Add bones to symbols

You can add IK bones to movie clip, graphic, and button instances. To use text, convert it to a symbol first.

Note: You can also break text apart (Modify > Break Apart) into separate shapes and use bones with the individual shapes.

When you add bones to symbol instances, you create a chain of linked instances. This is different from using bones with shapes, where the shape becomes a container for the bones. The linked chain of symbol instances can be a simple linear chain or a branched structure, depending on your needs. A character of a snake would need only a linear chain, while a human figure would need a structure with branches for each limb.

Arrange the symbol instances on the Stage in approximately the configuration that you want them in before adding bones to them. You can edit their relative positions after adding bones, but this step can save time later. The symbol instances can be on different layers before adding bones. Flash moves them to a new layer when bones are added.

  1. Create symbol instances on the Stage.

    Arrange the instances in the approximate spatial configuration you want them in before adding bones.

  2. Select the Bone tool  from the Tools panel.

    You can also press the X key to select the Bone tool.

  3. With the Bone tool, click the symbol instance that is to be the root or head of the armature. Then drag to a separate symbol instance to link it to the root instance.

    While dragging, a bone appears. When you release the mouse, a solid bone is displayed between the two symbol instances. Each bone has a head, the round end, and a tail, the pointed end.

    When dragging from one instance to another to create a bone, click the first instance at the specific point where you want to attach the bone to the instance. Release the mouse over the specific point on the second instance where you want the bone to attach. You can also edit these attachment points later. Each symbol instance can have only one attachment point.

    The first bone in an armature is the root bone. It appears with a circle around the head of the bone.

    By default, Flash moves the transformation point of each symbol instance to the location of the joint formed by each bone connection. For the root bone, the transformation point moves to the head of the bone. For the last bone in a branch, the transformation point moves to the tail of the bone. You can disable the automatic movement of the transformation point in the Drawing tab of Preferences (Edit > Preferences).

  4. To add another bone, drag from the tail of the first bone to the next symbol instance you want to add to the armature.

    The pointer changes when rolled over the head or tail of an existing bone. To make it easier to drag the tail of the new bone to the specific location where you want it, you may want to turn of Snap to Objects (View > Snapping > Snap to Objects).

    Link objects with bones in the order of the parent-child relationships you want to create. For example, if you are adding bones to a series of movie clips that represent an arm, draw the first bone from the shoulder to the elbow, and a second bone from the elbow to the wrist, and a third from the wrist to the hand.

    As you add bones to instances, Flash moves each instance to a new layer in the Timeline. The new layer is called a pose layer. All the bones and symbol instances associated with a given armature reside in the pose layer. Each pose layer can contain only one armature. Flash adds the new pose layer to the Timeline in between existing layers to maintain the previous stacking order of objects on the Stage.

  5. To create a branched armature, click the head of an existing bone where you want the branch to begin and drag to create the first bone of the new branch.

    An armature can have as many branches as necessary.

    Note: A branch cannot connect to another branch except at its root.

After creating an IK armature, you can drag the bones or the symbol instances in the armature to reposition the instances. Dragging a bone moves its associated instance without allowing it to rotate relative to its bone. Dragging an instance allows it to move as well as rotate relative to its bone. Dragging an instance in the middle of a branch causes the parent bones to articulate with joint rotation. The child bones move with no joint rotation.

Once you have created an armature and all of its associated symbol instances have moved to a pose layer, you can still add new instances from different layers to the armature. Drag a new bone to the new instance and Flash moves the instance to the pose layer of the armature.