Shape Tween in Flash CS4

I am trying to make a shape tween by importing to stage 2 different shapes from Illustrator. Each shape is made out of 2 or 3 groups of shapes which may be my issue. I am not allowed to make a shape tween. When I the replicated the shapes in Flash (I simplified them so they where no longer groups- just one continuous shape), I was able to make the shape tween but the first shape that morphs into the second shapes appears again at the end of the tween. I would much rather import to stage from illustrator. Can someone advise in each different scenario? I am working on a MAC, Operating system 10.6.6. Thank you.

Hi there,
The frames in question are the ones that were highlighted on the "J morph" and "K morph" layers, correct?
Classic tweens and shape tweens are not supported on tween layers. They cannot be created on these layers, and if they're dragged or pasted there, they'll turn static (an undo is needed to move them back).
So my guess is that it may have been done before the save, as I can't imagine how that would have occurred between saving and reopening. The fix would be to put those two shape tweens on their own layers (which is a preferred practice anyway) and see if that fixes things.
Hope that helps,
Jen.

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Problem with motion tweening in Flash CS4

Hi !
I tried to refresh my little flash knowledge -- but I stumbled upon a problem with the new Flash CS4!
When I try to make different blur or alpha effect on one keyframe I got after making the motion tween -- Flash adjust the other keyframe as well (got the same reaction on both keyframes as if it was the same instance of movie clip -- and not as in old flash; the keyframes created separated or independent instances)
The only thing working for me is when I move the movie clip out of the stage on the first keyframe -- and it correctly move its position.
What's wrong?
Kind Regards
Maria Olsen

Hello Maria,
You sort of answered your own question:)
"got the same reaction on both keyframes as if it was the same instance of movie clip"
That is exactly right and is the proper way of looking at new motion tweens. It is one instance of the movieclip for the duration of the tween. It takes awhile to get used to this.
New motion tweens allow you to set up a a very simple tween initially without keyframing ending values / position. Once you start making changes after the tween is set, you are going to have to get familiar with adding "property keyframes". Property keyframes are displayed with those little diamond icons in the timeline. Poperty keyframes allow you to "lock in" certain specific properties at key points in your animation without affecting other properties. With the old classic keyframes, a keyframe placed mid-tween would create a whole new instance of a symbol with all properties (rotation, scale, alpha etc) set in stone for that point in time. The benefit was that you could easily have all properties tween TO and FROM that keyframe if that's what you wanted. Now you can make adjustments to a symbol mid-tween and only specifically adjust a single property. So you can adjust the alpha of an object mid-tween without interrupting say a rotation that you wanted to happen all the way through.
If you simply want an object to move left to right and then you decide it should fade in
CLASSIC TWEEN
-place symbol on frame 1
-keyframe frame 10
-in frame 10 move the symbol to the right
-add classice tween
Ok, that works, now add alpha fade in
-go back to frame 1 and set alpha to 0
-classice tween automatically adjusts alpha from 0 in frame 1 to 100 in frame 10.
-done
MOTION TWEEN
-place symbol on stage
-create motion tween
-playhead jumps to last frame
-move symbol to the right (no need to f6 / keyframe)
Flash automatically adds something called a "position" keyframe (notice the little black diamond)
Ok, that works, now add alpha fade in
-go to frame 1 and set alpha to 0
-test movie
-oops - wrong. As you noted the alpha will stay at 0 throughout the whole tween.
-you need to additionally go to the last frame and set the alpha back to 100
-this will automtically create a "color" property keyframe on the last frame
When just doing this now I noticed something odd as well
As soon as I do the position change and move the symbol to the right, if I try to add the "color keyframe" on the last frame of the tween, I am not allowed to do so. "color" and "filter" are greyed out. I would prefer to lock the alpha at 100 in the last frame while the playhead is in position before setting it down to 0 in frame 1. Oh well.
Seems you are forced to
-go back to the beginning of the tween
-adjust the alpha
-then go to the end and manually bring the alpha back up.
hmm maybe i'm missing something too:)
the best way to do this would be to have the foresight ahead of time to do the alpha
-place the symbol
-alpha 0
-add motion tween
-in last frame move the symbol set alpha to 100 (alpha and position keyframes are automatically set)
So if you do it right the first time, its easy. If not, well.
Keep in mind an object will maintain the properties it has set in frame 1 unless a subsequent property keyframe enforces some adjustment.
If you have have an object that is moving from point a to b to c to d:
If you alter the alpha at point b, the alpha will tween from point a to b, but will maintain the new alpha to c, to d.
If you scale the clip by 200% at point, its scale will tween from point a all the way to point d, NOT just from c to d
To scale from point c to d only, set a "scale" property keyframe at point c (this will lock the objects scale at 100) THEN scale to 200% at point d
It takes a good deal of practice. I found the hard way that you just can't "wing" it. It isn't very intuitive coming from a classic tween approach.
These articles really helped me:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/motion_migration_guide.html
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/learning_guide/animation/
Take note of the tips on "cntr-clicking" frames and "shift-dragging". You have to really get used to a few keyboard modifiers when editing the timeline.
Stick around the forums. A lot of good info comes through daily.
Carl

Tweening in Flash CS4

What's changed in Flash CS4? It seems like in Flash CS3, there is a line with an arrow when I motion tweened a movie clip. The motion tween will show its tweening when I scrub through the timeline but that's not the case in Flash CS4. What's going on? If I scrub through the timeline, there is no tweening showing in the stage.

Hi aljCharlie,
You do not need to use the Motion Editor with new tweens, although it is the only place you'll be able to use some of the new features (pretty much easing). Other operations, and a simple ease, can still be done in the main timeline.
You can use F6 with the new tweens, although it will put a property keyframe on all properties. This may not be what you're after, but is essentially like a classic tween in that it "locks" a new keyframe for all properties at that location. If you, for example, only want to tween the position but not the alpha between two keyframes, then you would want to put only position keyframes at that point on the span. To do this in the main timeline/UI you can just change the X/Y on the stage, or whatever property you're changing in the Property inspector / Transform panel (etc). Just like you always did. That will only insert the keyframes on the properties you change the value for. If you want to lock every property, then you use F6 as per usual.
For more information on this topic, see http://flashthusiast.com/2009/01/09/flash-cs4-using-f6-with-new-motion-tweens/ .
For an article specifically on this topic, migrating from classic tweens to new motion, see http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/motion_migration_guide.html.
Jen.

How to move a keyframe from a Motion Tween in Flash CS4

I understand that motion tween is a new form of tween in CS 4 however I am unable to move a keyframe within the time line? am I missing something? I would hope I could select the keyframe (diamond shape) and move it around the timeline but apprently Im missing something.. I am not able to do a cut and copy either... is this normal behavior?
thanks
cheers
stephan

Thank you so much for getting back to me so quick. Work is chaotic right now or I would have replied sooner.
Anyway, my lines aren't actually 3D at all. Everything, including the box, are 2D. But that does give me an idea, once I'm more proficient in Flash if I decide to make this animation even better in the future.
I attached a screenshot of my homepage. You'll see a set of lines on the left side that surround a square with Sarah Knouse LeCroy inside. (That square is what I was referring to as a 'box'...probably not a good description.) I want that square to move down to the bottom left corner when you click on Portfolio, Contact or Resume. As it moves, I want the lines to collapse and fold together so that it looks like they're all neatly getting 'packed away' so that all that's left when viewing, say Portfolio, is an empty page with the square down in the lower left corner.
What is the best way to animate those lines in CS4? Most of the lines do not need to stay connected to the square as it's moving so I think I can just do a Classic tween for those. But the 3 diagonal ones DO need to stay connected to the box as it's moving. I was doing a motion tween and rotating/elongating each line in sections but they still didn't match up exactly in some places during the move. When I would try to go back and adjust a position I had set, it would just pop right back to the original position.
The last problem I'm having is an issue with getting this animation to play only when you leave the homepage and click to Portfolio, Contact or Resume.
But don't want to overwhelm so just answer what you have time for! Later, I could attach my main timeline so that you could see what I already have set up.
Thanks so much!

Getting a syntax error from mx.transitions.Tween with flash CS4

Hello all!
I am getting an import error with the following libraries:
import mx.transitions.Tween;
import mx.transitions.easing.*;
The errors are like this one:
Definition fl.transitions:Tween could not be found
I am using it as part of my .fla where for sorme reason it does not work but it works fine in the original archive. I guess it is a problem with the action script version becouse the original template use as2 and I am using as3.
Does anyone know which are the equivalent libraries in as3???
May I import does libraries directly in as3?
Thanks in advance for your help

in as3, you should use:
import fl.transitions.Tween;
import fl.transitions.easing.*;
NOT
import mx.transitions.Tween;
import mx.transitions.easing.*;
(see the difference?)

Flash Freezes when doing simple Shape Tween

I tested this in Flash 5 before I brought it over to Flash
CS3 and am very concerned about the results.
I have an object that has been created on the stage and is
not a library item. I am creating an animation with no action
scripting that will be converted to a mov file and the end use will
be a video played on tv.
I have three keyframes, spaced out at 1, 5, and 10 frames.
Frame 10 has 10 nodes in the object, frame 5 has 8 nodes, and frame
1 has 7 nodes. I put my playhead on any frame in between the
keyframes, and cntl+click for the pop-up menu, from which I select
'Create Shape Tween'. Flash creates the tween, but when I attempt
to save or move the playhead (with either the 'return' key or the
short cut keys) the program throws up the 'beach ball' which spins
for over 5 minutes, making me 'force quit' the application.
Other aspects of this project are that I have several layers
(all of which are hidden [the 'eye' turned off] during testing),
contained in a folder. No other animation has been applied to any
other objects.
I am running an iMac with version 10.4.11 and have had no
other problems with the application.
Is there a fix I can download? This seems to be a programming
problem.
Thank you for your help.

Flash software has a major problem with some of the new
tools, such as the Gradient Transform tool.

Flash CS4 Tween Migration

Hi,
I just wanted to get the thoughts of the expert here. I played around with the new tween tool in CS4, and it seems that the difference is I dont see the tween arrow anymore in the timeline; and there is an easing in the property that has been added. How this has changed from the old concept finally?
I see this just like putting some icing on the cake, and nothing would wow me to use this tool.
Please correct me if I am wrong, especially those of you who have utilized this tool in a different manner.
Looking forward for an open discussions.
Thank you
uxk

Hi Uxk,
I'm actually glad that you're finding the workflow similar - because it's actually a rather massive two-cycling change behind the scenes, and we typically hear something a bit different. Here are some of the changes and benfits between old and new:
you cannot break a new motion tween - no more “dashed arrows”
as such, new tweens are easier to use: you directly manipulate objects on the Stage without needing to always think about keyframes. You don’t even need to add keyframes - just manipulate the object and the keyframes are inserted for you.
granular control over each part of a tween.
motion paths are shown right on the Stage for all tweens. Highly visual, and directly editable.
you can use the new Motion Editor with new tweens
as such, the Motion Editor means tweens are more powerful in general: each property and keyframe on each property is accessible and editable independently. You can tween alpha separately from rotation separately from scale (etc).
in that Motion Editor you can edit individual properties on a graph
you can use the new 3D model with new tweens
you can give your tween an instance name and then give other instances that same tween at runtime
new tweens are easy to stretch by just dragging the span in the timeline
new tweens have new eases, which have advanced (and very cool, better, enhanced) eases
you can create/apply custom eases that do not need to end at 100%
you can save a tween as a preset and reuse it in that or other documents
new tweens are easy to move now - either on the timeline (drag the tween span around), or on the stage by selecting the motion path and just moving it on the Stage (lets just say it is WAY easier than edit multiple frames).
motion paths in general are easier, and you no longer need motion guides. The motion path for a tween is attached right to the tween.
you can apply a new instance to an existing tween by just pasting it onto a tween to swap it out, drag a new instance from the Library, or use Swap Symbol. you can even have a tween without an instance applied to it, and all properties of that tween will be saved until you apply an instance to it.
(From my blog post here: http://flashthusiast.com/2008/09/22/the-new-way-of-tweening-in-flash-cs4-or-new-motion-in- flash-cs4-makes-your-animations-better-faster-stronger/)
You may want to check out the Motion Migration guide here: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/motion_migration_guide.html -- this article outlines the changes between the two models.
Some of the bigger new features to check out are: Motion Presets (pre-made and custom), the Motion Editor (it ain't small...), preset eases (these made a radical difference in how quickly I could do certain animations), and tween instances (tons of new capabilities here, and reductions in amt of scripted code you have to write). Here are some blog posts on them:
Tween instances:
http://flashthusiast.com/2008/12/10/flash-cs4-example-spray-brush-tween-instance-new-motio n-as3-fancy-jsfl-profit/
http://flashthusiast.com/2008/10/12/new-motion-and-tween-instances-flash-cs4-presentation- flashcamp/
Motion editor and custom eases:
http://flashthusiast.com/2008/11/20/flash-cs4-modifying-and-applying-a-custom-ease-in-the- motion-editor/
You may also want to adapt how you use F6 with tweens:
http://flashthusiast.com/2009/01/09/flash-cs4-using-f6-with-new-motion-tweens/
Entire Animation guide:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/learning_guide/animation/
Let me know if you have any questions,
Jen.

Basic Flash CS4 Dilemma 0_o

Hi all,
I am wondering why I can create shapes with the fill and stroke I specify only in templates and not when I select a new action script 3.0 or any of the other types of flash documents. Does anyone have a link to information on this or can explain what I need to configure?
Looking across the Internet, I have not seen anything on this. 0_o

Hi Ganesh,
Thank you for the reply. I know how to draw and make motion tweens in Flash CS4 after I select the templates upon opening a new document:
New
Template
My problem is being able to draw anything with a filled in shape in another of the other types of Flash documents. When I draw a shape or import a button it has a strange green hue or just a green outline. The only way I can get all of the functionality is to use the templates but these have limited sizes...
Is there something I have not configured? I do not know if I am describing this in enough detail. I should probably provide a screencast. : /

Simple Shape Tween always causes Flash to freeze (CS3)

Flash CS3 Professional is always freezing when I create a
simple shape tween. The steps that I follow to produce this problem
are as follows:
Draw a line
Bend the line into a curve.
Set a second keyframe on the timeline. (doesn't matter how
many frames between the two keyframes)
Use the direct select tool to reposition the point at one end
of the line.
Set the tween to Shape between the two keyframes.
Scrub the timeline.
Flash freezes.
According to the Windows XP Task Manager, the CPU is at 50%
with most of that going to flash.
Any ideas on how to get it working properly?
I can do the tween successfully without issue using Flash 8,
but CS3 freezes everytime. Our company won't let us upgrade to CS4
at the moment.

i can't duplicate that problem.
if the problem occurs when you scrub the timeline, don't
scrub it. test it in the test environment. you may be able get your
tween working doing that (even though that doesn't solve the
problem).

Can't properly create motion tweens between two keyframes in flash CS4

I'm trying to create a flash animation of a wing flapping using three keyframes. The first keyframe is at frame 1. I then created a second keyframe at frame 5 by pressing F6, and then I created another keyframe at frame 10 by pressing F6. At frame 5, I rotated the wing so that it is going up. Frame 10 is the same as frame 1.
frame 1:
frame 5: frame 10:
I right clicked on a frame between frames 5 and 10 and then clicked the first option, "Create Motion Tween"; I then performed the same action on a frame between frames 1 and 5. When I preview or test the movie, there is no transition between the frames. From frame 1 to 5, there is supposed to be a transition of the wing flapping up. From frame 5 to 10, there is supposed to be a transition of the wing flapping downwards to its initial position. Instead, when I test the movie, the wing remains still until frame 5 and instantly goes to its "wing up state" and when it gets to frame 10, instantly goes to its "wing down state".
Here is what the timeline looks like after I've made the changes mentioned above:
I'm using Flash CS4 to make the animation but the tutorial I'm following is using Flash CS3. I know I can use other methods to create the motion tween but I want to know why the method I'm using isn't working.

I did switch to classic tweening. I pressed F6 to make a keyframe at frames 5 and 10. I then right clicked on a frame between frames 1 and 5 and then clicked
"create CLASSIC tween"; did the same thing between frames 5 and 10. I'm not seeing the transitional frames between frames 1 and 5 that the tutorial showed.

I am trying to experiment with Tweens and Easing Types in ActionScript 3.0, Adobe Flash CS4. help

I am using ActionScript 3.0, Adobe Flash CS4 software
I have created Tweens for some MovieClip properties and experimented with some of the easing types.
This is what I have managed to create and works okay!
grow_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, grow);
shrink_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, shrink);
rotate_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, rotate);
hide_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, hideClip);
show_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, showClip);
fadeOut_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, fadeOut);
fadeIn_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,fadeIn);
function grow(e:MouseEvent):void {
var scale1:Tween = new Tween(instrument, "scaleX", Back.easeIn, 0, 1, 3, true);
var scale2:Tween = new Tween(instrument, "scaleY", Back.easeIn, 0, 1, 3, true);
function shrink(e:MouseEvent):void {
var oneSmall:Tween = new Tween(instrument, "scaleX", Back.easeInOut, 0, -.2, 3, true);
var twoSmall: Tween = new Tween(instrument, "scaleY", Back.easeInOut, 0, -.2, 3, true);
function rotate(e:MouseEvent):void {
var spin:Tween = new Tween(instrument, "rotation", Elastic.easeOut, 0, 360, 5, true)
function hideClip(e:MouseEvent):void {
instrument.visible = false;
function showClip(e:MouseEvent):void {
instrument.visible = true;
function fadeOut(e:MouseEvent):void {
var tweenfadeOut:Tween = new Tween(instrument, "alpha", None.easeOut, 1, -.1, 3, true);
function fadeIn(e:MouseEvent):void {
var tweenfadeIn:Tween = new Tween(instrument, "alpha", None.easeIn, 0, 1, 3, true);
I am having trouble creating Tweens and add easing types for the action script below!
I keep getting error message (“Access of undefined property Sine”) for example when I type
function hideClip(e:MouseEvent):void {
var noClip:Tween = new Tween(instrument, "visible", Sine.easeOut, 0, 1, 3, true);
Can anyone help???? The original script is below
hide_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, hideClip);
show_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, showClip);
function hideClip(e:MouseEvent):void {
instrument.visible = false;
function showClip(e:MouseEvent):void {
instrument.visible = true;

make sure you have imported the Sine class
import fl.motion.Sine;

Flash CS4 import shape from Photoshop CS4

Hello,
I'm using flash CS4 on a Mac.
Does any one know how to properly import shape objects from photoshop to flash. The problem is when I import shape objects from photoshop it turns the shape into a bitmap masked out by the photoshop mask. This forces me to then manually go and recreate the shape object in flash.
I have tried many settings but to no avail. Any help, suggestions, or even tell me they have fixed the issue in CS5 or CS5.5.
Thank You, Jacob

Have you updated Flash to 10.0.2?
Is the Illustrator file very large/insense number of vectors involved? (ie: if you watch Activity Monitor, does the memory usage grow until things disappear?)
How large/intensive is the FLA you're working on?

How do you make a motion tween, mask effect and shape tween, with a flash website?

More of less, I will have three seperate pages for the motion tween, mask effect and shape tween... would you make the seperately, in a different scene, as a symbol or on the same scene with the website.

It's not clear what you are after since you start talking about separate pages for the three things, and then ask about how best to put them together. If they are going to be separate they can't be together.
If your intention is to have these three things in one Flash file, ut as separate parts of it, then I would have each within a symbol and have each symbol within the same scene (I don't use multiple scenes).

How can I set up a keyboard shortcut for 'Remove Tween' in Flash Pro CC 2014?

I'm trying to set this up, as I have in previous versions of Flash, but the 'Remove Tween' command (among other commands) is not available in the Keyboard Shortcut window.
Is there some other way to add this shortcut?
Thanks,
George

I don't think this had a keyboard shortcut even before (checked in CS6). There's an alternative though.
1. Create a JSFL file with following code and save it in the commands folder as 'Remove Tween'.
fl.getDocumentDOM().getTimeline().setFrameProperty('tweenType', 'none');
2. Now goto Edit Menu > Keyboard Shortcuts..
3. Search for 'Remove Tween' and assign a keyboard shortcut to it.
Now everytime you press the assigned key - jsfl script is executed which essentially removes the tween from selected frame. (works for Classic and Shape tween but not Motion Tweens)

Flash CS4 won't export to .mov PLEASE HELP ME!!

Like the title says, i've been trying to export my .fla as a .mov from the Export>Export Movie option in the File menu. It will start exporting but once the progress meter gets to the end it just stops and never finishes.
I don't think it has anything to do with:
A: multiple scenes
B: actionscript directing to each scene
C: movieclips
since I was doing the exact same thing in CS3 without a problem.
What i'm doing now in CS4 that I wasn't in the CS3 version:
A: Motion tweens
B: importing .ai files to my library
C: using symbols created for flash in illustrator from imported .ai files.

Thank you Zombie. Specifying the length helped me export as a quicktime movie.
I wouldn't be surprised if there's a rubbish piece of coding in Flash CS4 that doesn't let you export a movie over 1 minute long without specifying the length of movie.
Ridiculous really. I expect this could be fixed in seconds by Adobe, but instead I'm left trawling the internet for hours wasting budget.

Shape Tween in Flash CS4

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