Add shape

MACROMEDIA FLASH MX 2004	Alejandra Jarabo MAT 116-0081
Media Arts & Technologies Division. Santa Barbara City College	SHAPE TWEENS 2_________to the next page

Shape-tweens are Flash animation assistants that allow you to interpolate shape-content "in between" an INITIAL KEYFRAME and an ENDING KEYFRAME. Flash considers the location of points, both in the initial and ending Keyframes and tries to MORPH one shape into another.

Because you might have more than one shape living in those 2 keyframes, or you might want a very specific transition from one frame to the other, There is a feature that helps you regain some control over a Shape-tween. This feature is called Add Shape hint, and allows you to graphically indicate which point in the initial keyframe is becoming which other in the ending one.

Remember that you can always have a better control over this visual 2D morph, if you divide into several Shape-tweens, happening at the same time, but living on different layers.

I am trying to create a transition, from a white background to an ocre background, looking like is being painted or filled with color, and I want to do it using Shape-tween.

I have a long thin ocre-bar that becomes bigger, but flash is not keeping the 4 corners in place.

I am planning my visual effect with several consecutive Shape-tweens. Because I need to place Shape-hints in both the initial and ending keyframe, I don't want the ending keyframe "acting" as an initial keyframe for the next shape-tween (insaine amount of little letters floating over!) I create another initial keframe right after the previous, and I change it slightly, so I don't create a break in the motion flow, this way I am also directing where I want the animation to go.

the extra red shape-hint hasn't snap to any point yet,		a, b, c, d are defining the four corners of my initial shape (yellow code: initial shape-hint working)

the extra red shape-hint hasn't snap to any point in the last keyframe of the Shape tween.		a, b, c, d are defining the four corners of my ending shape (green code: ending shape-hint working)

Now the courtain effect remains consistent. The 4 corner points are always remaining in place and the variations go to the expanding edge.