Flash Filmmaker

Sound FX

HERE IT IS!.. the VLOG on sound effects! I hope you got some use out of this one. As you can probably tell this is great part of the process. It’s a lot of fun to break sounds down into parts and build them back up using household items… I feel like MacGyver if he [...]

Toon Titan 4

Toon Titan is a unique, cross platform plug-in for Flash. It is compatible with all versions of Adobe Flash 8 and above Including CS5. It will also run on both Mac as well as Windows environment. Toon Titan specifically addresses the needs of animators and cartoonists who are looking for an easier and more efficient [...]

The Classic Tween in Flash

The difference between a two dimensional performance and a three dimensional performance is mostly governed by the way the animation itself is executed. The following is a great example of a two dimensional performance. Here (on the left) we can see a typical walk cycle performed using classic “tweens” and [...]

Animation Backgrounds Blog – For Study and Inspiration.

The Animation Backgrounds Blog is run by Rob Richards and is an amazing resource for those who are interested in background art in animated movies and short films. From classic shorts to the latest Disney movie, Rob eliminates the characters from the foreground leaving the beautiful painted backgrounds completely visible. How the process works: “On [...]

The Animatic

So far we’ve done the story, we’ve drawn up boards, we’ve recorded dialog… now we start applying some visual timing to it all with the Animatic! The Animatic stage is pretty funky if only because it starts to feel like you’re animating… but you’re not. I will revisit an Animatic sometimes dozens of times in [...]

Animation Mentor – Free Newsletter

A while ago I signed up for the free newsletter from Animation Mentor (http://animationmentor.com). While the site is in fact an online animation school, you do not have to be registered as a student in order to sign up for the newsletter. This is a worthwhile resource, and provides tips, advice, and also links to [...]

The Wireframing Technique

Where the developers of Flash intended their product to be a Cel style animation system or not is of very little consequence. The fact of the matter is that it truly is one of the best traditional animation systems on the market albeit seriously bloated by “features” which ultimately suggest a lazier more amateurish approach [...]

Dynamic Color Swatches In Flash

Think Toon Boom Studio and The Tab’s ability to globally update colors dynamically is nice? What if I told you Flash also has this ability? The truth is Flash was the first vector software to implement such a feature… trouble is, not even Macromedia (or Adobe) thought of using it for this purpose. In this [...]

Apple developing a Flash alternative

The heated battle between Apple and Adobe Systems over Flash may get a bit more interesting, as reports of a Flash alternative being developed by Apple begin to surface. The technology, called Gianduia, was introduced by Apple last summer at its World of WebObjects Developer Conference, according to an AppleInsider report. Gianduia is described as [...]

2D Artist Magazine – A Digital painting resource.

If you are interested in using programs like Photoshop and Painter to produce backgrounds for your flash animations you might be interested in the back issues of the 2d Artist Magazine: 2d Artist Magazine If you wish to download the magazine in its entirety, there is a charge for each issue, or an option for [...]