Subtitles of the Movie

Now that you've had a chance to use some of the Drawing Tools in the Flash CS4 Tools Panel here, it's now time to learn about Flash's true drawing models: the Merge Drawing Model and the Object Drawing Model. Drawing Models define how multiple shapes interact with each other, particularly when you create overlapping shapes, and also, the Models determine how you'll work with each of the shapes. I have two shapes here on the Stage. The first shape, notice if I click on it with the Selection Tool here I can move it and both the Stroke and the Fill move together. If I click one time here on this shape, notice that the Stroke gets separated from the Fill; let's go ahead and undo that. Also, if I double-click on the first shape, now this Stroke is separated from the Fill. Let's undo that again. So, there's some definite differences between these two shapes. Notice also I'm now in the Drawing Object Mode here and I can go back to Scene 1, and now once I go back to Scene 1 this first shape behaves as it did before. So, these are two shapes that look identical but they were created using different drawing models. The Merge Drawing Mode, which is the default, was the default drawing model in versions of Flash previous to Flash 8. This automatically merges overlapping shapes. It also separates out the stroke from the fill unless you double-click on the object or shape. Notice if I double-click this time I don't move into that other editing mode, and in fact now the Stroke and the Fill go together. So, it's important that you get a good handle on these two drawing models. Let me review each, starting with the Merge Drawing Model. This is the one that is default, so if I click on my Rectangle Tool, let's go ahead and change the color here so I don't get these shapes confused, and let's go ahead and uncheck the Icon here, Object Drawing, that will move me into Merge Drawing Mode, and if I now draw out a shape, if I double-click on it, I can move both the Stroke and the Fill, but if I move these two shapes that were both created using the Merge Drawing Model and I unselect that second shape and how double-click and move it away, notice that it actually merges, eats up the first shape, so that's why they call it the Merge Drawing Model. These two shapes will interact with each other also. It's funny how they deal with the Stroke there; so it's actually merging together. These two shapes were obviously created in the same layer; I'm not showing my Time Line here, but if I did show the Time Line, you'll notice that all these shapes are being created in the same layer there. Obviously if I put these in different layers the Merge Shapes will not merge with each other because they're on different layers, but won't do a very good job of demonstrating the differences between the two drawing models. So, previous to Flash 8, all your shapes automatically merged when you overlapped them on the same layer, but starting with Flash CS3, Adobe came out with a second drawing mode, or drawing mode, and that is the Object Drawing Model, so let's now go ahead and click on the Icon right here: Object Drawing, to move into Object Drawing Mode, and now when I draw an object and I click once on it, both the Stroke and the Fill move together, and, more importantly, if I move over a Merge Object, deselect, select it again and move it off, notice it doesn't interact; it doesn't merge with that Merge Object. It also won't merge with the Object Drawing shape here, the shape that I created with the Object Drawing Model before I started recording, so these two shapes now, both drawn with the Object Drawing Model, by clicking on the Icon right here, the button there, Object Drawing button. Now they do not interact with each other. Now, for many users this Merge Drawing Model was difficult to understand because it was so different than other drawing programs, so that's when Flash added an additional drawing model, this Object Drawing Model. This provides a greater deal of control and flexibility when creating multiple or overlapping objects. In addition, this Object Drawing Model behaves much the way other drawing programs behave, making it easier to learn for beginners, so you might want to, in the beginning here when you're learning these various Tools here, go ahead and move into the Object Drawing Mode by clicking on the option right there, the button there. Notice that each of these tools here in this section of the Tools Panel has both modes: Merge and Object Drawing. In my review here I'll be mostly using the Object Drawing Model. I think it's just a little bit more clear, to demonstrate the various techniques that I need to demonstrate without having to worry about merging my objects. So let me now move on to the next movie now that you have a handle on the two Drawing Object Modes, and talk more about the Geometric Shape Tools that you'll find here underneath the Rectangle Tool, including the Oval Tool, the Primitive Tools, and then the Polystar Tool.