Creating Your First Flash Animation

Opening a New Movie File in Flash

Flash MX

To start with, you'll open Flash by clicking on the program icon in the directory that you've installed it in. If this is your first time loading the program, it'll ask you to choose either Designer or Developer view, and a resolution that matches your monitor settings (this isn't applicable to versions of Flash prior to MX). For our purposes in this tutorial I've chosen Designer view, and my screen is set to a resolution of 1024x768. (You can always change this later by clicking the "Window" option in the top toolbar and then selecting "Panel Sets".) Once you've finished that, you'll see a blank canvas surrounded by tool sets, like the window above.

Index: Creating Your First Flash Animation

1. Opening a New Movie File in Flash
2. Adjusting Document Settings
3. Introduction to the Primary Toolbar and Drawing a Shape
4. Viewing the Timeline
5. Converting Your Shape to a Symbol
6. Creating a New Key Frame
7. Moving Your Symbol on a New Frame
8. Adding a Motion Tween to Your Animation
9. Conclusion