will appear in every instance of the symbol. 1. Select the text with the Selection tool. 2. Press F8 to open the Convert To Symbol dialog box. 3. Select Graphic for the Type, name the symbol low_batt_text, and click OK. [View full size image]   Animating Text with Masks There are many different ways to animate objects in Flash. In this project, you'll make the text gradually appear on the screen using masks. In fact, it's actually the mask that is animated-you'll stretch the mask to reveal more of the text as the movie proceeds. This method also makes it easier to edit the text if you need to, as you only need to change it in one place. About Masks Don't let the concept of Halloween masks confuse you about the purpose of masks in graphic applications such as Flash or Adobe Photoshop. A mask serves as a window to objects beneath it. That is, anything directly under the mask on the layers that lie beneath it is visible; anything not included in the mask area is not visible on the screen. In Flash, a mask item can be a filled shape, a type object, an instance of a graphic symbol, or a movie clip. You can mask multiple layers at once for a sophisticated effect. To use a mask, first create a mask layer. Place the mask item on the layer. Move the layer into the correct position in the Timeline. A mask layer always masks the layer directly below it; to mask more than one layer, nest them under the mask layer. Then, choose the Mask command. The layer immediately below the mask layer is linked to it, and the masked layer's name is indented in the Timeline. You won't see the masking effect until you lock the mask layer and the layer or layers it affects. Drawing Masks You'll use a simple rectangle to mask the text, and then stretch the mask over time to reveal more text. Because there are multiple screens of text, you'll need to create and resize the rectangle several times, but you only need one mask layer. 1. Select the Incoming Text Message layer, and click the Insert Layer icon. 2. Name the new layer Mask. 3. Lock all the layers beneath the Mask layer to ensure you don't accidentally move anything on them. To lock multiple layers at once, click the dot in the lock column for one layer and drag through the dots for the other layers you want to lock. 4. Select frame 88 on the Mask layer, and press F7 to insert a blank keyframe. This keyframe should be directly above the first keyframe on the Incoming Text Message layer. 5. Select the Rectangle tool, and deselect the Object Drawing icon. Set the rectangle to have no stroke and a bright red fill. Note You can use any color you want for the fill color of a mask; it won't show in the final movie. Bright red is easy to see. 6. Zoom in to view the phone screen. 7.