Going Down Memory Lane
Just playing with some ideas for coloring the gang, to use for the website I’m putting together. I’m not sure if I want outlines or not yet…I don’t want it to look too much like any shows that are already out there. As I continue with design, I’ll play around some with illustrator, and hopefully have a new pass at this in a week or two. The key (no pun intended) thing about Flash animation is that the characters have to be “built.” Flash is a bit like Maya, in that the characters move like puppets, but in Flash their parts are on different levels, and it helps if those parts are really clearly defined. Punky’s head, for example, would be easy to move around since it is separate from his shell. Tabby might be more difficult; since her head is part of her body, her face and arms will have to play a big role in posing her so that her head reads as “turned.”
And just to leave you all COMPLETELY baffled…
*Spoooky music*
I’ll leave it up to yall to guess who did this strange, awkward drawing of a familiar-looking duck…and when.
*DRAMATIC MUSIC!*
Time to go make a copy of the board and prepare for re-pitch! See ya!
-Anne
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On November 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
This are awsome! and its gonna be great as a flash animated cartoon! I use flash alot and i see your problem, but its a very easy situation to get out of… All you have to do, is draw the body straight with the orange circle for the face (the rest of the details such as eyes, hair, mouth and wiskers should be put in after. Now with the drawing of the body and face (you should include wiskers) you should select all of the body, make sure you include all of it, and right click ( if ur on mac control –> click) and hit envelope. After that, you can move the points right or left and it will bend the shape (curved like you’re character). Then you can label each body you made as a diferent symbol( i.e Body_Front_1, Body_Front_2, etc..) Then on the timline when you have each symbol on a different level, all u have to do is make alayer and name it “Body” and then when u want the bent body’s all you have to do is insert a blank keyframe, and place the symbol on that timeline in the right place!. I hope this helps you and I hope it helps you!
On November 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
My bad, you should not include the wiskers. Thos should be a seperate symbol if you want them to move up and down)
On November 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
wow! thanks so much for the tips, stephen!
i forgot all about the envelope tool…
On November 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
No problem Anne! im glad i could help!
On November 21st, 2005 at 12:00 am
Those are looking nice, Anne!
On November 22nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
Thanks Eric! Goliath is looking aweome as well
On November 22nd, 2005 at 12:00 am
Hi Anne! It was nice to meet you last week. Good luck on the re-pitch! Your art is looking GREAT!!!
On November 23rd, 2005 at 12:00 am
hey, i remember those days. the writing is familiar. ;)……. i’m guessing junior year high school?
duck had a slightly different look come freshman year lcad, didn’t he. 
On November 23rd, 2005 at 12:00 am
thanks russ and vanessa! It was great meeting you last week as well, Russ! Can’t wait to see more chainsaws
And Vanessa you are right, the second set of drawings is from Senior Yr of high school…the first drawings ever of “Li’l Black Duck!” Before he got to be more short/squat.
On November 28th, 2005 at 12:00 am
it’s funny that you compare Flash to Maya. i loves the Flash but to me Maya is just a big headache. Not to say that Flash isn’t kicking my butt right now but i enjoy struggling through it where i can’t even stand to look at Maya, if it hasn’t put me to sleep first.
I’m really loving the look and colors of the characters. also, did you use flash for Tabby’s animation when the website loads up? it looks great!
On November 28th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Yup, I roughed it out by hand with a Wacom and then cleaned up on a level above it! Fun times.
I know how you feel about Maya…it’s a lot harder for me to build characters and get them to move smoothly. I think it also has to do with the fact that I just like 2D better.