Flash Layers in Timeline
Movies are built in layers in the Timeline which display
on the Stage
Stacking order -- top layer content appears in front of lower layers
Each frame in a layer represents what you will see on the stage during
a unit of time
Flash lets you put animation and sound together and export them as an SWF movie that will play on the Internet
- Default is 12 frames per second
- 21 fps gives a smoother movie
- When you import a video into Flash, you need to coordinate the frame rate of the video and the Flash document
- Otherwise the resulting movie may have jerky or unpredictible playback
Layers hold symbols
Flash 8 provides folders to hold categories of layers in Timeline
Each layer should contain 1 element or symbol to keep the elements organized.
Types of elements:
- bitmapped images such as a GIF or JPG graphic
- grouped items, such as several drawn images that are grouped
- text
- symbols, which are stored in the movie library and can be reused. Movieclip and button symbols have their own timelines
- sounds, which are also stored in the movie library
- Actions, which are scripted directions on what should happen when
the playhead reaches that frame in the timeline (e.g., stop the movie
playing; jump to frame 30).
- frame labels identify location in the timeline
Each element or symbol should have its own layer
- Easier to delete unwanted elements
- Avoids the undesirable grouping of two graphics that happen to touch
or overlap
- Lets you change stacking order
- Lets you lock layers you want to avoid changing
Scenes
- Flash document can be divided into multiple scenes
- Makes it easier to edit longer moview on-screen.
