Symbols
In Animate we create objects called Symbols, and when we put them on the stage we refer to them as an Instance of that Symbol. There are 3 types of Symbols in Animate: Movie clips, Buttons, and Graphics. You can find out more about the difference between them here. We will mainly be using Graphics and Movie Clips in this class.
A symbol is a Graphic, Button, or Movie clip that you create once and can reuse throughout your animation. It lives in the Library. You edit it in “Symbol editing mode”, by double clicking its icon in the library. It is important to realize that Symbols have their own timeline.
An instance is a copy of a Symbol located on the Stage or nested inside another symbol. You can change the Instance only by making changes in the Properties inspector.
To create a new Symbol:
- Go to the Insert > New Symbol. A dialog box pops up where you can choose the type of Symbol you wish to create (let’s create a Movie Clip for now).
To convert an existing element/shape into a Symbol:
- Select an element or several elements on the Stage and do one of the following:
- Go to Modify > Convert to Symbol.
- Drag the selection to the Library panel.
- Right-click and choose Modify > Convert to Symbol
- In the Convert to Symbol dialog box, type the name of the symbol and choose the behavior (i.e: Motion Clip)
To apply changes to a Symbol:
- Double click on a Symbol on the Stage
- Change its Fill and/or Stroke settings
- The changes will be applied to all current and future instances
To apply changes to instances:
- Select the instance. Make changes in the Properties inspector (i.e: to change the color, toggle Color Effects and adjust the Tint sliders)
