bouncing ball animation
My first animation made in Flash. Pretty simple stuff.
walking animation
First walking animation, taught me how to use the motion tween and how to rotate around a point. They armature tool is a lot more efficient though, so I used that in my ISU animation.
Final ISU animation
I grinded so hard for this animation then Adobe bent me over so now the real file is corrupted. I dedicate this to Wilson, here's what I had so far.
Critical reflection
Reflection
Making the animation was a lot tougher than I’d expected. Making a plan and sticking to it was the biggest challenge for me, but it helped a lot in the long run. I started with designing my character, which was a quick and simple step. Most of my inspiration came from the Puffles from Club Penguin and the titular character of the Rayman game series. I pulled both of these together to create a cartoonish disembodied head with floating hands. For the colors and clothing I went with a daredevil, Evel Knievel-esque type of look, with red, white, blue and stars. After completing the storyboard, I got to work drawing parts of the animation and the background, which was made to resemble the inside of a circus tent with a crowd.
As I was unfamiliar with a lot of the tools, I spent a period of time experimenting with different things, with symbol properties and the bone tool in particular. I faced a few challenges in the process, but was able to overcome them and learn a lot of new techniques which should help in the future. I learned how to swap symbols from frame to frame so I could swap faces with different expressions on one armature without having to remake it entirely. In the future, this could help a lot with animating mouths to pronounce each syllable like a phoneme chart. I also fiddled around with the bone tool a lot, and learned how to pin certain joints to stop them from moving, constrain the degrees along which the joints may rotate, and how to use black dot symbols to connect the armature properly. One thing that’ll come especially in handy was learning I could use the Free Transform tool to move and rotate parts of the armature separately. Another cool thing I learned was how to put an animated GIF into your Flash animation. Even though the end result of the animation wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, I believe it was a success because of how much I’ve learned. I’m confident that the next time I have to animate with Flash, I’ll be a lot more experienced and equipped to handle the task and produce better quality work.
Critique
Initial Reaction
I was pleased with the animation and how it turned out. I felt like with a lot more time and work put into it, it would have been even better.
Analysis and Interpretation
The storyline was short and simple; perfect for a 30-second animation. It was about a circus performer who launched himself from a cannon and grossly miscalculated the trajectory, sending him on a journey around the world and back again.
Consideration of Cultural Context
I don’t feel as if this category really applies to my animation; it could be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their culture. My animation doesn’t have any notable cultural references.
Expression of Aesthetic Judgement
Aesthetically, I generally liked the direction I took with the animation. I feel like the animation would’ve looked a lot nicer and uniform had I stuck with either photographic, realistic imagery, or my own hand-drawn imagery for the backgrounds. The blend of the two makes it look a bit unprofessional. However, I feel like the background videos have more of a “wow” factor and make my animation funnier. I really liked the cute but simple character design.
Making the animation was a lot tougher than I’d expected. Making a plan and sticking to it was the biggest challenge for me, but it helped a lot in the long run. I started with designing my character, which was a quick and simple step. Most of my inspiration came from the Puffles from Club Penguin and the titular character of the Rayman game series. I pulled both of these together to create a cartoonish disembodied head with floating hands. For the colors and clothing I went with a daredevil, Evel Knievel-esque type of look, with red, white, blue and stars. After completing the storyboard, I got to work drawing parts of the animation and the background, which was made to resemble the inside of a circus tent with a crowd.
As I was unfamiliar with a lot of the tools, I spent a period of time experimenting with different things, with symbol properties and the bone tool in particular. I faced a few challenges in the process, but was able to overcome them and learn a lot of new techniques which should help in the future. I learned how to swap symbols from frame to frame so I could swap faces with different expressions on one armature without having to remake it entirely. In the future, this could help a lot with animating mouths to pronounce each syllable like a phoneme chart. I also fiddled around with the bone tool a lot, and learned how to pin certain joints to stop them from moving, constrain the degrees along which the joints may rotate, and how to use black dot symbols to connect the armature properly. One thing that’ll come especially in handy was learning I could use the Free Transform tool to move and rotate parts of the armature separately. Another cool thing I learned was how to put an animated GIF into your Flash animation. Even though the end result of the animation wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, I believe it was a success because of how much I’ve learned. I’m confident that the next time I have to animate with Flash, I’ll be a lot more experienced and equipped to handle the task and produce better quality work.
Critique
Initial Reaction
I was pleased with the animation and how it turned out. I felt like with a lot more time and work put into it, it would have been even better.
Analysis and Interpretation
The storyline was short and simple; perfect for a 30-second animation. It was about a circus performer who launched himself from a cannon and grossly miscalculated the trajectory, sending him on a journey around the world and back again.
Consideration of Cultural Context
I don’t feel as if this category really applies to my animation; it could be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their culture. My animation doesn’t have any notable cultural references.
Expression of Aesthetic Judgement
Aesthetically, I generally liked the direction I took with the animation. I feel like the animation would’ve looked a lot nicer and uniform had I stuck with either photographic, realistic imagery, or my own hand-drawn imagery for the backgrounds. The blend of the two makes it look a bit unprofessional. However, I feel like the background videos have more of a “wow” factor and make my animation funnier. I really liked the cute but simple character design.