!
- Understand the concept of keyframes
- Understand the idea of a tween
- I can use keyframes in an animation
- I can use a tween to help produce frames in an animation
Over the next few lesson you will be using Adobe Animate on your computers to make some animations.
In this particular lesson, you will be creating a very simple bouncing ball animation.
Getting started
- Open Adobe Animate on your computer.
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Create a new file in Full HD.
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Select the Fit in Window zoom option at the top right (pictured).
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Now add in an Oval shape as shown (you can access additional shapes by right-clicking on
the rectangle shape on the left hand side). When drawing it, make sure that it is a perfect circle
by holding the shift whilst drawing it.
- Set the fill colour of the circle to be red.
Adding keyframes
The next step is to add in our keyframes.
A keyframe is a frame within an animation where something important happens. In this animation, a keyframe would be when the ball reaches it's destination or changes direction.
- Add a keyframe at frame number 45 by right-clicking on frame 45 and pressing Insert Keyframe.
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Now do the same at frame number 90.
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Now left-click on frame 45 again. Move the ball to the bottom of the canvas (pictured).
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Add a keyframe to frame 47 (pictured).
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Left-click on frame 47 and squash the ball.
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Now go to frame 49 and add a keyframe there too. Left-click on the frame
and unsquash the ball.
Tweening
Now we'll need to add in some tweens.
In animation, a tween is short for in-betweening, which is the process of generating intermediate frames between two keyframes to create the illusion of motion or transformation. Tweening can be applied to various attributes such as position, scale, rotation, or opacity of an object over time, making it move smoothly from one state to another.
Simply put, tweening is used to generate the frames in between two keyframes. If the ball moves to another location, tweening figures out all of the frames in between.
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To create a tween, select the first frame and the very last frame of your animation and
then press the Classic Tween button (pictured in the red box).
The computer will now add in all of the frames in between. If try your animation now it should be very smooth.
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1
Upload a screenshot of your animation below:
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2
In your own words, explain what a keyframe is and why it is important in an animation.
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3
In your own words, explain what a tween is and how it saves you time when you are creating an animation.
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4
How well do think you completed this task?
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5
What parts of this task, if any, did you struggle with?
Once you have answered each of the questions, remember to save this worksheet by pressing the Save button.
Now try making the following animation: