Things You'll Need:
- Working installation of Flash
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Step 1
On your Flash stage, either select the object that you wish to animate or create a new object to animate. The object must be a symbol. It must also be on its own layer.
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Step 2
Right-click on the layer containing the symbol in your Timeline area. Then, select "Add Motion Guide." The layer containing the symbol will indent beneath a new layer labeled "Guide Layer" with an icon showing a red dotted line. This is the layer that will contain your motion guide.
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Step 3
Use the line tool or the pen tool to draw a path on the Guide Layer outlining the course you want your animated symbol to follow.
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Step 4
Select the symbol and move it until the registration point at the center snaps to the beginning point of the motion guide path.
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Step 5
Copy the keyframe containing the symbol to a new frame further down the timeline.
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Step 6
Copy the keyframe containing the motion guide to a new frame further down the timeline. It is on the same frame number as the second keyframe for the symbol but on its own layer.
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Step 7
On the symbol's second keyframe, move the symbol (do not move the motion guide) across the stage until the registration point at its center snaps to the ending point of the motion guide's path.
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Step 8
On the layer for the symbol, right-click on the timeline between the first and last keyframes. Select "Create Motion Tween."
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Step 9
Click enter on your timeline to watch your symbol animate. Watch it slide along a path following the motion guide that you created. Although the motion guide is a visible line on the stage when working in Flash, it will be invisible when the movie is published with a Shockwave Flash (SWF) file of any other format.
