Before beginning this section:

• Know how to tween


• Know how to use frames and layers

It is a way to have one shape (object, broken down text, broken down bitmap) change into another shape. Because it is a type of Tweening that Flash does for you, it creates all the intermediate steps of the shape changes that you can see during the movie.

If after reading this and practicing the tutorials you would like more control over the way the shapes changes in the intermediate steps, then read up on Shape Hints.

1. It is advisable to only have one Shape Tween per layer. This way you get more predicatble results.


2. ALL objects must be broken down before you can tween.


3. You can use text (broken apart), generic shapes, and supposedly Bitmaps (broken apart)


4. General concept is:
   
   1. Place 1st shape in 1 frame and break it down.
   
   
   2. Paste the 2nd shape in a later keyframe and break it down.
   
   
   3. On the first frame double click the frame and select the 'Tweening' tab then 'Shape' in the drop down box

We will do 3 types of tutorials here:

• Text to text shape tween


• Shape to text shape tween


• Shape to shape text tween

It is all very simple. And they are pretty much the same thing. It's just a different look. That is why we will do all 3 so you can see what each one does. I think the most common that I have seen are 'Text to Text' and 'Shape to Text'.

Text to Text

1. Create a word in Frame 1 on a layer called "text". Break it apart. NOTE: Make sure that it is broken apart on the level where you are trying to shape tween the frames. This won't work if you break it apart in a symbol and then try to tween the symbol. Shortcut to break apart is: Ctrl + B


2. Now in frame 10 create the 2nd word you would like to morph into and break it apart.


3. Go to your first frame again, and double click the frame. Select the tweening tab. Select shape from the drop down menu. Flash should do the rest for you. (See picture below of tweening tab)

Shape to Text

1. Create a shape in Frame 1 on a layer. Break it apart. NOTE: Make sure that it is broken apart on the level where you are trying to shape tween the frames. This won't work if you break it apart in a symbol and then try to tween the symbol.


2. Now in frame 10 create the text you would like to morph into and break it apart.


3. Go to your first frame again, and double click the frame. Select the tweening tab. Select shape from the drop down menu. Flash should do the rest for you.

Shape to Shape

1. Create a shape in Frame 1 on a layer called "text". Break it apart. NOTE: Make sure that it is broken apart on the level where you are trying to shape tween the frames. This won't work if you break it apart in a symbol and then try to tween the symbol.


2. Now in frame 10 create the 2nd shape you would like to morph into and break it apart.


3. Go to your first frame again, and double click the frame. Select the tweening tab. Select shape from the drop down menu. Flash should do the rest for you.