Background tutorial

Watch the image above to see the finished result. It wasn't hard making and didn't take too long either. The swf's were recorded with 'Macromedia Captivate' in the 1280 x 1024 resolution. I suggest you press F11 to get fullscreen mode while watching them. Now let's start.

First of all, open Flash and press 'CTRL+N' to make a new document. We will then be adding the foreground frame and a perspective line.

Watch how

Now let's start making the building. Press 'N' to get out the Line tool and start by making the bottom line. Drag it from the green line to somewhere left on the screen. By draging all of the lines to the green line, we'll be sure that the perspective is correct.

Watch me make the building

Next, we'll be adding colors to the building and a ground. Press 'K' to get out the bucket tool. Select Linear fill. I picked a green color but you may take whatever you want. Just make sure your linear fill goes from a darker shade to a brighter one.

Watch how

Time to add some glow effects. Convert the white from the windows and the lamp to a Movieclip. Cut them out from this layer (CTRL+X) and paste them on the same spot (CTRL+SHIFT+V) in a new layer. If we didn't do this, the glow effect wouldn't be seen. I'm also creating a blurry shadow on the building.

Watch this step

Now we will create the actuall background with the mountains. Start by making a big square over the whole stage. This square is supposed to be the sky. Draw the outlines with the pencil tool and fill the mountains with a linear fill. Make a layer behind the first mountains and redo what you just did and then delete the outlines. I also made the mountains a bit transparent.

See how

Finally, let's add the sun. Draw the outlines of the sun and color it white. Add a glow and blur effect.

Watch

You're pretty much done. The background could be alot more detailed and improved in general but I was lazy. Hope this helps!

-Oscar Johansson Dec 19th 2005