To organize a document thematically, you can use scenes. For example, you might use separate scenes for an introduction, a loading message, and credits. Though using scenes has some disadvantages, there are some situations in which few of these disadvantages apply, such as when you create lengthy animations. When you use scenes, you avoid having to manage a large number of FLA files because each scene is contained within a single FLA file.
Using scenes is similar to using several FLA files together to create a larger presentation. Each scene has a Timeline. Frames in the document are numbered consecutively through the scenes. For example, if a document contains two scenes with ten frames each, the frames in Scene 2 are numbered 11–20. The scenes in the document play back in the order they are listed in the Scene panel. When the playhead reaches the final frame of a scene, the playhead progresses to the next scene.
When you publish a SWF file, the Timeline of each scene combines into a single Timeline in the SWF file. After the SWF file compiles, it behaves as if you created the FLA file using one scene. Because of this behavior, scenes have some disadvantages:
Scenes can make documents confusing to edit, particularly in multi-author environments. Anyone using the FLA document might have to search several scenes within a FLA file to locate code and assets. Consider loading external SWF content or using movie clips instead.
Scenes often result in large SWF files. Using scenes encourages you to place more content in a single FLA file, which results in larger FLA files and SWF files.
Scenes force users to progressively download the entire SWF file, even if they do not plan or want to watch all of it. If you avoid scenes, users can control what content they download as they progress through your SWF file.
Scenes combined with ActionScript might produce unexpected results. Because each scene Timeline is compressed onto a single Timeline, you might encounter errors involving your ActionScript and scenes, which typically require extra, complicated debugging.
To stop or pause a document after each scene, or to let users navigate the document in a nonlinear fashion, you use ActionScript. For more information see, ActionScript.