Flash is considered to be the most widely-used and accepted software for 2D Animation. By using flash, we can create a huge variety of animation. It includes simple frame-by-frame animations in the timeline to complex animation.
We have different types of symbols in flash, which are very important for creating animation. These are
* Graphic Symbol * Movie Clip * Button
All the three symbols have specific features and are used to meet certain specific requirements. Of these three symbols, Movie Clip is by far the most dynamic one in its content and use.
What is a Movie Clip?
In flash, we have two methods by which a movie clip can be created.
First, we may create it from scratch. Then 'Create New Symbol' has to be selected. Thereafter, Movie Clip is chosen and a name is assigned to it. We can convert a primitive object into a movie clip. To do so, by right-clicking on it, we have to select the object then Convert to Symbol and choose Movie Clip and assign it a name as before.
Movie clip as a symbol is totally different from other symbols that are used in flash. Movie clip is independent of the main time-line. It can be seen as a movie within a movie and has its own time-line, which is similar to the main time-line. We can create animation in the time-line of a movie clip which is independent of the main time-line. It does not affect the animation already present in the main scene. The main advantage of this movie clip is that, it may save us a lot of space and time in our main scene.
Let us suppose, we need to create an animation which requires a large number of frames. If we create it in the main time- line, it will take up a lot of space, or frames, which may ultimately lead to a clumsy output. We can overcome this problem by using movie clip. Instead of creating the animation directly in the main time-line, we may create it within a movie clip. Thereafter we can transfer the movie clip in the main time-line.
When we transfer, it requires only one frame in the main time line. That is to say, we import a movie clip along with all its content in a particular frame in the main time-line. On the other hand, when we play the flash movie, we get the entire animation created within the movie clip without using up the frames of the main time-line. This results in a much organized output.
We can have as many movie clips as we desire and each of them may contain various complex animations in a single flash movie. All of them just require a single frame of the main timeline to play. Once a movie clip symbol is created, it is immediately placed into the library. We can use a particular movie clip for several times in a flash document as and when required. Added to this, we can add or alter anything on the main time-line without affecting the movie clip already present on the stage.
We can simply drag the movie clip from the library into the stage. Thereafter we get an Instance of the movie clip, which can be edited or used according to our requirements. By double-clicking on it, movie clips instances can be edited. Then we can make the necessary changes in the time line of the movie clip. Since, movie clip is essentially a symbol we can apply motion tween to it for desired effects.
We can use movie clips created in a particular flash document in other flash movies as well. In flash, we often use Action Script along with animation to make the movie more effective and dynamic. A movie clip is a very important object for applying action scripts.
A lot of actions can be used with a movie clip object. Some examples can be cited, like MovieClip.stop, MovieClip.play, MovieClip.startDrag, MovieClip.stopDrag, MovieClip.loadMovie, MovieClip.duplicate movieclip, MovieClip.remove movieclip and many more.
Thus, it may be said that Movie clips are an integral component of flash. It is the most flexible and suitable way to create complex animation, which can save a lot of time for the final movie.
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