1. The Stage
• Where drawings are created, modified, deleted, etc. • Contains the objects, images, drawing, buttons, etc.
• Things can go outside the stage, but they are clipped when the movie is played.
Modify the stage size • Go to Modify Document... to change the
stage size, background color, frames per second, ruler units
• Change the dimension to 400px x 300px. Since most monitors have aspect ratios of
4 x 3, you can easily go full screen. The initial dimension of the stage is 550px x
400px.
• Change the frame rate to 10 fps frames per second, so you can easily compute
the number of frames necessary for a par- ticular range of time e.g. 5 seconds is 50
frames. The initial frame rate is 12 fps.
Show rulers • Go to View Rulers to show the rulers, which will help in positioning objects on the
screen. • Dragging from the rulers will create vertical or horizontal guides.
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2. Drawing on the Stage
• Flash graphics are vector-based, while JPEG and GIF images are raster-based. Vector-based images do not have a set resolution.
Draw a rectangle • Draw a rectangle to represent the robot’s face.
• Select the Rectangle tool from the Drawing
tools panel. • All shapes have an outline and fill color, a line
pattern, and a stroke thickness, which can be changed in the property window.
• Note that once a shape has been drawn, selecting the shape does not se- lect the outline. To avoid this, select the Object Drawing button under Op-
tions in the Drawing tools panel.
• Turn on stroke hinting so that lines are not blurry. • The Rectangle tool has an additional option to change the radius of the cor-
ner.
Draw a circle • Draw circles to represent the eyes of the robot.
• Select the Circle tool . Similar to the rectangle
tool in functionality.
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Draw freeform lines and shapes
• Select the Pencil tool from the Drawing tools
panel. • You can set whether to straighten or smooth
your drawing under the Options in the Drawing tools panel.
Draw lines with the Line and Pen tool • Draw mouths with different expressions: neutral
and sad.
• Select the Line tool to make straight lines.
• Select the Pen tool to make straight lines
and curved lines. • Click once to make a jagged corner.
• Click and drag to make a curve. • Click on a previously-made point to close the shape.
Draw a PolyStar • Draw a hexagonal nut icon.
• Holding on the Rectangle tool reveals the PolyStar tool.
• Select Options in the Properties panel to modify the number of sides of the PolyStar.
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Draw with the Brush tool
• Select the Brush tool to draw with strokes have a size and a shape.
• The Brush tool has 5 different modes that you can set.
• Paint Normal: draw strokes on any part of the
stage
• Paint Fill: draw strokes only on fills ignores
lines and the empty part of the stage
• Paint Behind: draw strokes only on the empty
part of the stage
• Paint Selection: draw strokes within the active
selection
• Paint Inside: draw strokes only on the shape or
area where the brush was first laid down.
Erase • Draw a cheese icon.
• Select the Eraser tool to erase fills and lines.
• Like the Brush tool, the Eraser tool has a size and a shape, and 5 different modes.
Write text • Write the name of the robot.
• Select the Text tool . Click on the Stage and
enter text. • You can set the font face, size, weight, and other
properties of the text using the Properties window.
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3. Symbols