MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX-USING DIRECTOR MX, Use Manual

Page: 251 / 624

Vector Shapes 251
To close or open vector shapes:
•
Select or deselect the Close box at the left side of the window.
If the shape is closed, Director draws a line between the last and first points defined; if it is
open, Director removes the line between the last and first points.
To close a shape with Lingo:
•
Set the
closed
cast member property to
true
. See
closed
in the Lingo Dictionary.
To scale a vector shape:
•
Control-Alt-drag (Windows) or Command-Option-drag (Macintosh) to proportionally resize
a vector shape.
You can also enter a scaling percentage for a vector shape using the Cast Member Properties
dialog box. See “Setting vector shape properties” on page 252.
Defining gradients for vector shapes
You can use controls in the Vector Shape window or Lingo to specify the type of gradient, how it
is placed within a shape, and how many times it cycles within the shape. A gradient for a vector
shape shifts between the fill color and the end color you define. You can create linear or radial
gradients. Changes you make to vector shape gradients have no effect on gradients for bitmaps in
the Paint window. You can fill only closed vector shapes with gradients.
To define a gradient for a vector shape:
1
Create a closed vector shape in the Vector Shape window.
2
Click the Gradient button in the Fill type controls.
3
To select colors for the gradient, click the color box on the left side of the Gradient Colors
control and select a starting color from the Color menu. To select the ending color, repeat this
step using the color box on the right side of the Gradient Colors control.
4
Select Linear or Radial from the Gradient Type pop-up menu at the top of the window.
5
To define the number of times the gradient should change colors within the shape, use the
Cycles control.