Author: luco | Website: http://www.luco.com.br

[setup]

first we need to get some pieces together. define your movie size and fps. I recommend some square size like 200x200px. yeah, I'm square. plus make it 24FPS for optimal optical illusion of movement. yeah, animation is some kind of optical illusion. you didn't know that? well... on layer 1, define a new symbol (ctrl+f8). since we're out to make a clock, let's call it "clock", shall we? oh, and define it as a movieclip. once in the symbol-editting area, draw a circle exactly in the middle, any size you want, and mark the numbers for the hours, unless you want a clean-looking display. for a really clean look, don't draw a circle. that's a Gestalt lesson: "less is more". more confusing, that is. THEN, make another layer for each hand. why is that? don't know, just paranoid organisation. it'll come in handy if you need to make careful adjustements, but again it's not required. it can also help you to define which hand is on top of which, if you're this keen on details. on each layer, draw a line of any size, color and thickness. just remember - the seconds hand is the longest one. and the hours hand is the shortest. unless you're some Gestalt freak. just make them vertical, growing from the center of the symbol (that crosshair in the middle). then, call the instances "hrs", "min" and "sec" for hour, minute and second display. what, I'm funny but not dumb. by the way, are we keeping up with the tute still? if not, you need to be more sincere to yourself, cuz I warned you it envolved "basic skills for symbol creation" didn't I? anyway! it's time to code. to the CodeMobile (tm)!