Adobe Flash —

Create a movie clip symbol

A movie clip symbol is analogous in many ways to a document within a document. This symbol type has its own Timeline independent of the main Timeline. You can add movie clips within other movie clips and buttons to create nested movie clips. You can also use the Property inspector to assign an instance name to an instance of a movie clip, and then reference the instance name in ActionScript.

You'll convert the tire on the Stage into a movie clip.

1.
With the Selection tool, click the tire on the Stage to select it and select Modify > Convert to Symbol.
2.
In the Convert to Symbol dialog box, enter MCWheel as the name, and select MovieClip as the behavior.
3.
In the Registration grid, this time select the center square as the registration point, so the center of the movie clip becomes the axis around which the symbol rotates. Click OK.

The image on the Stage is now an instance of the MCWheel symbol in the library.

Assign an instance name to the movie clip

To refer to an instance in ActionScript, and as a general best practice, always assign instance names to buttons and movie clip symbols. (You cannot assign an instance name to a graphic symbol.)

  • Select MCWheel instance on the Stage

  • In the Property inspector

  • Enter wheel_mc in the Instance Name text box.