This
tutorial introduces some basic topics of flash animation and also
gives you specific instructions for the customization of your flash
intro. Full source for each intro is provided, and you can make
just about anything out of it - including a really unique introduction
to your site. However, this task is likely to require some advanced
skills that this tutorial is short too cover. So we are going to
simply replace some text and images leaving the overall flow of
movie intact. The process of embedding a flash object into your
page is also discussed.
Sample
Intro is available for your practice. .SWF file is a compiled
movie, and .FLA file is the source that you will edit. In this tutorial
it is assumed that you are using Macromedia Flash 5.0. Some options
might be unavailable in earlier versions.
You
can consult Introduction to Flash
if you are new to this technology.
Flash
tools introduces the key concepts of Flash editing that will
be referred to in the following steps. The steps give detailed instructions
on different aspects of customization:
Go to
Step1: Replacing text
Go to Step2:
Replacing graphics
Go to Step3:
Publishing HTML
Step1:
Replacing text
In
this step you will edit the .FLA file to customize text symbols.
You will play movie in Flash editor step-by-step to find occurrences
of symbols that you need changed, select these symbols, switch
to symbol editing mode, enter your text, and switch back to movie
editing mode to observe the results of changes you made. The sub
steps give more detailed explanation to this:
1. Open the .FLA file from your
downloaded Sample Intro directory.
2.
Make sure the timeline is visible and the movie is rewound to
start (pink square in the timeline ruler highlights frame 1).
You can rewind the movie by selecting Control>Rewind.
Adjust zooming by using View>Magnification.
3.
Play movie step-by-step by using Control>Step Forward
or typing '.' (a dot). Search the scene for text
that needs to be changed.
4.
When you have found the text you wish to change switch to Arrow
tool (use Window>Tools to display and hide
Toolbox).
5.
Make sure the needed text symbol can be selected. Click it with
Arrow
tool and proceed to step 1.8 if succeeded (if a blue box around
the symbol and a black cross over it display). Otherwise go to
the next step.
6.
Identify the layer to which the text symbol belongs trying to
make layers transparent or displaying contents in contours. When
you have found the needed layer select key frame in which the
symbol appears for the first time. The symbol should get selected
automatically. If one key frame does not work try successive key
frames - it does not matter from which key frame you start editing
symbol. Once succeeded go to step 1.8, otherwise go to the next
step.
7.
Display Library Window by selecting Window>Library
and find the text you need by scrolling through all symbols in
the movie.
8.
If you were able to select the symbol with a click go to symbol
editing mode by right-clicking it and selecting Edit. If you located
the symbol in Library double-click on symbol icon.
9.
When in symbol editing mode select Text 
tool and click on scene to create a single-line auto size text
box. Type and highlight text, make sure the Character tab displays
(if not, select Window>Panels>Character)
and match text appearance as good as you can using options provided
in the character formatting tab.
10.
When finished formatting text switch to Arrow
tool and select the text block. Select Modify>Break
Apart to transform text into curves. This makes it impossible
to edit text in future but playback becomes more robust on various
systems.
11.
Finally, delete the initial text block and drag the one you created
in its place. Return to movie editing mode by selecting Edit>Movie.
Note
that, though infrequently, symbols themselves happen to be animated
movies with their own layers, key frames, tweening, and embedded
symbols. You can freely apply the above described movie editing
procedures (1.2..1.8) to animated symbols.
Step2: Replacing graphics
This
step describes editing procedure for graphical symbols. The process
of locating symbols and entering symbol editing mode was described
in sub steps 1.2..1.8, so now we'll start right from symbol editing.
1. Right-click anywhere in the scene and select
Select All from the drop-down menu. Press Del
to erase the entire contents of symbol. You may want to make a
backup of your template prior to attempting to introduce any substantial
changes.
2. Insert any external graphics you need via
exchange buffer or by selecting File>Import….
3. Return to movie editing mode by using Edit>Movie.
4. When finished customizing text and graphics
look through the whole intro to make sure none of your changes
resulted in some undesired effects (e.g. enlarged elements obscuring
others or extending beyond view). You can use either HTML or Flash
preview mode listed in File>Publish Preview.
Step3: Publishing HTML
When
you are satisfied with appearance of your intro it is time to
publish it so that animation could be used at your site. Flash
publishes animation in files of .SWF format, which is not editable,
and others will not be able to use your work. .SWF files are embedded
in HTML page much like .GIF or .JPEG files - with a help of special
HTML tag. However, the syntax is more complex, hence this tag
is also responsible for timely download of flash player if one
is needed (see Introduction to Flash).
To make things easy, Flash also exports a page with a snippet
of animation embedding code you can cut and paste from the exported
file and to your page. The sub steps provide more details:
3.1. Make sure that File>Publish
Settings are set up correctly: go to Formats tab and check Flash
and HTML boxes. You will not need the others so uncheck them.
Click OK.
3.2. Select File>Publish
and see new files (.HTML and .SWF) created in the same folder
as your .FLA file.
3.3. Open the .HTML file in a text editor and
copy the <OBJECT>…</ OBJECT> tag that
may look like this:
Text
like this taken from the exported file should appear in HTML code
of your page where you want the animation to be played. .SWF file
must also be present on server and available via path specified
in SRC attribute of EMBED tag. This concludes Flash Intro tutorial.
However, there is much more to Flash animation than this, listed
below are some of the good places to start on improving your skill.
Flash
Kit
Macromedia
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