Flash Reference Guide

The most essential tool you can master is the Library. The role of the Library is to manage files used within your Flash movie. Doing without the Library was OK with Flash 3 and even with Flash 4 when you only had graphics, movie clips, and buttons. But in newer releases of Flash, you must also track video, audio, fonts, components, and bitmaps. As such, the need to organize all this with the Library increases all the time.

The Library can be as organized or as disorganized as you like. I will be the anal person here and tell you need to be organized. There are a lot of ways in which you can do this. The following steps will explain how to setup your library so that it is ready for action and organization.

1. The first step is to create a new Flash movie. Open Flash. The default settings will be 550 x 400 pixels. This is fine.
2. You now need to open the Library. You can choose Windows > Library or simply press CTRL+L (Windows), or Command-L (Mac), to open the Library.
3. Select the Options menu from the top right corner of the Library panel. Most of the options in the drop down menu will be grayed out. One of the exceptions is "Keep Use Counts Update." It is important to keep an accurate account of which movies you use. Selecting the Keep Use Counts Option will keep a running tally of how often a specific Library item is used in your current movie.
4. Across the bottom of the Library you will see a number of buttons you can press. The second from the far left has an icon of a briefcase. Select the briefcase. In the Library appears a folder that you can name. This folder can contain any Library item. Double-click the folder. The folder is now highlighted in blue, indicating that you can now name the folder. Name this folder "graphics." A graphic is one of the basic file types you will use in your movies.
5. Now click on the New Folder icon (the briefcase) six more times. This will create seven folders. Name the folders: buttons, movies, bitmaps, audio, video, and fonts. These seven folders are the most common Library items you will be using in your movies.
6. To save this movie as a template that you can reuse in the future, choose File > Save as Template. In the window that opens, there are three categories you can fill out: Name, Category, and Description.
7. Name the new template "Library Template." The Category drop down box allows you to select from preset categories. Or, you can type directly into the Category drop down menu to create your own category. Enter "Library."
8. Finally, a description should be entered describing your new Flash template. Descriptions are not necessary, but they are helpful. Enter the following description: "This Library template has folders for organizing any movie." Click OK. Your movie is now saved a template.
9. To test if the template has been saved correctly, choose File > New From Template. You will see a new category on the left hand side of the New Template window named Library. Select the Library category and a single file named "Library Template" will appear in the central column. Selecting it will highlight a description of the movie in the far right hand window. Click OK and Library Template will open in edit mode within Flash. Open the Library panel and you will see that it is correctly formatted.

Creating Instances

So far we have covered how you can create a Library. What makes the Library useful is what it can do with media within Flash. The Library gives you the tools that allow you to store and re-use your artwork.

Media, such as graphics, that are stored in the Library can then be dragged onto the stage. The thing to remember is that an object dragged to the stage from the Library is not the original; it is a copy called an instance. If you drag a second copy of a graphic from the Library, you add a second instance on the stage. You can drag as many instances onto the stage as you like. As you do this you do not increase the overall file size of the movie. Isn't that cool?

To give you an idea of how this works, you are going to draw an object on the stage and then save it to the Library.

1. Choose File > New From Templates. Select the Library Template you created earlier. Click OK. The Library Template will open in Edit Mode.
2. Select the Rectangle tool, then draw a rectangle on the stage.
3. Highlight all of the objects on the stage by choosing Edit > Select All. The rectangle shape is now highlighted.
4. Press F8 to convert the shape to a symbol. A symbol is the name given to an object that will be placed into the Library. Name the new object "rectangle_gr." The "_gr" is a suffix I add to all graphic files. You do not need to do this, but I find that it easier to track down files by type when I use a naming convention.
5. Below the name field is a Behavior section. This section allows you to determine what type of symbol is being added to the Library. You are given three different options: Movie, Button, and Graphic. Select Graphic and then click OK. A new instance appears in the Library.
6. As I mentioned earlier, I am a bit of neat freak, so let’s start with some good habits. The new graphic instance is in the root of the Library. You are now going to click and drag the graphic symbol and drop it onto the Graphic folder. When you release your cursor, the Graphic folder expands and the new graphic symbol is now within the folder. You will see that the Use Count for the symbol is 1. This is because you have only one instance of the library item on the stage.
7. Click and drag an instance of "rectangle_gr" from the Library onto the stage. You now have two copies of the rectangle_gr graphic on the stage. The Use Count now says 2. Drag in five more copies of the graphic. Although you are adding multiple instances of the graphic, the overall size of the movie remains unchanged.
8. The power of instances should now be apparent. Select one of the instances of the rectangle_gr graphic on the stage. Select the Free Transform tool and resize the graphic. It changes shape independently of the other instances. Select a second instance on the stage and resize that. Keep doing that until you have five or six instance as different shapes.
9. On the stage, select an instance of the rectangle_gr. In the Properties panel, choose Alpha from the Color drop down menu. Change the Alpha settings to 25%. Just this one instance of the graphic is now transparent. The Tint and Brightness can also be changed.
10. Select another instance of the rectangle_gr graphic. Right-click on the symbol and choose "Edit in Place." This allows you to edit the main symbol within the Library for rectangle_gr. Choose Edit > Select All to highlight the entire rectangle shape. Click Delete to remove the shape. From the Tools Bar choose the Oval tool. Draw an oval on the stage. You will see all of the instances of the rectangle_gr graphic are now ovals.
11. Try creating more graphic symbols on the stage to see how you can control them through the Library.

It is the Library’s ability to control objects that makes it so powerful. The graphic symbol is the most basic object you can create in the Flash Library. The following highlights the objects you will find in the Library.

Graphics

As you have seen, the graphics symbol is the most basic symbol. The function of the symbol is to manage only single frame graphics.

When I am working with Flash, I will often use Illustrator or FreeHand to create the basic graphic files. These files can be imported directly into Flash by choosing File > Import. The Illustrator or FreeHand files are normally only single frames. The first thing I do is to convert the imported graphics into Library symbols. This makes life just so much easier.

When you create graphics in the Library, add the suffix _gr. An example name is rectangle_gr.

Buttons

Ever wanted to create a simple button? The Button symbol is the feature you need. With it you can create buttons that have three states: Up, Over, and Down. Each state can have its own graphic. You see the effect when you drag the button onto the stage. When you move your cursor over the button you will see the different states change depending on whether you have your cursor on the button or you are clicking down on it.

A second cool feature you get with buttons is the ability of attaching an ActionScript to the button. When a user interacts with the button (such as clicking it) a program is executed. This can be something a simple as jumping to a new section of the movie or calculating formulae.

When you create buttons in the Library, add the suffix _btn. An example name is clickMe_btn.

Movie Clips

The most complicated and sophisticated symbol you will add to the Library is the Movie symbol. What makes the Movie symbol so complicated is that each movie clip instance is its own Flash movie. Everything you have in a normal movie (including animation and timelines) can be encapsulated within each movie clip. If you are coming to Flash from the Web HTML design world, think of a movie clip as a separate browser window running within the main movie but without the frames, plus the ability to intelligently talk to the main movie through ActionScript. You will run into 101 uses for this symbol.

When you create movies in the Library, add the suffix _mv. An example name is myFirstMovie_mv.

Fonts

New to Flash is the ability to link fonts into your movie. Given Flash's ability to embed a font into a movie, you may wonder why bother adding fonts as symbols to the Library? The reason is driven from large groups sharing Flash movies. I may not have all of the fonts you have on your computer. When I go to open an FLA file that contains a custom font you have created, I will need to have your font installed on my computer to read the document correctly. If I do not, then Flash will replace the font you have used with one from my computer. Sharing a font in the Library prevents this from happening.

When you create graphics in the Library, add the suffix _ft. An example name is garamondBlack_ft.

Video

Another new feature to Flash is the inclusion of video. The video for Flash is remarkable. It is remarkable because the Flash Player is only just over 300 Kb for Internet Explorer users whereas video playback devices from RealNetworks, Apple, and Microsoft all generally come in over 10 Mb! When Flash is connected to the Flash Media Server you can deliver live video and audio through the Flash Player.

Flash will allow you to import AVI, QuickTime, ASF, Flash Video, and MPEG files.

When you add video in the Library, add the suffix _vd. An example name is home_vd.

Audio

Audio support has been available within Flash for a number of years and has recently been extended to enable support for microphones and external MP3 files. The Flash Player will now play MP3 files and you can display ID3 Tag information using ActionScript. Flash will allow you to import WAV, ASF, AU, and MP3 files.

When you add audio in the Library, add the suffix _au. An example name is sound_au.

Practice using the Library panel to manage and organize your symbols. It really will help you the more you can control where content is within the library.

Summary

As you become more confident with working with Flash, the more you will want to use the Library. It really is essential for streamlining your work. In addition, some features, such as animation, can only be effectively completed if you use the Library.