FLASH CS3
User Guide
223
Edit movie clip symbols with 9-slice scaling
By default, slice guides are placed at 25% (or one-fourth) of the symbol’s width and height from the edge of the
symbol. In symbol-editing mode, the slice guides appear as dotted lines superimposed on the symbol. The slice
guides don’t snap when you drag them on the pasteboard. The guides do not appear when the symbol is on the Stage.
You cannot edit 9-slice-enabled symbols in place on the Stage. You must edit them in symbol-editing mode.
Note:
Instances made from a 9-slice-enabled movie clip symbol can be transformed, but should not be edited. Editing
these instances can have unpredictable results.
For video tutorials about 9-slice scaling, see:
•
www.adobe.com/go/vid0204
•
www.adobe.com/go/vid0205
Enable 9-slice scaling for an existing movie clip symbol
1
With the source document open, select Window
>
Library.
2
Select a movie clip, button, or graphic symbol in the Library panel.
3
Select Properties from the Library Panel menu.
4
Select Enable Guides for 9-slice Scaling.
Edit a 9-slice-enabled movie clip symbol
1
Enter symbol-editing mode by doing one of the following:
•
Select an instance of the symbol on the Stage and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and select Edit.
•
Select the symbol in the Library and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and select Edit.
•
Double-click the symbol in the Library.
2
To move the horizontal or vertical guides, drag and release a guide. The new position of the guide is updated in
the Library preview for the symbol.
About runtime bitmap caching movie clip and button symbols
Runtime bitmap caching lets you optimize playback performance by specifying that a static movie clip (for example,
a background image) or button symbol be cached as a bitmap at runtime. Caching a movie clip as a bitmap prevents
Flash Player from having to continually redraw the image, which provides a significant improvement in playback
performance.
For example, when you create animations with a complex background, create a movie clip for the background. The
background is rendered as a bitmap stored at the current screen depth. It can be drawn quickly, letting the animation
play faster and more smoothly.
Without bitmap caching, the animation might play back too slowly.
Bitmap caching lets you use a movie clip and freeze it in place automatically. If a region changes, vector data updates
the bitmap cache. This process minimizes the number of redraws that Flash Player must perform, and provides
smoother, faster playback performance.
Only use runtime bitmap caching on static, complex movie clips in which the position, but not the content, of the
movie clip changes on each frame in an animation. The playback or runtime performance improvement from using
runtime bitmap caching is only noticeable on complex-content movie clips. Runtime bitmap caching with simple
movie clips does not enhance performance.
