Symbols

Interactivity, Sound, and Curvy Motions in Flash

So, let's up the ante from the original idea (though I've used it in Figure 1 for comparison) and move MySite.com along a figure 8 path (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Figure 8 path

Creating a Symbol

Using symbols has several advantages. First, all the pieces of an "object" are held together. You can pick them up and drop them into the movie at any point, and when you want to do sophisticated tweening, they are required. Trying to tween MySite.com along the path shown above without using a symbol won't work. So let's make a symbol.

Figure 4: Symbol Properties Dialog

Insert/Create Symbol or Function 8 starts the process and brings up a box (Figure 4) asking you to name the symbol and check whether or not the symbol will have button-like properties (clickable states). After naming the symbol (in this case it's not a button), you'll see another screen that looks just like the stage on which you're creating your main movie.

This is where you create your symbol. In this case, all you have to do is choose the font, the color, and type the text. Use frames and layers to create a symbol exactly as you do when working directly in the movie, so if you wanted to create a symbol with multiple layers or frames, you could use the same techniques you use for all other Flash procedures.

Figure 5: Flash Library

Once you're done, just click the small arrow you see in the upper right corner and you'll move back into your main movie. Now you want to incorporate the symbol onto the stage. All symbols you create, whether they are symbols you've made, images you've imported, or sounds you've imported, are stored in the "Library" for that movie. You can see the Library by selecting Window/Library. Once the Library is visible, you select the symbol you're ready to use. It shows up in the small window in the Library box and can then be dragged onto your movie (remember to be in the right layer and in the right key frame).