At 11/8/09 03:51 PM, bbabrich wrote: here's an idea....
the barely news flash!
this would come out weekly, and would be a comedic representation of the week's events. would be about a minute long. I would write it, as my animation skills are lacking, and one of you would animate and voice it. not looking for anything phenomenal. i have not written up a script yet, as it would be obsolete before this idea even took off, i am just looking for takers and support. or, this is a totally shitty idea and i am just hallucination due to my sleep deprivation again.

I wouldn't knock yourself so hard. If that link was your first attempt, you certainly out done my first tries at Flash. Practice is worth it. :3

A VERY happy birthday to you!

I hope your degree is looking mighty spiffy on your wall. :3

At 7/22/09 05:03 PM, RubberTrucky wrote: I liked yu-gi-oh the show. It's by far better than Pokemon.

Pokemon is just a watered down kids show which is very naive and has hardly any serious combats in it at all.

I never got the chance to watch the authentic Japanese version of either show, I only got the water-down, (demon-realm) versions. I'm guessing though, best as I can understand, that Pokemon was watered down far less than Yu-Gi-Oh, which was a show aimed more for tween boys anyway.

As a girl, it was much easier to get into Pokemon. I had the most bad ass collection of dilligiently raised Lv. 98 Vaporeons (uber trained with Pokemon Stadium) that no one could take down at my school.

I'd say Pokemon as a video game definitely tops any product either franchised outputted. I like Yu-Gi-Oh the card game next, and still play it on DS from time to time. Pokemon as a television show was a bit easier to swallow--simply because it didn't take itself so seriously, each episode was pretty much a contained story, and folks resorted to chicken/dog fight-like rampages rather than trying to menace each other with a bunch of playing cards.

At 7/24/09 06:16 AM, JKAmovies wrote:
But the best advise I can give you is. . . NEVER compare your art to other artists art, it won't do any good comparing art to art (especially if the art is mega awesome and perfected). Just work at your own pace and you'll get better eventually ;)

I totally agree. It's always best to let your own style evolve. That's what makes it fun really. Just have fun experimenting as you start off and develop a style that best matches your needs.

At 6/26/09 10:23 PM, Luis wrote:

At 6/26/09 09:06 PM, Toast wrote: Sometimes during the holidays I pretty much stay at home for 10 days or so, and I don't feel sad or lonely. It's just about perspective. Maybe for me it's really sad to waste 8 hours on school every day when you could be doing useful things at home.

I feel kinda smothered when i goto meetups, i kinda value being by myself

There's something of great value in solitude. It's hard to describe really--it goes beyond peace. I wonder though if it's a fact that most programmers/animators appreciate being by themselves.

I could use outrageous one liners for my Professor Layton series. Dark, vicious, and comically specific lines would do nicely. If you could view some of those animations and PM me your thoughts, I'd appreciate your input.

Professor Layton pt.1, by Skaijo Type: Movie Rating: Ages 13+

At 5/31/09 12:01 PM, doctormario wrote: I'm not gonna tell you how to exactly do it, because it's a real worthwhile thing for you to master. If you get in a total jam, PM me.

D

As a start you can also check out the Learn AS link in my signature. :3

At 5/31/09 08:33 AM, DingoWalleyStudio wrote: I have a problem with my first flash. I want to stop the audio on one scene when going to the next scene, but I want the next scene to play its audio. I also wanna stop the audio when going from one frame to the next frame. I do not know how to do that, but I have the audio allready. If anyone could help, that would be really appreciative.

The AS line:

stopallsounds();

--is a great way to stop all the sounds that'll play in a project. All you have to do is go into your Action Script code and paste that at the frame you want sounds to stop continuing.

At 5/31/09 01:46 AM, Croire wrote: So I was thinking about doing some flashes much like Egoraptors easter egg style (You know where there isn't fluid animation and mouth movements and such) until I get my tablet, do you think that would fly here? Or would it not be accepted regardless of how funny the drawings and script were?
Merci pour vous aider!

I'm assuming you're just getting started with Flash. As much as there isn't anything wrong with aspiring to the styles of popular artists here at NG, as a newcomer, I think you have a genuinely unique advantage to bring something entirely your own to this website community. I don't think there's anything wrong with parodying, or being influenced by the work of anyone else--but if you can develop great scripts and great drawings--why not settle for your own style? With practice, you'll be able to truly push your own will through animation--and it's never too early to start on that path.

At 5/31/09 12:37 AM, deathchimp wrote: Yeah, I'd be interested in that. The games you're working on look like they'd be fun to write stories for.

I could use outrageous one liners for my Professor Layton series. Dark, vicious, and comically specific lines would do nicely. If you could view some of those animations and PM me your thoughts, I'd appreciate your input.

Professor Layton pt.1, by Skaijo Type: Movie Rating: Ages 13+

At 5/30/09 11:54 PM, Anonimator wrote:

At 5/30/09 08:07 PM, Skaijo wrote:

At 5/30/09 07:49 PM, Neo-13 wrote:

Btw, that robot was animated with fbf techniques and most likely drawn with a tablet and processed with After Effects. It's a very impressive peice to aspire to.

FBF techniques??? i dont quite understand ... if someone could explain a little bit more

Absolutely, I apologize for being so brief. The robot was animated FRAME BY FRAME with a tablet, which is like a pad you can draw on instead of using a mouse. And a lot of the effects in that animation were probably done with After Effects, which is program that's part of the CS4 suite that adds neat effects to flash or website projects.

At 5/30/09 08:11 PM, thesmallbigone wrote: Hi all,
I'm new at Flash and NG, and I hope to learn a lot of things, and people here...
I was looking some movies, but I wanna know something:
How is this example made in flash? Is it frame bij frame, is there used any motion tween?
I would like to know how this is made...
I'm a beginner, so do you also have some tips for me, about making animations?
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/49 7182

Thanks a Lot, TheLittleBigOne

What's utilized in that animation is a very fluid blend of frame by frame and tweening techinques. Some of the backgrounds are bitmaps of drawings he already made in flash, prnt screened, then imported back into the .fla to save file size. There's also some After Effects messing around that gave the water effects (or at the very least I'm pretty sure that was the program used--anyone can correct me if I'm wrong). It's a really strong piece of work. I believe really experimenting with all the tools animation has to offer really demonstrates a person's prowess as an animator.

At 5/30/09 07:49 PM, Neo-13 wrote: Also, why don't you post your attempt so we can actually help you improve it.

I agree. If we see some of your work, we can def be able to give you pointers on how to improve. That's kind of the spirit of how the NG Portal works really.

Btw, that robot was animated with fbf techniques and most likely drawn with a tablet and processed with After Effects. It's a very impressive peice to aspire to.

At 5/30/09 07:38 PM, P-Zed wrote: warning, just a little messed up.
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/300509/5 9917_sandwiches.mp3
tell me what you think, this is just the audio.

Kinda improvised . . . I came up with the idea after finding this video while browsing youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VhebXniw Fw

Some honest opinions and critiques:

+Nice SFX mixing, though I'm still confused about the actual setting. I'm guessing it's inside a room with windows open. This issue will most likely be covered up in the actual animation--but in the future supply us with some sort of summary about the setting before we listen to the piece.

- The voices sounded very similar. There wasn't enough to distinguish them apart and it made it confusing as to who was talking. It also just takes away from the quality of the audio. If you're doing all the voices, practice on different characters, or change the pitch of other voices you do using software.

It's hard to get the comedic vibe from this without seeing the full package. But keep at, it's a strong start.

At 5/30/09 12:18 PM, Sephi-hatu wrote: Is it worth my time to encrypt an .swf file? If it is, are there any free obfuscation/encryption tools that I should use? What says the community?

I typically don't encrypt because I don't offer a lot of original programming in my animations, just a bunch of symbols that I've drawn myself. I really don't mind if people reuse my symbols-- I've actually been pleasantly surprised by people who had decompiled my animations and put them together as a fan dub or some other work. That's actually kind of cool.

Still though, If you deter anyone from using/stealing your programming or any other form of info you put in there, go on an encrypt. There's a bunch of topics in this forum about encryption that you can search for that will have a variety of links you can check out. :3

At 5/30/09 02:24 AM, Goat-Man wrote: Pretty much I need some tips or a tutorial that teaches how to make a semi-realistic, moving lava/magma like effect in Flash.
I appreciate any help you can give
Thanks

It really comes down to personal style. :3

If I had to make lava of the gooey variety, I'd use a variety of shape tweens. I'd linear gradient them dark red to black--while having bright red-orange linear gradient shape tweens quickly ooze out of the darker ones with some masking. I'd might add some effects to get that heated distorted light view later on.

Then again, I could always use frame-by frame techniques, but that might clash with my particular animating style, you see. So it really just comes down to how you like to work.

At 5/30/09 07:18 AM, Anonimator wrote: ummm... i unsuccessfully tried using macromedia flash 2004 awhile back so i gave up... but now i grew a pair and found myself the adobe shishkabam... i kind of made different scenes on different flash documents... im not sure how to compile them into a cohesive piece...

also... should i add sound in flash or after i compile them together...

Any advice?

My advice for combining all your documents into one file:

1. Open up all documents at one time so that they're all running in your 2004 Flash program window
2. Choose the file you want to be the "main file" of your project
3. Go to all the other files and copy and paste each Layer into your main file. It'll all be in one Scene as "Scene" in Flash software really more relates to when your making games or websites. It's somewhat bad wording on their part. :3
--That's really all you'll have to do but you might find some trouble if your tweens or objects have the same name in your library. What you'll get is a conflict between the items in your library and Flash will get confuse unless if you give them unique names. So...
4. Go to all the other necessary files' libraries (Ctrl + L) and one by one, rename them (for each conflict) to be unique name. Typically, when I've faced this problem, I just go through the library appending a "k" at the end of everything, which is all I needed to make sure every symbol and tween had a different name.

This may not be the fastest or user friendly method. But it does work 100%. Best of luck.

At 5/30/09 07:55 AM, Mattster wrote: The best and only "True" software for making flashes is Flash. . . Go figure.

You can download a trial at Adobe.com

Have fun!
-Matt

I second that. I'm currently using Flash 8, which I got a copy of as a student from my school at a discount. You can probably find other bargains elsewhere on the internet--but the 30 day trial is free and will certainly give you insight as to whether or not you'll enjoy making Flash as much as you like watching them.

It's a pretty different experience, that's for sure! xD

At 5/29/09 10:07 PM, farfenwaffle wrote: Don't start with a big project. in fact, I think you should get some serious practice in before you submit. patience,it took me years before I made something worth viewing.
look at my crap first flash :')

That beats my first flash attempts. xD

I actually started off with just squiggles as I got used to the Flash 8 interface. Like you, I use Flash 8 even today. So just take the time to learn how the program functions--that's a challenge in it's own right. Then you can make your own animations, however and whatever you like, with the sole goal to have fun.

I'll tell you though, don't worry about what's expected from you. You should animate with the mindset of enjoying yourself first and foremost--and then sharing what you had fun making with people here in this community.

It's a privilege for us to see your work.

At 5/9/09 01:24 PM, jmtb02 wrote: When did Luis become a mod again? Do I have an old cache or something?

He's always been a mod in our hearts. :P

At 1/10/09 03:52 PM, Nano256 wrote: Use v-cam

Google it.

^Good tool to have.

You can also try using motion tweens instead of shape tweens. Create a new symbol that has essentially the entirety of your scene and then resize on the stage of your flash program to give the illusion your zooming in and out.

At 12/10/08 03:58 PM, liaaaam wrote:

I think I got a throat infection starting, and I have work to do..

I just got over the flu myself. At least I thought it was the flu (more like a 24 hour bug). Either way, there's something going round.

Just Email Tom and ask for a filesize extention. Anything under 15MB is should be easy for the Fulp Bump Up.

:Top Three Things I Hate About Animating:

1. Frame Math (ie. If I make a 7 frame walk loop and I have 36 frames left in a symbol that loops every 123 frames...)

2. Looking up things in the Library (I used to rename every object in the library for quick assess, but naming each symbol took longer than just going by the Tween and Symbol numbers--not that that's a quick process either)

3. Audio repeats. (Jokes might be funny the first time you hear them, but when your animating a long joke/series of jokes you the hear the audio so many times that the humor can die pretty fast :3 ).

At 11/5/08 03:09 PM, ViolentAJ wrote:

At 11/5/08 02:00 PM, robin1232 wrote: stick to 8, the interface of the adobe CS series sucks, a friend of mine has flash cs3 but I always work with 8 cuz you have to click like 5 times before you get to the actions screen (you can be too compact)

I agree. I loved Macromedia's layout. I hate Adobe's layout.

I said it once and I'll say it again: They should have skin/interface options.

I prefer's 8 interfrace too. I loved MX's as well, and it was an incredibly smooth switch between the two. It wouldn't be too hard to get used to where the icons shifted in CS3 and CS4, but why fix what's not broken?

At 10/8/08 11:50 AM, GustTheASGuy wrote: Flash uses JPEG format for everything. You can up the compression in the publish settings but it'll look bad. I don't think there are any magic tricks to use less images than you do so you'll just have to cut them where you can.

Well, I appreciate the help anyway, Gust. I'll at least try the publishing settings once to see where that gets me. Otherwise, I'll just crop as necessary and use printscreen to minimize the total number of bitmaps I do use.

http://media.putfile.com/The-Love-Im-Sea rch-35

^Link to the animation.

WITHOUT AUDIO this animation, which is at about 35% complete is already ~10MB. I'm assuming that it's mostly because of the many bitmaps located in the animation. I'm looking for ways, techniques, or past experience that can help me minimize the size of the flash .swf file when it's mostly bitmaps that are increasing the file size.

1. --Is there any publish setting that compresses a bitmap in a .swf file?
2. --Are there any techniques I could use that would minimize the number of bitmaps used?
3. --Does Flash automatically convert all the images to bitmaps--or can I override this feature to allow .jpeg or .png?

I appreciate your help incredibly.

No worries, Scott.

I had one of my favorite animations stolen onto NG last year, it was Metal Gear Yotsuba. I emailed Tom the following day, and he deleted the stolen entry. It's a shameful thing that happened but it worked out in the end. You might save yourself some trouble by emailing Wade first though.

I also use GIMP, but it's a little bit over-powered to just make a simple .gif.

I use Faststone Image Viewer. It's more user friendly for simpler tasks and it's free too.

Chess

I only know one Luis on the internet (or at least the one who would recognize my SN). Yesterday I was playing chess (briefly) with that same one at Yahoo Chess.

Either way, it's time for a rematch of the century. xD