8. Motion Guides

Do you remember our good friend the layer? If you don't, your in trouble. Have another look at them if you need it.

You’ve seen Motion Tweens. This is just taking that a little further...making an object follow a given path, which you place in a special layer - the Motion Guide Layer.

I have my box which I wish to move around a funny line.
It is a simple and is in Layer 1.

1. Draw a box - or object. Use your object from you motion tween display if you like...

 
The first thing you need to do is insert a motion guide layer.

2. Just select the layer with the object you want to move in and click the “Add Motion Guide” Button.

A new layer appears with the small "Motion Guide" Logo in place of the standard layer icon.

You then need to just draw a line in this new layer with the pencil tool.

However – there is a catch. The line you draw must not cross over at any time.

Just like this:                                 And not like this:

3. Draw a line with the pencil tool in the guide layer. Remember - no crossing over!

(If you ever really need to have you lines cross over, then you will need to split the line into multiple parts and do multiple tweens.)

Anyway, now the interesting bit...

Now I have my shape and my line in separate layers. But what about moving the shape along the line?

You need to make sure that the small cross on the symbol (select it and see) is exactly in line with the edge of your line. This can be very tricky.

3. Just adjust your object so it is in line.

From here, it’s really simple, actually...

Just like an ordinary Motion Tween in fact.

First of all, you need to create your new frame in both layers. If the guide disappears before the shape has finished moving – then how will it know where to go?

4. Create a new keyframe in both layers.

5. Move the shape to its destination at the end of the path, ensuring that the small cross on the object is on top of the line (it should snap to it, but you may have to zoom in to get it to work properly). This is still very tricky!

6. As before, select the frames and select “Create Motion Tween”.

Test you movie (Ctrl + Enter) and you should find that your shape moves along your path no problem.

-->HOORAY!

Hang on – don’t get too happy yet. We’re not finished. There’s one more little thing I should mention.

Select your tween and look at the Properties Panel.

You’ll see a little box labelled “Orient to path”. If you check this little box, then your object will face the direction it’s travelling in.

Wow – doesn’t that really make your day?

Don't worry if it doesn't work for you - motion guides are a tricky business. It can take ages to get them working properly. They are a not that important anyway - not something to lose sleep over. You just need to keep trying until it works (that's what I do!)

Project Idea
You could either start a new movie, practising everything you've done so far - or you could continue with your other motion tween movie, just doing a couple of guides. Remember to keep using layers - one for every object!