flattening layers in Flash MX

[mightymid]

is there a way (surely there must be) to flatten certain layers in Flash MX?

say i have a 24-layer file, and i want to combine 4 of the layers... is there a way to do that?

Thanks,
Mid <-- flash noobie

P.S. to benihana -- thanks for the tip last week on tying a button to a movie clip. worked like a charm.

[benihana]

:) glad it worked out for you.

afaik there is no command to actually flatten like you can in photoshop.

you could maybe try locking all the other layers, the doing ctrl + a to select the contents of the 4 to flatten, then cut them, select one layer, and do a 'paste in place' (shift ctrl v).

then just delete the other three (empty) layers

good luck
ben

[edit] if youre 4 layers to flatten contain keyframes, you may have to repeat the technique for each frame 'block' and/or manually recreate the keyframes[/edit]

[Harry]

Flatening layers will save minimal space in an exported swf movie. But to better organize your layers, use layer folders, which are the next best thing to flattening layers.

Select a bunch of them, and click the layer folder icon, next to the new layer and garbage can for layers. You can hide the stuff within your layer and take less space in the timeline.