The Animation Steps

We've just completed everything we need to do to create a simple animation. We can now add text and another shape for practice.

Let's make a new layer and call it text. We do this in the Timeline area with the plus in the bottom left corner. Make sure the text layer is above the circle layer. In the same fashion as we made the circle animation, add a keyframe to the text layer in the first frame. Then type the word "Welcome" in the first frame using the type item (the "A") from the toolbar. Select the text with the arrow item and go to Insert> Convert to Symbol like we did with the circle. Now that the text is a symbol, we can create our animation. Drag the text so that it is off of the black area on the left side. Create a motion tween and then place another keyframe at frame 25. In the last frame, place the text somewhere near where the circle is. Go back to the first frame and then play the movie again to preview it. Let's take a moment to catch our breath and review the steps we took:

1. Create a new layer
2. Draw your object
3. Convert it to a symbol
   Insert> Convert to Symbol
4. Add keyframes where needed
   Insert> Keyframe
5. Create the motion tween
   Popup Menu from frame> Create Motion Tween
6. Change the positions or appearance of the object

Fig. 5 - Transforming our triangle

Now that we have simple animations under control, let's move on to some advance features.

Next: The advanced features of Flash