The real thing

We're ready to start the engine and warm up the tires. We'll work with a sample .fla file to get a feel for the basics.

We're going to do things in reverse order of a typical production: we'll put together pieces to make an animated Flash movie first, then we'll look at the different options for composing the pieces.

Download Pengoo-in_01.fla - this file contains all the parts we will need to make a little animation of Happy Pond somewhere in Penguinland. Take a look at what we will be making.

Open the file in Flash and look at your library. If your library is not showing when you open the file, you can view it by either hitting CTRL-L or by selecting Window > Library. (If you are so new to design that you haven't developed deeper habits than a heroin junkie, take a bit of advice: spend the time when you first learn a new tool to learn as many hot keys, shortcuts, and combined commands as your brain can hold. You will save time in the long run by trimming a second or two off every operation you perform with that software for as long as you continue to use it).

Now that we are ready to work on our movie, let's change the background color to black. (You and I made the consensual artistic decision to change the background to black based on the fact that I had some scraps from past projects that fit into a scene with black in the background).

Open your movie properties box, (either CTRL-M or Modify > Movie), and click on the color swatch labeled background. Choose black and click OK.

Next we are going to modify the layers of the movie to give us the breathtaking depth in the style of Rubens - or Hanna-Barbera - that our magnificent opus will convey.

Change the name of "Layer 1" to "trees". You can do this by double clicking right on the name, or by selecting the layer and then selecting Modify > Layer.

Next drag the symbol called "trees n star" to the stage and place it where you think it should go. (Don't get too concerned about the placement - you can change it at any time).

Next add a new layer. Again, there a many options. I like to just click on the little plus sign below the layer names. (Notice that when you make a new layer, it appears directly above the selected layer. If you screw up you can just grab the layer and drag it to the position you want).

(The little plus sign - notice that it is little and the sign is a plus; hence, "little plus sign").

Name the new layer "pond". Guess what's next! Grab the pond symbol and drag it to where you want it. Really let go with your emotions here and express yourself artistically.

The pond appears to be in the foreground because its layer is above the tree layer.

Make a layer for our little penguin friend. Name the new layer "pengoo in".

Drag him to the right of the stage, just out of view of where you want him to enter.

If the arrow tool is not already selected, select it now.

If the penguin isn't already selected, select him now. (You can either click on him or drag an area over him. If you drag an area to select something, you will select everything in your wake - even on multiple levels - so use caution).

We want to make him smaller to show that he is far away, (tricky, eh?), so we are going to click the scale tool. Immediately little handles appear on each side and in each corner of the rectangle showing the area of the penguin symbol. Grab one of the corner handles and shrink him to the size you like.

Make sure you save your work every once in awhile - now would be a good time.

Terms/Work Area
0 to 60 in Flash
Test the movie