Building Animation; Working With Animation Symbols - MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS 8-USING FIREWORKS Use Manual

Building animation

In Fireworks, you can create animation by assigning properties to objects called animation
symbols. The animation of a symbol is broken down into frames, which contain the images and
objects that make up each step of the animation. You can have more than one symbol in an
animation, and each symbol can have a different action. Different symbols can contain
differing numbers of frames. The animation ends when all the action of all the symbols is
complete.
To build an animation using animation symbols in Fireworks:
1. Create an animation symbol, either by creating a symbol from scratch or by converting an
existing object into a symbol. For more information, see
on page 309.
2.
Use the Property inspector or the Animate dialog box to enter settings for the animation
symbol. You can set the degree and direction of movement, scaling, opacity (fading in or
out), and angle and direction of rotation. For more information, see
symbols" on page
Degree and direction of movement options are found only in the Animate dialog box.
3.
Use the Frame Delay controls in the Frames panel to set the speed of the animated motion.
For more information, see
4.
Optimize the document as an animated GIF. For more information, see
animation" on page
5.
Export the document as an Animated GIF or SWF, or save it as a Fireworks PNG and
import it into Macromedia Flash for further editing. For more information, see
"Animation export formats" on page

Working with animation symbols

Animation symbols perform the action in your Fireworks file like actors in a movie. For
example, in an animation of three geese flying across the sky, each goose is a cast member.
An animation symbol can be any object you create or import, and you can have many symbols
in one file. Each symbol has its own properties and animates independently. So you can create
symbols that move across the screen while others fade or shrink.
308 Chapter 13: Creating Animation
310.
"Setting the frame delay" on page
321.
321.
"Creating animation symbols"
"Editing animation
313.
"Optimizing an