Flash Fly-in Effect for Envelope Animation

Now that we have the curved motion path in place for our envelope animation, we are ready to refine the animation further. We will continue with the object-based tween that we started in the previous tutorial to make our envelope fade onto the screen, while flipping and rotating. It will stop in the center of the stage.

Again, we will be working with the EnvFront1_1 movie clip instance and the EnvFront1_1 layer in the Timeline.

When we completed the curved path in the last tutorial, the envelope was in the center of the stage when on Frame 80, the last frame of this part of the animation. Our first step will be to create the fade in effect. Move the Timeline scrubber back to Frame 1. Let's start with the envelope at a much smaller size and almost transparent.

With the Free Transform tool, click on the envelope. Hold down the Shift key and resize the envelope to about 50%. You can also use the Width and Height controls in the Properties panel to adjust the size to 100 x 75. You might need to move this smaller envelope closer to the edge of the stage.

Still in the Properties panel, expand Color Effect and click on Alpha. Now, use the slider to set the Alpha property to 25%.
Next we will start rotating the envelope. Move the Timeline scrubber to Frame 25. The envelope will move with the scrubber. We will enlarge the envelope and rotate it a little. Click on the envelope with the Free Transform tool. In the Properties panel, set the Width to 130 and the Height will resize automatically. (Click on the lock at the left if they do not resize together.) Set the Alpha to 75%. Next, use the Free Transform tool to rotate the envelope to the right. Finally, with the Free Transform tool narrow the envelope until it is very thin.
Move the Timeline scrubber to Frame 50. With the Free Transform tool, open the envelope from thin to fully open.
Move the scrubber to Frame 80. Use the Free Transform tool to rotate the envelope back to an upright position. In the Properties panel, set the Width to 200 and the Height to 150. Finally, set the Alpha to 100%.
Test your movie and save it in .fla format. You may wish to add a few more twists and turns to your animation.

This will take us to Frame 80 with our envelope ready to flip over to show the back. Then we will be able to open the envelope and pull out the ecard.

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