Hi There,

I am having trouble with filling in the spaces within pre-drawn outlines as part of an animated video project. I have had a change of heart regarding the use of mere 'skeleton' outlines and wish to convert many of them to filled areas using the outlines already drawn. I know I may sketch closed areas by drawing a boundary line and simply closing it, but that is not convenient in this application. I have tried a variety of methods described in the 'help' files, such as converting my lines to 'shapes', but so far every attempt has seen colour flood the entire area of the on-screen raster and obliterate the outlines themselves. What I wish to know, is a simple two to four step procedure, which would allow me to re-activate existing closed shapes in some way and fill them in to create the filled shapes I so badly need.

Now to the good news. I have successfully animated, at 1 million year intervals the tectonic plate movements of all of Oceania, that is Australia, Gondwanaland and as much of South East Asia as is visible from a point which centres the visible globe on -35deg.S and 140deg.E and all this existing material has been checked by making it into a finished animation which works well. But, I have yet to add New Zealand and it's continental shelf-area, the much bigger 'Zealandia' to the animation. I have a series of strategies which use specially constructed geometric devices to centre the various land movements over, and they work as well. I simply need to be able to take existing closed outlines and to fill them, easily in as few steps as possible, and of course, with a zero failure rate.

Can anyone assist me with advice please.

Ian Smith

Dunedin, New Zealand