Macromedia Flash 8: Training from the Source

Lesson 5. Creating Animations

You've been waiting to get to it, and now you're here...creating animations, everyone's favorite thing to do in Macromedia Flash. Animations spice up an application and can make for some very interesting web experiences. At its heart, Flash is an animation tool, and most of the animations produced in Flash are deployed over the web. However, Flash animations are springing up on CD-ROMs, Computer Based Training (CBT) systems, mobile devices, and even broadcast production. Why? Because Flash produces such lightweight files that it is ideal for delivering on all kinds of platforms.

Animation in the Tech Bookstore

It's not terribly difficult to produce animations in Flash 8, although it does take just a little getting used to and good organizational skills. Flash does most of the work for you, in fact, and Macromedia has included some prebuilt effects that can help speed the process along. In this lesson, you'll look at some different ways to create animations using the Timelinemotion and shape tweening in particular. You'll also have a better idea of what purposes you can put animation to because it isn't just for making cartoons any more.