Insert -> New Symbol -> Movieclip (+F8)
and name clip redlight
Once inside the movie clip select the Pencil Tool
and set it's properties to Smooth
Draw the basic shape of your bulb. Make it big for now; you can resize
the lights later
If your lines are not-quite perfect, you can use the Selection
Tool to click and grab an edge of your shape and then drag
it until it looks the way you want it to
or the Subselection tool
Choose the Paint Bucket Tool. Open up the
Color Mixer and choose a light blue (no matter
what color you want your bulb to be) with the alpha set to about
30%.
Click somewhere inside your bulb outline with your paint bucket
to color it in.
This will be what your bulb will look like when it's 'off'.
Make a new layer above your bulb and name it 'highlight'. Select
the Paint Brush Tool with a medium diameter and
choose 'Radial' instead of 'Solid' from the drop
down menu. Select white for both the left and right side color
boxes, but on the right side color box set the alpha to 0%.
On the highlight layer, draw a relatively straight line down the
side of your bulb.
This is just a reflective highlight to give your bulb a little depth.
Now you need to draw the socket for the bulb. Choose whatever color you want.
Lock the bulb layer. Make a new layer
underneath the bulb and highlight layers and name it 'base' or 'socket'.
Draw a vaguely rectangular shape using the Pencil Tool,
then fill it in with whatever color you want to use. Drag it underneath
your bulb until everything lines up correctly. If part of your socket
overlaps the bulb, just use the eraser tool to get rid of that portion.
Add any details to your
socket you want.
You need to make the bulb light
up. On frame thirty, insert keyframes in each of the layers. Unlock the bulb layer. In
the bulb layer, click on the light blue coloring so it's selected.
Using your color mixer, select a nice red color. It should automatically
recolor your bulb. If it doesn't just use the Paint Bucket.
You can add an outerglow to it to
give a little extra realism. Create a new layer underneath your
bulb layer but above your socket layer. Name it 'glow'. Create a
keyframe on frame thirty. Choose the Paint Brush
tool and the same color of your bulb, but set the color's alpha
down to about 20% using the color Mixer. Draw
a big halo around your bulb in every direction.
Move to frame 80 on your timeline and insert frames (not keyframes!)
in all the layers. That's it! You've got one bulb finished.
To make your other colors, Right click on the clip in the library and make a duplicate. Rename the new clip.
Open the duplicated movieclip. Go into frame thirty and use the paint bucket to
recolor the bulb and the glow.
Follow the above steps to make as many
color bulbs as your want. You might want to readjust when the lights turn on-Stagger them around 10 -20 frmaes.
Once you have all your colors, go back to the main timeline.
If you're putting your bulbs over a photograph, place your bitmap
on the bottom layer. Lock the layer when you have it positioned
where you want it.<
Create a new layer and call it "lightstrand". This will
be the wire your lights are attached to. Using a dark green color
(or whatever color you used for your socket) and the Paint Brush
tool with a small diameter, draw a line where you want your lights
to be attached to. Don't make this line perfectly straight. Use
small dips where gravity would naturally be pulling it down.
Once you have your wire finished, make a new layer for each color
bulb you have. Now's the fun part. Drag as many lights from your
library onto the stage as you want, keeping the colors separated
into their own layers. Meaning, green bulbs all go on one layer,
red on another, etc.
Position the bulbs where you want them and use the Scale/Rotate
tool to get them to look exactly how you wanted.
