Flash Animation Tutorials: Animate for broadcast.
Hello and welcome to FLASHARTIST.
Today I will demonstrate how to create some cool collage type character animation using Flash CS3.
this is the example movie I will be using for this tutorial.
The first step is to create your collage character in a photo editing software such as Photoshop or Firework. you need to break down the character in separate layer for each body part. as shown below
Go to Flash and create a new document 720×576 / 30 frame per seconds ( broadcast setting )
Locate and import your layered document to stage .
Make sure your character is layered with each part of the character on separate layers,
head
torso
leg left
leg right
arm left
arm right
Once imported on stage each body part should be on a separate flash layer
Now select the head and press F8 to convert it into a Movieclip
- Name the movie clip HEAD and select the FREE TRANSFORM tool.
- Click and drage the IK point to the most realistic rotation point (around the neck area)
Using the FREE TRANSFORM you can rotate the head side to side and locate where you feel is the best IK point.
Repeat the same operation for each body parts; the arms, the legs and the torso. replacing the IK point as required for each .
Once done , select all the keyframe copy and paste them in a new MovieClip that you can name Walkcycle.
Once all the layer are in the new Movieclip go to frame 10 and insert a keyframe for each layer.
Go over the timeline RightClick and create a Motion Tween for each layer.
That’s it! Now the fun bits, the character is now ready to be animated using the FREE TRANSFORM tool.
Here is a bit of walk cycle reference.
Getting a walk cyle right is one of the trickiest thing to get right in animation, as a guideline for this example make sure that the first and last frame of the walkcycle are the same so that it loops seamlessly . you can use the onion skin tab to help with the animating.
You should get something like that
Now to create the background, in this example I have created a deck scene out of recycled images, the trick to simulate movement is to make it super wide to scroll / pan from one end of the scene to the other.
Make a new MovieClip and import your background image, convert it into another MovieClip and using tweening animate your backgound from left to right.
Finally Go to the main stage and compose your scene using the 2 movieClips of the walk cycle and the animated background
Once you are happy with your animation publish as a quicktime file for further editing.
download all the project files here
Download .Flv from youtube – Flashartist.org
I have just discovered this really cool Mac application that help download .FLV files from video sites such as Youtube & Dailymotion. and it’s free!
The massive video resources of youtube can be of great help for rotoscoping or animation projects .
Brilliantly funny
Check out these brilliant animation , Modern Toss on channel 4 (uk) or on dvd (or youtube!), I must confess a soft spot for mr Tourette , un artiste extraordinaire by any means.. here are a few of his best slogans , Liquid Cock Dysentry *Hitler’s Cock *Nazi Sex Tourists *Pissed Up Terry’s 90mph Death Can *Nonce’s Bolt Hole and the classic celeb retreat, Alpine Cunt Cabin.
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FlashArtist.co.uk has just completed a cool flash animated music video for London based Punk band JOE CANCRELAT. This music video is entirely animated in Flash using a mixture of processed pictures and vector drawing, the main cartoon character is vector based and drawn directly within flash using pen nd tablet.
Ren & Stimpy
This is a great little documentary about the early days of my 2 favorite cartoon characters Ren & Stimpy.
The video Includes Interviews by series creator John K. (Kricfalusi) and his layout/storyboard artist, Eddie Fitzgerald.
These guys are a real inspiration for cartoon artists out there.
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Here are some extract of FlashArtist latest cartoon pet project named Shaol’inn Mysteries.
As you’ve probably guessed it’s a good old kungfunny cartoon, the pictures are grabs of the flash in progress .This is one of the main character, all artworks & animations are created in flash as vector shapes.
Originally created on paper the character is then imported into Flash as a jpeg scan and then made into a vector version, broken down into movie clip with invividual pivots for future tweening and animation.
Visually Inspiring
For those who still haven’t seen this video, I wanted to share the very imaginative world of this French creative duo , they’ve also directed with So-me the DANCE music video from Justice , a good source of inspiration for Flash Artists out there.
Similarly in Flash, hand drawn vector illustrations created using a tablet or traced from bitmap, can be individually animated over a video layer.
For a more high end look, an alternative would be to import the vector animation into After Effects for compositing with a video.
I am putting together a tutorial to demonstrate this technique .
stay tuned.
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