Flash glossary: Timeline
The Timeline in Adobe Flash Professional organizes and controls a document's content over time in layers and frames. Like movie film, Flash documents divide lengths of time into frames. Layers are like multiple filmstrips 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.
- Playhead indicates the current frame displayed on the Stage. As a document plays, the playhead moves from left to right through the Timeline. By default, the playhead loops when it reaches the end.
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 cannot calculate and display the animation quickly enough.
Parts of the Timeline
| A. Playhead | G. Tweened animation |
| B. Empty keyframe | H. Scroll to Playhead button |
| C. Timeline header | I. Onion-skinning buttons |
| D. Guide layer icon | J. Current frame indicator |
| E. Frame view pop‑up menu | K. Frame rate indicator |
| F. Frame-by-frame animation | 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 make it possible to 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. If you enable the onion skin feature, you can see multiple frames simultaneously—helpful when creating frame-by-frame animations.
In addition to the main Timeline you see displayed in the Flash workspace, movie clip and button symbols also have timelines. Timelines can be nested (placed inside other timelines) to organize animations and specific functionality within a Flash project.
To learn more about using timelines, watch the video titled Working with timelines.
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