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Question: Flash stick figure animating help!?
ok i got macromedia flash and i was trying to make stick figure animations, but i can never make good ones!. Ok, first i want to know which is better IN YOUR OPINION (or what are the pros and cons of each): line tool or brush tool for stick figures!. also, which is better: tweening or frame by frame!. also, i was wondering how to make a 3d-like scene like in the joe zombie movies!. And finally, how do i make a good panning, zooming, and moving camera to record the animations!. Flash does not have one built in (as far as i know!.!.!.)!. ok thanks guys and if you could give a quick tut or a link that would be great!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Wow, lots of questions all in one!. !. !.I'll try to answer as best I can!.
First off, for stick-figure animations, I would think that the pen tool would actually be best - lets you draw lines, but also gives you control of Bézier curves if you want the line to curve!. It takes a little getting used to, but is a much more effective tool (unless you want a really hand-drawn look, in which case I would go for the brush tool)!.
Tweening is MUCH better - for two reasons!. It saves you a lot of time, and it also reduces your end file size!. If you hand-animate every frame, you have more control over what happens, but you also add a keyframe for every state of your figure, which increases your file size!. Here's a hint: use tweening, but also use "shape hints!." First, draw your stick figure in two states (front of stride, and back of stride, for example) Then create a shape tween between the two keyframes!. Don't panic, it may turn into a jumbled mess!. We can fix this!. Select your first keyframe, and press Ctrl+Shift+H!. This will create a little dot with an A on it - this is your first shape hint!. Place this at a strategic point on your figure, such as an endpoint or intersection of two lines!. Now select the next keyframe at the end of your tween, and you should see a corresponding dot!. Place this at the same location on your figure as the previous dot (ie!. if you placed it on the forward leg in the first frame, now place it on the back leg!.) Do this at all strategic locations (it can take some experimentation!.) and you should get a great tween!.
As far as 3D, try Papervision once you get a little more accustomed to Flash!. (Very actionscript intensive)!. That will work well for your camera control as well!.
Lastly, I'll leave links to the two best tutorial sites I've found!. Hope this helps! Cheers!.Www@QuestionHome@Com