CS4 symbol prob when merging FLA's into one

[aleq]

Hi

I have several files for every piece of my movie. I have SCENE1.FLA, SCENE2.FLA, SCENE3.FLA, etc and want to merge them all into one file - MAIN.FLA. To avoid library symbol conflict, first I copy the content of SCENE1.FLA into MAIN.FLA, then in MAIN.FLA, I put every symbol in the library in it's own new folder named "+SCENE1". Then at the end of the frames of SCENE1's content on the timeline, I make a little space (blank frames), and paste the frames of SCENE2.FLA. For some reason "resolve library conflict" window pops up and ofcourse I say "don't replace). Now in MAIN.FLA the animation of SCENE2 has several problems: some symbols are missing and others are misplaced (like background, that is at the wrong X/Y position). So my question is: how do I get this right? How do I fix those problems and how do you usually merge the FLA's into ONE?


Best Regards

 -Aleque

[Markham]

Change all the symbols in the scenes to something like "scene1_symbol name."  I'm pretty sure folders don't prevent symbol overlap.

[chluaid]

You could also check out Dave Wolfe's extensions page.. there's lots of great stuff there but the one you're looking for is 'Search and Replace'. After you install that extension, here's what you do:

• Select ALL the symbols & folders you want to rename
• Go to Commands > Search and Replace,
• In the Search For field, don't type anything.. leave it blank
• In the Replace With field, type in a prefix, such as _sc1_
• Select 'Search Selected Items' and click OK.

Because you put nothing in the Search For field, Search and Replace will rename all the selected library elements with your prefix.
After you've done that and you've imported the scene2 library, you can then just select all of the scene 2 symbols & folders, then repeat the above, but name them _sc2_. Alternatively, you can rename all the elements in their respective .flas before you start combining them.

[aleq]

Heh thanks for the answer, Adam. Before I read your reply I found a similar fix. With LibAppend extension, I added Suffix "_1", "_2", etc. (not prefix, because if I want to swap a symbol, it is best that I see them in proper alphabetical order).