Using the Guide Layer
Now the issue of adding a Guide layer is all cleared up, it's time to use one!!
Start with a completely new movie and add a guide layer to Layer 2 by turning layer 1 into a Guide layer. Now select the guide layer and draw a square. Delete the solid so you are only left with the border. This will be your guide for the circle on layer 2.
Tip: When using lots of layers, it's a good idea to put all your guide layers at the bottom of your layer order. This will ensure that you don't accidentally drag a normal layer onto a guide layer which will turn it into a motion guide layer.
Now go back to layer 1 and create a circle symbol. Place an instance of the circle on a corner.
Advanced: You can modify the colours if you want by selecting the circle and choosing Modify > Instance. Now select the Colour Effect tab and play with the "Special" option in drop down box.
Now what we are going to do is animate the circle by moving it from one corner to the next. Create a keyframe in frame 20 in layer 2. Now place a keyframe in frame 5, 10,and 15. Select frame 5 and move the circle to the next corner in a clockwise direction. repeat this for frames 10 and 15 so once all this has been tweened the circle will appear to travel around the square. Like this:
Note: Guide layers do not appear in a published Flash Player movie.
There you go! Although this is a very simple demonstration, understanding this principle will allow you to create really tight movies that look a million dollars! Good luck :)
|» Level Basic|
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|Eddie is one of the principles of the niche information and technology firm, Caddy Fusion Group. He is also the co-author of a up and coming Flash book and the former Content Editor of Flashkit.com|
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