The Timeline



    About the Timeline

    The Timeline organizes and controls a document’s content over time in layers and frames. Like films, Flash documents divide lengths of time into frames. Layers are like multiple film strips 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, and the playhead.

    Layers in a document are listed in a column on the left side of the Timeline. Frames contained in each layer appear in a row to the right of the layer name. The Timeline header at the top of the Timeline indicates frame numbers. The playhead indicates the current frame displayed on the Stage. As a document plays, the playhead moves from left to right through the Timeline.

    The Timeline status displayed at the bottom of the Timeline indicates the selected frame number, the current frame rate, and the elapsed time to the current frame.

    Note: When an animation is played, the actual frame rate is displayed; this may differ from the document’s frame rate setting if the computer can’t calculate and display the animation quickly enough.
    View full size graphic
    Parts of the Timeline

    A.
    Playhead

    B.
    Empty keyframe

    C.
    Timeline header

    D.
    Guide layer icon

    E.
    Frame View pop‑up menu

    F.
    Frame-by-frame animation

    G.
    Tweened animation

    H.
    Scroll To Playhead button

    I.
    Onion-skinning buttons

    J.
    Current Frame indicator

    K.
    Frame Rate indicator

    L.
    Elapsed Time indicator

    The Timeline shows where animation occurs in a document, including frame-by-frame animation, tweened animation, and motion paths.

    Controls in the layers section of the Timeline let you hide, show, lock, or unlock layers, as well as display layer contents as outlines. You can drag frames to a new location on the same layer or to a different layer.

    Change the appearance of the Timeline

    By default, the Timeline appears below the main document window. To change its position, detach the Timeline from the document window and float it in its own window or dock it to any other panel you choose. You can also hide the Timeline.

    To change the number of layers and frames that are visible, resize the Timeline. To view additional layers when the Timeline contains more layers than can be displayed, use the scroll bars on the right side of the Timeline.

    Dragging the Timeline

    • To move the Timeline when it is docked to the document window, drag the title bar tab at the upper-left corner of the Timeline.
    • To dock an undocked Timeline to the application window, drag the title bar tab to the top or bottom of the document window.
    • To dock an undocked Timeline to other panels, drag the Timeline title bar tab to the location you choose. To prevent the Timeline from docking to other panels, press Control while you drag. A blue bar appears to indicate where the Timeline will dock.
    • To lengthen or shorten layer name fields in the Timeline panel, drag the bar separating the layer names and the frames portions of the Timeline.

    Change the display of frames in the Timeline

    1. To display the Frame View pop‑up menu, click Frame View in the upper-right corner of the Timeline.
      Frame View pop‑up menu.

    2. Select from the following options:

      • To change the width of frame cells, select Tiny, Small, Normal, Medium, or Large. (The Large frame-width setting is useful for viewing the details of sound waveforms.)

      • To decrease the height of frame cell rows, select Short.

        Short and Normal frame view options.

      • To turn the tinting of frame sequences on or off, select Tinted Frames.

      • To display thumbnails of the content of each frame scaled to fit the Timeline frames, select Preview. This can cause the apparent content size to vary and requires extra screen space.

      • To display thumbnails of each full frame (including empty space), select Preview In Context. This is useful for viewing the way elements move in their frames over the course of the animation, but previews are generally smaller than with the Preview option.

    Change layer height in the Timeline

    1. Do one of the following:

      • Double-click the layer’s icon (the icon to the left of the layer name) in the Timeline.

      • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the layer name and select Properties from the context menu.

      • Select the layer in the Timeline and select Modify > Timeline > Layer Properties.

    2. In the Layer Properties dialog box, select an option for Layer Height and click OK.

    Resize the Timeline

    • If the Timeline is docked to the main application window, drag the bar separating the Timeline from the Stage area.

    • If the Timeline is not docked to the main application window, drag the lower-right corner (Windows) or the size box in the lower-right corner (Macintosh).

    Move the playhead

    The playhead moves through the timeline as a document plays to indicate the current frame displayed on the Stage. The Timeline header shows the frame numbers of the animation. To display a frame on the Stage, move the playhead to the frame in the Timeline.

    To display a specific frame when you’re working with a large number of frames that can’t all be displayed in the Timeline at once, move the playhead along the Timeline.

    • To go to a frame, click the frame’s location in the Timeline header, or drag the playhead to the desired position.

    • To center the Timeline on the current frame, click the Scroll To Playhead button at the bottom of the Timeline.

    Moving the playhead