At 11/26/09 03:48 AM, farfenwaffle wrote:

At 11/26/09 03:10 AM, PBass wrote:

if you have no comment, why not you animate a guy throwing a ball? it is tons of fun!

http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/3709/768 8_Throwbawl.php

I need to work on the spacing more, and perhaps more anticipation of the action.

yeah that would be good, maybe like 10 more frames inbetween? what frame rate is that?

http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/3709/401 82_Throwbawl.php

It's in 24 fps, animated on ones.

if you have no comment, why not you animate a guy throwing a ball? it is tons of fun!

http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/3709/768 8_Throwbawl.php

I need to work on the spacing more, and perhaps more anticipation of the action.

At 11/26/09 01:18 AM, meltedtoons wrote: I have Adobe Flash cs4 and every time i download the preloader it keeps on saying "unexpected format"

Do you by any chance have both CS4 and CS3 installed?

I think an audio request thread would be a nice idea. Either way I'll probably contact you guys when I'm finishing my next movie.

At 11/25/09 04:22 PM, MonkeyBrainCreator wrote: I mean pencil animations like captainmcross ;)

To get that pencil like look that mcross has, just change the style of the pencil tool around and use a paper texture background.

But if you're looking to pursue pencil and paper animation, you may want to invest in a lightbox with animation pegs and some animation paper. http://www.cartoonsupplies.com/ has some, but I'd shop around to get the best prices (make sure your paper is punched to match the pegs!). If that's not an option you could always animate using a window during the daytime, some tape, and regular printer paper. I animated a lot of my old pencil tests on a 30 year old mickey mouse tracing box and loose leaf paper.

Starting on page 46 of the Kit, Richard Williams talks about a lot of useful workflow and process for hand animating, so that is really helpful. The exact process is mostly a matter of getting used to, but generally works the same as any other medium.

At 11/25/09 07:54 PM, Glaiel-Gamer wrote: Farmville stinks

I'm not too sure about that. I think a lot of people are entertained by Farmville. Just because the company who made it is manipulative doesn't mean people don't find it fun. Heck, there are plenty of great games that I played where I wasn't even having fun all the time. Sometimes I was pissed and kept trying to beat some ridiculous boss because I had a human need to complete things.

Games are meant to entertain, and if people are buying these games, it's probably because they are entertained by them. If I like a game, I don't care what anybody else says about it, it's fun for me and I'd have to be daft to deny myself of something I like just because it's not up to the standards of others.

Well, I could try and point you in the right direction, but I'm not sure exactly what you're aiming for.

Do you want to frame by frame it? If so, how confident are you in your drawing skills? Do you have a tablet or are you going to do it pencil and paper? Are you better at tweening? Mouse art? Do you know how to use Adobe Flash or do you need help with learning the program?

Both the visuals and the gameplay are very important, but gameplay is much more critical. Good gameplay with simple visuals can stand alone, but no matter how shiny graphics are they can never save a poor engine.

Have you tried using the convert point tool to modify your anchor points on each line? It should give you all the flexibility you need. Or is it a technical problem and your lines aren't bending at all?

At 11/25/09 05:35 PM, NewGrounds-Lover wrote: Hey!, im getting my new wacom... an intuos4; they seem very good what do you think? it is really easier to animate with a wacom? Another question, how many fps you think a good animation must have, im new in animating so, with how many fps my animations should run?
And im thinking of buying flash CS4 professional...what dou you think?

Unless you're better at mouse drawing than hand drawing, a wacom tablet is really helpful. I myself love the Intuos4s that my school has, although sometimes the really big ones can be a little trickier to get used to.
A good fps to use is 24fps, and is generally the standard to animate on. A lot of the time you'll animate in twos (That just means you have a new drawing for every other frame, which is basically animating in 12fps) but for fast or complex actions you can switch to ones quite easily.
I really like flash for animating, it's a great program, but I've also been experimenting with ToonBoom. If you plan on more web-based or smaller scale animations, flash will be perfect. If you are looking to produce something longer than a short, ToonBoom may be a better option.

Tom, you do a great job in treating your userbase well and keeping personal with them, it's just sad that that sort of thing is almost non-existent everywhere else. But then again, I think that's one of many things that makes Newgrounds special.

Are you using the brush tool?

At 11/23/09 10:07 PM, ChillyCheese wrote: Imagine that instead of tablets, they were Cintiqs!

I can see a distant day where Wacom partners with Newgrounds and gives a couple of those out. That would be nice!

At 11/24/09 01:21 PM, MonkeyBrainCreator wrote: Well guys after a lot of links from great people to learn flash 8 i decided that i want to learn pencil animation to. So please if you know how or if you got tutorials ( From noob to pro :P ) please post it here!
I really love it! it would be nice.

Greetz MBC

Almost all the resources posted in your other topic is directly applicable to any medium of animation whether it be 3D, stopmotion, or classical animation. The biggest difference in doing 2D pencil animations is that drawing skills are highly encouraged.

I would take a life drawing class, or check out Posemaniacs.com and do plenty of gestures every day.

The best way to get proper help is to be clear in what you are saying. Also, give more information.
How much money can you spend? If money is absolutely no object, then you could get a Cintiq, an Intuos, and Design Suite. If money is tight, you might just want to stick to a Bamboo Fun and a single Flash License.

If you can afford Cintiq without breaking the bank, get one. If not get Intuos, and if not that Bamboo. Same goes with getting a program bundle vs. single license.

To learn animation:

The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams (If anything you MUST get this one. Check Scribd.com if you can't afford it)
The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston
Acting for Animators by Ed Hooks
Pencil to Pixels by Tony White
Stop Staring by Jason Osipa

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.
php?t=128706
http://www.animationmentor.com/resources /
http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/fla shtutorials.html
http://biteycastle.com/bca/bca.html

Good Luck

At 11/24/09 03:46 PM, Heroofflash wrote: Should I put humor above all else?

Not really, but using multiple characters from different video games and a serious storyline is a recipe for cheesiness. If you used characters from only one game, or original characters, it would be much easier to pull off well. Good luck!

At 11/23/09 05:51 AM, kizza0 wrote: You all msut be under 12 or something, relying on a give away for a graphics tablet. Just get a wacom bamboo or something. So cheap. Also, heaps of good animators use mouses.

Perhaps not all of us are in a position to be able to spend any more money than it takes to support themselves. Perhaps some of us are full time college students with crappy jobs. I don't necessarily need a tablet, but it certainly irks me that you think the older somebody gets the more you should drop money on a dime.

At 11/23/09 01:20 AM, CloudEater wrote:

Do you think I might have a chance if I show him what I'm working on?

If it's really really good I think he might, but I'm not really sure.

Instructions on how to apply this year!

You have far too many drawings in there. It's going to look very slow. Throw a ball across the room and see how long it takes to reach the other side. Your animation should be just a little longer than that, due to the guy getting clocked in the head.

Animate using both 1's and 2's in 24fps. That way, when you want to do a slow action, such as a standard walk cycle, you can draw in every other frame, or 2's. When you want to do a fast action such as a run, you use 1's and drawn in every frame.

If you animate in 12fps and want something to move really fast, you're not going to be able to make it as smooth as you'd like.

At 11/20/09 11:20 AM, kodinkenji wrote: any idea what to do?

are you sure you're pressing the radio button that says 'Embed video in swf and play in timeline'?

At 11/21/09 04:03 PM, K-Guare wrote: lol, I love how the two non-free alternatives you suggested
were even more expensive than Flash.

Pencil, Aniboom, and Pivot are all free?

Personally I've had a slightly negative experience with The Art Institutes. The work that the students showcase can be disappointing. Although, one of my co-students, Gene Goldstein, has been getting lots of good attention now. He's got a whole wall of his artwork posted on the fourth floor and his cartoon 'squeek' aired on a Nickelodeon contest. There are a few more really good artists at the school, but for the most part I feel like I'm a big fish in a small pond, and I'm not even that good, which is bad.

I've been thinking about transferring to Cal-Arts, as that's where a good number of professionals have gone, such as John Lasseter and Brad Bird. But recently I've been much more interested in AnimationMentor.com

I'll probably just end up finishing in this blasted school instead.

If you convert your AVI files to the latest FLV you should be able to import them into flash. It's what I did for my latest flash. In fact, I think Premiere can export that directly to a high quality FLV.

Create a new .fla file in Flash.

File>Import>Import Video

Then select the filepath for the FLV and click next.

Select the radio button that says 'Embed video in swf and play in timeline'

Finally, just create a new scene, put the preloader in it and make sure the preloader scene is before the video scene (alternatively you could just move the whole video one frame over but personally I always create a new scene for the preloader)

If this doesn't work post the exact wording of any and all error codes you get while trying this. Good luck.

Well, I may not be fantastic but I think I could help you out. I can't use AIM but I can give you pointers through the PM system or E-mail. Just drop me a line here or at ThePBass@GMail.com

It's really hard to force yourself, but what I do is get rid of all distractions first. Then I spend a few minutes thinking about the animation I'm going to do. If I have to many other ideas and things floating in my head I quickly write or sketch them down. Then I guess I just animate. Sometimes it's like the last lap of a long race and you just have to tell yourself to keep moving and that the finish line is close. Good luck!

Is it animation you're looking at, or are you trying to learn actionscript?

http://biteycastle.com/bca/bca.html is a good resource for learning Flash.

At 11/19/09 12:04 PM, spliffmasta wrote: thanks for the help Im really grateful

No problem, good luck with your animation!

It looks like you can draw pretty well. You should make some concept art on paper and some thumbnail storyboards. Scan them in (if you don't have one a local library should) and post them in this topic. It might help get more animators interested. If not you could check into learning to animate yourself as it looks like you have a nice idea going there.