Changing the Layer Order of Graphic Symbols During an Animation?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
April 20, 2023
3 replies
619 views

Is there any way to change the layer /stacking order of Graphic Symbols during a tweened animation without requiring extra layers in my Adobe Animate project for the symbols to switch between?

There are times when I wish to have a character's body parts in a different stacking order so that for instance, the character could go from having their hands be in front of them to having them behind their back.

Adobe After Effects can accomplish this by changing the Z Position of objects at different points during the animation as shown in the below video:
How to Animate Layer Order Without Changing Original Order in Adobe After Effects - YouTube

And while that would be a good solution, changing a symbol's Z position is only doable for MoveClip Symbols which do not allow the use of the frame picker and don't allow nested animations to be seen while editing on other timelines.

Thank you for any input on this.

Missing feature

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kglad

Community Expert

is you use code for your animation, then yes you can re-order symbols using code, at any time, before, during and after your animation.

DigitalDesignDudeAuthor

Inspiring

True, but wouldn't I need to use MovieClip Symbols to do that since graphic symbols cannot be controlled using code? Perhaps, Advanced Layers with Graphic Symbols on them could be rearranged using code since Advanced Layers can be controlled with ActionScript.

But this still doesn't allow you to see or scrub through the animations while in Adobe Animate since code-based animations are only viewable after publishing the .SWF file or running the "Test Movie" command. Unless I'm mistaken?

kglad

Community Expert

yes, use movieclips.

Firewood：D

Inspiring

Hello, the functions in your AE video correspond to the layer depth of animate2019 and above.
To use this feature, turn on "Advanced Layers" in the document settings.

Adjust the layer order along the Z axis and lock the size.

Convert to graphics for animation

But. . .
I don't think this is a good way. You should follow the production idea of animate, and sort out the front and back relationship when layering, instead of using the Z axis to move the front and back relationship.
animate animation, this is the correct way to make it!

You can directly access the help documentation from this function panel

n. tilcheff

Legend

As far as I know there is no viable alternative to re-layering.

Nick - Character Designer and Animator, Flash user since 1998 | Member of the Flanimate Power Tools team - extensions for character animation

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