
     setTitle("2D Rotation by Fatih Coskun");
     show();
     rP.startRotation();
private class MyRotatingPanel extends RotatingPanel
     private int x;
     private int y;
     private Font f;
public MyRotatingPanel()
     super(true);
     f = new Font("Serif", Font.PLAIN, 18);
     setBackground(Color.black);
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
     super.paintComponent(g);
     x = rotationCenter.x;
     y = rotationCenter.y;
     Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g;
     g2.rotate(ror,x-50+100/2,y-50+100/2);
     g2.setColor(Color.white);
     g2.setFont(f);
     g2.drawString("Fatih", x-40, y-10);
     g2.drawString("Coskun", x-10, y+20);
     g2.drawRect(x-50,y-50,100,100);
     g2.dispose();
public static void main (String[] args)
     new Rotation();
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class RotatingPanel extends JPanel
     private Graphics2D g2D;
     private int freq;
     private int startFreq;
double theta;
               double ror = 0;
               Point rotationCenter;
     private Timer timer;
     private boolean frozen;
public RotatingPanel()
     this(false);
public RotatingPanel(boolean activateMouse)
     this(5, Math.PI/25.0, activateMouse);
public RotatingPanel(int freq, double theta, boolean activateMouse)
     super();
     this.freq = freq;
     startFreq = freq;
     this.theta = theta;
     UniversalListener uL = new UniversalListener();
     timer = new Timer(freq, uL);
     if (activateMouse)
          this.addMouseMotionListener(uL);
          this.addMouseListener(uL);
public void startRotation()
     rotationCenter = new Point(this.getWidth()/2, this.getHeight()/2);
     timer.start();
private void rotate(double theta)
     ror = ror + theta;
     repaint(rotationCenter.x-80,rotationCenter.y-80,160,160);
private class UniversalListener extends MouseAdapter implements MouseMotionListener, ActionListener
     private int x, altx;
     boolean toleft = false;
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent event)
     if (x < event.getX()) rotate(theta);
     if (x > event.getX()) rotate(-theta);
     altx = x;
     x = event.getX();
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent event)
     x = event.getX();
     timer.stop();
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent event)
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent event)
     timer.setDelay(freq = startFreq);
     if (altx > event.getX() && !toleft)
          theta =-theta;
          toleft = true;
     else if (altx > event.getX() && toleft)
               theta =-theta;
               toleft = false;
     rotationCenter = new Point(event.getX(),event.getY());
     repaint();
     timer.start();
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event)
     rotate(theta);
     timer.setDelay(freq++);

[Flash CS6] Understanding odd animation disparities relating to sound settings?

Hello. This is related to something that I am currently experiencing whilst working in Flash Pro CS6. I hope this is the right forum for this; it's labelled CC but there does not appear to be a separate discussion space for older versions of flash.
I'm relatively new to the software in terms of experience, and was wondering about some odd behavior I've been seeing, wherein qualities in the animation differ with respect to my sound settings. This isn't a problem that needs fixing, per-se, as it's mostly just down to timing issues, but I would like to understand this behavior so that I know what to expect in the future.
I have a fairly complex flash animation with multiple scenes, some actionscript-controlled objects and musical accompaniment. This music runs throughout the entire animation, and the animation is synchronized loosely with the music. Oddly, I have recently noticed that, depending on the settings which I choose to apply to this music track, the visual component of the animation behaves differently. I should add that, in the flash editor, my music and animation are synchronized perfectly.
If I set the music to "Stream", and render as a flash file, then several sections of the animation lag horribly. The synchronization between music and animation remains exact, but I see horrible jerky movement on screen. If I set the music as an "Event" sound and then render, however, not only is the music (understandably) much better quality but this lag disappears. However, for some reason, on one particular scene of the animation, where the lag during "streaming" is most severe, the sequence of timeline events appears to slow down with respect to the music. You must understand that this scene is contained within it's own movie clip, placed directly onto the timeline with only a few fade transition objects on the layers over it. The content within this movie clip plays entirely lag free and at the correct speed, as does the rest of the flash, but the scene/movie clip remains on the screen for far longer than previously with respect to the music, despite it being synchronized perfectly on the timeline. The fade transition events on the layers above the movie clip also occur later than they are scheduled, as if the "scrolling line" on the timeline were moving more slowly over the movie clip, despite the apparent lack of lag.
Of course, I can solve these problems by setting the sound as an event sound whenever I export to a flash file, and reducing the length of the scene manually until it lines up with the music in the render. However, I would like to better understand how my sound settings are affecting animation lag and timings. Presumably setting the sound as an "event" pre-loads it before the flash - is this also causing the rest of the flash to pre-load, hence removing the lag? Will this increase the time that my exported animation takes to load in it's preloader screen? Why are the timings affected by setting the sound to "Event", especially seeing as there is no visual lag or jerkiness and it only occurs when playing this one movie clip?
Any answers to these questions would be most welcome.
Thank you for any responses.

I've moved your question to the Flash Pro CC forum.

Adding Animation or Slideshow to Non Rectangular shape

I have a site I am designing and it has a Animation/Slideshow area that I want to put a rotating animation of product pictures so they can move from one picture to the next until is ends and then loops and continues. The shape is basically rectangular but it has shapes that break out of the rectangle. How do I put this into Dreamweaver with this odd shape and have it work in Dreamweaver.
~ Scott

<div id="outer">
<div id="inner">
</div>
</div>
There is a nested container arrangement - an inner and an outer div. The outer div would be styled with the background image, and the inner div would have the slideshow within. Examine the code on my linked page to see the details - a bit of CSS in the head of the page, and those two divs.
Don't think that you can get away with using DW without learning something about HTML and CSS - you cannot. The best place to start with this would be here -
HTML & CSS Tutorials - http://w3schools.com/
How to Develop with CSS?
http://phrogz.net/css/HowToDevelopWithCSS.html
Learn CSS positioning in 10 Steps
http://www.barelyfitz.com/screencast/html-training/css/positioning/
========================================
PRE-BUILT CSS LAYOUTS
For rock solid, commercial products that perform well in all browsers/devices, visit Project Seven:
http://www.projectseven.com/products/index.htm
Not Just a Grid CSS Framework (free)
http://www.notjustagrid.com/demo.asp
Ultimate Multi-Column Layouts (free)
http://matthewjamestaylor.com/blog/ultimate-multi-column-liquid-layout s-em-and-pixel-widths
EZ-CSS Templates (watch the screencast to see how it works)
http://www.ez-css.org/css_templates
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Can't manipulate symbols with Flash CS5 3-D rotation tools:

Please help! I am just learning to use Flash CS5 Professional (aided by the "Flash Basics" tutorials of Lynda.com). I am presently trying to manipulate symbols as motion-tweens with the 3-D rotation tool found in the Flash toolbar. At the moment I'm trying to take a single word originally created as text, now a symbol, and animate it with motion-tweens so that it appears to be twirling on its x axis or y axis as though it's tumbling through the air like a coin.
My trouble is that I can successfully get the symbol to motion-tween itself through one half of a single rotation. But nothing I try seems to work to have the symbol complete its rotation all the way around without the symbol wanting to suddenly flip and rotate in the other direction to complete the full 360 degree rotation. Every trick I use, the symbol wants to tween back the way it came to finish its rotation. This is happening whether I try to rotate type as a symbol, or whether I use other objects (rectangles, ovals, etc.) I've created and then converted to symbols and then movie clips (which I have done in all cases). No matter what I try, this program is not cooperating. What am I doing wrong. My Flash CS5 often behaves as if it's buggy (I'm running it on a brand new state of the art iMac, with the latest version of Snow Leopard as my OS). But even with all it's other little bugs, restarting Flash doesn't seem to clear up this mystery. What am I doing wrong? Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Berzerk Contempo

Thanks for writing back. No, I have not found anyone but you to even respond to my query. So much for the helpfulness of Adobe's much touted forums website.
Yes, you have articulated the problem nicely. This is exactly the trouble I am having with the 3-D tool!!! I've tried creating in-between key frames to help guide the correct/desired rotational movement, but even with these key frames, the motion-tween invariably "glitches" the rotation animation back to link to the original key pose the wrong way. I've tried full rotation of both type and objects via various axis, and this problem always surfaces. Seems like such a simple thing to tween for the 3-D tool. But my Flash CS5 is not up to the task, apparently, --and neither it seems are Flash Adobe Forum readers.
It's so sad that Flash is treated by Adobe like such a ******* child. Once Adobe's brand was synonymous with workhorse programming, and the integrity to fix what was wrong with a program quickly to make it better. But most of my professional colleagues warned me to stay away from BOTH Flash CS3 and CS4 because of their unreliability issues!!! What a sad state of affairs for Flash. Cartoon animators like me are crying out for a program which does what Flash does, minus the crashes, glitches, unreliability, and counter-intuitive user interface Flash has become infamous for. Industry wide, Adobe has gained the reputation of having turned its back on the animation community, because "there are not enough of us to matter monetarily." And so, by extension, it has left itself and it's ailing Flash program ripe for being bested by some hungry developers with the concern and the attention to give to perfecting a 2-D animation software program which actually delivers what it promises.
I keep clicking the "software update" button in my Flash program, thinking Adobe's next update will actually improve its performance. Dream on...
Berzerk Contempo

Is Motion or After Effects best for animation of High res. photographs

Hi everyone. I’m a novice when it comes to Motion, having worked more with FCP, and I am encountering some confusing differences!
I’m making an animation from a high res. Scanned ‘photograph’ of a flower, and I hope to maintain the great image quality, plus working with a short sound file (breathing) as a guide for the movement. (The final output is going to be large scale projection using a HD projector, which I understand is 1920 x 1080, with smaller versions for pre-view purposes.)
The move to Motion from FCP has phased me (co-decs, pre-sets etc.. so many options) I could re-size it to suit, DV, HD or most of the ‘sizes’ supported by Motion but I’m lost as to which settings would be best for my purposes.
I have done various tests with different pre-sets and have found that the longer and more complex the animation gets, the more jittery the playback is. I am wondering if there is a way I can work with Motion that resolves the the perforamnce thing, or if what I am doing ( length and size of animation) would be more suited to After Effects.
I love Motion, esp. the language used in the manual and would prefer to stay with it.
Thanking you all. I really want to understand this whole ‘video’ to ‘still-image’ move I’m making.

First of all, you could do your video in either program and would likely get similar results (depending on your relative skill in each program). There's certainly no reason not to stay in Motion if you're happy with the interface. After Effects has just as many confusing settings as Motion when it comes to output so you're probably not going to feel any better there.
Considering your output, I would start your project with the Broadcast HD preset. That will give you the 1920x1080 frame size which should look great on your projected screen. I would tend always to work in an HD framework when working with stills since typically they'll be of high quality.
Make sure your stills are prepped properly for video (which is different from how they would be scanned for print work). Scan them in at a good size resolution 2500 px along the longest side at 72 dpi (high dpi is not necessary for video work). Also, use uncompressed pic formats like TGA, TIF, or PSD.
You didn't mention how long the sequence was, and length does make a difference at times because Motion is run primarily through the graphics card as opposed to the processor. This is a primary difference between Motion and AE.
When you are talking about jittery playback, keep in mind that it's the gfx card that is providing the "real-time" playback to begin with. So the larger the project, the less likely that the card is going to be able to play back in real-time. If timing is an issue you can change the view to draft (default is normal), or you can do a RAM preview (CMD+R). AE has NO real-time playback without a RAM preview, so keep that in mind.
One more thing. There are several ways to do the same thing in Motion. Some of them put more pressure on the card than others. Keep your project as simplified as you can while working, and turn off things like thumbnails and previews to speed up performance.
Good luck,
Andy

Complex Rotation Animation

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