Text Masking with Image
Software : Flash CS3
Level : Intermediate

Concept: In this lesson, the text is animated using Adobe Flash motion tween technique. The text animation is above the stationary landscape and converted into the mask. The portion of the landscape is revealed only where the text is moving and you see the scenery through text. You can experiment with different movements of the text. Try to use thicker font so that you can see maximum portion of the scenery.

1. Prepare the image for flash with proper size that will fit to the size of the text. We have selected following image.

2. Open flash and Import image on the stage using
File > Import > Import to Stage

3. For this particular animation we don't need to convert the image to symbol because we are not going to make any changes to the image.

4. Press F5 at 60th frame to keep an image stationary for 60 frames.

5. Create new layer in the timeline and type the text at the top. Try to use thick font to get better effect. Keep it selected.

6. Convert the text into graphic symbol.

7. Select 60th frame on the top layer where the text is placed and press F6 to insert the Keyframe.

8. Drag the text down and apply motion tween.

9. If you play this animation it will be regular, simple animation with a text moving over the image.

10. Right click on the top layer where the text animation is situated and select Mask.

11. The layer in the timeline will show the changes indicating masking.

12. The image will be displayed only where the text is overlapped.

13. Export movie using File > Export > Export Movie