Symbols

When you design work in Flash, whether you create a still image or a series of animation drawings, you can easily turn the images into Symbols. Once they are Symbols, they will reside in the project’s Library, and from there, you can use a particular Symbol many times over. A Symbol can be a still image or it can be an animated sequence: they work well for cycles. Symbols are also ideal for digital cutout animation, where you can create various puppet parts as individual Symbols, such as left and right hands, arms, and legs, a torso, and various head positions, etc.

A Symbol will function as one of three Behaviors:

• Movie Clip
• Button
• Graphic

Each has its own purpose, but for animation production, the most likely choice is Graphic.

There are many advantages to using a Symbol. Two reasons stand out:

First of all, if you use a Graphic for animation, you could use the same Graphic for dozens of frames. At some point, you might want to change the Symbol. For example, you might choose to update a drawing and change part of its colour (which, as you know, is common in animation production). By going to the Library you can change the Symbol (by either double-clicking on the Symbol icon or using context-click and choosing Edit). From the Symbol’s Stage you will then make changes. Once you close the Symbol, everything that you have done so far in the composition will then update with the changes.

Secondly, when a drawing is in Symbol form, you can adapt it’s opacity (or “Alpha,” as Flash calls it). As a result, you can make an image translucent, which you cannot do in any other way with Flash.

When you pull a Symbol, such as a Graphic, onto the Stage, it becomes an “Instance.”

Once a Symbol, a complex image is protected on the Stage: in a way, it’s locked as a group. Even though you can move, rotate, and scale an Instance and make several adjustments using Modify > Transform > Free Transform, you cannot inadvertently erase the Instance. However, if you wish, you can “break apart” the Instance, which will convert it an editable vector image. Moreover, the original Symbol will remain in the Library, ready to be used again. If you lie, you can also take the Instance that you edited and convert it to a new Graphic.

You should not fear Symbols! Instead, you should embrace them and use them all the time.

To Call Up the Library

Go the the main menu and choose Window > Library.

To Create a New Symbol (from Scratch)

Refer to the main menu, go to Insert > New Symbol, and a “Create New Symbol” dialogue box will then open. For “Basic” operations you should do the following:

• Name: You can either type a name or use the default name that the software provides. If you want to change the name later, you can rename a Symbol from the Library.
• Behavior: For animation production purposes, the most likely choice is Graphic.
  Click OK.

Flash will subsequently place the Symbol in the Library and will also open a new Stage and Timeline, which you will use to create the Symbol; a Graphic for example. If you look at the Edit Bar, located immediately above the Timeline (Window > Toolbars > Edit Bar), you should notice two buttons: one is the name of the Scene (the default is “Scene 1”) and the other is the name of the Graphic. By clicking on the Graphic, you will bring its Timeline & Stage to the forefront. If you select the Scene, you will go back to the Scene’s “Main Stage.” You can always open the Symbol again by referring to it in the Library and then double-clicking the Symbol. As a result, the Symbol will open again with its own Timeline & Stage.

You can then proceed with designing the Graphic on the stage, using Flash’s drawing and editing tools. Whenever you want to close the Graphic and return to the Main Stage, simply return to the Edit Bar and click on the Scene.

To Convert to a Symbol

Converting a drawing to a Symbol is similar to creating a Symbol from scratch. The main difference is that, when you create a Symbol, you select elements from the Main Stage and ask Flash to turn the selection into a Symbol. By doing so, you will be able to edit components in its own Stage & Timeline.

Referring to the Main Stage and the drawing that you are currently working on, select the work. You can do this in two ways. First of all, you can use the Selection Tool (V) by clicking near the area and, while holding down the mouse key, drag over the region. Alternatively, if you want to select everything on the Stage, you can click on the current frame in the Timeline, or you can use Edit > Select All.

Once you have made the selection, you should then go to the main menu and choose Modify > Convert to Symbol. A “Convert to Symbol” dialogue box will then open. For “Basic” operations you should do the following:

• Name: You can either type a name or use the default name that the software provides. If you want to change the name later, you can rename a Symbol from the Library.
• Behavior: For animation production purposes, the most likely choice is Graphic.
  Click OK.

To Convert Animation or Keyframes to a Symbol

If your plan is to select a series of frames or animation from the Timeline and make a Symbol, you will have to take an important step: you must copy the frames from the Timeline — not from the Stage. Therefore, you should refer to the Main Timeline and do the steps below:

• On deciding which frames you want to copy, click on the first frame and, while holding down the Shift Key, select the last frame.
• Context-click (right-click) and choose “Copy Frames.”
• Refer to the main menu and go to Insert > New Symbol. Using the “Create New Symbol” dialogue box, give the Symbol a name, and assign it a Behavior. For animation purposes, Graphic is fine.
  Click OK.

A Timeline & Stage for the Symbol should then open, with a default Blank Keyframe on Frame 1. If you click on the frame, context-click (right-click), and choose Paste Frames. The animation frames that you want to convert to a Symbol should then appear in the Symbol’s Timeline.

To Change a Symbol’s Opacity or “Alpha”

In order to make colour changes, you must use both the Stage and the Library.

Firstly, referring to the Library, click on a Symbol and drag it onto the Stage. When you have done this, use the Selection Tool (V) and click on the Symbol (although dragging it onto the Stage should also select it). Doing so should also activate the Properties Inspector for the Symbol.

Using the Properties Inspector, you should select Colour, which includes a slider that you can then adjust (100% is full opacity and 0% is full transparency). From the Colour Options you can also change Brightness (adding black or white), Tint (adjusting Red, Green, and Blue), and Advanced (Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha).

To Change a Symbol Back Into a Single, Editable Vector Image (a Non-Symbol)

Select an Instance on a the Stage and then go to the main menu, Modify > Break Apart. Doing this will affect only the Instance that you have selected. It will not change the original Symbol, which will remain in the Library.