Flash 101 (part 5): Spiralling Out Of Control - Rebirth (
Page 3 of 7 )
The example you just saw
demonstrates how to create a movie clip symbol from scratch. But what happens if
you already have an existing animation sequence (which is not a symbol), and
you'd now like to convert it to a symbol? Do you have to create the entire
sequence anew?
Flash allows you to convert an existing animation sequence
to a movie clip symbol via a simple copy-paste process. First, open up the file
containing the animation sequence you plan to convert, and select all the frames
containing the sequence. Use the Edit -> Copy Frames command to copy these
frames.
Now, create a new movie clip symbol using the Insert -> New
Symbol command. Flash will drop you into symbol-editing mode, as in the previous
example. Select the first frame in the Timeline, and use the Paste Frames
command on the shortcut menu to paste the copied frames into the movie clip
symbol's Timeline. You now have a movie clip symbol which you can re-use
throughout your Flash movie.
To test the symbol, go back to the Stage,
and delete the animation sequence from the Timeline of the main movie. Insert an
instance of the symbol you just created, and use the Control -> Test Movie
symbol to test whether the movie clip works correctly.
This article copyright Melonfire 2001. All rights
reserved.
