| Morphing Text in Flash |  |
Start Flash, Create a new Movie.
Make the work area the size you need or just use the default.
Choose the text tool 'A' from the Tools Palette, third down on the right hand side, next to the pen. Click in the work area and type out your first word. Then click and drag across the word to highlight it and change its font, size and colour.
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If you need to move it, select the Black Arrow at the top left of the tool palette, then click and drag the word. Next click on the timeline in the gray area to the right of Layer 1 and just below the number 60 and choose Insert > Keyframe to give yourself four or five seconds of animation. (At 15 frames per second the animation will last 60 frames divided by 15 frames per second = 4 seconds, or at 12 fps 60/12 = 5 seconds) (You may find it quicker in Flash to use the contextual menu feature. If you had held down your Control Key 'ctrl' when you clicked on Frame 60 a mini-menu would have popped up from which you could choose "Insert Key Frame". On Windows and Macs with two button mice you can get this pop up menu by right clicking). |
While Frame 60's black dot keyframe is selected, highlight the word again. Make any changes you want to its size, font and colour and then type the second word so that it replaces the first. This has only changed the word at Frame 60.
Now hold down Apple B (Ctrl B on Windows). This breaks apart the word text into a series of letter boxes.
Press Apple B (Ctrl B on Windows) again to make these
text boxes break into editable shapes of the letters.
(Pressing Apple B once was enough up to Flash version 5)
Click back onto the first key frame and press Apple B (Ctrl B on Windows) twice to break that word apart too:
1st Apple B 
2nd
Apple B 
Stay on Frame 1. On the "Properties" panel, use the "Tweening Tab" and choose "Shape Tween" from the pop down menu. This should link the Frame 1 to Frame 60 with an arrow on a green background. If instead this looks like a dotted line something has gone wrong, usually because one or other frame has a word that has not been fully broken apart.
Rewind and play, or Save and then press Apple Return (Ctrl Return on Windows).
This process can be also done with objects - in fact it is easier since shapes such as squares and circles or that you draw will not need to be broken apart first.
If you want more than one tween happening at the same time MAKE A NEW
LAYER for each tweened object.