STEP 07 bringing the object TO LIFE

Now that the CPU has been placed into a symbol and optimized, it's time to be creative. So far, the animation describes only the object's three-dimensional rotation. That's all we ever care to achieve with tools external to Flash. As you're about to see, with Flash's scaling, spinning, Alpha, and color effects, we're about to instill upon the CPU a full range of motion within an unbelievably meager filesize.

The use of Flash symbols is crucial. Our rotating CPU has already been imported into a symbol called cpu_rotate, which we'll be able to reuse, alter, and duplicate without noticeably increasing the size of the file. One technique even capitalizes on the capability of instances to play a single frame rather than the entire symbol.

From this point on, we'll be referring to the actual ad upon which the example CPU (created in Adobe Dimensions) was based. In this spot, we were able to create an opening move that had real impact. Simply rotating the CPU wasn't enough. We wanted to make it seem as if the cameraor the viewer's eyewere moving in space, and we accomplished that with just a few manipulations of the symbol. Follow these steps to see how we did it:

1. Create a layer for cpu_rotate and insert a keyframe on the second frame of the movie.

2. From the Library, drag cpu_rotate onto the stage.

3. Position cpu_rotate so that it is slightly left of center (see (see figure 05:14).

   
   

   Figure 05:14.

   

   
   

4. Create a keyframe 9 or 10 frames later. Because cpu_rotate is embedded with an animation (of the CPU rotating), the CPU will have animated forward by this frame.

5. With that frame selected, choose Modify > Transform > Scale and Rotate.

6. In the Scale and Rotate dialog, set the Scale setting to 120% and enter 20 degrees in the Rotate field. Click OK when you're ready.

7. Move cpu_rotate to the center of the stage (see (see figure 05:15).

   
   

   Figure 05:15.

   

   
   

8. Click somewhere between the first and the second keyframes, then select Insert > Create Motion Tween.

The object should now rotate into view, moving in both two and three dimensions.