ptg Chapter 7 Creating Frame-by-Frame Animation 223 Depending upon how you like to work, you can choose between two selection modes in Flash. The default mode is frame-based selection. In this mode, frames are treated as individual elements. When span- based selection is chosen, Flash treats frames as part of a frame span, which means all of the frames adjacent to a keyframe are selected as a unit. You can accomplish the same tasks in either mode and you can switch between the two depending upon the task at hand. Using Frame-Based Versus Span-Based Selection Set the Frame Selection Style Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Preferences. If necessary, click the General category. Select the Span Based Selection check box to enable span-based selection or clear it to enable frame-based selection. Click OK. 4 3 2 1 3 Frame-based selection: Clicking once on a frame selects that frame Span-based selection: Clicking once on a frame selects the entire span 2 4 Did You Know? You can select a single frame in span- based mode. Press A+click (Mac) or Ctrl+click (Win) the frame. Likewise, to select a span of frames in frame-based mode, click the first or last frame in the span, and then drag until you've selected the entire span. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 224 Chapter 7 Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, you can choose to remove a frame's status as a keyframe or remove the frame entirely. Clearing a keyframe preserves the length of the framespan and the overall duration of the animation on the layer. It simply turns the keyframe back into a regular frame and removes any changes the keyframe contained. Conversely, removing frames deletes the entire frame and shortens the framespan as well as the length of your anima- tion in the Timeline. Clearing Keyframes Versus Removing Frames Clear Keyframes Click on the frame to select it or click and drag to select a range of frames. Click the Modify menu, point to Timeline, and then click Clear Keyframe. Flash converts the keyframe back into a regular frame. TIMESAVER Press Shift+F6 to clear keyframes. 2 1 1 The duration is maintained The keyframe is cleared From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 7 Creating Frame-by-Frame Animation 225 Remove Frames Click on the frame to select it or click and drag to select a range of frames. Click the Edit menu, point to Timeline, and then click Remove Frames. Flash removes the selected frame(s) and shortens the length of the animation. TIMESAVER Press Shift+F5 to remove frames. 2 1 1 The duration is shortened From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 226 Chapter 7 Keyframes are editable elements. You can add or remove content from a keyframe, move keyframes around by simply dragging, or copy and paste keyframes in the same Timeline, across scenes and even other Flash documents. Because keyframes are so versatile, you can con- tinue to fine-tune your animations after they are created. When the playhead is placed on a frame, the content of that frame is displayed on your Stage. Selecting the keyframe in the Timeline selects all of the content on that keyframe on the Stage. Likewise, selecting any of your content on the Stage will select its corresponding keyframe. In this way, you can interactively edit the content in a keyframe or the keyframe's position in the Timeline and know what you are affecting. Editing Keyframes Copy and Paste Keyframes Click on the keyframe to select it or click and drag to select a keyframe and a range of frames. Click the Edit menu, point to Timeline, and then click Copy Frames. TIMESAVER Press Option+ A +C (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+C (Win) to copy frames. Click on the frame where you want to paste the frames. Click the Edit menu, point to Timeline, and then click Paste Frames. TIMESAVER Press Option+ A +V (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+V (Win) to paste frames. 4 3 2 1 1 Frames are pasted starting on selected frame. 3 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 7 Creating Frame-by-Frame Animation 227 Drag and Drop Keyframes Click on the keyframe to select it or click and drag to select a keyframe and a range of frames. Click again on the selected frame(s), and then drag to a new area of the Timeline. 2 1 1 Frames copied to the new location. Move frames as you drag. The plus sign (+) modifier indicates a copy has been engaged. Frames are moved to the new location. Press the Option key (Mac) or the Alt key (Win) to copy frames as you drag them. Did You Know? It’s important to understand the differ- ence between the normal copy and Paste commands and the copy frames and Paste Frames commands. When you copy and paste frames you are copying the keyframes and in-between frames and the content contained in them. Pasting them preserves the structure and layout. If you select a keyframe and use the normal copy and paste commands A+C and A+V (Mac) or Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V (Win), you are only copying the content contained in that keyframe. You can use drag and drop to copy frames. Press and hold down the Option (Mac) or Alt (Win) key as you drag frames, Flash copies them to a new location. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 228 Chapter 7 Flash incorporates the traditional animation technique with its use of keyframe-based animation. Artwork is placed in a keyframe in the Timeline and subsequent keyframes are created to record changes to the artwork. When played consecutively, these minute changes mimic movement as each keyframe describes an altered position or transform effect. Static art that does not change is stored on separate layers and can span the entire animation. In this way, you don't have to redraw the entire frame and you can quickly create complex animations. Creating a Simple Frame-by-Frame Animation Create a Frame-by-Frame Animation Create a new Flash document or open an empty Timeline. Click the first frame to select it. Click the Oval tool on the Tools panel. Click on the Stage, and then drag to draw a circle. Click the second frame to select it. Click the Insert menu, point to Timeline, and then click Keyframe. TIMESAVER Press F6 to insert a keyframe. Select the second keyframe or double-click the circle on the Stage and drag it slightly to the right. 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3 4 2 5 7 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 7 Creating Frame-by-Frame Animation 229 Click on the third frame to select it. Repeat step 6. Select the third keyframe or double-click the circle on the Stage and drag it slightly further to the right. Continue to add keyframes and move the circle until it reaches the right edge of the Stage. IMPORTANT The more keyframes you add the smoother the animation is. Click the Playhead and move it across the frames to preview the movement of the circle. 12 11 10 9 8 10 8 The circle is moved frame-by- frame until it reaches the other side of the Stage. From the Library of Wow! eBook . in Flash. The default mode is frame-based selection. In this mode, frames are treated as individual elements. When span- based selection is chosen, Flash. Alt (Win) key as you drag frames, Flash copies them to a new location. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 228 Chapter 7 Flash incorporates the traditional