This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Creating shapes
Animate includes several drawing tools, which work in different drawing modes. Many of your creations will begin with simple shapes such as rectangles and ovals, so it’s important that you’re comfortable drawing them, modifying their appearance, and applying fills and strokes.
You’ll begin by drawing the face of the octopus.
Using the Oval tool
The eyes of the octopus are essentially a series of ovals overlapping one another. To make the eyes look angry, there is a diagonal line that cuts the largest oval at a slant. You’ll start by drawing the ovals. It’s useful to break down complicated objects into their component parts to make it easier to draw them.
Rename Layer_1 octopus.
In the Tools panel, select the Oval tool, which is hidden under the Rectangle tool. Hold down the Rectangle tool to access the Oval tool underneath. Make sure the Object Drawing button at the bottom of the Tools panel or in the Properties panel is not selected.
Choose a stroke color and a fill color from the bottom of the Tools panel or from the Properties panel. Enter #CCCCCC (light gray) for the fill and #000000 (black) for the stroke.
On the Stage, draw an oval that is a little taller than it is wide.
Select the Selection tool.
Drag the Selection tool around the entire oval to select its stroke and its fill. When a shape is selected, Animate displays it with white dots. You can also double-click a shape, and Animate will select both the stroke and fill of the shape.
In the Properties panel, in the Position And Size section, enter 40 for the Width and 55 for the Height. Press Return (macOS) or Enter (Windows) to apply the values.
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Adding the inside of the eye
Now you’ll create the inside of the eye and the white highlight.
In the Tools panel, select the Oval tool.
Choose a stroke color and a fill color from the bottom of the Tools panel. Enter #000000 (black) for the fill and #000000 (black) for the stroke.
Draw a smaller black oval inside the larger oval on the Stage.
TIPHold down the Shift key as you draw to constrain your shapes. Holding the Shift key when using the Oval tool creates perfect circles, much like holding the Shift key when using the Rectangle tool creates perfect squares.
Enter #FFFFFF (white) as the fill for your Oval tool.
Draw a third oval at the top of your black oval, which will be the highlight.
Animate drawing modes
Animate provides three drawing modes that determine how objects interact with one another on the Stage and how you can edit them. By default, Animate uses Merge Drawing mode, but you can enable Object Drawing mode or use the Rectangle Primitive or Oval Primitive tool to use Primitive Drawing mode.
Merge Drawing mode
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In this mode, Animate merges drawn shapes, such as rectangles and ovals, where they overlap so that multiple shapes appear to be a single shape. If you move or delete a shape that has been merged with another shape, the overlapping portion is permanently removed.
Object Drawing mode
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In this mode, Animate does not merge drawn objects; they remain distinct and separate, even when they overlap. To enable Object Drawing mode, select the drawing tool you want to use, and then click the Object Drawing button at the bottom of the Tools panel.
To convert an object to a shape (Merge Drawing mode), select the object and choose Modify > Break Apart (Command+B/Ctrl+B). To convert a shape to an object (Object Drawing mode), select the shape and choose Modify > Combine Objects > Union. The current shape becomes an object, but keep in mind that it doesn’t restore the shape to how it was originally drawn.
Primitive Drawing mode
When you use the Rectangle Primitive tool or the Oval Primitive tool, Animate draws your rectangles or ovals as independent objects that maintain some editable features. Unlike with regular objects, you can modify the corner radius and the start and end angles of rectangle primitives as well as adjust the inner radius of oval primitives using the Properties panel.