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- [Instructor] In this

movie, I'll show you



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how to record your own multi-step action



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and so the idea is we're

going to create an action



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that shades the bottom of

each one of these blocks



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of metal type in order to

create this effect, right here.



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Let me explain the context, here.



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I'll go ahead and turn off

this image layer for a moment



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so that you can see that

the bottoms of each one



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of these blocks is set to

a different shade of gray.



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I want to retain that shading

but I want to add a gradient



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on top of each one.



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Now, if I wanted them

to be exactly the same



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then I could just add a

gradient to one of the blocks



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and then eye-dropper the

other ones but as I say



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I want each one of the gray

values to be slightly different.



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All right, so what I recommend

you do in a case like this



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is figure out what you

want to do in advance



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and then record the action after that



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and so I'm going to start

with the base at the end



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and then I'll up to the Window menu



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and choose the Appearance

command to bring up



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the Appearance panel

and then I'll go ahead



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and add a new fill by

clicking the Add New Fill icon



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down here in the bottom,

left corner of the panel.



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Next, I'll go up to the Window menu



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and choose the Gradient command

and then inside the Gradient



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panel, I'll make sure the fill is active



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and I'll click on the Gradient bar.



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All right, now we have a second fill



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that's set to Gradient but

it's not the right gradient



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and so I'm going to go

up to the Swatches panel



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and grab this shade of

brown, which begins:



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R equals 956 and I'll drag it and drop it



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to the first color stop and then I'll grab



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this shade of orange

which begins: R equals 251



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and I'll drag it and drop

it to the final color stop



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and then with that last

color stop selected



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I'll reduce the opacity value to 50%



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and then finally, at least

where this panel is concerned,



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I'll set the angle value

to 90 degrees, like so



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and then I'll click on the opacity item



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associated with my new fill,



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here inside the Appearance panel,



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and I'll change the Blend Mode to Multiply



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to produce this effect,

here and that's it.



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Those are the steps that I want to apply.



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So, now let's record

those steps as an action



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by selecting this base shape, right here,



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and then going up to the Window menu



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and choosing the Actions command



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in order to bring up the Actions panel.



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I'll go ahead and twirl

closed both that action



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that I applied in the previous movie



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as well as the default action set.



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You don't really want

to record into that set



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because those are

Illustrator's default actions



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and what you'll want to do

is create a set of your own



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but you do have to do so.



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You've got to create a set

before you record an action.



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So, drop down to the little folder icon



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at the bottom of the Actions

panel and click on it



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and then I'm going to call

my action set, "dekeOps".



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You can call yours anything you like



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and then I'll click OK.



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All right, the next step is

to begin recording an action



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and you do that by clicking

the little page icon



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to create a new action

and so I'll go ahead



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and call this guy "add

brown grad", let's say.



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At this point, you can

choose a different action set



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if you like.



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So, I could switch to default actions



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but, as I say, I think that's a bad idea



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and then you have the option

of assigning a Function Key.



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Now, here on the PC, you can

only choose from F2 to F12.



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You have more options

available to you on the Mac



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but let's say I go something like F2.



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You then have the option

of adding the Shift Key



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or, if you like, the Control Key,



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that would be the Command

Key on the Mac, or both



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if you prefer at which point

we would now have a shortcut



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of Control + Shift + F2.



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You can also specify a color, for example,



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I'll give this guy a color of orange.



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Now, in case you're wondering

where these colors show up,



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there is a playback button

mode and I'll show you



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how that works in the very next movie



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but for now decide if you want a shortcut



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and a color and then click

Record and you can see



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that not only is this new action selected



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but the Record button, the

circular Record button,



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down here, is red and

it's dimmed to show you



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that you have a recording in progress.



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All right, so, as you may recall,



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Step one is to click on Add New Fill



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in the bottom, left corner

of the Appearance panel.



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Step two is to assign some

sort of default gradient



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and I'm going to go

with the default, here,



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inside the Swatches

panel, just to clear out



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what I did last time around

and then I'll go ahead



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and grab this second-to-darkest

shade of brown



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and I'll drag it and drop

it to the first color stop.



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I'll grab this light shade of orange



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and I'll drag it and drop

it to the last color stop.



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With that stop selected,

I'll reduce the opacity value



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to 50%.



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I'll change the angle value to 90 degrees



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and then I'll click on the word "opacity"



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below the fill, down here

in the Appearance panel



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and I'll change the Blend Mode to Multiply



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or if you load a D-key you

can just press Shift + F1



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and whether you do the work manually



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or you perform the steps using shortcuts



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the Actions panel will pay

attention to what you're doing.



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All right, now that I'm finished



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I'll just go ahead and click

the square, stop button



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in order to stop recording that action



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and assuming all goes

well, it's that simple.



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All right, I'm going to switch

back to the Stroke panel



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just to give myself a

little more room to work



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and I'll bring back the Layers panel



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and I'll turn on that image layer as well



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and I'll press Control + Shift + A,



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or Command + Shift + A on the

Mac, to deselect the art work



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and as you can see we now

have two properly shaded bases



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to our letter blocks.



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In the next movie, I'll

show you how to play back



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the action on these four surfaces, here



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and in four different ways.