…and especially enthusiastic about motion tweens in Flash…
A “FAQ” about new motion tweens is how to scale the entire animation after you have created it. New motion tweens “auto-keyframe”. This can be very helpful when animating, because it saves you a step - you can just make your changes and everything tweens nicely. However, it also means that you need to think about things when you need to revise the entire animation. You don’t use “Edit multiple keyframes”, since you really only have one keyframe at the beginning of the animation. So I’ll go over a few of the things you may encounter.
1. Moving an entire animation with a motion path.
If you have a motion path, this is easy - you select the motion path (click it, or marquee-select over your instance), and then drag it to a new location on the stage or use the X-Y hot text for the path.
2. Moving an entire animation without a motion path.
If you do not have a motion path and do not want a motion path, you need to make sure your playhead is at frame 1 of the tween span, and then move the instance to a new location. Make sure you haven’t accidentily placed any position keyframes. If you do have a path, delete it or go to the Motion Editor and right-click the X and Y motion paths and choose “Reset Property” (or click the Reset button for Basic motion if you don’t have rotation applied).
3. Scaling an entire animation that doesn’t have Scale X or Scale Y animated.
You can scale the tween with the motion path. Just go to the first frame of the tween, and select the instance and path using the Free Transform Tool (hold Shift to multi-select), or use the Transform panel for each selection. Scale it as you do any path or instance, and because you’re at the first frame the changes will apply across the entire tween.
4. Scaling an entire animation that does have Scale X or Scale Y animated.
If you have previously scaled anything in the tween, doing this is applied to the first keyframe and the tween would animate to the earlier scaling (the auto-keyframing feature can be a detriment in this situation, especially when it comes to scaling due to the percentages being reset - for this reason Motion Presets also won’t help). In this situation, I recommend scaling using the Motion editor:
1. Go to the Scale X and Y properties in the Motion Editor.
2. Press the Alt key while dragging the curve in each graph up and down. This scales the entire scale animation at the same time (same as edit multiple keyframes).
3. If you need to proportionally scale the motion path for the tween as well, select the path on the Stage and use Free Transform or enter a new value in the Transform panel.
This blog specializes in the new motion model of Flash CS4, and is brought to you by team tween of Flash at Adobe. The blog will includes tips, techniques, and info on tweening in Flash using the Timeline and Motion Editor (as well as some stuff about motion runtime with code). From time to time, we might also talk about ActionScript 3.0. So if you're interested in tweens, this blog is for you. We also want to hear your feedback in the comments. All views expressed here are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the opinion or views of Adobe Systems Inc.

TheWebTuts
October 28th, 2009 at 4:32 am
Tutorial added to thewebtuts.com
George Profenza
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:59 am
Hello Jen,
Two quick questions:
1. Is there an easier/faster way of moving keyframes in time, other than selecting the property tweens from the motion editor and dragging ?
2. How can you copy and paste selected keyframes in a CS4 tween ?
Thanks,
George
George Profenza
December 23rd, 2009 at 5:24 am
Ooops. silly me, CMD first in timeline, then CMD + drag to select and move keyframes :)
George Profenza
December 23rd, 2009 at 5:26 am
CMD(Ctrl on PC) + Opt(Alt on PC) and drag to make a rectangular selection in the timeline, awesome!
Jen deHaan
December 27th, 2009 at 9:00 am
@George.
And for #2, select the keyframe you want to copy (using the cmd+click), right-click and choose Copy Properties. This copies all the properties of that keyframe. Then select the location you want to copy them at (cmd+click), right-click > Paste Properties.
Hope that helps!
George Profenza
January 14th, 2010 at 2:27 am
Hi Jen,
Thanks for the tip! Quite handy!
I was wondering, is there a magic way to Copy Properties as Actionscript 3.0 ?
I was looking in the History Panel and nothing shows up when I Copy Properties. I couldn’t find any relevant script in Commands and Javascript profile folders.
Meantime I am tracing the values I need using actionscript, but it would be so nice if I can get the values with a keyboard shortcut.
George Profenza
January 14th, 2010 at 2:39 am
Happy New Year ! :)
Rob
January 20th, 2010 at 2:14 am
Hello
I make flash banners and constantly require re-sizes of my work. What i cannot work out in Flash CS4 is how you can scale the animated object and it’s motion path at the same time?!
I used to use the ‘edit multiple frames’ selection to scale the whole project down at the same time. But if i do that using the new tweening method, all the motion paths stay the same and do not scale along with the objects on stage.
Any help would be sweeeet.
Rob
Jen deHaan
January 20th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Hi Rob,
That is pretty much what this post is addressing - you might need step 4. Presently it is not a great workflow, as they do need to be scaled separately (select motion path, then select instance, but if previously scaled you need to follow step 4) - hence this workaround. It’s something that’s filed as something we need to improve.
Vic
February 15th, 2010 at 12:27 am
Hi. Usefull article! Thanks!!!