STEP 08 animating the SPEAKER


My goal with the speaker is to create a rhythm that is going to communicate "fast." If I animated the speaker with the traditional tweening methods , I'd end up with smooth motion that doesn't necessarily convey my message. Moreover, tweens are processor intensive on the user system. I developed a technique that utilizes blank keyframes to create quicker cuts from one frame to another, which works well in this situation. It's faking tweens to get a bit more pop.

To animate the speaker, follow these steps:

  1. Return to the Movie Editor. Select Edit > Edit Movie and in all layers add approximately 50 frames by click-dragging down through the layers at frame 50 and choosing Insert > Frame or using the keyboard shortcut F5.

  2. In the speaker layer, create a blank keyframe by choosing Insert > Blank Keyframe or using the keyboard shortcut F7 on frame 5.

  3. Making sure the blank keyframe on frame 5 of the speaker layer is still selected, drag an instance of the speaker symbol from the Library onto the stage.

  4. Center the speaker on the stage using the Align command.

  5. Make a keyframe by choosing Insert > Keyframe or using the keyboard shortcut F6 on frame 7. With the Modify > Transform > Scale and Rotate command, scale the speaker down to 60%.

  6. Make another keyframe on frame 9, and remove transform by selecting Modify > Transform > Remove Transform. This will return the speaker to its original size . Now, lower the Alpha setting to 45 through the Modify > Instance command.

    I use the Alpha modification to vary the appearance of the speaker so that it doesn't become too predictable.

  7. Make a final keyframe on frame 11, scale the speaker up 110, and restore the Alpha to 100.

  8. Add a blank keyframe immediately after the first three existing keyframes in the speaker layer (on frames 6, 8, and 10). Add a final blank keyframe on frame 13 as shown in figure 03:19.


    Figure 03:19.

    graphics/03fig19.jpg


The addition of the blank keyframes after the speaker appearances makes for a quicker cutmore popof the speaker element. We're establishing a rhythm that should jolt the viewer's attention. Quick and fastlike a drum beat. After this sequence, I leave the speaker onstage, static, for a few seconds so that it will overlap the next element to appearthe text.



Flash Web Design The Art Of Motion Graphics
Flash Web Design oder: the art of motion graphics
ISBN: 3827256623
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 192

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