Digital Workshop

Here's a simple example of the new OPUS v7 "tween" feature. This is ONLY going to work using OPUS v7.

On a new Page, select the tween Tool from the vertical Objects menu in OPUS v7. This works like any other Frame, so Left click in the upper left top of the Page, then drag to the lower right corner before releasing your mouse. You should have a large Frame on your Page when you are finished.

Next, select an Image Object and place it's upper left corner within the new tween Frame. Drag the Image Object down and outward, then release your mouse. Select a small graphic image (JPG for example). You can use "Scale to Fit" to simplify this example. Look at your Organizer on the left side of your Edit Screen, the Image Object you created MUST be under (inside) the tween Frame. If it's not, then highlight the Image Object and do a RIGHT mouse DRAG into the tween Frame. When the Window opens after you release the mouse, select "Insert Into." The Object you want to animate using the tween feature MUST be within the tween Frame.

You MUST have OPUS Notes toggled ON. There's an icon in the center of the first icon menu which says "Toggle Notes View." If this is ON, you'll see two Tabs at the bottom of the screen: Notes & Tween1. Select the Image Object either by clicking directly on it, OR click on it within the Organizer on the left side of the screen. When you do this, you'll see "Image 1" or whatever you may have named your Image Object, become highlighted in the new Tween window.

For this sample, go directly under the number "30" on the timeline, then do a RIGHT mouse click on the Image 1 line. Click "Set Keyframe."

You've just set the initial position for this animation. Now highlight Image 1 within the tween Frame and drag it to another location within the Frame. Increase the size of Image 1, and rotate it 90 degrees.

That's it! When you do a Preview, Image 1 should move from its initial position to the final location you selected, AND it will increase in size while rotating to its final resting position.

If you double LEFT click on the tween Frame, you can select the "Tween" tab where you control whether this animation will "Play Automatically," and whether it will repeat. This is also where you control the number of Frames you'll get per second. If you increase the frames, the animation moves more slowly, but smoother.

If you only want to move an Object around on the Page, you'll probably continue to use an Animation Path. If you want an Object to almost "morph" into a different position with a new angle, then you'll like this new tween feature.

Ah! So you set a beginning point AND set the object's state, and then set an ending point and its state... and Opus will take care of everything be-TWEEN? Pretty cool.

I ONLY set the key frame for the first position of the Object, THEN I dragged the Object to its final position and angle. I did not do a second key set.

Chris Jones says this looks best when you use a polygon and changes its shape in the second/final position. The Object then appears to morph from its first shape into its final shape. I'll work on a second example trying a polygon.

Thanks Fred and Lars

I followed your instructions (I think) and managed to get the png image to go from the end state to the rest state.

You can also do this using the follow path tool.

How can a tween be employed usefully in a publication? That's the question on my mind.

Would love to see an example uploaded onto this board to help me understand more.

Cheers

Graham

That's a good question Dave. I would guess those who develop corporate presentations will find uses to create morphing effects similar to professional/TV broadcasts... and achieve it simpler now that in v6 or earlier. I could also foresee its use for illustrating processes and systems (some think of this as 'simulations')....

I think v7 tweening object may offer a simpler approach than trying to set and synchronize movement/animations on many many objects. Plus the 'blend-morph' may be more eye appealing than simply overlaying fade-out and fade-in of two objects.

I thought I'd play with it a bit to test it out. The 'mock up' is crude, but does prove-out what can be done in a short time. Repeat: this is a crude test

Dave who?

Lar's right though. If you ever have the opportunity to see any of the examples posted by Linda, you'll see some fantastic sequencing in action. Tweening would make this more practical to achieve.

Imagine that you have a class full of students, that over a period of 8 hours need to be in different places doing different things. Traditionally, you'd have to code the movements and attributes of each student over the agreed period.

With tweening, it's like one of those route planners. You put in where the student starts, where they finish and what stops need to be made in-be-tween (lol) and Opus does the hard work of getting you there. Plus, and it's a big plus, if you need to change the attributes on route, Opus will create a smooth transition between the two states.

Mack

Why that would be Dave ____! You did know that Graham Baglin went into the witness protection program. That's why he's been 'less conspicuous' here.

Oops! Sorry Graham. I meant "Thanks Graham"
my story: I was on 2 or 3 Firefox tabs, and evidently when I switched to reply over here... my brain TWEENED some other nugget of data from that other 'frame'.

While I'm at it. Fred, I didn't mean to hijack your 'tutorial'. Did intend to add to the topic in response/?'s.

Witness protection program

Dave eh? Reminds me about a Dave and Mabel joke - unfortunately not fit for publication!

Thanks for the great example Lar.

You could use the animation at the end of a chapter showing the chapter character zooming off the screen on his or her scooter.

I have seen some of Linda's publications - They are brilliant. That Linda is one very talented lady indeed!

Good example Mack - a class of students is something I am very familiar with. Losing a few students along the way is also a challenge but it can be done! These students almost always sit down the back row and are easily identifiable.

Thanks again and cheers

Dave

Did I say 'it was crude'?. I should have said it was Ambiguous!!
I intended it for the 45-55 crowd as a Treadmill. I see you are thinking 'younger' with the Razor scooter. I could probably also sell it off to the 70+ crowd as a walker if I converted the stroll to a shuffle.

The example took 20-30 minutes to rough out as far as the stick figure and the keyframes. Then I spent a fair amount more time figuring out how the two tweens worked together, and to get the timings done a bit better. Great job DW! (BTW I doubt adube's product is powerful/productive in the same way as as Opus, since they handle keyframes in a more complex way and have dialog/dropdown settings )