Lock a symbol for reference

[mark2ain]

I'm a noob and have just realized edits I make to a symbol on the stage also change it in the library. Is there a best practice for keeping an uneditable version of a symbol? In other I want to keep a neutrally posed symbol to use as reference. I was expecting that would be default behavior in the library, but either I've made an incorrect assumption of I'm doing something wrong. Thanks to anyone who can clarify.

[n. tilcheff]

Incorrect assumption.

There are no symbols in any other place than the Library. What you work with on the Stage are Instances of those Symbols in the Library, which you either modify externally or internally.

You can, however, create duplicates, and copy/paste frames and layers from them, or as is the most common practice keep your rig/puppet's neutral state in a separate FLA file.

Also the neutral pose could be a frame within the timeline of your symbol container. (Study nested timelines.)

[mark2ain]

Thanks, Nick. The separate Fla file sounds like the way to go. I've tried duplicating symbols, but those, too, seem to behave as instances. Again, I could be doing something incorrectly. To me it's all about being able to mess everything up knowing I have one copy that takes me back where I began.

Since you're the person responding, let me take the opportunity to thank you for your magnetic rigging tools and the accompanying tutorials. I've spent a lot of time with those and think I'm finally understanding how to use the rigging. I can see how much potential they add to Animate and how much work you've put into developing them. 

All that's left for me now is to learn how to draw.

Best

Stephen

[kglad]

if you want to maintain an immutable symbol, duplicate it and name on something it that indicates it shouldn't be edited and then never add it to the main timeline or any child of the main timeline.  the other copy you can add to the stage and edit.  if you double click what add, you'll be editing that symbol something that would change all instances.  if you don't double click what you add, you can edit and not change any other instance.  meanwhile, the immutable copy is in your library if you goof up and accidently double click.

though, i have to say, i thought i'd made every mistake possible with adobe animate, but i've never accidently double clicked an instance.

[n. tilcheff]

Hi Stephen,

Thank you so much for the kind words!

I'm glad to hear that you have come across our work and found it useful.

If you want to duplicate a symbol with all its nested content to make it completely independent, use Duplicate Symbol Recursive.

I always recommend Preston Blair's book to anyone who wants to get into cartooning or improve their understanding of construction and stylisation: https://animationresources.org/instruction-preston-blairs-advanced-animation/

This first edition is now in the public domain. You can download and print it for easy reference.

A newer, expanded version is available to buy, which is also very good.

Thanks again

and good luck with your projects!

[mark2ain]

Thanks Nick and kglad,

This is just what I needed to know. I wanted to feel confident I could have two versions of a symbol that might have a different color or be wearing a different hat without screwing up all other instances. Am I to understand, Nick, that the Duplicate Recursive command is part of your toolkit as opposed to a built in Animate feature? It's not a critical question as I have purchased your tool set, but as a person curious to learn, it's helpful to know what features are part of the program and which are part of the plug in. As you may be able to tell, I'm learning both at the same time. (That was the result of discovering quickly that the Animate bone tool was too limited.) And thanks for the book recommendation. Will check it out.

A note in case any IT person is monitoring this discussion: I tried replying to kglad by replying to the email notification this site sent out. The reply bounced with an error message that the mailbox is full.

Thanks again both of you.

Stephen

[kglad]

you're welcome.

[n. tilcheff]

Hi Stephen,

Yes, Animate's default Duplicate Symbol will only duplicate the selected. This is quite handy in most situations, when not dealing with complex nested structures or when you only want to create a variation, using the same components.

For example, if you have a container of a character and animate a walk cycle inside this container, but then you need to animate a run cycle, you can only duplicate the container and animate the run inside the duplicate. The two cycles will share the same body parts, which is great, because if you need to make a color adjustment or edit some other detail, you will only need to do it in one place and both with be updated.

Duplicate symbols recursive, which is an EDAP Tools plugin command, however, creates duplicates of the whole structure with all its nested parts also duplicates. In this case the duplicate and the original do not share common elements.