UFO

This is the UFO I created in class when we were taught how to animate along a motion guide. To make it, I first set the stage dimensions to 500px by 300px with a frame rate of 12 frames per second, and filled the background with a dark blue. I then created the UFO as a new symbol, then used the Oval tool to make the planet and filled it with a Radial Gradient, using the Gradient Modifier to experiment with the spread of different colours. I made a new layer above the planet layer and dragged the UFO onto it from the library and resized it accordingly. I added a motion tween to the UFO for 40 frames, then added another new layer above it, on which I used the Oval tool to create a pale blue outline of a squashed oval around the planet. I locked the UFO and planet layers, then zoomed in and erased a tiny part of the oval outline near the UFO before changing it to a guide layer and dragging the UFO layer onto it in order to link the two. I dragged the UFO's center point to one end of the oval outline on frame 1, then positioned it at the other end of the outline in frame 40. Lastly, I unlocked the planet layer, selected the top half of the planet, cut it, and pasted it in place on a new layer above the guide and UFO layers to give the impression that the UFO is travelling around the planet. I found this to be a very useful and interesting way to teach motions guides, and I feel I could repeat the process should I need to for a project of my own in the future.