Chapter 16
16.1
Fill in the blanks in each of the following statements:
a) Adobe Flash's tweening feature draws the in-between frames of an animation.
b) Graphics, buttons and movie clips are all types of symbols.
c) The two types of tweening in Adobe Flash are shape tweening and motion tweening.
d) Morphing one shape into another over a period of time can be accomplished with shape tweening.
e) Adobe Flash's scripting languages is called ActionScript.
f) The area in which the movie is created is called the stage.
g) Holding down the shift key while drawing with the Oval tool draws a perfect circle.
h) By default, shapes in Flash are created with a fill and a(n) stroke.
i) Keyframes tell Flash how a shape or symbol should look at the beginnin and end of an animation.
j) A graphic's transparency can be altered by adjusting its alpha value.
16.2
State whether each of the following is true or false. If false, explain why.
a) A button's hit state is entered when the button is clicked.
False. The down state is entered when the button is clicked.
b) To draw a straight line in Flash, hold down the Shift key while drawing with the Pencil tool.
True.
c) Motion tweening moves objects within the stage.
True.
d) The more frames you give to an animation, the slower it is.
True.
e) Flash's math.random function returns a number between 1 and 100.
False. Flash's math.random function returns a number greater than or equal to 0 and less than 1.
f) The maximum number of layers allowed in a movie is ten.
False. Flash allows an unlimited number of layers for each movie.
g) Flash can shape tween only one shape per layer.
False. Flash can tween as many shapes as there are on a layer. The effect is usually better when the shapes are placed on their own layers.
h) When a new layer is created, it is placed above the selected layer.
True.
i) The lasso tool selects objects by drawing freehand or straight-edge selection areas.
True.
j) The ease value controls an object's transparency during motion tween.
False. The ease value controls the acceleration of a tween animation.
16.7
Give a brief description of the following terms:
a) symbol
Symbols are objects that have been converted into one item that is reusable within the library panel.
b) tweening
Tweening is the interpolation from the properties of an object's state from a starting keyframe and an ending keyframe. Usually size and positioning of an object can tweened.
c) ActionScript
A scripting language developed by Adobe/Macromedia for the flash enviroment to provide rich functionality between graphics and data.
d) Frame Rate
The amount of still images displayed in a sequence per second to produce motion.
e) Library panel
The panel where symbols that are created are stored and can be instantiated by a drag and drop method.
f) masking
The act of hiding portions of an image behind a "key" or cutout much like a stencil in order to enable effects changes easily underneath the mask layer.
g) context-sensitive Properties window
The development environment's tool that allows the creator to change the properties of selected objects, symbols, or stage.
h) Bandwidth Profiler
The bandwidth profiler serves as a tool to measure the downloading performance of an "SWF" file enabling the designer to make adjustments to shorten the loading times experienced.
i) Frame Label
Frame labels allow you to verbosely call a frame in ActionScript instead of using a number.
16.8
Descripbe what the following file extensions are used for in Flash movie development.
a) .fla
These files are the project files used to open in the Flash application for development. They can also be files that are called within another project for movies.
b) .swf
This is a non-editable format file which plays the flash document securely and does not allow one to retrieve the code used to create the document.
c) .exe
This is a Microsoft executable format that is the container for programs that run in a windows OS environment.
d) .html
This a text format with the extension used by web browsers to render HTML code.