Working with labels

The Labels button in the timeline lets you add a label to any point in a timeline, including those contained within movie clip groups. Labels are references that scripts point to. For example, you could create a label called "Stop" and place it 3 seconds into an animation. You could then create a script that looks for that label in order to stop the animation at that point. For more information on scripts, see About scripts.

When a label is added to the timeline, the label column displays previous and next arrows, which function the same as the ones used for keyframes (moving the current-time marker to the previous or next label in that timeline).

To add a label to an animation:

1. Display the composition timeline or movie clip timeline to which you want to add the label.
2. Move the current-time marker to the point where you want to add the label.
3. Click the Labels button  in the Timeline window.
4. Enter the name you want to give the label, and click OK.
5. The label appears in the timeline.

To duplicate a label within a timeline:

1. Select the label you want to duplicate. (Shift-click to select additional labels, if desired.)
2. Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the label to create duplicates within the timeline.

To rename a label:

1. Open the label:
• Double-click the label in the timeline.
• Move the current-time marker to the label and click the Labels button .
2. Enter the new name and click OK.

To delete a label:

1. Select a label (Shift-click to select additional labels).
2. Press Backspace or Delete (Windows) or Delete (Mac OS).

To move the current-time marker to the previous or next label:

Click the left arrow  or right arrow  in the labels column.

To move a label:

Drag the label to a new position in the timeline. (Shift-click to select multiple labels, and then drag to move them together, maintaining their relative positions.)