Tutorials Updated 9/23/11
Behind the Animation 1: Tools - http://azureprostudios.com/Blog/2011...tions-1-tools/
An introduction to the most common tools used when working with animation.
Behind the Animation 2: Welcome to Adobe Flash (CS4)- http://azureprostudios.com/Blog/2011...obe-flash-cs4/
In this video I go over the basic layout of Flash. Where the tools are, what they do, how to fix that muffled sound you may get when you export a swf with audio and more basic information.
Behind the Animation 3: Frames from Start to Finish - http://azureprostudios.com/Blog/2011...art-to-finish/
In this 27 minute video you see the process of sketching out concept frames all the way to the final colored version.
The next tutorial will focus on starting the animation, making simple motion tweens and shape manipulation.
Resources Updated 11/09/09
3 particle resources.
Click here
Included:
Snow fall (Created by me using AS 2, the following 2 are resources I picked up. I created some rain ones, but these are much better than the ones I made.)
Rain
Fireworks
Tutorials
So you have this idea for an awesome story and you don’t want to make an audio production. And you really don’t like the idea of a static comic so you decide to go for animation!
Hurray, you’ve chosen a creative outlet that entertains many and gives new meaning to your creativity, but wait, you don’t know how to animate. =/
And this is the beginning of those “I need an animator” threads, where you probably get little to no responses. Before we go into some detail on how to start animating, I wanted to touch on this a little.
The reason you get very little responses to your threads isn’t because no one likes you because you have leprosy. It’s usually because animators have their own creative ideas and decided to take up the pen and or mouse to bring it to life. Because of this they won’t have time to get involved in projects that seem to be on going or consist of episodes that will be over 10 minutes in length. You may find one or two that may want to help with smaller projects, but because these will all be done for free, finding someone to get that involved is slim.
Every animator that is out there, newgrounds, independent sites, and even youtube all started the same way. They didn’t know shit. They just got up and decided they wanted to do it. And that’s what you have to decide. Do you really want to see your idea become reality? And if the answer is yes then keep reading.
I’m at work, so the amount of detail I can put into this is slim, but I will be adding more content and tutorials and such when I get home.
Recommendations:
A pen tablet -It will make your life so much easier as opposed to using a mouse. With the tablet you'll be able to draw everything like you would normally do with a piece of paper and pencil.
Outline- It's just easier to organize a project of this magnittude if you have an outline of the story. Trust me, it matters.
Storyboard-Really, really, really useful. Consider it a rough no detailed comic strip. From seeing the beginning and final position of a frame it'll be that much easier to come up with the frames in between each.
Anatomy Books- Get to know the human body, seeing the anatomy structure in detail with help you with your art as well as how the muscles should look when moved into different positions.
Patience- This is a definite, this is a project that is going to take an insane amount of time and dedication. It may be hard to be focused, but if you can then you'll be pleased.
Software
You need something to make it work right? There are various ways to make an animation. I’m going to briefly outline them for you. Any other animators that may be here feel free to add your own insight.
Computer Animation: Computer animation is simply animation developed by digital means. Namely drawing the animation on the computer rather than traditional methods of pencil and paper.
1. Flash – This is pretty much the amateur standard. It’s what Newgrounds is based off of. It’s pretty straight forward in how it works. You’re given a timeline and individual frames. You can animate in Flash in a variety of ways.
o FBF (Frame by frame) –which means hand drawing each and every frame. It takes longer, but this method offers smoother results.
o Tweening (Motion or Shape) – This is probably the easiest way in flash to animate. You take a frame you drew and make it an object, and then you make another frame where you move the object to it’s final destination. Then you create what’s called a motion tween and Flash creates the frames in between the first and final frame.
2. Anime Studio –Software that is made specifically for animation, where as flash is geared towards web and design types of animations and applications. I don’t know much about this software yet as I use Flash. But I will be researching it and will put in tutorials from what I find out. If there are animators that use this software please feel free to put down information I may not have.
3. Photoshop and Image Ready + Windows Movie Maker- This is another technique which I’m not 100% familiar with. I know this is popular with the youtube crowd. It involves scanning in your drawings, mixing FBF digital with traditional. In Photoshop you ink and color the frames and then export them to Image Ready. From there you can set frames and a timeline (I did this once a while ago for something simple, I may be off a bit or a lot.) and you can export it as an animated gif. But that’s not what you want, an animated gif is nice for a simple sig, but not for a full blown animation. With Movie Maker you can combine your images together using their timeline. This is a little more involved and complicated, I don’t recommend it. It just doesn’t make sense to use 3-4 programs (scanner,PS, IR and MM) to make something when you can do it all in Flash or Anime Studio.
Again, with the above digital formats I’m only 100% adept in one of them. I will look into the rest and continue to put any useful findings/tutorials here.
When I am home I will be putting up a simple fbf and motion tweening tutorial with flash in the thread.
For now I just wanted to get this off my chest, which is why I didn’t wait. XD.
I hope that this is something that may be useful for aspiring animators and those looking to get into it.
Weekly Tutorials
Every week, Monday I will be posting a tutorial on how to animate. This week I will go over FBF basics and Motion Tweening Basics. I will outline a few lessons that I shall follow through on. Also, I will be available every night on aim (nikedrummer33) or skype (adam.tilford) if anyone would like to discuss anything animation related.
I will also take requests for tutorials.
I will also cover basic Action Script for particle effects, like rain, snow, etc.
Originally Posted by Makopi
