I have managed to get the text in place. I converted it to a graphic symbol, inserted it at one key frame with alpha at 100%, several frames later in the same layer I inserted a new key frame, changing alpha to 0%, then created a motion tween between the two. When I move the frame indicator back and forth within the Flash MX editor I see the text fade out like it is supposed to, but when I export the movie to .swf format and play it in Flash player 6 there is NO fading. The text appears when it is supposed to, but never fades out.
I first thought there was a problem with my flash player, but I’ve viewed the .swf file on other computers and have the same problem.
Well it took me a few hours to figure out but here is the problem. When you typed the word “BOOM” (before converting to a symbol) the “Character Options” were not set to “embed font outlines for all characters” (Maybe someone can explain why this needs to be set this way)
Here is the fix-
1 Retype “BOOM”
2 Chose the “Character” box (located under the “Format” box) in text properties.
3 Chose “All Characters”
Now you can proceed as normal-
4 Convert to Symbol (Graphic)
5 Go to your time line and replace your original "BOOM symbol with the new one. Make sure to replace this symbol in both places on the time line.
6 Change the alpha on the frame that you would like to fade.
I just found the technical answer to my post above-
By not chosing to “embed font outlines” you were using “device fonts”.
"Device fonts cannot be alpha tweened. A device font used in a symbol can be motion tweened, but any alpha changes applied to the symbol will not display for the device font’s text block. "