Amalina's Blog: TUTORIAL - MOTION GUIDE (Ant Moving in The Tunnel)

Step 1:

Open a new flash file.

Step 2:

Select light brown colour for the background in the properties section.

Step 3:

Rename Layer 1 with the name: Background, by double-clicking on the text Layer 1.

Step 4:

Then, draw a large dark brown rectangle over the whole stage area by using the rectangle tool.

Step 5:

To make the tunnels in the nest, set the eraser to the largest size in the tool modifiers and rub out parts of the rectangle which will create a tunnel-like look similar to the image below:

Step 6:

Make a new layer on the timeline using the add layer button or by selecting Insert > Timeline > Layer. Name the new layer ‘Ant’.

Step 7:

On the ant layer, draw an ant. Then, select the ant and make it into a symbol in the library by choosing Modify > Convert to Symbol.

(7.1)

Name the ant symbol ‘ant’ and select the graphic option from the type options. Select the centre square in the Registration option.

(7.2)

Step 8:

To give guide to the ant, create a guide layer, then, select the ant layer on the timeline to add the guide layer. The timeline will look like this:

Step 9:

Using the pencil tool, draw the path for the ant to follow through the ant nest as the below example (the white line is the guide for the ant to follow, which referred as 'Motion Path' ):

Step 10:

Now, snap the ant to the guide by following these steps:
a) Make sure the magnet icon in the tools options is pressed on.
b) Select the ant on the frame 1 of the ant layer. Position the mouse on the centre of the ant where you will see a crosshair. Move the ant using the crosshair to the starting point of the guide.
c) The ant is already positioned at the start of the guide. Now, position the ant at the end of the guide by Insert a Keyframe at the timeline (I positioned mine at frame 70 as below):

(10.1)

d) Click on frame 70 of the ant layer and drag the ant to the end of the guide.

(10.2)

e) To make the ant move along the line, we need to add a motion tween. This can be done by; clicking between the two keyframes on the ant layer and select motion from the tween dropdown menu.