In our last tutorial, we were introduced the Flash^R Timeline, added frames to the Timeline and drew a rectangle on the Stage.

Now we have a solid green background layer. If you drag the Playhead over the 50 frames, you will see that the background is green on all 50 frames.

Next, we will add another layer to our Timeline. But first we will lock the background layer. Once the layer is locked, we won't be able to make changes to it until we unlock the layer.

Above the bg layer are three icons. The first icon (looks like an eye) controls the visibility of the layer. If you click this icon, the green background will not be visible and a red x will appear next to the layer name. Click the icon again to make the layer visible.

Click on the third icon (looks like a box). This icon will show only the outline of the objects on the layer. In the case of our rectangle, we will only see a colored outline around the edges of the stage.

Now click on the middle icon (looks like a lock). This icon will lock the layer and you will see a lock next to the layer name.

Our next step is to add a new layer to our Timeline.

At the bottom of the Timeline you will see three icons. The first icon, the New Layer icon, will add a layer to the Timeline directly above the selected layer. The second icon, the New Folder icon, will add a folder to the Timeline directly above the selected layer. The third icon, the Delete icon, will delete the selected layer or folder.

Click on the New Layer icon to add another layer above the bg layer. Name this new layer "circle" because will be drawing a circle on the stage.

Because the circle will be on a layer above the bg layer, we can see the circle. If the bg layer was above the circle layer, the circle would be obscured by the background. You will use this layer hierarchy to control the visibility of objects on the stage.

Note: In some projects, you might use ActionScript or Labels to control an animation on the Timeline. It is customary to put the ActionScript or Labels on their own layer and to place those layers at the top of the layer stack. Also, as you work on complicated projects with many assets on the stage, you will want to organize the layers into folders. As when naming layers, you will want to name the folders to indicate what is contained in that folder.

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