Flashthusiast

A frequently requested item for Flash is the ability to see a grid over your artwork on the Stage. Flash CS4 now lets you do just that using a new option in the Edit Grid dialog. Let’s look at the change, which you might not have noticed yet because it’s turned off by default. Keep reading to learn how.

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In the previous blog entry, I linked to a new JSFL that automatically gives instance names to selected instances in a smart way. You can go read about and download the JSFL from this page. This entry shows you how to use this command along with some of the new features in Flash CS4.

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So you have a bunch of instances on the Stage. Say you sprayed them using the new Spray Brush tool in Flash CS4, or maybe you just have a bunch of buttons in a menu that you need instance names for. And you don’t want to have to select each one, go to the PI, name it, repeat. This new JSFL file lets you select instances on the Stage, and will add an instance name for whatever can take one (buttons, movie clips, components, etc). You set the prefix for that name (say, yourName), and then it name them using the format yourName_0, yourName_1 and so on. If you select something that cannot take an instance name, it doesn’t get named (or mess up your sequential numbering).

Thanks to Jeffrey Ahlquist of Flash team engineering fame for writing up this JSFL. Download it (right-click, Save Link As): Sequentially Name Instances JSFL. After you download it, put this file in the Commands folder in your user config folder: (Win) Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS4\en\Configuration\Commands\ (Mac) username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS4/en/Configuration/Commands. In Flash, select the instances you want to name, and then select Commands > Sequentially Name instances.

The next post will detail using this new JSFL in conjunction with the Deco Tool and Tween instance features of Flash CS4. Along with a tiny bit of ActionScript 3.0. Read that next post… now!

That’s right - do you want to do more “stuff” with your tweens? Often you have to know what keyboard modifiers to use, because functionality is not revealed in any other way. These modifiers are all documented, but I thought I would put them down in a handy list you could reference or print out (or whatever you want to do).

MOTION EDITOR

• Add a control point: Ctrl-click (Windows) or Cmd-click (Mac) on the curve or dashed line on the graph.
• Remove a control point: Ctrl-click (Windows) or Cmd-click (Mac) a control point.
• Select multiple control points on a graph: Hold Shift and click each control point.
• Convert a control point between smooth and corner: Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) the control point to extend or pull in the handles of a control point. This works on all control points except on the X, Y, and Z (spatial) properties.
• Move a curve up and down on a graph without changing the keyframes time values: Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac) the curve between any two control points.
• Separate handles on a control point: Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac) a handle. This makes the handle move independently. Release the Alt key and drag the opposite handle past 180 degrees to make both move together again.
• Move a control point to a different frame and retain its value: Make sure the control point is DESELECTED, and then hold Shift and drag it to a new frame. Or select the control point and don’t release the mouse button, then hold Shift and drag it to a new location.
• Change values by steps of 10: Hold Shift while scrolling the hot text.
• Change values by steps of 0.1: Hold Ctrl while scrolling the hot text.

(Also note that you can do basic math in the hot text as well - to enter 25, you can enter 20+5.)

TWEEN SPANS (in Timeline)

• Select a single frame in a tween span: Ctrl-click (Windows) or Cmd-click (Mac) a frame in the tween span.
• Select multiple frames in a tween span: Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Cmd-drag (Mac) frames in the tween span.
• Extend the length of a tween span without stretching the animation: Shift-drag the end of the tween span to the right.
• Make the tween span shorter without stretching the animation: Shift-drag the end of the tween span to the left (removes keyframes you drag over).
• Duplicate a span: Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac) the span to a new location on a timeline.
• Duplicate tween frames: Select frame(s) within a span (Ctrl/Cmd-click or drag) and then Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac) the frames to a new location on a timeline.
• Insert empty frames between two adjacent tween spans: Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) while dragging the breakline between the spans.

Today the Text Layout Framework went live for Flash Player 10. This will help you layout your text in new and much better ways in your applications. You may have seen some demos at MAX (like the Herald Tribune demo) where the text flow, direction, etc was handled way better - now the functionality is on LABS. Check it out here:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/textlayout/

Note that you can download FLA examples from the presentation at the top of the page, to help you understand how to use the component.

To quote the page,

“The Text Layout Framework is an extensible library, built on the new text engine in Adobe® Flash® Player 10, which delivers advanced, easy-to-integrate typographic and text layout features for rich, sophisticated and innovative typography on the web. The framework is designed to be used with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional or Adobe Flex®, and is already included in the next version of Flex, code named Gumbo. Developers can use or extend existing components, or use the framework to create their own text components.”

You can download and install the component in Flash CS4, try it out for yourself.

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/textlayout.html

In Flash CS3, you could set easing on each keyframe in your animation to apply easing between two instances. Because there is only one instance per tween span, you cannot ease the same way using the new motion model. In order to apply an easing effect to a motion tween, you need to use a custom ease or modify curves in property graphs using the Motion Editor. Keep reading to learn how to ease between keyframes using a custom ease.

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You can then edit the custom ease using the standard bezier editing controls found in other property graphs in the Motion Editor.
To apply the custom ease to a property, you select the custom ease’s name from the Ease menu in the property you want to apply it to. The property graph updates with a dashed curve that displays the actual tweened values after the ease is applied, as it does for the preset eases you can apply using this Ease section of the Motion Editor. Keep reading to learn how to create custom eases.

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If you think Flash CS4 is perfect, doesn’t need to change, or don’t care about Flash at all then you can quit reading this and go back to Flash and tween something.

If you don’t think it’s perfect then keep reading. Actually, even if Flash is perfect this post still applies… so please keep reading anyway :)

Adobe’s Product Improvement Program is what this post is on, because it might not be obvious from the option’s name but it’s a) not a survey, b) doesn’t require any work, and c) pretty darn important. Essentially you can opt into this program that sends anonymous information (the info it sends is pretty much like the list you see in the History panel) about what features you use in Flash. Big deal? Yup. It tells us what features you actually use. And that then helps us know what’s most important to you. Which is good. You help influence what gets attention in Flash. You, personally. You affect the future.

So your good deed of today is to go make sure this is turned on. Go to Help > Adobe Product Improvement Program in the main menu, and in the window that opens read the info and click Yes Participate if you agree with the stuff it says. And then create a whole lot of new motion tweens. Please. I’ll promise to upload more FLA files if you do!

Another Liveblogging endeavor at MAX 2008. Here are the notes from the Day 1 General Session keynote. Here ensues notes from the sneak peeks and awards. If it’s Tuesday night between 6 and 7pm or so, PST, click refresh. Otherwise, click the link below (if applicable) to read more.

By the way, I’m drinking beer. So if there are typos, I’m blaming the beer. Let’s go with that.
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This morning I presented about how you can use some of the preset eases in Flash to create animation really quickly. This post provides a real quick overview about how I built the files, and has the source FLAs for you to look at in Flash CS4.

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