Flash CS4 Professional

Transcription

1 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional A Complete Training Package! Full-color step-by-step instructional book Video training from Adobe Certified Experts Tutorials and lesson files on companion DVD Fred Gerantabee & the AGI Creative Team

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3 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

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5 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom Fred Gerantabee and Aquent Creative Team

6 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN Copyright 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: Manufactured in the United States of America No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) , fax (317) , or online at Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) , outside the U.S. at (317) or fax (317) Please report any errors by sending a message to errata@aquent.com Library of Congress Control Number: Trademarks: Wiley and related trade dress are registered trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. The Aquent and AGI logos are trademarks of Aquent, LLC in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

7 About the Authors Fred Gerantabee is an Emmy award winning interactive designer, web developer and author based in New York City, and serves as training manager for Aquent Graphics Institute (AGI). Prior to joining Aquent, Fred was an interactive producer with ABC/Disney Interactive, working on ITV applications for hit shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the Academy Awards and Toon Disney s JETIX Cards Live. Fred is the author of books on Flash and Dreamweaver, and co-author of the Creative Suite 4 Web Premium for Dummies, also published by Wiley. Fred is an Adobe Certified Instructor and holds Adobe Certified Expert status in Flash, Dreamweaver, Flash Lite, and Contribute. Jeff Ausura is an Artist, Interactive Designer and Adobe Certified Expert in Flash and Dreamweaver. Jeff is a contributing author to several books on these applications. When he s not working on Flash and ActionScript, he spends his time working with C# and Silverlight, creating immersive video players and virtual fish tanks to entertain his real-life orange cat. He holds a BA in fine art from Bennington College. Jeremy Osborn has more than 15 years of experience in web and graphic design, filmmaking, writing and publication development for both print and digital media. He serves as training director of Aquent Graphics Institute, and has contributed to several of the Adobe Classroom in a Book series for Adobe Press. Jeremy holds a MS in Management from the Marlboro College Graduate Center and a BFA in Film/TV from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Jerron Smith is as an instructor for Aquent Graphics Institute and also an adjunct instructor in the Communication Arts department at the New York Institute of Technology, where he instructs courses in computer graphics methodology and technique. He is also a member with both ACMSiggraph and the Computer Graphics Society He is a contributing author to several books on Flash, Photoshop, and Photoshop Elements. Jerron completed his undergraduate work at New York s esteemed Fashion Institute of Technology and The City University of New York, and then completed his Master s studies in Communications Arts at the New York Institute of Technology. The Aquent Creative Team is comprised of Adobe Certified Experts and Adobe Certified Instructors from Aquent Graphics Institute (AGI). The Aquent Creative Team has authored many of Adobe s official training guides, and works with many of the world s most prominent companies helping them to use creative software to communicate more effectively and creatively. They work with marketing, creative and communications teams around the world, and teach regularly scheduled classes at AGI s locations. More information at agitraining.com.

8 Acknowledgments Thanks to our many friends at Adobe Systems, Inc. who made this book possible and assisted with questions and feedback during the writing process. To the many clients of AGI who have helped us better understand how they use Flash and provided us with many of the tips and suggestions found in this book. A special thanks to the instructional team at AGI for their input and assistance in the review process and for making this book such a team effort. Thanks to Arturo Toledo for helping us to expand our creative horizons in creating the next generation of interactive experiences. Thanks also to John, Steve, Mia, Ann, Mike, Nunzio, Greg, Cheryl, and the hundreds of Aquent employees around the world who support our efforts to provide professional development training for creative, marketing, and communications professionals. Thanks to the following photographers for the use of their images: Lesson 12: Risa Binder photo by Lou Poirier; Leslie Graves photo by Calvin Williams; Christopher Heinz photo by Calvin Williams; Shayna Zaid photo by William Kates; Oscar Rodriguez/Nakatomi Plaza photo by Dave Sanders; Emek Rave photo by Holly Danger.

9 Credits Additional Writing Jeff Ausura, Jeremy Osborn, Jerron Smith Series Editor Christopher Smith Senior Acquisitions Editor Jody Lefevere Technical Editors Cathy Auclair, Larry Happy, Sean McKnight, Haziel Olivera, Eric Rowse Editor Marylouise Wiack Editorial Manager Robyn Siesky Business Manager Amy Knies Senior Marketing Manager Sandy Smith Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Publisher Barry Pruett Project Coordinator Lynsey Stanford Graphics and Production Specialist Lauren Mickol Media Development Project Supervisor Jeremy Osborn Proofreading Jay Donahue Indexing Broccoli Information Management

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11 Contents Starting Up About Flash Digital Classroom Prerequisites System requirements Starting Adobe Flash CS Resetting the Flash workspace Loading lesson files Working with the video tutorials Setting up for viewing the video tutorials Viewing the video tutorials with the Adobe Flash Player Additional resources Lesson 1: What s New in Adobe Flash CS4? Starting up Testing the waters New animation engine Motion Presets The Motion Editor New easing behaviors New drawing tools: The Deco and Spray Brush tools The 3D Rotation and 3D Translation tools Inverse Kinematics: The new Bone and Bind tools New CS4 interface New F4V video format Adobe Media Encoder Lesson 2: Flash CS4 Jumpstart Starting up What is Flash? About Flash Player Flash file types Creating a new document Table of Contents IX

12 Contents Setting up your new document Saving your Flash document Opening documents The Flash workspace The Stage and work area The Flash Tools panel The Property Inspector Panels and panel groups The Timeline Practicing with the Flash tools The drawing and selection tools in action Using gradient and color tools Animation in action Getting help Support forums Moving forward Self study Review Lesson 3: Getting Started with the Drawing Tools Starting up Drawing in Flash Using the Merge Drawing model Creating artwork in Merged Drawing mode Working with Drawing Objects Putting it all together Using the Line tool Using the Pen tool Using the Add and Delete Anchor Point tools Using the Combine Objects menu Using the Primitive tools (Smart Shapes) Using the Oval Primitive tool The Rectangle Primitive tool Adding text to your artwork Adding filters X Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

13 Contents Working with colors Getting set up Creating gradients Using opacity with gradient colors Creating custom colors Saving a custom color set Organizing and layering graphics Working with layers Arranging, locking, and hiding layers Creating layer folders Transforming graphics The Transform menu and Free Transform tool The Transform panel Transforming gradients Self study Review Lesson 4: Using Symbols and the Library Starting up What are symbols? A look at the Library panel Creating symbols Converting a graphic to a symbol Creating blank symbols Building artwork with symbol instances Positioning and snapping in symbol instances Editing and duplicating symbols Editing symbols in place Modifying individual symbol instances Modifying instance color Fine-tuning your background Duplicating symbols Adding graphics and text to your banner Swapping symbols Table of Contents XI

14 Contents Managing the Library Organizing symbols with folders The Move To command Deleting items from the library Controlling library views Wrapping up Self study Review Lesson 5: Advanced Tools Starting up Working with gradients Adjusting gradients with the Gradient Transform tool New Flash CS4 tools for advanced drawing Spraying symbols Masking Introducing the Deco tool Advanced Deco tool techniques Introduction to IK tools Self study Review Lesson 6: Creating Basic Animation Starting up Introducing keyframes and the Timeline Layers Frames and keyframes Building animation: Enter the tween New: Tween layers and automatic keyframing Tweening multiple objects Previewing animation with Test Movie Moving and transforming tween paths Incorporating color effects and scaling XII Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

15 Contents New: Introducing the Motion Editor Modifying the animation using the Motion Editor Tweening rotation Controlling animation paths Where did Motion Guide layers go? What happens to my existing Flash files that use Motion Guide layers? How do I create a motion guide if I still want to? Morphing graphics and colors with shape tweens Shape tween basics Legacy techniques: Creating classic tweens Adding color effects and scaling to a classic tween (Re)creating motion guides for classic tweens Troubleshooting Motion Guides Adjusting animation with onion skinning Looking ahead Self study Review Lesson 7: Advanced Animation Starting up Copying, pasting, and saving animation Using Copy and Paste Motion New: Creating Motion Presets Applying Advanced Easing Behavior Animating Masks Creating Animation with IK Poses Sequencing Animation Shifting, Moving, and Extending Tween Spans New: Rendering and Animating in 3D Table of Contents XIII

16 Contents The 3D Rotation tool The 3D Translation tool Fine-Tuning Tweens with the Motion Editor Adding shape tweens and shape hints Creating Shape Hints Self study Review Lesson 8: Customizing Your Workflow Starting up Customizing workspace layouts Opening the completed file Working with panels Collapsing and storing panels Managing workspaces Setting preferences Keyboard shortcuts Visual aids for alignment Rulers and guides Guide layers Advanced alignment Refining your aligned objects Self study Review Lesson 9: Working with Imported Files Starting up Import formats Importing still images Viewing the completed lesson file Import a bitmap image Adding text Swapping out an imported file Modifying imported artwork Updating imported files XIV Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

17 Contents Importing Photoshop files Importing a layered Photoshop file Importing Illustrator artwork Animating the bat Self study Review Lesson 10: Introducing ActionScript Starting up Exploring the lesson file What is ActionScript? ActionScript 2.0 or 3.0: Which should you use? An important note about Publish settings The Actions panel at work Standard (default) script editing mode Using Script Assist Adding & removing actions Adding actions to frames Using stop( ) Using the goto action to navigate the Timeline Controlling Movie Clip Timelines Functions Wrapping up Self study Review Lesson 11: Creating Button Symbols Starting up Working with button symbols Building buttons Adding text to a button Duplicating and modifying buttons Creating text-based buttons Creating frame labels for ActionScript Adding ActionScript: Events and event handlers Table of Contents XV

18 Contents Understanding events Responding to events with event handlers Tying it all together with event listeners Linking buttons to specific frames Adding an event listener to a button Linking buttons to a web site Introducing navigatetourl( ) and URLRequest( ) Self study Review Lesson 12: Adding Sound to Your Movies Starting up Preparing sound files for Flash Sample rate and bit depth Editing your audio Mono or stereo Audio file formats Importing sounds Placing sounds on the Timeline Adding sound to your slide show project Adding the remaining narration Adding sound effects to buttons Placing Event sounds on button frames Controlling sounds Editing sounds Trimming sound Controlling sounds Repeating and looping sounds Looping sounds Introducing the SoundMixer and stopall( ) More sync menu controls: stop and start Start sounds Stop sounds Sound publishing options Self study Review XVI Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

19 Contents Lesson 13: Introducing Movie Clips Starting up About movie clips Creating movie clips Laying the foundation: Your first movie clip Previewing movie clip animation from the main Timeline Creating the landing gear Combining movie clips and main Timeline animation Nesting movie clips Adding ActionScript to movie clip Timelines Controlling movie clip playback Adding some variation to the propellers Tweening movie clips Adding a second tween Combining movie clips for complex animation Adding filter effects to movie clips Using the Filters panel Creating a filter effect Self study Review Lesson 14: Working with Video Starting up Video in Flash: formats and fundamentals Understanding video Embedded versus linked video The Flash Video format Understanding codecs Understanding the Adobe Media Encoder Converting video with the Adobe Media Encoder Working with embedded video Table of Contents XVII

20 Contents Adding embedded video to the Timeline Building controls for embedded video The Bandwidth Profiler Working with linked video Adding cue points in the Adobe Media Encoder Adding linked video to the Timeline Working with the FLVPlayback component Self study Review Lesson 15: Delivering Your Final Movie Starting up The publishing process Publishing to the web Customizing the Publish settings CD-ROM delivery Creating a standalone projector Make a full-screen projector Using Export Movie An overview of FTP Using Adobe Device Central in Flash Self study Review XVIII Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

21 Starting up About Flash Digital Classroom Adobe Flash CS4 Professional is the leading software application used to create and deliver interactive content. Adobe Flash CS4 Professional is the most advanced authoring environment for creating rich, interactive content for digital, web, and mobile platforms. The Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom helps you to understand these capabilities and to get the most out of your software so that you can get up-and-running right away. You can work through all the lessons in this book, or complete only specific lessons. Each lesson includes detailed, step-by-step instructions, along with lesson files, useful background information, and video tutorials. Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom is like having your own expert instructor guiding you through each lesson while you work at your own pace. This book includes 15 self-paced lessons that let you discover essential skills, explore new ones, and understand capabilities that will save you time. You ll be productive right away with real-world exercises and simple explanations. Each lesson includes step-by-step instructions, lesson files, and video tutorials, all of which are available on the included DVD. The Flash CS4 Digital Classroom lessons are developed by the same team of Adobe Certified Instructors and Flash experts who have created many of the official training titles for Adobe Systems. Prerequisites Before you start the Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom lessons, you should have a working knowledge of your computer and its operating system. You should know how to use the directory system of your computer so that you can navigate through folders. You also need to understand how to locate, save, and open files, and you should also know how to use your mouse to access menus and commands. Before starting the lesson files in the Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom, make sure that you have installed Adobe Flash CS4. The software is sold separately, and is not included with this book. You may use the free 30-day trial version of Adobe Flash CS4 available at the adobe.com web site, subject to the terms of its license agreement. System requirements Before starting the lessons in the Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom, make sure that your computer is equipped for running Adobe Flash CS4, which you must purchase separately. The minimum system requirements for your computer to effectively use the software are listed on the following page. Starting up 1

22 Starting Adobe Flash CS4 System requirements for Adobe Flash CS4 These are the minimum system requirements for using Flash CS4 software. Windows OS Intel Pentium 4, Intel Centrino, Intel Xeon, or Intel Core Duo (or compatible) processor Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise (certified for 32-bit editions) 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended) 1.8GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation) 1024x768 monitor resolution with 16-bit video card DVD-ROM drive QuickTime 7 software required for multimedia features Internet or phone connection required for product activation Macintosh OS 1GHz PowerPC G4 or G5 or multicore Intel processor Mac OS X v (Leopard) 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended) 1.6GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation) 1024x768 monitor resolution with 16-bit video card DVD-ROM drive QuickTime 7 software required for multimedia features Internet or phone connection required for product activation Starting Adobe Flash CS4 As with most software, Adobe Flash CS4 is launched by locating the application in your Programs folder (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac OS). If you are not familiar with starting the program, follow these steps to start the Adobe Flash CS4 application: Windows 1 Choose Start > All Programs > Adobe Flash CS4. 2 Close the Welcome Screen when it appears. You are now ready to use Adobe Flash CS4. Mac OS 1 Open the Applications folder, and then open the Adobe Flash CS4 folder. 2 Double-click on the Adobe Flash CS4 application icon. 3 Close the Welcome Screen when it appears. You are now ready to use Adobe Flash CS4. Menus and commands are identifi ed throughout the book by using the greater-than symbol (>). For example, the command to print a document appears as File > Print. 2 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

23 Resetting the Flash workspace To make certain that your panels and working environment are consistent, you should reset your workspace at the start of each lesson. To reset your workspace, choose Window > Workspace > Essentials. Resetting the Flash workspace Loading lesson files The Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom DVD includes files that accompany the exercises for each of the lessons. You may copy the entire lessons folder from the supplied DVD to your hard drive, or copy only the lesson folders for the individual lessons you wish to complete. For each lesson in the book, the files are referenced by the file name of each file. The exact location of each file on your computer is not used, as you may have placed the files in a unique location on your hard drive. We suggest placing the lesson files in the My Documents folder (Windows) or at the top level of your hard drive (Mac OS). Copying the lesson files to your hard drive: 1 Insert the Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom DVD supplied with this book. 2 On your computer desktop, navigate to the DVD and locate the folder named fllessons. 3 You can install all of the files, or just specific lesson files. Do one of the following: Install all lesson files by dragging the fllessons folder to your hard drive. Install only some of the files by creating a new folder on your hard drive named fllessons. Open the fllessons folder on the supplied DVD, select the lesson you wish to complete, and drag the folder(s) to the fllessons folder you created on your hard drive. Macintosh users may need to unlock the fi les if they are copied from the accompanying disc. This only applies to Mac OS computers. After copying the fi les to your computer, select the fl lessons folder, then choose File > Get Info. In the fl lessons info window, click the You can drop-down menu labeled Read Only, which is located in the Ownership section of this window. From the You can drop-down menu, choose Read & Write. Click the arrow to the left of Details, then click the Apply to enclosed items... button at the bottom of the window. You may need to click the padlock icon to change these permissions. After making these changes, close the window. Starting up 3

24 Working with the video tutorials Working with the video tutorials Your Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom DVD comes with video tutorials developed by the authors to help you understand the concepts explored in each lesson. Each tutorial is approximately five minutes long and demonstrates and explains the concepts and features covered in the lesson. The videos are designed to supplement your understanding of the material in the chapter. We have selected exercises and examples that we feel will be most useful to you. You may want to view the entire video for each lesson before you begin that lesson. Additionally, at certain points in a lesson, you will encounter the DVD icon. The icon, with appropriate lesson number, indicates that an overview of the exercise being described can be found in the accompanying video. 0 DVD video icon. Setting up for viewing the video tutorials The DVD included with this book includes video tutorials for each lesson. Although you can view the lessons on your computer directly from the DVD, we recommend copying the folder labeled Videos from the Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom DVD to your hard drive. Copying the video tutorials to your hard drive: 1 Insert the Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom DVD supplied with this book. 2 On your computer desktop, navigate to the DVD and locate the folder named Videos. 3 Drag the Videos folder to a location onto your hard drive. 4 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

25 Viewing the video tutorials with the Adobe Flash Player Working with the video tutorials The videos on the Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom DVD are saved in the Flash projector format. A Flash projector file wraps the Digital Classroom video player and the Adobe Flash Player in an executable file (.exe for Windows or.app for Mac OS). However, please note that the extension (on both platforms) may not always be visible. Projector files allow the Flash content to be deployed on your system without the need for a browser or prior standalone player installation. The accompanying video fi les on the DVD use the Adobe Flash Video format to make universal viewing possible for users on both Windows and Mac OS computers. If you have diffi culty viewing the fi les on the DVD, you may choose to view them on-line at the Digital Classroom Books site: digitalclassroombooks.com/videos. Playing the video tutorials: 1 On your computer, navigate to the Videos folder you copied to your hard drive from the DVD. Playing the videos directly from the DVD may result in poor quality playback. 2 Open the Videos folder and double-click the FLvideos_PC.exe (Windows) or FLvideos_Mac.app (Mac OS) to view the video tutorial. 3 Press the Play button to view the videos. The Flash Player has a simple user interface that allows you to control the viewing experience, including stopping, pausing, playing, and restarting the video. You can also rewind or fast-forward, and adjust the playback volume. A B C D E F A. Go to beginning. B. Play/Pause. C. Fast-forward/rewind. D. Stop. E. Volume Off /On. F. Volume control. Playback volume is also aff ected by the settings in your operating system. Be certain to adjust the sound volume for your computer, in addition to the sound controls in the Player window. Starting up 5

26 Additional resources Additional resources The Digital Classroom series goes beyond the training books. You can continue your learning online, with training videos, at seminars and conferences, and in-person training events. Book series Expand your knowledge of creative software applications with the Digital Classroom training series. Learn more at digitalclassroombooks.com. Seminars and conferences The authors of the Digital Classroom seminar series frequently conduct in-person seminars and speak at conferences, including the annual CRE8 Conference. Learn more at agitraining.com and CRE8summit.com. Resources for educators Visit digitalclassroombooks.com to access resources for educators, including instructors guides for incorporating Digital Classroom into your curriculum. 6 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

27 Lesson 1 What s New in Adobe Flash CS4? What you ll learn in this lesson: Exploring the improved drawing tools Using Copy and Paste Motion Examining improved video import and export Using ActionScript 3.0 and Flash Player 10 Previewing movies with Adobe Device Central Adobe Flash is the premier program for designing rich, interactive content for the Web. It is also a leader in the creation of games, educational aids, mobile phone content, and cool desktop applications using Adobe AIR. Flash CS4 Professional contains many signifi cant new features and updates for designers and media publishers, including a complete overhaul of Flash s infamous animation engine. Starting up This lesson does not require any lesson files from the included DVD. You can start Flash CS4 Professional and explore each new feature as it is discussed. If you haven t done so already, install Flash CS4 Professional and the Adobe Media Encoder. Instructions for installation, system requirements, and information on how to use lesson files from the included DVD are in the Starting up section on page 3 of this book. If you are new to Flash, or simply want to jump right into a lesson, move ahead to Lesson 2, Flash CS4 Jumpstart. Like all the lessons in this book, the Jumpstart lesson is a hands-on approach to learning Flash CS4 Professional. Lesson 1, What s New in Adobe Flash CS4? 7

28 1 New animation engine 1 See Lesson 1 in action! Use the accompanying video to gain a better understanding of how to use some of the features shown in this lesson. The video tutorial for this lesson can be found on the included DVD. Testing the waters Flash CS4 Professional includes dynamic additions and updates that appeal to all types of Flash users, designers, and developers alike. These include some great new drawing tools, 3D tools, and an all-new animation engine that makes working with Flash easier and more enjoyable. Here s an overview of some of the updates you will find in Flash CS4. New animation engine Flash introduces a brand new animation engine, which changes the way motion tweens (automatic animations) are created and makes the process easier and more intuitive. Animation now creates tween spans, groups of frames that record and animate changes in position, scaling, and color to an object as you make them on the Stage. Motion tweens now automatically include motion paths, which show a symbol s trajectory on the Stage. 8 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom

29 The Motion Editor 1 Now, you simply move the playhead to a position on the Timeline and reposition your object on the Stage; Flash takes care of creating the animation for you. Motion tweens now automatically display a motion path on the Stage, which shows you the trajectory your object will follow. These new motion paths can be directly selected and manipulated, allowing you to tweak the trajectory or move or resize an entire tween easily and quickly. Motion Presets You can now save animation behavior from any existing motion tween into a Motion Preset. You can recall and apply a Motion Preset to any tween span or tweened object to have several objects on the stage follow the same animation behavior. The new Motion Presets panel (Window > Motion Presets) lets you manage, sort, and apply motion presets to existing tween spans on the Timeline. The new Motion Preset panel lets you manage saved presets and apply them to tween spans on the Timeline. Lesson 1, What s New in Adobe Flash CS4? 9

30 1 The Motion Editor The Motion Editor You can now fine-tune and enhance motion tweens with the Motion Editor, a new panel that displays every aspect of an animation in a graph-style format. You can visually tweak properties such as position and transparency, and add easing behavior to mimic forces such as gravity and inertia. The Motion Editor gives you unprecedented control over every possible aspect of a motion tween, and even lets you add to and subtract from animation behavior without having to touch anything on the Stage. The new Motion Editor gives you a lot of tactile control over your motion tweens. New easing behaviors Designers and animators now have access to several new easing behaviors (such as Bounce and Spring) that were only previously available to ActionScript programmers. You can even use different easing behaviors across each property, even for a single tween. New drawing tools: The Deco and Spray Brush tools Flash CS4 expands on its existing creative toolset with the addition of the Deco and Spray Brush tools, both of which use symbols from the Library to create interesting patterns and effects. The Deco tool can create elaborate fills using a fl ower and leaf style pattern that can be animated to create interesting effects with little effort. The Deco tool also includes a new Symmetry Brush, which uses symbols from your library to draw elaborate symmetrical patterns. The Spray Brush tool lets you paint creative patterns and textures using symbols from the Library ; it also gives you full control over brush size, symbol scaling, and randomization of ink drop sizes. 10 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Digital Classroom