CBT Cafe > Flash > Special Effects

Step 3: Importing The Text Into Flash

1. 1. Open Flash and create a new document
2. 2. Go to File > Import... or click Control-R/Command-R to import the .swf file you exported from Fireworks

Flash imports the text around the path exactly as we created it in Fireworks. If you zoom in closely you can see that each letter has been individually grouped.

Step 4: Creating the Text Animation

Now we're ready to begin creating our animation. We'll first create the animation and then we'll mask the animation with our can image.

1. Select all the objects on the stage by clicking Control-A/Command-A. Since we started with a new document, the only objects we have on our stage are the letters we imported from Fireworks.
2. Convert the objects to a Graphic by pressing F8. Name your graphic "Text_Graphic"
3. Next, convert Text_Graphic to a Movie Clip by again, pressing F8 and naming the Movie Clip: "Text_MC"

Note: We could have just as easily created the Movie Clip first and then opened the Movie Clip and converted the objects to a Graphic. Either way works as long as you have your Text_Graphic inside Text_MC.

4. Right Click on the Text_MC and select Edit In Place from the drop down menu. This opens the Text_MC and it's inside this Movie Clip you're going to create the rotating animation.

Click the image below to view the full sized image in a new window.

5. Create a keyframe at Frame 200 by dragging the Playhead to Frame 200 and pressing F6 at Frame 200
6. Click anywhere in the Timeline between Frame 1 and Frame 200
7. In the Property inspector, set the Tween to Motion and the Rotate to CW (Clockwise)

8. Preview your movie by dragging the Playhead back and forth to view the text rotation
9. Return to the main stage by clicking Control-E/Command-E
10. Test your movie in the Flash Player by clicking Control-Enter/Command Enter
11. Save your document