Applying Tweening

Tweening is the process of defining beginning and ending frames, and then creating images in between to give the appearance that the first frame slowly changes to the last frame. This is similar to tweening in Macromedia Flash. You define the first image as a symbol, make a copy of the symbol, and then let Fireworks calculate (tween) the images in the middle.

In this exercise, you look at different effects you can achieve by tweening.

1.	Create a new document 100 by 100 pixels with a white canvas. Select the Polygon tool. In the Property inspector, change the shape to a five-pointed star, and then draw a star on the canvas. Add a solid fill and a stroke of None to the star, then add an inner bevel to the star. You can select the number of sides and the angle for either the Polygon shape or the Star shape in the Property inspector.
2.	With the star selected, choose Modify > Symbol > Convert to Symbol. In the Symbol Properties dialog box, select Graphic as the symbol type and then click OK. You don't need to name the symbol.
3.	Choose Edit > Clone. Then choose Modify > Transform > Rotate 180°. You now have an exact copy of the symbol placed on top of the original. The clone is selected and will be rotated.
4.	Choose Select > Select All. Both copies are selected. Look at the title bar of your document. The title bar displays the number of selected objects. You should see (2 objects) as part of the title bar. This indicator is very handy when you need to verify what you have selected. Note You may need to enlarge the document window to see the full title bar.
5.	Choose Modify > Symbol > Tween Instances. Enter 10 as the number of steps and select Distribute to Frames. Click OK. The original star is the beginning point, and the rotated clone of the star is the ending point. Tweening creates new instances (copies) of the star based on the number of steps you enter. Distribute to Frames places the copies in new frames. If you forget to check the Distribute to Frames option, all of the stars are placed in frame 1.
6.	View the animation by clicking the Play/Stop button in the document window. You can close this file without saving.