Make animation reusable

[Fletchi]

Hi, I'm new to Adobe Animate and have created an animation of a bird flying as part of a scene. The bird has multiple layers for each part of the bird's body. Each layer has various tweens applied- even a mix of shape / classic tweens. I'm happy with my animation, however I now need to copy the bird animation and reposition it in the scene to create another bird (I actually need 6 birds!). Because of the (overly complex / clumsy) way I have created the bird animation, if I for example try copying the layers I still need to adjust the position of the bird on multiple frames on each of the copied layers. Is there a way I can simplify this cloning process? The cloned birds will do exactly the same animation just with an X Y offset. Thanks 

[n. tilcheff]

Hi mate,

Put your bird into a Graphic Symbol. This will allow you to deal with only one object on the outside.

To do so, select all bird layers, copy them and paste them inside a new symbol.

Hope this helps!

[Fletchi]

Hi, thanks for this. I'm struggling to apply it though, I may need you to spell it out, sorry!

Do I click on the layers themselves and click 'Copy Layers' or am I selecting the bird frames and clicking 'Copy'? Also, how do I paste them inside a new symbol? Do I need a new layer for my new symbol and then do I need to create a graphic symbol on that new layer before copying the bird across?

[n. tilcheff · Accepted solution]

Hi again mate,

Either way would  work - copy/pasting whole layers or copy/pasting a block of frames. The result will be the same.

The goal is to put the animation inside a container, so that you can treat is as one entity from the outside - i.e. you will be able to move, scale, flip, tween, adjust color and brightness and so on. And you will be able to have as many Instances of it as you like.

Here is what I would do:

1. Create a new layer on top of everything.

2. Create a place-holder rectangle on that new layer.

3. Click on the rectangle, press F8 and convert that to a Graphic Symbol.

4. Select the bird layers by clicking on the bottom layer, then holding down Sift and clicking on the top layer.

5. Copy the selected layers by choosing Copy Layers from the context menu when you right-click on any of those layers' names.

6. Double-click the newly created symbol to enter it In Place.

7. Right-click on rectangle's layer name and from the context menu choose Paste Layers.

8. Delete the rectangle's layer.

9. Exit the symbol.

10. Delete your original layers as they should have never been there in the first place.

11. Use the container, create and many instances and move them around.

More information how you should organise your files for animation:

https://flash-powertools.com/workflow/

https://flash-powertools.com/character-rigging-for-flash-animation/

and some samlpe files to study: https://flash-powertools.com/tag/free-download/

Good luck!