Applying motion presets



Motion presets are pre-configured motion tweens that you can apply to an object on the Stage. You simply select the object and click the Apply button in the Motion Presets panel.

Using motion presets is a quick way to learn the basics of adding animation in Flash. Once you see how presets work, making your own animations is even easier.

You can create and save your own custom presets. These can be from existing motion presets that you have modified, or from custom tweens that you have created on your own.

The Motion Presets panel also allows you to import and export presets. You can share presets with people you are collaborating with or take advantage of presets shared by members of the Flash design community.

Using presets can save significant production time during design and development of your projects, especially if you use similar kinds of tweens often.

Note: Motion presets can only contain motion tweens. Classic tweens cannot be saved as motion presets.

The following video tutorials demonstrate how to use motion presets. Some videos may show the Flash CS3 workspace, but are still applicable to Flash CS4.

Preview a motion preset

Each motion preset included with Flash has a preview that you can watch in the Motion Presets panel. The preview gives you a sense of what the animation looks like when applied to an object in your FLA file. For custom presets that you create or import, you can add your own preview.

  1. Open the Motion Presets panel.
  2. Select a motion preset from the list.

    The preview plays in the Preview pane at the top of the panel.

  3. To stop the preview from playing, click outside the Motion Presets panel.

Apply a motion preset

While a tweenable object (symbol instance or text field) is selected on the Stage, you can click the Apply button to apply a preset. You can apply only one preset per object. If you apply the second preset to the same object, the second preset replaces with the first one.

Once a preset is applied to an object on the Stage, the tween created in the Timeline no longer has any relationship to the Motion Presets panel. Deleting or renaming a preset in the Motion Presets panel has no effect on any tweens previously created with that preset. If you save a new preset over an existing one in the panel, it has no effect on any tweens already created with the original preset.

Each motion preset contains a specific number of frames. When you apply a preset, the tween span created in the Timeline contains this number of frames. If the target object already had a tween of a different length applied to it, the tween span adjusts to match the length of the motion preset. You can adjust the length of the tween span in the Timeline after the preset is applied.

Motion presets that contain 3D motion can only be applied to movie clip instances. The tweened 3D properties do not apply to graphic or button symbols, or to text fields. You can apply 2D or 3D motion presets to any 2D or 3D movie clip.

Note: Motion presets that animate the z axis position of a 3D movie clip will cause the movie clip to appear to change its x and y position as well. This is because movement along the z axis follows the invisible perspective lines which radiate from the 3D vanishing point (set in the 3D symbol instance Property inspector) to the edges of the Stage.

To apply the motion preset:

  1. Select a tweenable object on the Stage. If you apply a motion preset to an object that is not tweenable, a dialog box appears to allow you to convert the object to a symbol.
  2. Select a preset in the Motion Presets panel.
  3. Click the Apply button in the panel or choose Apply at Current Location from the panel menu.

    The motion is applied so that the motion starts at the current position of the movie clip on the Stage. If the preset has a motion path associated with it, the motion path appears on the Stage.

    To apply the preset so that its motion ends at the current position of the object on the Stage, Shift-click the Apply button or select End at Current Location from the panel menu.

You can also apply a motion preset to multiple selected frames on separate layers, as long as each selected frame contains only a single tweenable object.

Save a tween as a custom motion preset

If you create your own tween or change a tween that you applied from the Motion Presets panel, you can save it as a new motion preset. The new preset appears in the Custom Presets folder in the Motion Presets panel.

To save a custom tween as a preset:

  1. Select one of the following items:

    • The tween span in the Timeline

    • The object on Stage to which the custom tween was applied

    • The motion path on the Stage

  2. Click the Save Selection As Preset button in Motion Presets panel or choose Save as Motion Preset from the context menu of the selection.

    The new preset appears in the Motion Presets panel. Flash saves the preset as an XML file. The files are stored in the following directories:

    • Windows: <hard disk>\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS4\<language>\Configuration\Motion Presets\

    • Macintosh: <hard disk>/Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS4/<language>/Configuration/Motion Presets/

Note: You cannot undo saving, deleting, or renaming custom presets.

Import a motion preset

Motion presets are stored as XML files. Import an XML tween file to add it to the Motion Presets panel.

  1. Choose Import from the Motion Presets panel menu.
  2. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the XML file you want to import and click Open.

Flash opens the XML file and adds the motion preset to the panel.

Export a motion preset

You can export motion presets as XML files that can be shared with other Flash users.

  1. Select the preset in the Motion Presets panel.
  2. Choose Export from the panel menu.
  3. In the Save As dialog box, choose a name and location for the XML file and click Save.

Delete a motion preset

You can remove presets from the Motion Presets panel. When you remove a preset, Flash deletes its XML file from disk. Consider making a backup of any presets you might want to use again later by exporting copies of them first.

  1. Select the preset to delete in the Motion Presets panel.
  2. Do one of the following:

    • Choose Remove from the panel menu.

    • Click the Remove item button in the panel.

Create a preview for a custom preset

You can create a preview for any custom motion presets that you create. Do this by storing a SWF file that demonstrates the tweened animation in the same directory with the motion preset XML file.

  1. Create the tweened animation and save it as a custom preset.
  2. Create a FLA file that contains only a demonstration of the tween. Save the FLA with the exact same name as the custom preset.
  3. Create a SWF file from the FLA file with the Publish command.
  4. Place the SWF file in the same directory as the saved custom motion preset XML file. These files are stored in the following directories:

    • Windows: <hard disk>\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS4\<language>\Configuration\Motion Presets\

    • Macintosh: <hard disk>/Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS4/<language>/Configuration/Motion Presets/

The preview now displays when the custom tween is selected in the Motion Presets panel.