In this activity you will learn how to make the ball from the last activity move much more easily using a motion tween. The power of Flash lies in its ability to fill in all the in between frames for you so that you don't have to draw every frame.

Open the file (framebyframe) that you saved from the last activity. If you didn't save it, you can download my copy.

   

On the ball layer, highlight from frame 2 through to the end.

Right click and choose Remove Frames.

Right click on frame 1 of the ball layer. Choose Create Motion Tween.

You will get a message asking if you want to convert it to a symbol and create the tween. Choose OK.
 

To make a motion tween:

1. Each object that moves must be on its own layer

2. The object must be a symbol. (You will learn more about symbols as we go along.)

3. After you create the tween, click on the last frame and move the object to its final position.
The tween is unlikely to be the same length as your other layers. Just move your mouse over the end of the tween until the cursor becomes a 2 headed arrow. Click and drag along until the tween is the same length as the other layers.

Click on the last frame of the ball layer.

Choose the pointer tool

Click on the ball and drag it to its final position off the stage.

A dotted line will appear, showing the position of the ball at each frame.

Use the pointer tool to push the line up into a curve.

 
Press Ctrl- Enter to play your movie.

Click anywhere along the ball tween, so that it is selected.

 

In the properties panel, change the number of rotations to 2 or 3 times.

Now hit Ctrl-enter to see the effect.

Experiment with some of the other settings such as Ease to learn what it does.

 

You must have the tween selected to see its properties and change things like rotations.

The Properties panel shows the properties of whatever object you have selected at the time.

Draw 3 different shapes, each on its own layer.

Create a different motion tween for each.
   

Create an animation with a ball that bounces in a realistic manner.

Hint: You will need to use Ease in your tween, and you will need to use the Free Transform Tool to distort the shape of the ball as it hits the ground.