ptg 154 Chapter 4 Movie clip symbols operate independently on the main Timeline. When you want an animation to loop on a single frame in the Timeline, you can store this animation in the Timeline of a movie clip that will sit on this frame. Movie clip instances can have actions applied to them and can be controlled from anywhere in the Flash movie through ActionScript. They can contain animations, interactive controls, sounds, and even other movie clips. Unlike graphic symbols, you can only see the first frame of the movie clip in the main Timeline. Export your movie to see the movie clip play. Using Movie Clip Symbols Create and View Movie Clips Symbols Click the Insert menu, and then click New Symbol. Click the Type list arrow, and then click Movie Clip. Click OK. Add your content to the Movie Clip Timeline. Return to the main Timeline by clicking the Back button or the Scene name on the Edit bar. Drag the movie clip symbol to the Stage from the Library. To ch ange movie cl ip properties, select the clip on the Stage, and then change options in the Property Inspector. ◆ Symbol. Movie Clip, Graphic, or Button ◆ X and Y position ◆ Width and Height ◆ Color. Brightness, Tint, Alpha, and Advanced Click the Control menu, point to Test Movie, and then click Test. TIMESAVER Press A +Return (Mac) or Ctrl+Enter (Win) to test it. 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 6 7 8 Movie clip 5 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 4 Working with Groups, Symbols, and Instances 155 Sometimes you'll need to break a symbol instance so that it is no longer linked to the master symbol. You might do this if you want to add some- thing to the symbol without affecting the other instances. In this way, the content inside the symbol will become a simple graphic that you can adjust without affecting the master symbol you made it from or any of its instances. Breaking Symbols Apart Break an Instance Select an instance on the Stage you would like to break. Click the Modify menu, and then click Break Apart. TIMESAVER Press A +B (Mac) or Ctrl+B (Win) to quickly break apart a symbol. 2 1 1 Symbol broken apart into an editable shape. See Also See “Swapping Symbol Instances” on page 146 for information on swapping symbol instances. From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 156 Chapter 4 You can alter the properties of an instance of a symbol without affect- ing the master symbol. Any transform applied to an instance can be animated with motion tweening. Flash will gradually draw the frames in between one transform to another. This is how you create movement in Flash. Change the scale of an instance or rotate and skew it. You can perform these functions interactively with the Free Transform tool. You can also add values in the Transform panel, or access additional Transform options in the program's Modify menu. Distort and Envelope cannot be applied to instances and are disabled on the Tools panel options when the Free Transform tool is selected. Modifying Instance Properties Modify the Scale or Rotation Select the instance on the Stage. Click the Free Transform tool on the Tools panel. TIMESAVER Press Q to quickly select the Free Transform tool. Click the Scale or Rotate and Skew button in the Options section of the Toolbar. Drag the small handles around the bounding box to change the size of the instance or rotate it. To us e the Transform panel, click the Window menu, and then click Transform. TIMESAVER Press Ctrl+T (Win) or A +T (Mac) to open the Transform panel. 5 4 3 2 1 3 4 2 The Transform panel allows you to enter values for various transforms. Did You Know? You can select multiple instances and change their properties simultane- ously. Press Shift+select each instance you would like to alter in tandem. A bounding box will appear around all selected instances. 5 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 4 Working with Groups, Symbols, and Instances 157 Transf orms ob ject s freely Constrain transforms Rotate commands Flip commands Removes all applied Transf orm eff ects Use Additional Transform Commands Select the instance on the Stage. Click the Modify menu, point to Transform, and then click one of the following: ◆ Free Transform. Transforms the object freely. ◆ Scale. Constrains the transform to scale. ◆ Rotate And Skew. Constrains the transform to rotate and skew. ◆ Scale And Rotate. Constrains the transform to scale and rotation changes. ◆ Rotate 90° CW. Rotates the selected object 90° clockwise. ◆ Rotate 90° CCW. Rotates the selected object 90° counter- clockwise. ◆ Flip Vertical. Flips the object along a vertical axis. ◆ Flip Horizontal. Flips the object along a horizontal axis. ◆ Remove Transform. Removes any transform effects applied to the selected instance. 2 1 Did You Know? Changing the scale or rotation of an instance can also be done in the Transform panel. Simply select the instance, and then access the Transform panel. Click the Window menu, and then click Transform. The Modify menu includes additional trans- form commands not available any- where else. 2 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 158 Chapter 4 You can change the tint, brightness, or transparency of an instance in the Color list arrow located in the Property Inspector. This feature appears whenever an instance is selected on the Stage. If you would like to add a color to the instance, you can do so by selecting the Tint color style. Choose a color and then choose the amount of color that will be applied. You can adjust the Brightness (that is, how much white or black will be added) of an instance by choosing the Brightness color style. An instance can also be made transparent by altering the Alpha color style. An Alpha of zero will make the instance invisible, though it can still be selected and animated. This is useful when you want an object to fade on or off the Stage. You can also create unique compos- ite image effects by varying color and transparency and applying a blend to two or more overlapping movie clips instances. Modifying Instance Color Styles and Blends Modify the Brightness Select the instance on the Stage. Click the Style list arrow in the Property Inspector, and then click Brightness. Enter a value between -100 and 100 (-100= no brightness, black; 100= maximum brightness, white). TIMESAVER You can use the slider to the right of the field to interactively change the level of Brightness applied. Modify the Tint Color Select the instance on the Stage. Click the Color list arrow in the Property Inspector, and then click Tint. Click a color from the color box list arrow or enter an RGB value in the fields. Enter a value between 0 and 100 (0= no color, 100= maximum saturation). 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 2 Brightness of 75% Brightness of -50% 3 4 Tint of 50% Tint of 100% 2 3 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 4 Working with Groups, Symbols, and Instances 159 Modify the Transparency Select the instance on the Stage. Click the Style list arrow in the Property Inspector, and then click Alpha. Enter a value between 0 and 100 (0= invisible, 100= fully visible). TIMESAVER You can use the slider to the right of the field to interactively change the level of Alpha applied. If you need to apply a color style with alpha you must use the Advanced option. Modify the Blend Select the movie instance on the Stage. Click the Style list arrow and adjust the color and transparency. Click the Blending list arrow, and then select a blend. Position the movie clip with the blend over another symbol. To ac hieve the eff ect you want, you will need to experiment with the color and transparency of the movie clip and blend mode. 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 2 Alpha of 25% Alpha of 50% Hard Light blend Subtract blend 3 4 Difference blend Blend result color Did You Know? A blending mode contains different elements. It contains a blend color, opacity (degree of transparency), base color (pixel colors under blend), and result color. 3 2 From the Library of Wow! eBook . clip instances can have actions applied to them and can be controlled from anywhere in the Flash movie through ActionScript. They can contain animations, interactive controls, sounds, and even. independently on the main Timeline. When you want an animation to loop on a single frame in the Timeline, you can store this animation in the Timeline of a movie clip that will sit on this frame Ctrl+B (Win) to quickly break apart a symbol. 2 1 1 Symbol broken apart into an editable shape. See Also See “Swapping Symbol Instances” on page 146 for information on swapping symbol instances.