Understanding Symbol Registration in Adobe Flash / Animate CC

✅ This video is only one of the illustrations in this article: flash-powertools.com/understa...
✅ Find out more about EDAP Tools: flash-powertools.com
✅ Find out more about Smart Magnet Rigging: flash-powertools.com/smart-mag...
Designed and presented by Nickolay Tilcheff
Music: Shades of Spring by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
00:00 - Introduction
00:57 - Symbol Instances and Symbols
02:25 - Transformation Point vs. Registration Point
04:12 - Tweens that break and how to fix them
09:15 - How Tweens actually work. Common misconceptions
13:24 - Symbol's coordinate system and its relation to the external bounding box
17:33 - Proper registration of Symbols and the available tools to re-register them
23:21 - Good example of properly registered character rig vs. bad example
28:00 - A real production example. How to register Tiger's ears for best control

[@EDAPTools]

00:00 - Introduction 00:57 - Symbol Instances and Symbols 02:25 - Transformation Point vs. Registration Point 04:12 - Tweens that break and how to fix them 09:15 - How Tweens actually work. Common misconceptions 13:24 - Symbol's coordinate system and its relation to the external bounding box 17:33 - Proper registration of Symbols and the available tools to re-register them 23:21 - Good example of properly registered character rig vs. bad example 28:00 - A real production example. How to register Tiger's ears for best control

[@slide_master_art]

I am learning all the techniques you taught in EDAP tools. Thanks EDAP you paved the new paths to learn ICS. Now I am a moderate level animator.

[@slide_master_art]

Thank you. Today I finally understood all the information about Proper Registration of a Symbol.

[@johncenakiddo]

thank you sir for saving my animation😭

[@tchagolago]

Great tip! I aways have trouble with the registration point and now I understand how useful it is! One question: Can I move the registration point to the place where the symbol is set up on a character, when I starting the rig, or the registration point is somekind "fixed" and fist I need to set up the symbol where the registration point is locatec and then, move this symbol again to the right position on the character?

[@EDAPTools]

You can 'move' it by re-registering the symbol. Look at flash-powertools.com/set-reg-point-to-transform-point/ and flash-powertools.com/make-edaptable/

[@youtubeprojectko2029]

Thanks for the in-depth explanation of the Transformation and Registration Points. I always thought that the Plus symbol when editing a symbol is a reference to the stage's center point -- it annoyed me a lot how the Align options don't seem to work while editing symbols. Now I now that it's actually the Registration Point. I have a couple of questions though; - Sometimes I want to scale symbols to match the size of an object on the stage (outside the symbol) but Animate sometimes hides the stage completely instead of just fading it slightly. What I end up doing is copying the objects layer and pasting it within the symbol just so I can see it. Do you know of a better way to do this? - The Scaling/Transform behavior is quite cumbersome coming from someone who does a lot of scaling in Photoshop. Is there a way to make the Transformation Point snap to the eight black square points on the corners and edges of the object?

[@EDAPTools]

Hi mate, Glad to know the video helped clarify some of these very important concepts! I'm not entirely sure exactly how you get into the situation described in your first question, but my suspicion is that you choose "Edit Symbol" instead of double-clicking on it or "Edit in Place." Edit in Place will (by default) display everything outside of the symbol timeline greyed out. So Edit in Place is always in context, but you will also have to keep in mind that any transformations applied to the Symbol Instance on the outside will not be reflected in this view. If you want to match the size of another instance on the Stage, you need to make sure you reset any transformations for both and then enter "in place" and edit inside. You can use our "Zero Transform" command to do it from the outside, if you need to do this kind of thing frequently. Possibly you will be able to use the Align panel's "Match size" option first and then Zero Transform. To your second question: It's very easy to transform from the corner handles - just hold down the Alt key (+Shift to keep proportions) and hover your cursor close to the corner handle that is diagonally opposite to the one you want to use as centre of transformation. The edge handles would work in a similar way for skewing, but for rotation you will need to move the T point there. Hope this helps! -Nick

[@youtubeprojectko2029]

​@@EDAPTools I can't thank you enough!!! I'm planning on sharing your article with the AdobeAnimate subreddit as soon as it starts loading again (This site can’t be reached). I'll definitely check more of your videos this weekend just to save me from more frustrations I might encounter while using Animate.

[@xl5fan]

22:54 Hi, I’m doing exactly what you are doing, it’s registering the transformation point in the new location I’m moving in to, however the bounding box is not orientating to the shape I’ve drawn. For example, I would draw like an arm and I proceed to move the reg point to desired location, I would rotate it to make the bounding box practically the same width as the arm like in this example, it would not only move the reg point BUT not change the bounding box… Hope you can help.

[@EDAPTools]

Set Reg Point To Transform Point is a dual-function command. To invoke Zero Transform mode you need to call it with a Shift modifier, i.e. Shift+T in Animate or Ctrl+Shift+T in Flash. These are EDAPT Shortcuts which need to be activated via the Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts... dialog. If EDAPT Shortcuts are not active, you can still use Zero Transform, but you need to hold down Shift when choosing it from the menu or use the EDAPT Commands panel instead and hold down Shift. More information: flash-powertools.com/understanding-multifunction-commands/ flash-powertools.com/edapt-keyboard-shortcuts-set/ flash-powertools.com/edapt-commands-panel/ flash-powertools.com/set-reg-point-to-transform-point/ Hope this helps!

[@xl5fan]

@@EDAPTools thanks! I was able to work that out and it now works. There’s one more little thing and that is the zoom, of course since enabling these edapt commands it’s changed the Z button to generate an extra frame of animation. How do I go about changing the commands to make that button zoom again?

[@EDAPTools]

You can switch back to the default shortcuts or you can change that one specifically via the Edit Shortcuts dialog. Or you can just hit Ctrl+Spacbar and click or click-and-drag to zoom in that way. Details about the EDAPT Shortcuts set: flash-powertools.com/edapt-keyboard-shortcuts-set/

[@ToadaBrava]

I'm not sure i have 'Set Reg Point To Transform Point' on mine, it seems like something customized

[@EDAPTools]

Yes, it is part of the free EDAP Tools extensions package: flash-powertools.com/set-reg-point-to-transform-point/

[@funkuncle999]

My registration points don't look like that. When I move the transformation point there is nothing underneath. But there is a larger cross with no circle top left corner of symbol that i cant move with Control T?

[@EDAPTools]

The cross is the Registration Point, ie. you have top-left registration. Ctrl+T is an EDAPT Shortcut which calls Set Reg Point To Transform Point. flash-powertools.com/set-reg-point-to-transform-point/ After installing the tools you have to enable EDAPT Shortcuts. flash-powertools.com/edapt-keyboard-shortcuts-set/

[@funkuncle999]

@@EDAPTools Thanks for replying. But when I press Ctrl+T the reg point doesnt move. When i went into the smart magnet rig it said my registration points were miss aligned. it seems to suggest i need to use the 'Make Edaptable' button? Sorry this is my first time with this.

[@EDAPTools]

You're most welcome! Just run Make Edaptable. It will fix the Reg Points for you so that you can rig. Have a look at this article we published recently: flash-powertools.com/smart-magnet-rigs-where-to-start/ It should give you a good plan how to slowly ease into SMR. Hope this helps!

[@EDAPTools]

On the mac the shortcut would be Command+T. Try to run Set Reg Point To Transform Point by choosing it from the Commands menu. Also make sure shortcuts are shown next to the commands. If not, reload the EDAPT Shortcuts. You can also open EDAPT Commands panel and run the commands from there.

[@funkuncle999]

@@EDAPTools ah thanks....it seems to work when i create a new set of symbols from scratch. But wasnt working before when i was trying to rig an older character id previously created. thats when the box came up and said i should use the 'edaptable' button but also warned it would screw up all my previous animation. So will i need to redraw my characters?