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STEP 1

Create a new flash file, set the framerate to 30 for a smooth animation. Next, import the image you wish to add the smoke effect to and drag an instance of this from the library to the stage. (If you do not have an image to use, set the background colour of the stage to black to see the effect). Lock the first layer and create a new layer called smoke. Your stage should now be nothing more than an image / black backdrop.

STEP 2

Select the smoke layer we just created, then select the brush tool found here:

And select a medium - large brush size here:

Select white for the colour, then draw some squiggles on the stage like so:

Select all on the stage and press f8 to convert to a movieClip. Double click on the smoke to enter this movieClips timeline. What we need to do now is duplicate the squiggles so we can create a loop. Select all on the stage, then while holding Shift + Alt drag to the right to make a duplicate copy, and align it like so:

STEP 3

Within this movieclips timeline, go to frame 300 and insert a new keyframe (f6). On this frame, select all of your squiggles and whilst holding shift, drag to the left until it the duplicate squiggles are in line with where the original ones where.

Select a frame between 1 - 300 and right click, then create motion tween. Hit CTRL + Enter and check that the clip loops like this:

You may need to tweak the position on the last frame to get a smoother loop.

STEP 4

Ok, so we have moving white lines, but now we need to make it look like smoke. Return to the main timeline of your movie, and select the smoke movieClip. In the properties panel, select the filters tab, then click the plus symbol and select blur.

You can set this to your liking, but anything over about 50 should be fine. I have set mine to 69, and the quality to medium.

You may also need to adjust the alpha in the properties panel if your smoke appears to dense. Hit CTRL and enter, and you should see this as your final result:

This is a basic effect, which looks good and with some experimentation excellent results can be achieved.

The Dude

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