Flash Animation - General Info

[sh3llz]

As a flash developer, I'm often asked what the limitations of flash are and how much the software actually helps with the creation of animations. Seeing as this section of the HTS forum is (not surprisingly) quite empty, I thought I'd share some words for anyone curious enough to stumble across this post.

First and foremost, I'm asked about flash and 3d modeling. Can you make 3d animations in flash? Kind of. Flash has some new 3d tools, but it's nothing like 3d modeling. Instead, most people use programs such as Maya, and then export the animations to flash. I know there are a few bridge like programs that make this exporting process quite easy. Once in flash, you can add code for games, change frame rate, and to a degree manipulate the on stage objects to put together a rather impressive 3d animation.

As for 2d animation, most people ask me "How much easier is flash than standard frame by frame animation?"
Well, that depends on the type of animations. Flash of course has motion tweens and shape tweens which are extraordinarily useful. It also lets you put animations inside of animations. For example, A set of eyes blinking is one animation. That goes inside the animation of a head moving next to the animation of a mouth talking. All of that goes in the animation of a person walking. This means you can re-use simple animations and put them together to make more complex ones.

There are also some new but somewhat quirky animations tools. The most impressive (and possibly the most in need of improvement) is the new bone tool. The concept should be familiar to anyone who has worked with 3d modeling software. The bone tool lets you set joint points on a 2 dimensional image. You can then drag the pieces of the image attached by joints and flash will automatically tween for an animation. This is useful in running animations, moving arms, and even things like springs. You can even set the properties of the joints in order to give the appropriate automatic motion.

Despite all these useful tools however, complex animation still requires a great deal of frame by frame animation. So while flash helps to a degree in the development process - good old fashion frame by frame animation skills are still immensely useful to any flash developer.

Now, while I realize HTS isn't necessarily the place for this, if anyone has any questions regarding flash feel free to contact me. And if anyone has anything to add to what I've said here, please reply.

[sanddbox]

Wow, great post. Thanks for sharing.

[Goatboy]

If you'd like, we are trying to bring lectures back into popularity. A presentation on Flash would be interesting for more than a few of our members.

[sh3llz]

Thanks for the feedback sand. And as I said in a PM to goat, I'd be willing to give presentation on flash. The question for me is, should it be focused on animation? scripting? security? I'm not sure, and there's a lot to talk about. You don't see too many people making mistakes with flash that are the equivalent to putting a password in javascript. However, I often see problems with how flash developers have their scripts send and receive data. So to that end, security is an interesting topic. At the same time, most people know flash as an animation tool, so I'd expect a lot of people to want a presentation to be focused on visual content.

[sanddbox]

Thanks for the feedback sand. And as I said in a PM to goat, I'd be willing to give presentation on flash. The question for me is, should it be focused on animation? scripting? security? I'm not sure, and there's a lot to talk about. You don't see too many people making mistakes with flash that are the equivalent to putting a password in javascript. However, I often see problems with how flash developers have their scripts send and receive data. So to that end, security is an interesting topic. At the same time, most people know flash as an animation tool, so I'd expect a lot of people to want a presentation to be focused on visual content.

Your lecture, your idea. I would focus on scripting/security, but it's also a good idea to briefly talk about each topic and then ask the listeners what they want to hear more about.

[kujinR]

You could also cover all those stuff in the next, say, 3-4 lectures? Hehe That's interesting stuff. Actionscript is what really got me into programming. See, I was interning at an IT firm(circa 2003?) and my team was tasked to make a flash based hangman type game. It was fun, especially when none of us knew actionscript and there really weren't a lot of resources readily available on the net.

Good times.

[sh3llz]

Hmm, alright. Seeing as there does seem to be interest in this topic, I'm planning a presentation right now. This one will cover some basics and move on to security related issues. If the presentation is accepted well, I'll see about making other more in depth presentations. Thank you for the response kujinR.

[Monica]

This topic is very interesting. We are definitely bringing lectures back, so we're always looking for presenters. If you're interested to present a lecture, let us know the best date/time so the staff and I can meet with you to discuss this further.