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John Mayhew

John Mayhew

Adobe

Jen deHaan

Jen deHaan

Adobe
flashthusiast.com

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. What makes a motion tween,
    and why they changed
  3. What happened to my keyframes?
  4. Timeline appearance and selection
  5. Motion Property inspector
  6. Motion guides and motion paths
  7. Using eases with your tweens
  8. When to use classic tweens
Created:
4 May 2009
User Level:
Intermediate
Products:
Flash

Motion migration guide for Flash CS4 Professional

If you have done any animation in Flash, then you've created a motion tween on the main Timeline. This classic model is known to many students learning basic Flash skills. Adobe Flash CS4 Professional changes the way motion tweens work, and transferring your skills to the new way motion works takes a little bit of work. But it's not too difficult once you understand the fundamental change between motion tweens in previous versions of Flash (sometimes referred to as classic tweens) and those in Flash CS4.

If you have never created a motion tween before, or are new to Flash, you should examine the Animation Learning Guide for Flash CS4 Professional, which teaches you how to tween from the ground up. But if you're an experienced tweener and need to learn the fundamental differences between the two models to upgrade your skillset, then this guide is the one for you.

Note: You can still use the old-style motion tweens in Flash CS4 if you have to, maybe because you're actively working on some project you just need to finish. They're called classic tweens in Flash CS4, and you can access this option when you create a tween using the Insert menu or frame context menu.

Requirements

To make this most of this article, you need to install the following software and files:

Flash CS4 Professional

Sample files:

Prerequisite knowledge

A basic knowledge of Flash, including motion tweens and the Timeline.

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About the authors

John Mayhew is a hopeless software developer, and has been for a very long time, but he still loves it. John likes being able to launch an app, demo a feature, and show people exactly what he creates for a living. Along the way he has worked for several small companies and consulted for many years. Among the more notable companies John worked for are Micrografx (ABC FlowCharter and their Graphics Suite offering) and Macromedia (mobile authoring tools), which eventually led him to the Flash authoring team. He has focused for the last few years on creating a simple, yet more powerful animation system in the Flash authoring tool. Achieving both of those goals has proven to be quite a challenge. You can see if John and his colleagues achieved those lofty ambitions in Flash CS4 Professional.

Jen deHaan was raised by wolves in the deep woods of the Canadian north. Later in life, Jen worked with Flash as a deseloper, then wrote about Flash for five versions, and then worked on stuff that didn't include much Flash. She came to her senses in 2007 by rejoining the fabled Flash team at Adobe as a QE, focusing on the good stuff—Motion (on timelines). Jen enjoys long walks in the rain pondering how many times she can use the word Flash in a bio, and admits that after numerous years in California she is no longer addicted to Tim Horton's coffee.