Animating with Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash Animation

Using adobe flash may be an issue with myself as I am not that familiar with its tools. However, the layering after used in adobe flash, I feel is very similar to that of Photoshop which I have had plenty of experience with. 

As I do not feel hundred percent comfortable with using flash, I could however send the animator possible keyframes already drawn out for them, so they can then place them in order to create the motion of the animals leaving most of the work still down to me.

Useful lessons/learning tools

The Process of Animating

Step 1 - Storyboards:

The storyboard used to start the animation process, be it an adaptation of a script or an original idea. Storyboards are used as graphic organizers to pre-visualize work and pitch ideas to movie directors and other animators who want to work on the project. A storyboard is the best way of editing the story before its been animated. An animated film will of course be edited throughout the creation process, but scraping an entire animated sequence is costly in terms of both time and money, so editing at the storyboard stage is very important.

Step 2 - Audio Production:

After the story has been laid out with a storyboard it’s time to start recording the dialog. The writers and director will adapt their storyboard into a written script, complete with an outline of what each character is doing during each scene. After the script has been finalized, it is given to the voice actors for the film. Though it may not be apparent to the audience, voice actors play a huge role in fleshing out their characters’ on-screen personality. Often times, scripts are used mostly as loose guidelines for the actors. 

Step 3 - Visual Development:

During this phase artists strive to perfect the appeal of each character, taking into account any personality quirks or changes incorporated by the voice actor. Some characters receive massive makeovers, while others are sketched, inked and ready to be animated.

Today, visual development requires much less manual labor, but is no less an important step in the creation of an animated film. 

Step 4: Production:

Massive digital drawing tablets enable animators to draw their keyframes digitally and create the tweens automatically using 2D animation software. Characters and backgrounds are drawn separately using this method, then transposed on each other and saved as a video file, saving the studio both time and money over traditional methods and allowing for more flexibility during the last step of the animation process.

Step 5: Post Production:

The characters have been colored, animated, and set on their backgrounds. Each scene has been painstakingly composed and optimized. Every key is colored, every tween in place, and the animation is essentially complete. All that remains is to edit and polish the final product with special effects, sound effects and visuals to perfect the animator’s artistic vision. Post-production is usually when the entire team sits down to review their work and make whatever tweaks are necessary to call the film complete.