Shape hints don't work inside symbols or after repositioning

[JessicaCorrea]

Hi everyone,

I created an animation using shape hints to control how the shape tween should behave. It worked fine at first, but then I wanted to move the animation to a different position. To do that, I usually convert the layers into a symbol.

However, when I did that, the shape hints got messed up. They stopped working properly, and when I checked inside the symbol, I saw that the hints had moved out of place—some even ended up outside the stage.

Since converting to a symbol didn’t work, I tried moving the animation by selecting everything and using Edit Multiple Frames. But I had the same issue. Even worse, when I try to redo the shape hints, they don’t behave like they should anymore… something feels off.

It seems like shape hints only work properly the first time—after that, everything goes wrong.

Does anyone know how to preserve shape hints when converting layers to a symbol or moving an animation around the stage? Any tips or workarounds would be really appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[kglad · Accepted solution]

copy the tween layer

paste it into a new symbol

[JessicaCorrea]

It was the only way the hints weren't lost.
But I'm giving up on using shape tween... it has a mind of its own. It doesn't work the way I want, not even with the hints. I managed to finish the animation by luck.

[kglad]

yes, i've always found using shape tweens is a trial and error process.

[n. tilcheff]

Shape Tweens are a bit temperamental, but indispensable.

Good practice of putting Shape Hints is to go counter clock-wise, starting from top-right.

When happy with the Shape Tweened animation, it is best to duplicate the layer/frames and convert to frame-by-frame, just in case. Keep the Shape Tween on a guided layer for potential future edits.