Tracing in Flash

I am a Flash user going on about two years on and off. I've read a couple of good books but they seem to leave out those cool effects that seem to make a difference between great Flash work and standard Flash work. My question is, how do I trace a photo of lets say a figure exactly (hair and all) and use that shape to hide the photo below and reveal it by fading the traced shape. This technique is used reqularly in most high end sites like the following:

1. http://www.seanjohn.com/
2. http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/benditlikebeckham/

I also wonder how designers get their Flash animations to run so smoothly without stuttering. I assume they just speed up the FPS to make everything move really fast and seamless. Any help would be great.

Tom
[email protected]

I don't understand....You want to follow the shape of a picture? Then do with lines that you'll remove later. Or get your pic on photoshop, make a black contour, load new pic in flash, trace. There's no other way to do it than patience, you just need as much time as you want it accurate.