Flash 101 (Part 4): Don't Touch Me! - Fade Out

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If you need to apply a motion tween to the text object, you need to first convert it into a symbol via the Insert -> Convert To Symbol command. Once it is a symbol, you can go ahead and apply regular motion effects.

Consider the following example, which uses a motion tween to simulate a simple scrolling tickertape.



In this case, I’ve first created a text box containing the tickertape text. I’ve then selected the box, converted it to a symbol, inserted a new keyframe a few frames down, and moved the symbol to the other side of the Stage. By applying a motion tween to the intermediate stages, you can simulate the effect of a scrolling tickertape.

This technique truly comes into its own when you can dynamically change the content of the tickertape a topic that I’ll be covering when we move to ActionScripting and the database capabilities available in Flash.

Yet another interesting effect is the so-called "text fade" effect. Here’s what it looks like:



This is again accomplished via a motion tween – actually, two of them. Create a symbol containing the text, and place three instances of it on the Stage, at appropriate distances from each other in the timeline. The first and third instance should have an alpha level of 0% (fully transparent), while the second instance should have an alpha level of 100% (fully opaque). Finally, add a motion tween between the first and second instances, and another between the second and third instances.

This article copyright Melonfire 2001. All rights reserved.

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