How to Create a Movie Clip Symbol in Flash CS4

Save time by creating a movie clip symbol.

Movie clip symbols in Adobe Flash CS4 allow you to quickly reuse an animation clip in multiple instances. Just like the other symbol features in Adobe Flash CS4, movie clip symbols can save you a lot of time by eliminating the need to re-create each instance and memory space because the program only needs to remember the one symbol for multiple instances. Movie clips are more advanced than the other symbols, however, because they contain their own separate timeline separate from the file's timeline. These clips can contain movies, sounds and commands.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Click on the "Insert" menu and select "New Symbol."

2. Enter a name for the symbol in the "Name" box.

3. Click on the "Type" drop-down menu. Select "Movie Clip" and press "OK."

4. Click in the first frame. Draw or insert the desired objects for the movie clip into the document window.

5. Use the timeline to create the desired motion for the movie clip.

6. Click on the "Edit" menu and select "Edit Document" to return to the original Flash document.

7. Click in the frame where you want to add the movie clip symbol.

8. Click on the "Library" tab. Drag the movie clip from the library onto the stage.

References

• Adobe Flash CS5: Working with Symbols