This Activity Introduces Students to Creating a Picture with Movement

Flash – Recycle Bin

Goals

This activity introduces students to creating a picture with movement.

Materials

-Macromedia Flash (we used MX)

Lesson Intro

This lesson is written as a basic intro for the students to Macromedia Flash. In our case, the students had already used Adobe PhotoShop. Having already learned that program, the introduction of the concept of Layers in Flash was easier to relay. In addition, the students found it easier to learn the program, as some of the tools and such are similar as well.

This lesson took less than one 1.5 hour session to complete. Once we were done, the students were able to play around with the lesson more and learn more with coloring the shapes.

This lesson is taken from Naked Macromedia Flash MX 2004, by Jim Shuman and Piyush Patel, published by Thomson Course Technology.

Recycle Bin – Macromedia Flash MX

1. Open Macromedia Flash MX

1. File > New

1. Show All

1. Create Gradient Background

1. Select paint bucket tool

1. Select paint color (2nd color option) – choose a solid color or choose one of the gradients at the bottom

1. On the color mixer (right side of your screen), you can select more options, such as radial, linear, solid, etc. You can also change your colors up a bit

1. Once you have the color set, draw a rectangle over the whole stage

1. go back to paint bucket tool

1. choose a color for your recycle bin

1. select rectangle (notice at the bottom of your screen, under “properties,” you can change the outline (color as well as solid vs. other options)

1. draw a rectangle at the bottom right of your stage – this will form the box at the bottom

1. Select A, type “Recycle Bin” in the box at the bottom of the screen

1. Notice that in Properties, you can edit size, font, color, etc of your text

1. insert KEYFRAME in frame 40 of that layer

(notice the timeline at the top: 1. 5. 10. 15. 20….)

1. Click the rectangle below 40

1. Insert > Keyframe

1. Insert a new layer

1. Insert > Layer

1. Draw an object in the upper left corner (rectangle or oval)

(remember, you can change properties and colors and such for the object before you draw it)

1. create Motion Animation

1. in the newest layer, select the object (use the white arrow & drag a rectangle around the object)

1. Insert > Create Motion Tween

(notice: the border surrounding the selection should now turn blue)

1. Select Frame 10 & Insert > Keyframe (refer to #6 for help)

1. With the object still selected & frame 10 selected in Layer 2’s timeline, drag the object into the recycle bin

1. ensure that the item remains in the bin

1. select frame 40 & Insert>Keyframe

1. test your animation

1. Control > Play

1. Insert a new layer

1. Insert > Layer

1. Draw an object in the upper left corner (rectangle or oval)

(remember, you can change properties and colors and such for the object before you draw it

1. In new layer (Layer 3), select frame 10 and Insert>Keyframe

1. create Motion Animation

1. in Layer 3, select the object (use the white arrow & drag a rectangle around the object) – be sure you are in frame 10 of Layer 3

1. Insert > Create Motion Tween

(notice: the border surrounding the selection should now turn blue)

1. Select Frame 10 & Insert > Keyframe (refer to diagram for help)

1. in the Layer 3, select the object (use the white arrow & drag a rectangle around the object) – only, be sure you are in frame 20 of Layer 3

1. Insert > Create Motion Tween

(notice: the border surrounding the selection should now turn blue)

1. Select Frame 20 & Insert > Keyframe (refer to diagram for help)

1. With the object still selected & frame 20 selected in Layer 3’s timeline, drag the object into the recycle bin

1. ensure that the item remains in the bin

1. select frame 40 & Insert>Keyframe

1. test your animation

1. Control > Play

1. Insert a new layer

1. Insert > Layer

1. Draw an object in the upper left corner (rectangle or oval)

(remember, you can change properties and colors and such for the object before you draw it

1. In new layer (Layer 4), select frame 20 and Insert>Keyframe

1. create Motion Animation

1. in Layer 4, select the object (use the white arrow & drag a rectangle around the object) – be sure you are in frame 20 of Layer 4

1. Insert > Create Motion Tween

(notice: the border surrounding the selection should now turn blue)

1. Select Frame 20 & Insert > Keyframe (refer to diagram for help)

1. in the Layer 4, select the object (use the white arrow & drag a rectangle around the object) – only, be sure you are in frame 30 of Layer 4

1. Insert > Create Motion Tween

(notice: the border surrounding the selection should now turn blue)

1. Select Frame 30 & Insert > Keyframe (refer to diagram for help)

1. With the object still selected & frame 30 selected in Layer 4’s timeline, drag the object into the recycle bin

1. ensure that the item remains in the bin

1. select frame 40 & Insert>Keyframe

1. test your animation

1. Control > Play

1