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hiya there

to celebrate this shiny new animation forum, i'd like to open up a simple FAQ thread, for anyone with any question regarding the technical or aesthetic side of animation.

i'm not the best by a long shot but i've got 6-7 years flash experience under my belt, so i'll be able to answer most general inquiries, and perhaps some tougher ones. otherwise, it's a community effort!

FAQ:

At 1/26/10 04:45 PM, 14hourlunchbreak wrote: Is Flah CS3 better or worse than Flah 8? I've been using Flah 8 for a long time and it's worked out OK. I'm just not sure if I want to upgrade.

from my experience, there is barely a difference unless you're a coder, in which case YES it's a good transition. for art alone however, flash 8 has all the filters you need, but i've been having some serious problems with bugs in my CS3 version. particularly in the library, for larger projects theres a good deal of lag, and sometimes panels just kinda dissapear and you gotta tap them to re appear. it can get quite annoying. and it's not my hardware. i've formatted my comp recently, and i have a quad core i7, 12 gb ram.

i'd stick with 8 until you feel the NEED to access artistic features only available in another version. these programs are damn expensive!

At 1/26/10 04:46 PM, TomFulp wrote: Actually this is a fun concept... It's kinda like the "Ask Me Anything" threads on Reddit. It would be cool to see more popular artists make threads like this, where fans of their work can ask specific questions about their techniques... Maybe long-term we should call these AMA topics. Like "Jazza AMA" for example...

oh yeah, i saw ur AMA, a really cool idea IMO, unites everyone! :P
i think NG users get suprised as to how good NG artists are to respond and converse, topics like that would really open it up.

At 1/26/10 05:03 PM, citricsquid wrote: This has always baffled me: From my (albeit minimal) flash usage I've never been able to make proper clean lines, using pen or brush they never look like proper lines, like the ones that are used in things like
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/52 4391
Do you know what I mean? If so, how is it done? Is there some magic setting I can't find? :-o

At 1/26/10 04:46 PM, TomFulp wrote: Maybe long-term we should call these AMA topics. Like "Jazza AMA" for example...

one whiff of a good idea and you're all over it!

good question!
the annoying answer is twofold, FIRST is time and practice. i'd bet if you watch some of happy harry's older work the lines would be far less neat. it's a process of getting used to the program itself, and how you meld with it.

another part of the answer CAN (not must) involve a drawing tablet. again, that's not to say having a tablet will make you instantly a clean line drawer. they take a few months to get used to also.

the short answer is just work on it and it will come (people HATE that answer). luis doesnt even use a tablet and he's got clean lines, so it's less problems with flash, it's more how we understand how to most naturally communicate with the program. i hope it helps.

also, i got a PM from Twilight who wrote:
"What do you suggest a beginner to work on first, animation wise?"

i think that depends on the animator and what their strengths are. someone like james farr (xombie series) had the art abilities from the get go but learning to animate more fluidly was more of a process of time.

my personal opinion would be to not worry too much on the technicalities of animating and focus more on making FUN and enjoyable projects and the rest WILL COME as the inspiration keeps flowing.

the first charlie the unicord episode for example, while far from an animation masterpiece, was funny and entertaining. watch the latest one and there are a LOT more fancy things to look at. you mind will compensate for what you dont know over time, just get some ideas going!!

@ UberCream:

i use default smoothing settings, but yes i always use pressure sinsitivity. i tend to zoom in to around double the default view when drawing lines, it results in a cleaner finish. and u use CTRL+Z a lot, every line stroke will result in a different line, so draw and undo until you get the one that works best.

@ falz3333

flash IS especially made for frame by frame, it's more if the artist is or isnt. using onionskin and making sure you so your inbetweens effectively will make your FBF quite good, but the reason i'd say stick with flash, is simply because of it's vector capabilities and simplicity in editing. photoshop is built for the still image. flash is built for the motion!

@ Tom

i broke newgrounds' AMA virginity! i feel so damn hot right now. jk. thanks man.

At 1/26/10 05:34 PM, Tystarr wrote: This is such a cool idea..
Ok since I'm commenting I should ask a question...

How did you learn to make games and was the transition from animator to coder a difficult one?

best part is i made no transition!! i still cant code crap other then stuff like play buttons, and i still need help with that.

if you are a good animator and know flash well, hooking up with a good coder is great fun. just ensure that work is enjoyable for both, and bothe get their ideas in the game, and the split is ALWAYS 50/50 unless otherwise specified and agreed between both parties.

the process for me is as an animator, to come up with the core idea and create all the needed visual aspects, characters, menu's backgrounds, etc etc, and the coder acts as the glue to peice it all together. you'd both be lost without each other!

games are way fun to make btw.

At 1/26/10 05:14 PM, Techno wrote: Hey Jazza, great thread idea :P

I noticed your flashes have really good quality sounding effects and i always think, "Wow...". So here is my question, what is the best source for flash effects? Or even what is a good program to make your own if you have ever done that before.

i'd need further definition to answer how you want but assuming you mean visual effects, most of it is done in flash with a little help from things like filters (blur, color correction, glow, etc) and using applicable presets to symbols such as tint, alpha, etc. again, it's a process of practice and time, watch others work and get inspired!!

At 1/26/10 05:49 PM, Techno wrote: Aha, not graphical effects, but sound effects. Also, i am going to start using filters and what not to enchance the effects, but not too much haha :)

ok, for sound effects, i used to use sources like www.findsounds.com and www.flashkit.com

they are OK, but still it can be SOOO hard to find the right sound. now i use a sound designer who does all the work for me which make my life a thousand times easier! THIS GUY. he's a champion.

he's creating a set of sound effects to buy, with all the basics, 40 bucks, should be out in the next few months. otherwise if you need him now he's really a great buy, a few bucks or so and he's do everything you need in your flash, for a basic flash, which if you get sponsored for your work, isn't too much. he's awesome. try him.

At 1/26/10 06:26 PM, Mexifry wrote: How can I shove as many popular NG characters into a video and get teh famous!?!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!
You seem to be a pro at that!

how can i be a prick? you seem pro at that! lol jk. it was a christmas present i did for fun in a few weeks, get over it.

At 1/26/10 06:42 PM, Techno wrote:

At 1/26/10 06:36 PM, Mexifry wrote:

At 1/26/10 06:33 PM, Techno wrote: Haha, i find it funny you make one flash with NG characters, and he is saying that you are famous for that.

Mexi, hate to break it to you, but that isn't why he is well known on the site. He has his own flash series and even games. Seems like someone is a little jealous though :3

I know that's not why he is known on the site.
I figured the long line of "!?!?!?!?" would signify a bit of sarcasm, but I guess that isn't blunt enough. :P

Indeed. But it seemed as if you were using it in a bad sarcastic way. Kind of like this to an artist who DOES use video games for everthing, let's use egoraptor for example? "HOW DO I GET FAMOUS BY SUBMITTING VIDEO GAME CAR200NZ LIK U??!??!?!".

Ok , now that we are off topic, let's get back on track and ask more questions.

Jazza, what is the easiest way to get a sun glare effect only using flash?

thanks for bringing it back :P

ok, i'd always use a visual reference, google image "sun glare" or "lense flare" or something.

but from the top of my head, i'd brighten the background a bit and add a darker tint to the foreground figure symbol (black, 30-40%). then i'd add a layer above both, with a circle filled with a circular gradient, inside of the gradient being white at 70-90%, and the outside of the gradient white at 0%. this acts as a simple glow. place it on the outer edge of the darkened figure in the foreground and it will look like the sun is shining directly behind the figure and its too bright for the camera to handle.

good idea mexifry.

i did a quickie myself. however the question was regarding glare, not lense flare.

FLASH EXAMPLE OF GLARE

it's simple, 3 main aspects. light background, dark foreground, and a bright overlay.