FLASH CS3 Blend and Erase Layer & Transparency

By Alejandra Jarabo, professor, Santa Barbara City College:

As you might know, Flash CS3 has more advanced graphic features, making possible to create Photoshop-like artwork.

Now you can apply Blending modes in Flash.
Your artwork should be FIRST converted to a movie-clip symbol for this feature to work.

There is also a new feature (in the blending mode menu: LAYER blend) that lets you change the way Transparency works as default in Flash when you apply it to complex artwork.

If you apply Layer blending mode to complex artwork, it will "visually flatten out" the content of the movie-clip and then apply transparency to the whole complex shape at once.

I have made a flash movie demonstrating blending modes in flash.

ALPHA and ERASE blending modes deserve a special explanation.
. They work in a slightly different way: the art work set to ALPHA or ERASE has to contain an Alpha channel (png graphic files from Photoshop mostly).
. the png needs to be set in a movie clip (like the other blending modes), BUT the art work that "blends against" need to be, together with the alpha-movie clip inside a "mother" movie clip symbol.

(nesting, Oh nesting again...)

That "mother" movie clip symbol, containing both alpha movie clip-symbol and background artwork, NEEDS TO BE SET to LAYER blending mode on the Main Time line.

Made an example for this one also
ERASE& LAYER blend modes together..

From Pablo:

You can download these files here:
Transparency
Blend_erase_layer