How to create a Motion Tween

First, you need to remember the rules of Motion Tweens:

  1. Motion tweens must be on their own layer

  2. Motion tweens can only occur between SYMBOLS.
With these rules in mind, you can use these steps to create a motion tween:

  1. In a flash document, create a new layer (Insert > Layer).

  2. Double click on the new layer's name and rename it "Motion Tween"

  3. Determine how long you want your tween to be. In this example I'm going to make a circle move from one side of the screen to the other in a 2-second span. My flash project is set at 12 frames per second, so this means I will need 24 frames in a 2-second movie (2 seconds x 12 frames per second = 24 frames).

  4. Put your cursor in the 24th frame and click. Hit F6 to insert a keyframe (or go to Insert > Timeline > Keyframe).

  5. Put your cursor in the 1st keyframe and click.

  6. Select the circle tool and draw a circle on the stage (make sure you are in the Motion Tween Layer > Keyframe 1).

  7. Select the circle you just drew (make sure you select both the fill and the stroke surrounding the circle). Press F8 to turn this circle into a symbol (alternately, you can go to Insert > Convert to Symbol to change the circle to a symbol -- either method will work).

  8. In the dialogue box that pops up, name your symbol "Circle." Select Behavior: Movie Clip. Click OK.

  9. Confirm your new symbol is in the library. You can access the library by hitting CTRL-L or go to Window > Library.

  10. Put your cursor on the 24th keyframe and click. Open your library and drag an instance of your circle symbol to the stage. Position this instance in the exact spot where you want the circle to end up at the conclusion of your animation.

  11. Put your cursor in the 1st keyframe and click. Look down at the properties box and confirm that you are seeing the properties for the FRAME (you should see the word "Frame" on the left-hand side of the properties box). If you are not in the Frame, click the 1st keyframe in the motion tween layer.

  12. Once you have confirmed you are seeing the frame properties box for the 1st keyframe in the motion tween layer, you should see a drop-down menu labeled "Tween." Select "Motion" from this drop down menu.

  13. Look up at your timeline. You should now see a solid arrow that runs from Keyframe 1 to Keyframe 24. The timeline will also have a color behind it (in most versions of Flash, a shape tween has a purple or blue background). You have now created a motion tween.

  14. Put your cursor in the 1st keyframe and click. Hit ENTER to watch your animation.