Objective:
- I can produce a complete HTML5 animation using Embedded Animation, Motion Tweens and Keyframes.
Topics Discussed:
- For a complete list of Topics Discussed, please see the previous lessons.
Assignment:
- Produce a new Animate HTML5 canvas. Name it “Your Name – PacDots″.
- Today, your objective is to make Pac-Man eat some dots as he moves. We will do this using a “keyframe animation” technique.
- Create a New Layer and use the Oval Primitive Tool to draw a Pac Man shape. Convert this shape to a Symbol using any of the techniques we have learned. Make the Symbol a Graphic Symbol, and name it “PacMan”.
- Double-click on the PacMan Symbol to enter Isolation Mode. Confirm that you are in Isolation Mode by looking at the grey bar across the top of the screen (it should read “Scene 1 – PacMan”).
- Notice the timeline – it should currently have only one Keyframe. Click on Frame 3 and press F6 on your keyboard to create a copy of the first Keyframe.
- With Frame 3 still selected, close Pac-Man’s “mouth” by moving the opening and closing control points of the Oval Primitive to close the shape. This will establish a “closed mouth” pose on Frame 3 of your animation.
- Select Frame 5 on the Timeline. Press F6 on the keyboard to create a copy of the Keyframe from Frame 3.
- With Frame 5 still selected, open Pac-Man’s “mouth” by moving the opening and closing control points to their original positions.
- Slide the Timebar back and forth to test your animation. Pac-Man should now open and close his mouth rapidly.
- Double click on the Pasteboard (the gray area outside the stage) to get out of Isolation Mode and return to Scene 1. Notice how the timeline changed. (Your animation didn’t disappear, it’s still embedded in the Symbol definition. You can see it again by double-clicking on the symbol.)
- Select frame 120 on Layer 1, and press F5 on the keyboard to extend the timeline and create a four second animation.
- Apply a Motion Tween to your Pac Man Symbol to move it across the stage. Scrub the timebar to test the animation. Notice how you can see the mouth animation when you scrub the timebar! This is a special property of the Graphic symbol type (it doesn’t work that way with Movie Clips).
- Press Command + Return (Ctrl + Enter on the PC) to test your movie. Pac-Man should now move across the stage and the embedded mouth animation should be visible.
- Your work is half-way complete when you have Pac-Man “wockaing” across the stage.
- Now, Double-click your “Layer 1” and rename it “Pacman”. This should be the layer that your Pac-man symbol Motion Tween is on.
- Create a new layer, and name it “Dots”.
- On the “Dots” layer, draw six evenly spaced dots using the Oval tool (hold shift to make a perfect circle!) along the straight motion path that Pac-man crosses (make sure that Pac-man touches each dot at least once).
- Scrub the playhead to the first frame that Pac-man completely crosses a dot (the dot will be over Pac-man, because the “Pacman” layer is above the “Dots” layer).
- Press F6 on the keyboard to copy all the dots on the first keyframe to the current frame.
- Delete the dot that is currently over Pac-man.
- Repeat this process for each of the remaining five dots (F6, move Pac-man under the dot, delete the dot).
- Once you have deleted all six dots, move the “Dots” layer below the “Pac-man” layer.
- Scrub the playhead, and Pac-man should appear to “eat” the dots as he moves across the stage.
- Press Command + Return (Ctrl + Enter on the PC) to test your movie.
- Pac-Man should move across the stage (with the embedded mouth “chomping” animation)
- Pac-Man should “eat” each of the six dots as he crosses the stage.
- Save your work as “Your Name – Pac Dots.fla” and upload a copy to today’s Google Classroom assignment post by Friday, April 4th.
Finished Movie Example:
PacDots.mp4
Good Luck!
Assigned: April 2nd, 2025
Teacher Pacing Due Date: April 4th, 2025