Shape tweening is similar to morphing, making one shape appear to change into another shape over time. Animate can also tween the location, size, and color of shapes.
A Shape tween is different from motion tween in that you can put more than one shape on a single layer and that it CANNOT be a symbol.
To tween a shape:
Click a layer name to make it the current layer and select an empty keyframe where you want the animation to start.
Create the image for the first frame of the sequence.
Use any of the drawing tools to create a shape. Do not make it a symbol! Also make sure that the object drawing mode is OFF!
Create a second keyframe the desired number of frames after the first frame. Do not make it a symbol!
Create the image for the last frame of the sequence. (You can tween the shape, color, or position of the image created in step 2.)
Choose Window > Panels > Frame.
For Tweening, select Shape.
Click and drag the arrow next to the Easing value or enter a value to adjust the rate of change between tweened frames:
To begin the shape tween gradually and accelerate the tween toward the end of the animation, drag the slider down or enter a value between -1 and -100.
To begin the shape tween rapidly and decelerate the tween toward the end of the animation, drag the slider up or enter a positive value between 1 and 100.
By default, the rate of change between tweened frames is constant. Easing creates a more natural appearance of transformation by gradually adjusting the rate of change.
Choose an option for Blend:
Distributive creates an animation in which the intermediate shapes are smoother and more irregular.
Angular creates an animation that preserves apparent corners and straight lines in the intermediate shapes.
Note: Angular is appropriate only for blending shapes with sharp corners and straight lines. If the shapes you choose do not have corners, Animate reverts to distributive shape tweening.
Shape Hints
Use shape hints to control more complex shapes. Shape hints identify points that should correspond in starting and ending shapes. For example, if you were tweening a drawing of a face as it changes expression, you could use a shape hint to mark each eye. Then, instead of turning the face into an amorphous tangle while the shape change takes place, each eye remains recognizable and changes separately during the shift.
To use shape hints:
Select the first keyframe in a shape-tweened sequence.
Choose Modify > Transform > Add Shape Hint.
The beginning shape hint appears as a red circle with the letter a somewhere on the shape.
Move the shape hint to a point that you want to mark.
Select the last keyframe in the tweening sequence.
The ending shape hint appears somewhere on the shape as a green circle with the letter a.
Move the shape hint to the point in the ending shape that should correspond to the first point you marked.
Run the movie again to see how the shape hints change the shape tweening. Move the shape hints to fine-tune the tweening.
Repeat this process to add additional shape hints. New hints appear with the letters that follow (b, c, and so on).
While working with shape hints, you can also do the following:
To see all shape hints, choose View > Show Shape Hints. The layer and keyframe that contain shape hints must be current for Show Shape Hints to be available.
To remove a shape hint, drag it off the Stage.
To remove all shape hints, choose Modify > Transform > Remove All Hints
above: example of the unpredictability of the results of shape tweening
Use shape hints to control more complex shapes. Shape hints identify points that should correspond in starting and ending shapes. For example, if you were tweening a drawing of a face as it changes expression, you could use a shape hint to mark each eye. Then, instead of turning the face into an amorphous tangle while the shape change takes place, each eye remains recognizable and changes separately during the shift.
To use shape hints:
Select the first keyframe in a shape-tweened sequence.
Choose Modify > Transform > Add Shape Hint.
The beginning shape hint appears as a red circle with the letter a somewhere on the shape.
Move the shape hint to a point that you want to mark.
Select the last keyframe in the tweening sequence.
The ending shape hint appears somewhere on the shape as a green circle with the letter a.
Move the shape hint to the point in the ending shape that should correspond to the first point you marked.
Run the movie again to see how the shape hints change the shape tweening. Move the shape hints to fine-tune the tweening.
Repeat this process to add additional shape hints. New hints appear with the letters that follow (b, c, and so on).
While working with shape hints, you can also do the following:
To see all shape hints, choose View > Show Shape Hints. The layer and keyframe that contain shape hints must be current for Show Shape Hints to be available.
To remove a shape hint, drag it off the Stage.
To remove all shape hints, choose Modify > Transform > Remove All Hints.
above: example of a smoother transition, customizing the shape tween using "shape hints"
