Flash

Psycho Romeo · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject: Flash

Okay here's the deal. Senior project time, and I wanted to do some work with flash. The thing is, I have no idea what I'm doing. o.o

I bought a book on Flash CS3. But I've heard from elsewhere to get AS3... But is AS3 just the programming part? I thought I needed the art part? Specifically I wanted to do work with animation. (Like Spuds video)

Also, I need to know soon.

Here's what I've learned so far:
There are two ways to make animation. One way is drawing each frame, and the other 'Tweening'.
Tweening uses two keyframes, then figures out what to do between.
Spud's video wasn't tweening.
You can upload bitmaps and change them into vectors, which are so much klewer.
Graphics are affected when other graphics interact with them, they cut and combine.
You put different graphics into different layers to keep the seperate.
Basic knowlege of the tools.
Flash can make your lines nicer for you.

Ya. So I've taken the liberty of employing you all for support. :O
So far: What type of Flash do I need? So far I'm heading towards Flash CS3. But I've heard I need AS3. As far as I know AS is ActionScript, which is the programming language for Flash.
I'm also reading a pile of stuff about Flash CS 3: Premium, Flash CS 3: Web Design, etc. Now I'm just thoroughly confused.
Anyone know a good tablet I should get? The Flash for Dummies says get a Wacom thing.
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Glunnator · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 7:00 pm Post subject:

Wacom is good. Reliable stuff.
I use CS3, and I wouldn't be surprised if spud uses similar.

Spudd's vid is indeed a clear example of frame-by-frame (or fbf) animation.
Good examples of 'tweening' could be things like the Decline (the decline of video gaming) series found on Newgrounds, by the Super Flash Bros.

Do continue. If you ever get a wacom tablet, I envy you, because I don't have one and probably won't for a long time.
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"Sometimes the only way to be truly angry is to be so happy, everyone within a 5 mile radius is creeped out." -Invertin

FXArch · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 8:25 pm Post subject:

I find the tweening+AS combo easier then frame by frame. It just takes ages to make each frame in comparison to tweening+AS.
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Lewi · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 8:59 pm Post subject:

Yea, AS3 is Actionscript 3, which comes with flash CS3 its just the version of actionscript. CS3 supports version 3 and all the ones below as far as i know. Razz

But... What type of project are you doing? Certain projects need different methods :3

Namrorrim · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:20 am Post subject:

For romeos project he needs a tremch coat. . . and some fishnet stockings xD
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Eternal · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:32 am Post subject:

I'll just leave this up to people who know something about flash... ^_^
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"Glory is eternal." - The Immortal, Starcraft II

Namrorrim · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:26 pm Post subject:

xD
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Psycho Romeo · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 3:05 am Post subject:

Well, I doodled a mini comic strip in class, I want to animate that (stick figures, since I fail at anything else) and if that fails, I'll just stick to a web comic.

So far I'm thinking that if I choose a pose every 5 frames and set that as a keyframe, I could tween everything in-between.

So how does Spudd's vid relate to AS? I mean, it's just graphics right? No programming?

And:

FXArch · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 9:53 am Post subject:

Mkay. What Lewi does is basicly draw something>next frame>draw something>next frame>draw something etc. You don't need actionscript for that and you can make very nice animations.

I used actionscript and tweening. It's harder then what Lewi does and it sucks more too. Although I guess if you spend more then 1 hour practicing, without throwing your pc against the wall because you're frustrated Embarassed

, you could get very nice animations out of it. And you DO need books for it unless you have some knowledge with programming.
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Glunnator · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 5:22 pm Post subject:

FbF is easiest, and if used well, can create some amazing stuffs.

If your animation targets are stickmen, that will be the easiest way.

Tweening stickmen is also possible, but you'd have to make an extra layer for each limb per stickman that you want to move separately. (as in, to animate an elbow, both the upper and lower arm need their own tween.)

My suggestion? Practise all in CS3 and find what you find easiest with the most satisfying result. Remember that a lot of things need good practise before they actually look good.

Also, don't be afraid to delete something you think doesn't look right. Practise makes perfect, and learn from your mistakes and all that. Good luck! *salutes*
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"Sometimes the only way to be truly angry is to be so happy, everyone within a 5 mile radius is creeped out." -Invertin

Psycho Romeo · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 3:28 am Post subject:

@Arch: How do tweening and AS mix? o_O;;

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, lemmie know. Because I have no idea what I'm talking about.

FXArch · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:23 am Post subject:

Sprite Games are made with tweening and AS. You need AS to make games, you can´t make a game without AS. A play/pause button for example is made with AS. The score for example also needs to be made in AS. It's not too hard though. You have a list of commands where you can pick the function you need to use.
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Glunnator · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 6:29 pm Post subject:

Psycho Romeo · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 3:45 am Post subject:

Lewi · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 4:56 pm Post subject:

I think dreamworks is something to do with web design? Im not sure. If all you need is animation, flash would be more than enough.

Using sprites, in flash refers to, for example characters ripped from a snes game or a game featuring sprite art. Mario for example. They are ripped from the game and made into sprite sheets similar to this :Mario

A sprite sheet is essentially, each frame of animation for a specific character, effect or even background of a specific game using sprites. The term 'sprite' could be apllied to quite a few things though. Basically you would import this sprite sheet into flash, do a few things to it with some built in options (i can tell you if your interested) delete the white background, which is now selectable due to the previous step and then pretty much place each image into a new frame. This maybe within a movie clip or on the main stage.

A movie clip is a symbol. It allows you to make a small animation (a looping walking cycle for example.) and use it over and over again possibly saving hours of time. Razz

You can place these movie clips onto the main stage and tween them around, yes.

Objects on the same layer will overlap each other, yes. Which ever you placed on the layer first will be at the bottom of the pile. If you mean affect each other as in some sort of physical way... Then no they dont Razz

.

Yes, you can group something. This used so say, if you were using the brush tool and you drew something on the canvas and decided you wanted to use it as a symbol. (so you can transform it, rotate it, select it, drag it etc easily instead of it being a mark from the brush tool) You can group it. It will then be added to the library so you can drag it onto the stage. Numerous times aswell =]. This can be done with any object on the stage, even more than one object. Just select the objects you would like to group and press ctrl + g, assuming your on windows of course. Razz

You could make a stick man on one layer, group it into an object and tween it yes. But it would just be a stationary stick man with no actuall animation. ^^

In my opinion, for stick figure animation, you may aswell go for frame by frame, re-drawing the little man each frame, making use of movieclips for looping animation if you want. Try using the line tool to draw the stick men, draw each limb with a click and drag! =D and if you do it as frame by frame you dont need to worry about drawing each limb on a different layer but perhaps a new layer for the guys head, which will just be a circle grouped into a graphic. =]

And the way you invisioned the animation was actually how i first hoped you could do it Razz

unfortunately not. There is a program however called Pivot, try it, it's made especially for stick figure animation. Although it's no where near as cool as flash, flash just takes a while to get used to thats all.

Practice makes perfect!

Also read the flash for dummies book! ^^