How can i make a line seem to draw itself?

[jonathanbull33]

I have a line which I would like to start off small, then grow longer, as if it is being drawn by an invisible pencil.

Is this possible in Swish and how do I do it?

Thanks,
JonathanBull33

[wcoleman]

As long as you are talking straight lines it is trivial - curved lines are a little harder. Here is an old example of mine done using transforms - http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Flick/linesq3.swf and http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Flick/linesq3.swi

Cheers,

Flick

[98svt]

Thats alot of of lines Flick!
Mike

[jobalistic]

that was good. but the the question was how do you do it?

[wcoleman]

Originally posted by jobalistic
that was good. but the the question was how do you do it?

There are manay ways to do this. If you look at the swi file for the example I gave each line is given a transform effect that lengthens the line by 200 pixels and moves the center by 100 pixels, thus leaving one end fixed. Another way would be to set the left center as the pivot point and draw a line 200 pixels long, then in the transform panel set it to 0% length at the first frame, apply a transform effect that only changes the x value and move it to the right by how ever many pixels you wish. Another would be to draw a line of the length you want at the end of the effect, set it to 0% in the first frame and set the pivot at the left center, then apply a move effect to resize to 100%. No matter what your approach you should have zero set for the line width or it will grow in width as well as length. http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Flick/twolines.swf and http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Flick/twolines.swi show two different methods of drawing a line. Look at the details of the settings for the transform and move effects that are applied.

Cheers,

Flick

[jobalistic]

thnaks for the help however is this also the same case if i want to make a line turn to a corner??

[wcoleman]

Originally posted by jobalistic
thnaks for the help however is this also the same case if i want to make a line turn to a corner??

That would then be two lines - finish one and then immediately begin the next - look at http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Flick/drawsquare.swi

Cheers,

Flick

[2002matt]

Originally posted by wcoleman

Originally posted by jobalistic
that was good. but the the question was how do you do it?

There are manay ways to do this. If you look at the swi file for the example I gave each line is given a transform effect that lengthens the line by 200 pixels and moves the center by 100 pixels, thus leaving one end fixed. Another way would be to set the left center as the pivot point and draw a line 200 pixels long, then in the transform panel set it to 0% length at the first frame, apply a transform effect that only changes the x value and move it to the right by how ever many pixels you wish. Another would be to draw a line of the length you want at the end of the effect, set it to 0% in the first frame and set the pivot at the left center, then apply a move effect to resize to 100%. No matter what your approach you should have zero set for the line width or it will grow in width as well as length. http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Flick/twolines.swf and http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Flick/twolines.swi show two different methods of drawing a line. Look at the details of the settings for the transform and move effects that are applied.

Cheers,

Flick

Hi This is my first time as a member. I've been having problems trying to draw lines in Swish v2.0. I copied your method and it just didn't work for me. When I use the move effect with the exact settings you have I get a little dash that moves across the screen. What am I doing wrong. What size of line did you start with. 0x0??

[98svt]

Start with a line size of "0". Then add the move effect. At the last frame of the move effect, drag the end of the line to the point you want it drawn to.

Mike