How to Make Moving Animation in Flash CS5

Create an animation in Flash.

Flash, a leading animation program, supports several ways to create moving animations. One of the easiest and most common methods is to use a Classic Tween. A tween is a Flash feature that fills in the frames of the animation automatically. For example, to create an animation where an object moves from one place on the stage to another, all you have to do is create the first and last frames of the animation -- Flash does the rest.

Instructions

1. Open an existing Flash FLA movie file containing the object you want to animate, or start a new movie by clicking the "File" menu and choosing "New." This opens the New Document dialog box. Select "ActionScript 3.0," and then click "OK."

2. Create the object you want to animate. You can use Flash's text or drawing tools to create the object, or you can import a graphic file. To import a graphic file, click the "File" menu, choose "Import," and then select "Import to Stage" from the fly-out menu.

3. Drag the object to the location on the stage where you want your animation to begin.

4. Right-click the frame in the Timeline panel where you want the animation to end, and then choose "Insert Keyframe" from the pop-up menu. For example if you want the animation to span 50 frames, place the keyframe in frame 50.

5. Select the new keyframe, and then drag the object to the location on the stage where you want the object to stop moving.

6. Right-click any of the frames between the start and end point keyframes and choose "Create Classic Tween."

7. Drag the Playhead, the small red box at the top of the Timeline panel that indicates the current frame, over the timeline. The object moves from one location on the stage to another.

Tips & Warnings

• You can create an animation where an object changes shape with a Shape Tween. Create the object in the first keyframe, and then change the object' s shape in the last keyframe. For example, if you want a rectangle to grow from one size to another, make the object one size and the first keyframe, and then change the object' s size in the last keyframe. Right-click any of the frames between the start and end keyframes and choose "Create Shape Tween."

References

• Adobe: Create Tween Animation
• School Tube: Animation Basics with Flash Professional CS5 for East Tech
• Entheos: 3D Animation in Flash CS5

Resources

• Adobe TV: Animation Basics In Adobe Flash CS5