Flash CS3 Documentation

Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash > Animation, Filters, and Drawings > About the Tween and TransitionManager classes

About the Tween and TransitionManager classes

When you install Flash CS3 Professional, you also install the Tween and TransitionManager classes. This section describes how to use these two powerful classes with movie clips and Adobe components to easily add animation to your SWF files.

If you create a slide presentation or form application with Flash (ActionScript 2.0 only), you can select behaviors that add different kinds of transitions between slides, which is similar to when you create a PowerPoint presentation. You add this functionality into a screen application by using the Tween and TransitionManager classes, which generate ActionScript that animates the screens depending on the behavior that you choose.

You can also use the Tween and TransitionManager classes outside of a screen-based document in Flash. For example, you can use the classes with the component set of version 2 of the Adobe Component Architecture, or with movie clips. If you want to change the way a ComboBox component animates, you can use the TransitionManager class to add some easing when the menu opens. Easing refers to gradual acceleration or deceleration during an animation, which helps your animations appear more realistic. You can also use the Tween and TransitionManager classes, instead of creating motion tweens on the timeline or writing custom code, to create your own animated menu system.

For information on each method and property of the Tween class, see ActionScript 2.0 Components Language Reference. For information on each method and property of the TransitionManager class, see ActionScript 2.0 Components Language Reference. For information on working with packages, see Working with filter packages.

For a sample source file that uses the Tween and TransitionManager classes, tweenProgress.fla, see the Flash Samples page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the ActionScript2.0/Tween ProgressBar folder to access the sample.

For more information on the Tween and TransitionManager classes, see the following topics:

• Adding tweens and transitions to a file in Flash
• Animating with the TransitionManager and Tween classes
• About easing classes and methods
• About the Tween class
• Using the Tween class
• Combining the TransitionManager and Tween classes

Flash CS3