May 4th, 2010
by Jen deHaan
I’ve seen a couple questions in regards to looping new motion tweens – essentially having all of the properties copied from the beginning of the tween span to the end of the tween span. This is something I also ran into when testing, so requested a feature found in Flash CS4 and CS5 – Copy/Paste Properties.
There are actually a few ways of doing this, so I’ll outline it below:
a) Select the individual keyframe (Cmd/Ctrl+click) you want to copy, and then Alt+drag the property keyframe to copy it and move it to a new location. You can pass over existing property keyframes.
b) Select the individual keyframe then right-click and choose Copy Properties. Select where you want to paste the properties and choose Paste Properties.
c) F6 – this will add a keyframe for all available properties in the same position as the previous one like classic tweening (may or may not be what you will need though, such as when you’ve already tweened the instance).
You can also use Paste Properties Special, which will paste only a subset of property keyframes onto the frame. For instance, if you only need to paste the transformation keyframes but not the spatial properties, then this will be handy.
Posted in General | No Comments »
May 3rd, 2010
by Jen deHaan
Flash CS5 ships with a bunch of templates that haven’t been seen in Flash before. The “Advertising” templates are still in there as with previous versions, but you’ll also see new categories for Animation, Banners, Media Playback, Presentations, and Sample Files. These FLAs all contain content within them to help you either start out with a document, or learn how certain functionality works in Flash. Most of them also contain instructions to help you set the file up for use. Just swap out the graphics and/or add a bit of content and you’re ready to go.
To access templates, choose File > New and choose the Templates tab, or choose a category from the “Create from Template” category on the Start page.
The Animation category includes:
- Movie Clip buttons (Animated Button Highlight / Text Glow)
- Animated masks (motion and shape tweens)
- Easing between keyframes (several techniques for new motion)
- Random animation, such ase random ease and brownian/organic movement
- Semi-scripted animation for rain and snow that use tween instance
The Banners category includes:
- Banner with a custom cursor
- Invisible buttons (simple) for banners in AS2 and AS3
- Banner that loads video
- Banner with an animated button (like those “punch the monkey” ads)
The Media Playback category includes:
- Photo albums (advanced and simple)
- Templates for title safe areas (HD, NTSC, PAL in standard and widescreen)
The Presentations category includes:
- Advanced and simple presentations – just like slideshows, similar to the functionality of Screens in earlier versions of Flash.
Sample Files include:
- AIR window
- Alpha mask (mask transparency, or “soft edge” masks)
- Custom mouse cursor
- Date countdown
- Drag-and-drop
- Handwriting (look in the library for all letters, A-Z, written out)
- IK stick man animation
- Lip Sync (includes guide for all common mouth shapes, and a sample lip sync animation)
- Menu sample (in AS3, includes 3 drop-down menus animated using tween instances)
- Panning (simple animation that pans across the stage)
- Perspective zoom (3d animation that zooms in towards the “camera”)
- Preloader that loads an external file, has loading bar
- Preloader that loads the current SWF, has an animation that loops
- Toggle button – toggles between play/pause of a sound.
Please let us know any feedback, and please let us know of templates you’d like to see in future versions of Flash!
Posted in General | No Comments »
April 29th, 2010
by Jen deHaan
It’s available for a trial – go download it and let us know what you think!
http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/

Posted in Flash CS5, Flash CS5: new features, General | No Comments »
April 23rd, 2010
by Jen deHaan
So the Flash CS5 announcement is a little buried perhaps under the weight of other related news, so here are some screenshots of CS5. For the Adobe announced features of Flash CS5, see this page here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/whatsnew/. The following post has screenshots from Flash CS5 to show you the new features in a bit more detail. The post will follow the categories and topics from the page linked previously, if they can be shown in the UI.
read more »
Posted in Flash CS5, Flash CS5: new features, General, Migration, TLF, text | 5 Comments »
October 5th, 2009
by Jen deHaan
Pretty much as the subject says! Hold down the Shift key when selecting frames with sound will play that frame’s sound. We’ve had this request from users to be able to play a snippet of sound when you click a frame. It seems that was written into Flash with the Shift key modifier.
There are some limitations with reselecting the same frame, and because Shift selects contiguous frames you need to go in the same direction along the Timeline or re-start your selection to play the individual frames. However, it does add some functionality that you might be able to add to your workflow.
Posted in General, sound, timeline | No Comments »
August 3rd, 2009
by Jen deHaan
New browser and standalone Flash Player downloads to use with Flash CS4. This will update the player you use when you publish preview in HTML or debug.
From adobe.com:
The update replaces the Debug and Release versions of Flash Player 10 browser plugins and standalone players that are included in the initial release of Flash CS4 Professional (player version 10.0.2.54). All users are encouraged to apply this update. These new players are version 10.0.32.18.
More information, and download them here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/downloads.html
Posted in Flash Platform, Flash Player, General | 6 Comments »
July 24th, 2009
by Jen deHaan
The Learning Resources team at Adobe is seeking people to partake in a study of your Flash workflow. Those who participate get an Amazon gift card and thanked profusely, and of course will help make Flash better, so if you are a match it should be worth your time.
Please see Jay’s post here for more information:
http://blogs.adobe.com/jayarmstrong/2009/07/seeking_participants_for_a_bri.html
His post outlines:
a) The criteria to meet (many of you could be a match to at least one of them)
b) The contact information if you meet the criteria and want to participate.
Please check out the post if you’re interested in helping make Flash better (and getting something from Amazon)!
Posted in Flash CS4, General, get free stuff, input wanted | No Comments »
February 24th, 2009
by Jen deHaan
Get the download here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/downloads.html
I quote:
Adobe Flash Player 10 Update for Flash CS4 Professional
2/24/09 This download contains fixes for critical vulnerabilities identified in Security Bulletin APSB09-01 Flash Player update available to address security vulnerabilities. The update replaces the Debug and Release versions of Flash Player 10 browser plugins and standalone players that are included in the initial release of Flash CS4 Professional (player version 10.0.2.54). All users are encouraged to apply this update. These new players are version 10.0.22.87.
Posted in Flash Platform, Flash Player, General | 1 Comment »
December 10th, 2008
by Jen deHaan
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.
read more »
Posted in ActionScript 3.0, Commands, Easing, FLA files, Flash CS4, Flash CS4: motion, Flash CS4: motion runtime, Flash CS4: new features, General, JSFL, Migration, Motion Editor, Motion runtime, Tween instance, animation, downloads, instances, motion tween, new stuff, tweens | 6 Comments »
December 10th, 2008
by Jen deHaan
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!
Posted in Commands, FLA files, Flash CS3, Flash CS4, General, JSFL, downloads, instances, symbols | 6 Comments »