Things you'd like to learn about Flash animation

What's up guys, like the title of this post say, if someone would write a book about Flash character animation, what are the stuff that you'd like to see in it?

You can choose from the selection below or feel free to make up stuff you'd want to learn about animation but have never seen in books or videos.

You know, the things about Adobe Flash that keeps you up at night, sweating buckets.

Of all these things, let me know what interests you the most:

1. Flash basic tools, stage, setup and overview
2.Character rigging and organizing library and assets
3.Posing characters
4.How to use a combination of frame by frame and tweened animation
5.Lipsynch

P.S. I'm pretty much aware there are great animation books out there like animator's survival kit, timing for animation, blah blah blah. Point is, there are very few books who tackle animation in a flash environment. Bitey Castle Academy is the only book I know who does this very well and makes it viable for everyone.

Now gotta get back to work.

Things you'd like to learn about Flash animation

Comments

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Kpheeyat 2011-05-31 02:27:54

Agreed.

LewToons 2011-05-31 02:29:21

one thing i am trying to get better at is simulating camera work (theres always vcam i suppose)

boybogart 2011-05-31 02:29:21

Yeah, Vcam is great man, although it acts wonky at times. But it saves you from the lag that you get when you use the enlarge-for-zoom-in method.

kmau 2011-05-31 05:36:31

Definitely 4.

popyea 2011-05-31 05:49:13

how can you use too much frame by frame?
If it looks like too much you're not doing it right.

boybogart 2011-05-31 05:49:13

I think he meant finding the right balance of the two for faster results.

DemiseAnimation 2011-05-31 06:56:43

2-5

RicePirate 2011-05-31 09:53:45

How to create smooth lines ... and I don't mean using the "smoothing" brush slider or the smoothing buttons ... I mean lines that are of a consistant weight ... I have the damnedest time with that ... may be it's my tablet.

Also, animation motion physics ... I don't mean bouncing balls ... I mean like motion before an action (like turning the head or facial expression of surprise)...

Also, can't wait for AcePilot.

boybogart 2011-05-31 09:53:45

I have no other method for consistent brush strokes other than zooming in to a certain number and using the brush of the same size. The more zoomed in, the more stable your line will seem to be.

Animation motion physics- that's a great idea!

Thanks Mick!

ToonCastleTV 2011-05-31 10:15:49

Haha dam good idea ^^ - I probably will make a cool animation tutorial soon aswell XD

boybogart 2011-05-31 10:15:49

Espionage!! haha

Kajenx 2011-05-31 18:53:57

@RicePirate: I think flash is the main problem, not you. The drawing tools are horrible...

boybogart 2011-05-31 18:53:57

I agree with this somewhat. But some of those stems from Flash trying it's best to make the file size as small as possible.

Pjorg 2011-05-31 20:14:49

Dude, can you just post a video of you animating? Usually just watching an animator implement their techniques is helpful.

boybogart 2011-05-31 20:14:49

Like a livestream or a recorded video with annotations and stuff?

FlyingNinjaBannanas 2011-05-31 20:58:23

I would like it if all of these were explained. But I would love if what RicePirate asked was answered.

Pjorg 2011-06-01 06:39:53

Snubby.newgrounds.com is currently working on this big flash game and along the way he's been posting little tutorials where he narrates what he's doing. Something like that would be cool.

<a href="http://snubbyland.com/tutorials.php?search=category&value=videos">http://snubbyland.com/tutorials.php?s earch=category&value=videos</a>

MrDonkeydong155 2011-06-01 08:16:42

How do I shot web?

JohnnyWhoa 2011-07-01 16:04:17

Character rigging and how to combine frame by frame and tweened animations would most interest me, I think.

I understand al ot of people have difficulty with lip syncing, but I'm just a beginner and have (so far, at least,) found it fairly simple. Still, you could probably include something about the tricks of it in there. Stuff like pausing briefly between words, making sure the lips are positioned properly for the words being spoken, etc.