PI Version: 8 (also suitable for version 7)

Level: Intermediate, (should have knowledge of PI tools and Animation)



Tools: Path Drawing tool, Transform tool, Eraser tool.

Now some of you that have a nice steady hand could do this by using the Paint brush

Tool and the Mode button. I also know that someone might have an easier way of doing

this, but I’m not good at drawing with the mouse, so this is how I did it. lol



Click on your Outline Drawing tool.

Set mode at 2D. Use any color you would like, you can always change it.

Shape Oval. And border should be no more then 3 or 4.

Draw your oval.

Then go to Object – convert object to type – from text to path image.

Now erase part of your oval like picture here. You can do this anyway you choose,

but you want it to have some of the upper curve.

Now right click and Duplicate this.

Move the duplicated curve above the original curve.

Now here you want to change the shape of the curve a little. Use the

Transform tool/Slant to do this.

Now Duplicate this curve. Continue these steps until you have as many of these

have curves, as you wish for one side of your flair.

Some of them you will want to make smaller, and/or change the shape of the curve.

Now right click and select all objects and right click again

and click on Group. Then right click and duplicate.

Edit/Rotate Flip/Horizontally.

Now put the duplicate on right side so it looks something like this.

Then again, right click select all objects, and then right again and group.

Then duplicate this. About 3 times.

Now you want to resize the 2 duplicates, so you have something like this.

Now click on one of the objects to activate it. and click on center to center on

canvas.Then activate the other one and center it, and then the next, until you

have something like this. Then do another Select all objects and group.

Now you want to make the stars.

Go to Path Drawing Tool/Shape/Custom Shape and select the star.

Now draw you stars, remembering to make them all different sizes.

Make quite a few, although you might not use them all but it is

better to be safe then sorry. Lol

Now select the stars and try to move them closer to your flair

object. Then select all the stars and group them.

Now go to your Text and change size to about 50, Mode 3D.

Although you can make the size any that you wish. Add your text.

Now select all objects, and go to Edit/Crop, to make you canvas

smaller to fit you objects.



Now you want to make the little bullet like the thing

that flies in the sky to make the firework display.

Just use your Path Drawing Tool and make a very

small narrow bullet (with the elipse shape) and rotate

about 25 degrees. Move your bullet to the right

bottom corner of your canvas.

Now keep all object activated, right click, and click on ungroup,

and do this as many times as you need so when you do this the

ungroup is grayed out. Then while all objects are still activated,

go to File/Save As and save as UFO format.

1)

Now open your animator, and click on Open an existing image file.

2)

Find your ufo file, and click on it.

3)

Now you will see this on your screen, looks confusing doesn’t it. Lol

On your right are your objects all in a row. First we want to turn

them all off (so to speak) so click on the first one to highlight it

and then scroll down to the bottom of the list and click on Shift

key/and click on the last object in the list, and they will all highlight,

and click on the eye in one, and it will shut them all off. Now always

leave the white background off, so your finished animation will be

transparent bg. Leave your first frame as a blank transparent bg,

and duplicate the frame. Now this will get a little tricky.

4)

Now go to your bullet, object and click first on the box to high light it, and not the rest of your objects. Then click on the eye so you can see your bullet in your second frame.

Like in the example to the left.

You want to duplicate this frame 2 more times.

5)

In the second frame move your bullet up at an angle about half way to the center of your frame, then in the 3rd frame move your bullet, to the center, or there about.

Like the picture on the left.

6)

Now duplicate this frame again, and click off the eye on the bullet, and go to the row of the smallest of your flairs.

(Note; they are usually in order.)

Click on the eye on just a few of them, about 4 or 5. Then duplicate this frame, and go and click on the eye of a few more of your flairs, and duplicate this and click on the rest of your flairs of this size. See additional screenshots below.

7)

Now duplicate last frame again, in this last frame of this

first size flares, and then add some stars. Not all of

the stars- just a few of them. If you need to move them

around a little then click on the row where your image is,

in the list, and it will highlight (the one in the picture

is a darker gray then the others that means it is selected)

Move the stars around your flairs. Remember to vary the

size of stars you use.

8)

Ok now you want to repeat steps 6 and 7, except now

use the next size bigger in your flairs. And after that

you would do the steps 6 and 7 again with the larger

and last size of flairs.

Don’t forget your stars too.

Now we want to start with a blank frame and add a lot

of your stars, spread out over the frame/canvas (go to

Frame/Add Frame). Then duplicate this frame about

3 times, and move the stars down to the bottom of

each frame, deleting the stars that are already close

to the bottom.

Now duplicate the last frame, one more time, and remove

all stars, so you have a blank frame, and click on your name

or what ever word you have to add. Put it anywhere you

would like it to appear.

Set the Delay time to about 200.

Now highlight all the other frames and set the delay time

on these to about 5.

Note, you can change the delay time to anything you want,

but the less delay time on the flairs and stars will make it look better.

That is it you are done, now preview your animation to

make sure it looks the way you want it too.