The Big Fat Sequel - Suggestion Box

[Helbereth]

I'm starting production on a follow up to my original Big Fat Tutorial http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/236757, and I'm looking for suggestions, reminders and general questions for what to include. My plan is to make it a 1-stop resource with as much information about flash basics, advanced functionality, artistic assistance and animation tips as I can possibly include within the confines of Tom's file size limit.

This will not be an AS tutorial by any means, so don't ask for that. I grasp AS enough to make the tutorial, but not enough to make games. I don't have that side of my brain working quite as well as the other.

The original tutorial took a month to piece together, and I was never happy with its limited content (Big Fat Tutorial got it's name from the resolution, not the content). I'm perfectly willing to make this an ongoing production with a lofty release date (I wanted the original to be out before summer was too far gone so the school kids got a chance to play with it before school started up again).

I'll also take suggestions on music to use, some humor (some people complained about my corny sense of humor from the original BFT), pop reference, etc.. I'll take these suggestions always with a grain of salt, and never at face value =)

Don't use PMs or e-mail since I firstly don't need an overloaded mailbox, and I don't want to lose things because of deletion. I can bookmark the thread and track it whenever I need to, so I want all ideas posted on this thread so I can reference them. That means if you don't want the public to see your suggestion, keep it to yourself (that will hopefully stop people from asking how to draw naked people... but probably not).

I also won't be bitch slapping anyone for suggesting the same idea someone else did already (that means you don't need to read the rest of the thread to make a suggestion). However if the same person repeatedly suggests the same thing, the aforementioned bitch slap will be forthcoming.

This will be ongoing for months probably, so don't feel like you have to spew out suggestions at warp speed. Also, if you look at the date on the thread and it was a few months ago, don't hold back from suggesting. I will put a big post at the end saying it's been released whenever that happens, and then likely ask that the thread be locked.

That's pretty much it, keep the suggestions coming.

[Helbereth]

Bump

[Jovatov]

Well, as a suggestion, make it different from all the other big tutorials out there. Since 2005 when BFT was released there have been a lot of good (beginner) tutorials, so for yours to be good it should be different from those.
How would you that? I don't know really, make your tutorial stand out on detailed instructions, or on detailed pictures to go with the text, or do a lot on subjects the others didn't cover (allthough that could be hard).

...Just my suggestion

[PBM]

Hi,
Id like to see a more in-depth background creating tutorial for flash.
I notice alot of people have great looking characters, but some of the backgrounds are really rough looking. So perhaps something on perspective and how to create cartoony backgrounds, rather than realistic looking ones (or maybe a tutorial on both).
Id like to also see a tutorial on making a short cartoon (say 10 seconds or so) starting with the script making, the story boarding, the character creation and then the actual animation itself. It would be good to see how all the pieces fit together and how characters are broken apart and animated and lip synched.
Maybe a good tutorial on shading as well.
Good luck with the new tutorial!

[BritishMoose]

As a suggestion, I'd wait until the new flash came out before releasing a second tutorial - There may be many new features with which we'll need to get accustomed :o

[EKublai]

Sections

Background
I notice nowadays in the up and coming artist (funguy-dot-ca) and top artists like Adam Phillips, they've found out how to make brilliant use of gradients for backgrounds (and I mean brilliant)

Humor
Humor I think, is a very distracting element in a tutorial, and I believe the solution to that problem would not be to find better jokes but to limit it more. Save the jokes for the beginning and ends of sections so as not to confuse people while they try to concentrate on what you're teaching.

Theatrics
Camera Movement.

Suggestions for high speed animation sequences.

Subtle effects from subtle actions

To be completely origininal (it would always spike the number of views) it would feaure a frequently asked question section. People could post their questions in their reviews and you could update the .swf every so often.

And of course, you should allow them to download parts of the .fla

[xSoul-Stealerx]

well i used your first tutorial for a rpg game im amking and hers so things you could add to your next one well for starters i would really like to see some video tuts that would be kick ass ^_^ maby add sections in like beginners animations and advanced animation maby add in some tips a tricks if you want more ideas just ask ^_^ im chalk full of them ecause i leand alot of animation from your tuts and maby carcter animation and creation that would be help ful because i cant find any other goood tuts for cahacter animation and creation

[Helbereth]

Bump.

[Neophyte-Ronin]

Suggestions on what to do... ask a stupid question, get stupid answers!

First One:
To reply to one suggestion, standing out through an advanced delivery of techniques might be pretty standoffish for beginners. There should be a good intro to basics and everything that will contribute to making a fully realized flash submission, no matter how paltry. Afterwards, we enter the vast domain of concocting a Flash with all the really cool stuff, like animating, cartooning, etc. Those two parts: Basics, and Intermediate (the "decent" submission).

Second One:
If they don't have Wacom Tablets, they might feel chilly out there. Fortunately, we can introduce a section where we discuss every last little device that would spruce up a Flash project:

Audio (Sound Card, Software, Microphone, Music... even advertise the Audio Portal)
Digital Photography (Web-Cam roto-scoping, Scanners)
Video/Artwork (Effects, the concepts of art, the Wacom, materials for artwork)
Fellowship (Collabs, Groups, outside websites)
Research Techniques

Actually those are devices existing outside of but still crucial to excellent Flash Projects. If we wanted to conceive something unique and still useful, we should explore the avenues beyond mere competency with the program itself. That's what "Basics" are for.

Nice to see this thing get seriously explored, too.

[Neophyte-Ronin]

Do you have contact info for Godsondaggers? That would be helpful, if we really wanted to bring in the dimension of Action-Script. If we can't find him, I'm sure BleeBlap is a healthy alternative. I even spoken with him recently about game ideas I had (that is, I can IM him).

Another suggestion involves selection of music. It would be vital for the Audio Portal (which hasn't received much of a facelift in its interface for eons, but is still vibrant of a community) to get some exposure, and therefore extensive research into the clearest-sounding musicians there would be useful. A balance between video game covers and originals would also be good. In terms of instituting a "hints on creativity" section, applying audio portal music inventively to devise plots and cartoons would also be cool.

[adam2510]

hey u know how people have the games where cou can change ur characters clothing can you do something like that in ur thing plz cause i need help with that

[Neophyte-Ronin]

That sounds like a case of interchangeable parts and tweening. Certain animation styles are incompatible unless you take the clips and redraw them with new outfits. I've seen one of these techniques done more often than the other.

I still recommend full support from an action script master to describe components as much as demonstrate how they can be programmed in a Flash. We go from basic buttons all the way up to the functions of the scripted camera. We would need co-authoring, but our intention is to create a butt-slaying tutorial, right? Action Script will invariably become involved.

Since Helbereth is nowhere near being an Action-Script god here, this suggestion requires scouting.

[mike-cuzins]

LOTS of working examples.
and a BUCKET of actionscript, giving examples as you go.

[Vengeance]

Wow, so many people saying to get godsondagger to help even though he really can't code.

What I liked about the big fat tutorial was that it was a good art based tutorial. If people want a coding tutorial they'll go to the tutorial collab. Yours was a good art one, thus if I need a tutorial about art I'd go to that. So I suggest staying away from the coding-side of flash.

[Neophyte-Ronin]

I had my doubts, but when I asked, I told him he could decline politely if he wanted to.

Staying away from any facet in Flash is fatal I hear.

[Vengeance]

At 4/20/07 04:44 AM, Neophyte-Ronin wrote: Staying away from any facet in Flash is fatal I hear.

Hey, if you need an experienced coder to write up a tutorial I'd be happy to do it. For credentials check out Jellyfish. Also, if you look through my post history I help people on a daily basis :)

[Helbereth]

Good suggestions, keep them coming.

I should reitorate that I won't be touching on AS too much. I only grasp the basics enough to make menus, preloaders, timeline controls and other basic DVD like things. Games just aren't my forte - except in the graphic design which would be a waste to go over unless it was accompanied by appropriate AS suggestions.

Artistic, animation, settings, characters and effects are what I'll cover most effectively - using flash tools to create them.

Things like fog, rain, water, lightning, clouds, reflections, camera motion, tweening, FBF, blocking, storyboarding, even scripting (writing), music, voices, sound effects, menus, hidden items, etc..

[Mtypenguim]

For my suggestion, i suggest that you make a tutorial on little and big things. much bigger than the first.
like you only went for 6 different things, going for one huge one. Try to teach people how to draw, learning the certain actionscript, give different tips for every single little subject, and that would be awesome.

[chrisnepts]

Nice idea, maybe something like basic, medium, and advanced guides of action script?
Why dont you do something like the flash tutorial colab '08 but the codes actually work. because on that
colab the codes dont work.

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GT - Chrisnepts
YT - tocgow
NG - Chrisnepts