Animating in Fireworks
4.0
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> Software > Fireworks
by
Don Herion
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Freehand Gives a Hand
Designers can often find
solutions to problems by using another program. For example, Morphing objects
is not yet possible in Fireworks, but it can be done in Freehand. Freehand has
a blend tool that can morph one shape into another. This morphing can then be
exported in Illustrator format into Fireworks as a collection of frames. It takes
some planning, but it can be done.
In this demonstration I
started Freehand 9 and created a blue cube and off to the right a red circle.
I select both objects and in the 'xtras toolbar' click the 'blend' icon. I used
the default setting which creates a blend of the object's color and shape in 22
steps. I then go - Xtras - Animate - Release to Layers. Freehand places each shape
on its own layer. I then select all of my objects and export them as an illustrator
file.
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Use Freehand 9 to create morph animations for Fireworks 4 |
Going
back to Fireworks, I open a new document and go - Import - and choose the file.
The 'Vector File Options' window appears. I select 'Convert Layers to Frames'
under File Conversion and click OK. Now the original blue cube appears on frame
1 while the other shapes are spread across the next 23 frames. Click the play
button and your blue cube morphs into a red circle.
