Specifications

Creating a symbol 49
Creating a symbol
A symbol is an object that you create in Flash. As you discovered in Part 1,
a symbol can be a graphic, button, or movie clip, and you can then reuse it
throughout the current FLA or other FLA files. Any symbol that you create
is automatically added to the document's library (Window > Library), so
you can use it many times within a document.
When you add animation, you should always animate symbols in Flash,
instead of animating raw graphics (graphics that you draw) or raw assets
that you import (such as a PNG file). For example, if you draw a circle
using the Oval tool in Flash, you should convert that circle graphic into a
movie clip before you animate it. This helps you reduce the SWF file size,
and makes it easier to create an animation in Flash.
You will create a movie clip symbol in the following exercise. You will
animate this movie clip in later exercises.
1. In banner2.fla, select the star.png image (imported in Part 1) and select
Modify > Convert to Symbol from the main menu.
The Convert to Symbol dialog box opens (see the following figure),
where you can name a symbol and select which type of symbol you
want it to be.
2. Type join us in the Name text box (see the following figure).
You will see the name of the symbol, join us, in the Library panel after
you create the symbol. You will also see an icon that represents movie
clips next to the symbol's name.
Remember that the symbol's name is different than its instance name,
because you can have numerous instances of a single symbol on the
Stage. For example, you can set an instance name for the join us symbol
using the Property inspector after you drag it to the Stage from the
Library panel. If you drag another instance of the join us symbol to the
Stage, assign it a different instance name. You use the instance name in
your ActionScript to reference and manipulate the instance with code.
There are some naming guidelines you must follow when you assign an
instance name. (This is discussed in “Writing simple actions”).