When designers consider animation 'tweening' in Flash they usually focus on 'motion tweening' only. But the power of Flash goes beyond simple 'motion tweening' animation. You can also use 'tweening' to animate an objects' shape, rotation, color, and opacity. This multi-part tutorial will run you through each type of 'tweening' animation and potential pitfalls you might run into.

First, a few points to remember about 'tweening.' 'Tweening' can only be applied to objects. Objects are defined by Macromedia as symbols, groups, text boxes and imported graphics. Try to use symbols in your animations. Symbols are smaller in file size compared to object groups and raster images. All 'tweening' must have a minimum of two keyframes, starting and ending. If you plan on 'tweening' multiple objects give each one its own unique layer. With these points made let's do some tweening, sorry, let's get started.

Motion Tweening

Motion 'tweening' is the most common form of Flash animation. In this tutorial we will have a 'leaf' flutter to the bottom of the stage. Open up the 'library' (Go - Window - Library) and drag 'Leaf 2' onto the stage. Or you can create your own leaf. Double click 'Layer 1' and rename it 'Falling Leaf.'

Creating the motion is simple. 'Select' frame number 50. Right Click the frame and select 'Insert Keyframe.' Or press the - 'F6' key.

Now select 'frame 50' and move the leaf object to the bottom of the stage.

To add the 'motion tweening' effect pick any frame between 1 and 50 and all frames are selected. Now 'right click' and select 'Create Motion Tween.' You can also go - Insert - Create Motion Tween. The frames between 1 and 50 turn blue and an arrow appears.

That's it. Press 'enter' or 'return' and the 'leaf' drops to the bottom of the window. This is the basic 'motion tweening' most Flash animators should know if they've gone through the tutorials. Of course a leaf does not fall in a straight line, it flutters with the wind. We can fake a wind effect by having the leaf follow a path.

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