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Use a frame rate of at least 24 fps (on 2's) and draw as many frames as needed without taking any short cuts. Always be aware of the secondary actions on a character. Make sure to always apply your standard animation principles: slow in, slow out, follow through and all that good stuff.

your stuff is hot, I will definitely be using some of your tracks for my series!

Toon Boom, if you can master that interface.

At 12/21/12 09:29 AM, Max-Vador wrote: you do great work but that was some crazy innefficient stuff. paint behind brush woulda worked so much better for some of that.

but still fun seeing how other people do things

You mean using that paint the fills thing? I tried using that a long time ago but it always seemed like more work to me because you have to keep switching colors for every 'piece'. To each his own I guess...

Hey guys, I just uploaded a little tutorial on coloring animation frames in flash for those that are interested. Check it out and let me know what you think. Hit me up if you have any additional questions, cheers!

Part 1: http://youtu.be/01kJoGkl2M8

Part 2: http://youtu.be/LC11xp8JwUs

Part 3: tomorrow

XP

I personally have never really liked toonboom, mostly because of the interface.
I prefer flash.

There are a lot of things you can do design wise to make things go faster, but generally the faster your output the lower the quality of the overall animation. If you're not too concerned about that and just want to crank something out, here are some things you can consider doing:

-Use 'family guy' style staging where everybody is standing at a 3/4 view, even when they are 'looking' at each other
-recycled mouth shapes or use flapping mouths(like in anime)
-recycled walk cycles
-minimize the amount of locations to cut down time drawing backgrounds
-use very simplified character designs that use as few lines as possible. The less lines you have to draw, the faster you can draw each frame
-Also, the most important thing that people tend to overlook is to STORYBOARD your animation before you start. It doesn't have to be a super detailed rendering, just thumbnailing your shots with the action in mind will save you lots of time later on. You can cut and edit shots before you make them instead of spending 3-4 days working on a shot just to realize that you don't really need it, or it's not working or something

Other than that, the only other thing I can tell you is to be drawing all the time. If you keep drawing, you'll start drawing faster as you start to get comfortable with it.

but seriously, even with all that, doing animation is still like watching paint dry

I'll assume you're using a tablet, best results for smooth lines is to work big, like hd dimensions, and then zooming in when you start working on your clean up. As for your other question, you can try lowering your frame rate to like 8 fps, other than that you really have to make a decision on what's more important to you, smooth animation that takes longer, or choppy animation that's faster to produce.

Wow, thanks a lot for the award. This was a nice surprise to wake up to!

Making animation is akin to watching grass grow, or paint dry; even when you cut corners and take shortcuts. When I was in art school working 6-8 hours a day, I could do 6 seconds of full animation a week. From what I hear, Disney animators are able to pump out anywhere from 12 to 24 seconds a week.

I'm traditional now, all my new stuff is on paper. I suggest you ditch the shakey cam and use a scanner. It takes a little longer, but it looks a lot better, you don't have you worry about the lighting.

If you're working on paper, you need to be using a peg bar and punched paper.

There's no law that specifically says you need to be using a mac unless you just prefer them. I suggest using a pre Adobe version of Flash (Macromedia). There's also a bunch of free programs out there that are pretty decent like Synfig Studio (http://www.synfig.org/cms/)

I would also suggest getting a cheap tablet off of ebay or something for starting out or else you're going to have to work on paper

I just replied to your PM, check yo inbox!

I can also give you some pointers and stuff, just shoot me a PM.

Here's a free tip: Be drawing all the time...

Best advice i can give you:

Always name your layers.
Always name your symbols.
Also name your folders/sub folders.

It may seem like a simple thing, but when you get to the point where you have hundreds of individual symbols things can get hectic. It's a good habit to get into.

I think he might just be using keyboard shortcuts to advance to the next frame and then make a new keyframe. Like he's using his left hand for the keyboard and his right for the mouse. I imagine after you do it for a while, you get fast at it...

It might also help you to act out the motion you're trying to do in front of a mirror

I find it easier to handle it in small chunks and try not to think about it on such a large scale. Try to set manageable goals for yourself from day to day. For example, I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to work on my project today, so I just focused on getting the background finished for the next shot. It only took an hour and I'm happy because I feel like I was able to accomplish something today.

I "sketch" in flash by selecting a color with the brush tool and then turn the alpha down on the color to like 20%. When I'm ready for a heavier line I just turn the alpha on the color up slightly. That's the best way I've found to do it.

At 5/21/12 05:38 PM, iceimp wrote: This,
This,
And of course this.

word.

Learn as many keyboard shortcuts as you can. You'd be amazed how much time you'll save.

Also, like the previous poster suggested, you should always do a rough storyboard in advance. It may seem tediously uesless, but it really does save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run.

2 questions:

-how are you at doing fighr scenes?

-would you be willing to do inbetweens on pre-existing key frames?

Dude you can get 8.5 x 11 paper that's pre-punched from lightfoot: http://www.lightfootltd.com/

it's like $10 for a pack of 5000 sheets of paper.

All she needs is cerabella as an assist to send you flying across the screen, then she fills the screen with crap until you die or time runs out.

Peacock's keep away game really pisses me off, she's like this game's version of cable. HYPER VIPER BEAM!

I don't know why the hell it's showing the top and bottom edges like that...

So I made this sonic cartoon a little while ago that was really rushed and looked like poop, and not a lot of people liked it. So I started working on another one, only now I'm taking my time and trying to make it look at least halfway decent.

It's very John K inspired. Also, this is the first thing I did with my new mic.

no preloader yet, so you might have to let it play twice to load:

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/010a7f80b468b2aa45ef3a56 834e45e8

Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.

this is an awesome thread! I will post things as soon as I clean up my filth surrounding my work space.

This is way better than the original, especially with the sound and voices added. I hope you finish it.

Also, felt tip nibs are pretty nice too, but wear out pretty fast as well if you draw a lot.