Shape tween animation is used much less frequently than motion
tween animation, but it offers the one possibility motion tween hasn't got -
for objects to change shape, to deform them, to make transitions from one shape
to another.
1. Open a new Flash document. Select the Oval Tool
(O) from the Tools panel. If you are working in Flash 8, turn
the Object Drawing option off - the icon on the left in the options panel (see
image below).
2. Draw a circle on stage by clicking and draging while
holding the SHIFT key.
3. Right-click on, let's say, frame 30 in the timeline and
select the Insert Keyframe option. You will notice that the circle is now
selected on stage. Click anywhere on stage outside the circle to unselect
it.
4. Using the Selection Tool (V) deform the
circle. You can do that by placing the mouse near the circle's border and when a
small arc appears beneath the cursor, it means you can start deforming it.
Click and drag and you will see it. You can drag both outwards and
inwards.
5. Click on any frame between the two keyframes in the
timeline, or the first keyframe. Don't click on the second one, because we must
animate our segment from the first keyframe to the second one. Not from the
second one, because there isn't any animation after it.
6. Now go to the Properties panel below the scene and from
the Tween menu select Shape.
You should see an arrow on light-green background appear on the timeline,
between the two keyframes.
7. Test your movie by choosing Control > Test Movie or pressing
CTRL+ENTER (Command+ENTER for Mac). You should
see your tween :)
Got any comments or questions? Want to add something but don't
know how? Discuss it in the forum!
