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When shape tweens are applied to keyframes, the Property Inspector
enables several options for controlling how Flash draws the tweened
frames. Settings such as easing in and easing out enable you to control
how the shape changes are distributed across the frames in the tween.
Frame Blending allows you to set preferences to let Flash know which
qualities to maintain during the tween.
Adjusting Shape
Tween Properties
Set Shape-Tween Properties
Click the Window menu, and then
click Properties to open the
Property Inspector.
Select a keyframe with shape
tween applied.
Choose from the following
settings:
◆
Ease. This sets the speed at
which your object eases in or
out of its motion. A positive
value eases in, a negative value
eases out.
◆
Blend. The Distributive option
smoothes out the tweened
shapes, while the Angular
option preserves corners and
straight lines in the shape

values in the RGB, HSB, and Alpha
fields, or by using the list arrows to
the right of these fields.
Click the Control menu, point to
Test Movie, and then click Test.
The shape color changes as the
shape tweens.
4
3
2
1
Stroke Color
Fill Color
Did You Know?
You can use any palette available to
change the color of a shape in a
tween.
In addition to the Color Mixer,
there are palettes located on the Tools
panel, Property Inspector, and
Swatches panel.
1
See Also
See “Modifying Instance Color Styles
and Blends” on page 158-159 for more
information on working with color and
alpha options.
Color Picker
3
From the Library of Wow! eBook

(Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+H (Win) to
insert a shape hint.
Drag the shape hint to an area of
the shape you want to control.
Click to place the playhead on the
last frame of the shape tween.
The corresponding shape hint
appears as a small green circle
with a corresponding letter that
matches the beginning hint.
5
4
3
2
1
Beginning
shape hint “a”
End shape
hint “a”
4
2
Place start shape hints
on problem areas.
Place end shape hints on
corresponding areas.
Did You Know?
You can show all shape hints.
Click
the View menu, and then click Show
Shape Hints.

Drag
shape hints off the Stage or click the
Modify menu, point to Shape, and then
click Remove All Hints.
You should place your shape hints
consecutively in a clockwise or
counter-clockwise direction.
Placing
shape hints out of order can confuse
Flash and often produces unwanted
results.
From the Library of Wow! eBook
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Chapter 10
In addition to creating animation using the Timeline and Property Inspector, you can also use
ActionScript to animate movie clips, buttons, text, and components. You can animate any
instance name with ActionScript. For an ActionScript 3.0 example, see Project 4, “Modifying an
Object with ActionScript in the Workshops, available at
www.perspection.com
. For ActionScript
2.0, you can animate an object over time and change any ActionScript property, such as scale,
rotation, color, and transparency. ActionScript provides two events that work well for anima-
tion: onEnterFrame and setInterval. The onEnterFrame event is a continuously executing event
based on the frame rate of your movie until you stop (delete) it. The setInterval event is a contin-
uously executing event for only a certain period of time. The one disadvantage of these actions
is the large use of memory and CPU, so you need to clear it.
◆
onEnterFrame
event.