Frame-by-frame animation – Adobe Flash Professional CC 2014 v.13.0 User Manual
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Frame-by-frame animation
Create frame-by-frame animations
Frame-by-frame animation changes the contents of the Stage in every frame and is best suited to complex animation in which an image changes
in every frame instead of simply moving across the Stage. Frame-by-frame animation increases file size more rapidly than tweened animation. In
frame-by-frame animation, Flash Professional stores the values for each complete frame.
To create a frame-by-frame animation, define each frame as a keyframe and create a different image for each frame. Each new keyframe initially
contains the same contents as the keyframe preceding it, so you can modify the frames in the animation incrementally.
1. Click a layer name to make it the active layer, and select a frame in the layer where the animation is to start.
2. If the frame isn’t already a keyframe, select Insert > Timeline > Keyframe.
3. Create the artwork for the first frame of the sequence. Use the drawing tools, paste graphics from the Clipboard, or import a file.
4. To add a new keyframe whose contents are the same as those of the first keyframe, click the next frame to the right in the same row and
select Insert > Timeline > Keyframe, or right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Insert Keyframe.
5. To develop the next increment of the animation, alter the contents of this frame on the Stage.
6. To complete your frame-by-frame animation sequence, repeat steps 4 and 5 until you’ve built the desired motion.
7. To test the animation sequence, select Control > Play or click the Play button on the Controller (Window > Toolbars > Controller).
Creating frame-by-frame animations by converting classic or motion tweens
You can convert a classic tween or a motion tween span to frame-by-frame animation. In frame-by-frame animation, each frame contains separate
keyframes (not property keyframes) which each contains separate instances of the animated symbol. Frame-by-frame animation does not contain
interpolated property values.
Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Macintosh) the tween span you want to convert and choose Convert to Frame by Frame Animation from the
context menu.
Use onion skinning
Usually, one frame of the animation sequence at a time appears on the Stage. To help position and edit a frame-by-frame animation, view two or
more frames on the Stage at once. The frame under the playhead appears in full color, while surrounding frames are dimmed, making it appear as
if each frame were drawn on a sheet of translucent onion-skin paper and the sheets were stacked on top of each other. Dimmed frames cannot be
edited.
Videos and tutorials
(Length = 8:34, Adobe Press)
Simultaneously view several frames of an animation on the Stage
Click the Onion Skin button . All frames between the Start Onion Skin and End Onion Skin markers (in the Timeline header) are superimposed
as one frame in the Document window.
Control onion skinning display
To display onion skinned frames as outlines, click the Onion Skin Outlines button .
To change the position of either onion skin marker, drag its pointer to a new location. (Normally, the onion skin markers move in conjunction
with the current frame pointer.)
To enable editing of all frames between onion skin markers, click the Edit Multiple Frames button . Usually, onion skinning lets you edit only
the current frame. However, you can display the contents of each frame between the onion skin markers, and make each available for
editing, regardless of which is the current frame.
Note: Locked layers (those with a padlock icon) aren’t displayed when onion skinning is turned on. To avoid a multitude of confusing images, lock
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