Flash 5 Tutorial: Part 2 - Page 2
August 10, 2001
Next we are going to discuss objects. These are items on
the stage of a Flash movie. With these objects you can copy,
move, delete, align, group and transform them quickly and easily.
To begin we must select the object that we want to manipulate.
The most straightforward way is to use the Arrow tool to select.
You can also 'Group' individual objects in order to
manipulate them as a single object, thereby applying the effect
to all of the objects you have selected. You can use the arrow
tool to select an object in a number of different ways:
- Selecting Connected Lines: Use the Arrow tool and
double-click one of the lines.
- Selecting a Stroke, Group, Fill,
Instance or Text Block: Use the Arrow tool and
simply click on the object.
- Selecting a 'filled' shape and its stroked outline: Using the
Arrow tool 'Double Click' on the fill.
- Selecting Objects in a rectangular area: Using the Arrow tool
drag a 'marquee' around the object or objects that you want to
select. In order for this to work correctly the instance, group
and type blocks must be completely enclosed.
In order to add another object to the selection you have made,
hold down the shift key while making the selection. To select
everything on every layer of the scene choose [Edit > Select All]
from the menu options or [Control]+A (Windows) or [Command]+A
(Macintosh). Please note that this won't work with layers that
are either 'Locked' or 'Hidden' or layers that are
not on the current timeline. In turn if you want to deselect
everything on every layer choose [Edit > Deselect All] from them
menu, [Control]+Shift+A (Windows), or [Command]+[Shift]+A
(Macintosh).
With objects you can do a variety of different things from
moving, copying, pasting, deleting, stacking, scaling, rotating,
and even flipping them around. When moving the object you can use
the Arrow keys, click and 'Drag' it with the mouse, or use
the 'Info' panel. To use the mouse, position the pointer
over the object and drag it to the new position. To use the
keyboard, select the object and press the arrow key for the
direction you want to move the object one pixel at a time. To
move the selection eight pixels at a time simply use Shift+arrow
key. If you want to use the 'Info' panel choose [Window >
Panels > Info] from the menu bar. Inside of the resulting panel
enter values for the location of the top left corner of the
selection. These units are relative to the top left corner of the
stage.
You may want to copy objects between layers, scenes, or other
Flash files. The best way to do this is with the simple pasting
technique. To do this, select the object first. Choose [Edit >
Copy] from the menu. Select another layer, frame, file or scene
and either select [Edit > Paste] or [Edit > Paste in Place] to
paste the selection in the same position relative to the stage.
If you make a mistake and want to delete the object, simply
choose the object or multiple objects and press the delete key or
backspace on the keyboard.
Inside of a layer you may want to 'Stack' objects in a
particular order. Flash by default stacks them in the order in
which they were created, placing the most recently created object
on the top of the stack. The order of stacking determines how
they appear when they are overlapping. Drawn lines or shapes
always are below groups and symbols on the stack. In order to
change them you must group them or make them into symbols. With
objects you can change the stacking order at any time. To change
the stacking order of an object select the object then select
[Modify > Arrange > Bring to Front] or [Send to Back] in order to
move the object to the top or bottom of the stacking order. In
you want to move the object one position at a time you can choose
[Bring Forward] or [Send Backward] to do this.
You can also 'Scale' an object. This allows you to enlarge
it or reduce the size of it by horizontal, vertical, or both.
There are a couple of ways to do this. You can either do it by
dragging with the mouse or entering values in the
'Transformation' panel. To use the dragging method, select
the object, and click on the Scale modifier in the Options
section of the Toolbox or choose [Modify > Transform > Scale].
You can then scale both horizontally and vertically by dragging
one of the corners, which will keep the proportions maintained as
you scale. You can also scale the object either horizontally or
vertically by clicking on the appropriate handle and dragging. In
order to do it using the Transform panel go to [Window > Panels >
Transform] to see the options. Enter a value between 1 and 1000
for vertical, horizontal or both. Select 'Constrain' to
maintain the proportions.
You can also rotate the object a couple of different ways as
well. To rotate by dragging, select the object and choose the
Rotate modifier in the Options section of the toolbox. Drag one
of the handles and the object will easily rotate. To do this
using the Transform panel go to [Window > Panel > Transform] and
select Rotate, then enter in a value that you want the object to
rotate from the current location. Finally you can Flip an object
to give it the mirror image of the original. To do this select
the image and choose [Modify > Transform > Flip Vertical] or
[Flip Horizontal] from the menu options.
This should give you an overview of some of the sound and objects
aspect to the Flash application. Now you can begin to build some
wonderful and interactive Web sites.
Flash 5 Tutorial: Part 2
Flash 5 Tutorial: Part 1
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