Adobe Flash Professional CS5 : Creating Frame-by-Frame Animation - Creating Keyframes

When art is placed on the Stage, it appears in a keyframe in the Timeline. A keyframe is represented as a black-bounded box with a small circle in it. By default, each layer in the Timeline has a keyframe on its first frame. An empty keyframe displays an empty or hollow circle, but when you place artwork or objects on the Stage, the bounding box becomes shaded and the small circle becomes a filled black dot. A keyframe can span multiple frames when there are no changes to the art. To make a change you create another keyframe. In this way, you can create animations or content that seems to move or change over time.

Create a Keyframe

1. Place art or an object on the Stage.

2. Click on a frame later in the Timeline.

3. Click the Insert menu, point to Timeline, and then click Keyframe. A new keyframe appears. Timesaver Press F6 to add a keyframe or Control+click (Mac) or right-click (Win) the selected frame, and then click Add Keyframe. Did You Know? You can remove content from a keyframe. Select a filled keyframe in the Timeline or the art on the Stage contained in that keyframe, and then press the Delete (Mac) or Backspace (Win) key.

Create a Blank Keyframe

1. Click on a frame in the Timeline where you want to add a blank keyframe. Important You can only add a blank keyframe to a frame without an existing keyframe (sometimes called an inactive frame or keyspan).

2. Click the Insert menu, point to Timeline, and then click Blank Keyframe. Timesaver Press F7 to add a keyframe or Control+click (Mac) or right-click (Win) the selected frame, and then click Add Blank Keyframe.

Increase the Keyframe Span

1. Click anywhere in a keyframe span. To insert multiple keyframes, select the number of frames you want.

2. Click the Insert menu, point to Timeline, and then click Frame. Repeat until you’ve increased the framespan to the length you need. Timesaver Press F5 to add a frame or Control+click (Mac) or right-click (Win) the selected frame, and then click Insert Frame. Did You Know? You can decrease the keyframe span. Press Shift+F5 for each frame you want to remove.