Note: The information in this TechNote is specific to Macromedia Flash 5 and earlier. Macromedia Flash MX adds the ability to use animated or scripted movie clips as masks. The techniques in this technote will continue to work in Macromedia Flash MX, however it would be simpler to use the new features of Macromedia Flash MX. For complete details refer to the Macromedia Flash MX documentation.
Many interesting effects can be created using masks together with motion tweens. This is a great way to get an animated mask. Some users want the tweened mask to follow a motion guide. But since a layer can't be both a mask layer and a guide layer, this is not possible using a single SWF.
However, this effect can be achieved using two Flash movies. In one movie, a motion tween is created that follows a guide layer. This movie is then exported as an SWF and imported into the second movie. In the second movie, the layer that contains the imported SWF is set to be a mask layer. Finally, the object to be masked is placed in a masked layer under the imported tween.
Prerequisites: This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with the basic concepts of masks, as discussed in Creating masks and creating motion guides, as covered in How to add and use a motion guide (TechNote 14133).
Download the source files for this example mask_follow_guide.zip (17K)
To have a mask follow a motion guide do the following:
If your motion tween does not follow the guide layers see, Motion path animation doesn't follow path (TechNote 4104). If you encounter problems with using a movie clip in the mask layer see Problems using movie clips in mask layers (TechNote 14264).
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