TIMELINE l in Animate

 VICTREE MEDIA 16

PART A

SUMMARY

     In Adobe Flash/Animate, timelines are crucial for organizing and controlling content over time using layers and frames. Layers play a fundamental role in managing artwork and animations independently, ensuring different elements don’t interfere with each other. There are several types of layers: Normal layers contain primary artwork, Mask layers hide portions of layers below them, Masked layers reveal only what the mask allows, Guide layers provide visual guides for arrangement, Guided layers are constrained by guides, Motion Tween layers enable smooth animations, and Armature layers are for objects with inverse kinematic bones. Layers can be organized into folders, streamlining workflows and allowing for efficient management and adjustment of elements without impacting others. Key functions include creating, deleting, locking, hiding, and renaming layers. Masks, created from shapes or symbols, are used to hide or reveal specific areas for effects and transitions. Animation techniques like motion and shape tweening animate objects along paths or morph shapes, enhancing visual storytelling and design capabilities in Adobe Flash/Animate. Understanding these tools is essential for creating intricate animations and organizing projects effectively.

     If you want to know in detail about the timeline, read them down below:
 

Introduction:

     Congratulations! Today you have reached the first step towards being a story-time animator, for we are learning what timelines are. In this lesson, we will cover the Timeline, layers, their types, and their usage.

Understanding Timeline:

     A timeline organizes and controls a document's content over time in layers and frames. Macromedia Flash/Adobe Animate documents divide lengths of time into frames, just like in a movie or film, and they are like multiple filmstrips stacked on top of one another, each containing a different image that appears on the stage. The major components of the timeline are layers, frames, timeline header, and playhead. Timeline shows the time where your animation occurs in a document, including Traditional/Cel Animation (Frame-by-frame as kids call them), tweened Animation (Animation like in Maya or After Effects), and animation through motion path.

     Layer section's controls of the timeline let us hide, show, lock or unlock layers, and display layer content as outlines, which is very useful as well as in Maya and also in Flash. You can drag timeline frames to a new location on the same layer or to a different layer, and the look and feel of the timeline panel is enhanced. All clear frames, interval representation, better readibility of frames, onion skinning and time marker. Also in button for creating keyframes, blank keyframes, frames and so on.

Working with Layers:

     Layers enable you to organize your artwork in your document, and you can draw and edit on one layer without affecting objects on another layer. In areas of the stage with nothing on a layer, you can see through it to the layers below, and active layers are those, which you have selected. You can select only one layer at a time to be active, and highlighted layer or folder in the timeline indicates that the layer of folder is active. When you create a Flash/Animate file, it contains only a single layer, and to organize your artwork, animations and other elements in your document, add more layers. You can also hide, lock and rearrange layer. Unlock and lock layer helps to not accidentally move the drawing that you have finalized the position and lock of it. Number of layers you create is limited only by your PC {Personal Computer} storage, and layers do not increase the file size of your published SWF file. Only the objects you place into layers is added to the file size, and for instance, if you have a file of 40 MB {MegaBytes} and you add ten more layers with blank keyframes, the size will not increase.

     To organize and manage layers, create layer folders, and create layers in them: for example, while drawing a dog for your animation, make a folder, it is just a preference, called "Face" and put eyes layer, mouth layer, nose layer and others inside it. You must use separate layers and folders for sound files, Actionscript, frame labels, and frame comment. Using separate layers help you find these items quickly to edit them.

Types of Layers:

     There are 7 types of layers in Adobe Flash/Animate: Normal layer, Mask layer, Masked layer, Guide layer, Guided layer, Motion Tween layer and Armature layer. Normal layers contain most of your artwork in Fla file, and Mask layers contain object used as masks are to hide selected portions of layers below them. Masked layers are beneath mask layers that you associate with, and only a portion of the masked layer revealed by the mask is visible. Guide Layers consists of strokes that can be used to guide the arrangement of objects on other layers, and guided layers are layers associated with a guide layer, and it can constrain static artwork and classic tweens, but not motion tweens. The objects on the guided layer can be arranged or animated along the strokes on the guided layers, and Motion Tween layers consist of objects animated with motion tweens. Armature layers consist of objects with inverse kinematic bones [More on this when you will come to Bone Tool topic], and when these items are present in one of these layers, there are limitations to the types of content that can be added to the layer.

NOTE: 3D Tools cannot be used on Objects on Mask Layers and layers containing 3D cannot be used as a mask layer.

     A mask item can be a filled shape, a type object, an instance of a graphic symbol, or a movie clip, and group multiple layers under a single mask layer to create sophisticated effects. Remember that the layers need to be locked in order for task to work, and to create a dynamic effects, animates a mask layer. For a filled shape used as a mask, use shape tweening; for a type object, graphic instance or a movie clip, use Motion Tweening, and when using a movie clip instance as a mask, animate a mask along a motion path. To create a mask layer, place a mask item on the layer to use as a mask, and instead of having a fill or a stroke, the mask item acts as a window that reveals the area of linked layers beneath it. The rest of the work mask layer conceals everything except what shows through the mask item, and a mask layer can contain only one mask item. For spotlight effects and transition, you use a mask layer to create a hole through, which underlying layers are visible. A mask layer cannot be inside a button symbol, and you cannot apply a mask to another mask, and to create a mask layer from a movie clip, use Actionscript. A mask layer created with Actionscript can be applied only to another Movie Clip, and you can use mask layers to reveal portions of a picture or graphic in the layer below. To create a mask, you specify that a layer is a mask layer, and either draw or place a filled shape on that layer. You can use any filled shape, including groups, text, and symbols, as a mask. The mask layer reveals the area of linked layer beneath the filled shape, and you can hide parts of your animation or drawing. It is an important part of every Animator's Toolkit, and a mask layer always masks the layer immediately below it; create the mask layer in the proper place. Flash/Animate ignores bitmap images, gradients, Opacity (Transparency), colors, and like styles in a mask layer. Any filled area is completely transparent in the mask; any non-filled area is non-transparent, and a mask layer icon indicates the mask layer.

     The layer immediately below is linked to the mask layer, and its content show through the filled area on the mask, and the masked layer name is indented, and its icon changes to a masked layer icon. To look the layer again, click in the lock icon for the mask layer, and keep in mind, the symbols and tweening will be discussed in detail later when you come to that topic.

Function of Layers:

     When you create a layer, it appears above the selected layer, and the newly added layer becomes the active layer. When you create a layer folder, it appears above the selected layer or layers, and the new folder appears above the layer or folder you selected. By default, Macromedia Flash/ Adobe Animate assign names to new layers by the order, in which they are created: layer 1, layer 2, layer 3 and so on... To better reflect your content as professional, rename your layers [Renaming are important, kids], and to organize your documents, rearrange layers and folders in the timeline. Layer Folders organize your workflow by letting you place layers in a tree structure, and the layer controls in the timeline affect all layers within a folder.

     Expand or collapse the folder to see the layers within, without affecting those, which are visible on the stage, and folders can contain both layers and other folders. It allows you to organize layers in much the same way you organize your files on your PC {Personal Computer}, and like, locking a layer folder locks all layers within that folder. Similar methods are utilized to lock or unlock a layer, copy and paste a layer or a folder but you no icon for copying or pasting, hiding or showing, viewing and changing the outline color of a layer. Turning visibility to Opacity (Transparency) key has no effect on the hidden layer.

USES

1) Go to Insert -> Time layer.

2) Going to Modify -> Timeline -> Layer.

3) Right-click on the masking layer -> Select Mask.

4) Click the new layer icon in the middle of the timeline.

5) You can tap on the lock icon to lock or unlock a layer.

6) Click the new folder icon in the center of the timeline.

7) Right-click on a layer or a folder -> Select Delete layer.

8) To turn off the outline for all layers, Alt + Click it again.

9) You can click on the Eye-cut icon to hide or show all layers.

10) Go to Modify -> Timeline -> Layer Properties -> Select Normal.

11) To create a mask, create a new layer by pressing the add icon.

12) Select Modify -> Timeline -> Layer Properties -> Select Masked.

13) Right-click any layer -> Select show others transparent -> Click "Ok".

14) More than one layer can be selected at a time by pressing Shift or Alt.

15) Place a filled shape, text or an instance of a symbol on the mask layer.

16) Right-click on the layer name -> Properties, or select the layer in the timeline.

17) To hide all layers or folders, or to show them, press Alt + Click in the eye icon.

18) To expand or collapse all folders, Right-click -> Expand or collapse all folders.

19) Select a layer or folder in the timeline -> Select Insert -> Timeline -> Layer Folder.

20) To move a layer or a folder into another, drag them to their destined folder name.

21) Right-click a layer name in the timeline -> Select Insert layer from the context menu.

22) Right-click a layer name in the timeline -> Select Insert Folder from the context menu.

23) You can press "View only active layer" to confirm if the highlighted layer is the active layer.

24) To display Mask effect in Adobe Flash/Animate, lock the mask layer and the masked layer.

25) To display objects on all layers other than current one, press Alt + Click in the outline column.

26) To unlink a layer, select the layer that you want to unlink -> Drag the layer above the mask layer.

27) To draw, paint, or otherwise modify a layer or a folder, select the layer in the timeline to make it active.

28) When the animation operation is completed, click on the lock icon for the mask layer to re-lock the layer.

29) To rename, you can double-click on the name of the layer or folder in the timeline -> Enter a name by typing.

30) To change the layer outline color, double-click the layers icon (The icon to the left of the layer name) in the timeline.

31) To change the order of folders or layers, drag one or more layers or folders in the timeline to their destined position.

32) To set the layer Opacity (Transparency), right-click any layer -> Properties -> Visibility -> Transparent in the layer properties.

33) To enable sophisticate ted effects, use Special guide layers to make drawing and editing effortless, and to make mask layer.

34) Select the layer in the timeline -> Modify -> Timeline -> Layer properties -> Outline color palette -> Select a new color -> Press "Ok".

35) Select the folder or layer in the timeline -> Modify -> Timeline -> Layer properties -> Enter the new name in the name box -> Press "OK".

36) You can expand or collapse layer folders in the timeline without affecting what you see on the stage by clicking on the mini down or forward arrow.

37) To animate a movie clip symbol, select the mask layer in the timeline -> Double-click the Movie Clip symbol on the stage to edit the Movie Clip in place.

38) In Macromedia Flash/Adobe Animate, create an FLA file or open an existing one -> Shift + click the eye icon in the timeline to set the visibility to Opacity (Transparency).

39) To mask additional layers after creating a mask layer, drag an existing layer directly below the mask layer -> Create a new layer anywhere below the mask layer.

40) To delete a layer from a timeline, click its name or any frame on the layer -> Click on delete layer button on the timeline -> drag a layer or a folder to the trash can icon.

41) To display the movie clip's timeline, apply motion tweening to the movie clip -> when the animation operation is complete, click the back button on top-left to return to document-editing mode.

42) For setting properties to multiple layers, create FLA file or open an existing file -> Select those layers whose properties you want to modify -> Right-mouse click -> Select properties -> Modify the properties in the layer properties panel -> Click "Ok".

43) To select a layer or a folder, click the name of a layer or folder in the timeline -> Click any frame in the timeline of the layer to be selected -> Select an object/drawing on the stage that is located in the layer to be selected -> Shift + Click to select contiguous layers or folders -> Click their names in the timeline to select non-contiguous layers or folders.

44) To animate a filled shape, type object, or graphic symbol instance on a mask layer, select the mask layer in the timeline -> Click in the lock icon to unlock or lock the mask layer -> If the mask object is a filled shape, apply shape tweening to the object, you can animate frame-by-frame also, or if the mask is a type object or graphic symbol, then apply motion tweening to the object.

 

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