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Sound Format is .wav, there only 2 sound clips in the timeline (its a new project)

Here's the current .swf animation <a>http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/6 2e972ae810244738a266b3aaa45a9c8<a>

The 2nd sound clip is about 1/2 a second early early.

(yes this is going to be a spoof of minecraft)

When I play an animation the the timeline, the sound it ok,
but when I export it or hit 'test movie', flash plays the sound clips ahead of where they're supposed to be in the timeline.

Any advice on how to remedy this?

Use on-line tutorials, and start small. Don't try and produce the next 'Super Mario Bros Z' on your first attempt.

remember to trace the sprites and remove the white background
Modify > bitmap > trace bitmap.

Take you're time, and keep re-working the scene until it looks right, sloppy rushed work wont get you anywhere.
Give each sprite it's own layer in the timeline- it's easier to animate.

also LABEL YOUR SPRITES PROPERLY in the library- so you can find what you need
two of mine are:
Phoenix small arms-back
Phoenix small arms-up

-Telling me character, type * of sprite and what it's doing

*as in 'small' sprites for on screen action, higher quality 'face' sprites for subtitles and full 'body' sprites.

Your first animation will be kinda simple- don't go overboard. just a 30 second scene to practice with.
Don't worry about it too much, no-ones going to see it- just mess around and get the feel for it.

Take a look at this: <a> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0KStV4YS 98 <a>
This is my 1st attempt at animating with sprites- Notice:

1) No sound- always add sound FX and/or music to your work.
2) Mixed sprites- you'll see the pixels are different sizes, try to get your sprites to the same scale
3) Vector and Rastor (sprite) graphics- try to avoid using flash drawn graphics and sprites at the same time.
4) Scale- the sprite are quite difficult to see, zoom in and use the centre of the screen
5) The scene is very un-dynamic, experiment with different camera positions and techniques
6) I didn't upload this on the flash portal.

Looks at other's people's work- watch it on youtube and pause it often. look at how it moves.
upload some practice animations to your dumping grounds (NOT the flash portal), and ask for feedback in the forums.

Now watch this <a>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuvfCd 3QRKU<a>
Just keep practicing my friend- that's biggest secret!!

Decent sprites which are well animated look awesome (think Super Mario Bros Z)

It's rarely the graphics and usually the skill of the animator.

However drawing your own graphics takes ages, and if you're new you often want to jump straight into animating, hence using sprites, and hence producing a crap animation because you've had little practice.

Hence people associate sprites and sticks with noobs.

Usually I use this technique for editing existing sprites, but I guess you could also draw your own.

1) Draw a basic outline of what you want to create, show outlines of all the components and colour.

2) New layer, Lock outline layer

3) Right Click> Grid> Show Grid

4) Right> Grid Options: Check 'snap to grid', change grid size to 1px by 1 px, and select 'Always snap' from the drop down menu.

5) Select line tool, set it to 'hairline' (properties box)

now zoom right in (2000%) and start tracing over your outline, keeping to the grid-lines.
(avoid diagonal lines at all cost!)
keep tracing and filling in finished blocks- it takes practice, but eventually you'll create some pretty sweet pixel art/sprites using flash.
(delete your lines by selecting your work, clicking on the line colour box and selecting the white box with the red line across it)

Essentially you're building the sprites pixel by pixel.

If you're making animated sprites then you'll want a new layer for each animated component.

If it all lines up ok, when you export an image then the pixels shouldn't get blurred.

here's a recent sketch; 'a portrait of a cat'- how can I improve?
-especially with eyes/facial features

(sorry about the low quality image- here's a higher definition version:http://www.newgrounds.com/art/vi ew/smartesthere/portrait-of-a-cat)

thanks

You'll need to tweak the perspective slightly- you've got the feet sorted, just adjust the wings and arms.
Also it's very flat- add some shading or cross-hatching to bring out the depth. Don't worry about colour too much, sometimes a B&W sketch can look a lot better.

but it's a nice attempt all the same- just keep trying

Usually it's a case of laughing at one of those funny moments that I remenber- but always in a completely innapropriate place- funerals, hospitals, exams, ect...

When you know you shouldn't laugh- everything becomes so much more funny.

there defintly needs to be a list- or a ranking system (like for blam/saves & voting points)

and mabye some sort of prize/award for having the most at the end of each month...

Personally it has to be WAM (wet & messy) fetish- gunge, slime and cream pies are a massive turn on for me