Section II: Flash Timeline, Frames and Keyframes
Animation in Flash is controlled in the timeline similar to most popular editing software such as Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. The timeline controls time, frames, blank keyframes and content-filled keyframes. To be able to place objets in any document in Flash, frames must be created or converted into keyframes to be able to do so. The timeline is also responsible for managing and controlling both types of animation in Flash: shape and motion tweening.
Learning objectives for this section
- Learn and identify important animation elements such as the timeline, frames, keyframes, content-filled key frames, playhead, frames per seconds (fps), layers stack, folders, layers, layers labels,
- Judge the primary differences between and the uses for the main stage and the pasteboard.
- Describe the fps (frames per seconds) for animation.
- Explain the primary elements and buttons of the layers stack.
- Use the properties palette to change the documents settings such as document color (background color), fps, document size, and many other options in the properties palette.
- Explain the meaning of “a change in the timeline”.
- Learn how to set and save a work area (document settings) as default.
- Insert frames, keyframes, content-filled keyframes and frames.
- Identify and analyze the important differences amongst and specific needs for inserting frames, keyframes and or blank keyframes.
- Determinate the use for “Show/Hide all Layers” & the “Lock/Unlock all Layers” buttons in the layers stack.
- Determine the differences amongst clearing, cutting and erasing frames.
- Learn how to play movies to view progress being worked on without rendering using the play movie in the control menu option.
- Perform import for assets in Flash.
- Explain the reasoning and the differences and benefits of importing to stage and importing to library.