Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation [Paperback]

Tim Jones (Author), Barry Kelly J. (Author), Allan Rosson S. (Author), David Wolfe (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1590599128 | ISBN-13: 978-1590599129 | Publication Date: November 28, 2007 | Edition: 1

One of Flash’s most common uses is still animation for cartoons, games, advertising etc, and this book takes a fresh look at the topic, breaking it down pre-production, production, and post production, and looking at each section in detail, and covering topics such as storyboarding, character libraries and camera mechanics like no Flash book has before.

The book is written by members of the Emmy award winning ANIMAX team, who have created work for clients such as Disney, AOL, Fox, WWE, ESPN, and Sesame workshop. This book is an opportunity for them to share their secrets, and is written to suit anyone who wants to make use of Flash as an animation tool.

This book is compatible with most versions of Flash, including the latest, CS3.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tim Jones: An Emmy Award-winning producer and writer, Jones is currently head of production at ANIMAX (www.animaxent.com). With over fifteen years of industry experience (including stints at Warner Bros., Disney, Klasky-Csupo and Internet pioneering animation house Icebox) Jones is a seasoned pro at directing creative and technical teams on a wide range of award-winning projects. Recently admitted to the Producer’s Guild of America, his past speaking engagements include FiTC (Flash in the Can) FlashForward, ShowBiz Expo, and Digital Hollywood. Jones has a BFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University and is currently getting his MBA from Pepperdine University.

Allan Rosson: Adept at managing and leading technical and creative design and animation production crews, Al has over 20 years of animation experience for TV, interactive, and live environmental installations. Al was a character designer and storyboard cleanup artist for Warner Bros. Television, specifically on Animaniacs and Histeria; a traditional animator at DIC Studios on Sabrina the Teenage Witch; and the Lead Flash Animator for both Icebox.com and Klasky Csupo Studios. Al has been a pioneer in a variety of animation related fields and mediums. At Sonic Images, Al created animation for some of the first interactive CD-ROM titles for children, including Children's Musical Theatre and Pigs. As the Animation Director at Vision III Imaging his productions combined traditional animation techniques and an auto-stereoscopic process for texture and depth enhancement.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (November 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590599128
• ISBN-13: 978-1590599129
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #481,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stretch beyond the mechanics of the Flash tools, February 29, 2008

By 

Diane Cipollo (Editor at BellaOnline.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation (Paperback)

There are many books about cartoon animation in Flash. What sets this book apart from the rest is the approach the authors have taken to make this book much more than just another step-by-step book about drawing and animating characters. Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation is for the animator who needs to stretch beyond the mechanics of the Flash tools and perfect the decision-making process necessary to become a productive animator. One of the biggest questions that is answered in this book is when to use Flash and how to use it most efficiently. The next question is what tasks are beyond Flash's capabilities and when to turn to another software such as After Effects.

The authors assume that the reader has a basic knowledge of Flash and the principles of animation. Because of this, you will find only a few step-by-step examples. What they do cover thoroughly is every phase of the production process for cartoon animation from planning, storyboards and animatics to post-production and delivery. The approach for this book is to examine working examples which can be downloaded from the publisher's website.

If you have ever created a complex character animation including lip synching and facial expressions, then you know that your character must be divided into a large number of individual animated parts. This is why the authors dedicate a whole chapter to organization and using the Flash library system to build character libraries. As you progress through the process from head comps and onward, the authors show when it is best to draw from scratch and when to use Flash symbols. Storyboards and animatics are next in the production process and the book covers several decisions that must be made such as choosing between traditional, hand-drawn storyboards and the digital method in Flash.

Moving from the planning stages to character creation, the authors discuss the technical and organizational issues such as Flash file structures and project architecture. They take a look at several working examples to give the reader a comprehensive overview of this topic. One of the most helpful aspects of this book is how the authors help you decide when Flash is not enough to get the job done and how to expand Flash's capabilities with plug-ins. They discuss several of their favorites, how to find more on the web and when to make your own.

One of the most important decisions that an animator will need to make is the choice between traditional frame by frame animation and tweening. The authors share their four step process for frame by frame animation and then discuss tweening and how to avoid common mistakes.

I mentioned earlier that the authors discuss the use of a dedicated motion graphic software such as After Effects to take your Flash project to a higher level of quality and sophistication. They discuss some of the advantages to using After Effects for editing and composition such as complex camera movements and 3D effects.

Flash has been plagued by one major drawback since its conception a decade ago and that is the extreme "digital" look of the vector artwork created in Flash. The authors share several tips and suggestions for enhancing your Flash project to achieve a more "hand-drawn" appearance to your animation including line styles and color choices. They also cover the digital equivalents for traditionally hand-drawn special effects such as distortion, drag, fade in/out and blurs.

This book was a joint effort of several authors. Tim Jones is an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer and head of production at ANIMAX Entertainment. Barry J. Kelly is an Emmy Award-winning editor and artist and is also a member of ANIMAX Entertainment. Allan S. Rosson is animation director at ANIMAX Entertainment and has over twenty years experience as an animator. David Wolfe was an animator at ANIMAX Entertainment and is now with Cartoon Network Studios.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn from the pros, January 17, 2008

By 

H. Abreu "stormvisions.com" (CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation (Paperback)

Since there was no review posted of this book I figured I'd add my bit. This is an independent review - but it isn't entirely impartial. I work at Animax and have had the opportunity to read several of the chapters as part of my training, to work with the authors in a production environment and to see this book in action everyday - these are real world procedures used in a dynamic, award winning and fast growing studio.

The chapters on character setup alone are worth the price of the book in my opinion. Learning these techniques you can maximize usability -and re-usability- of your art assets. You'll find the time spent upfront, preparing characters the Animax way, will speed up your animation production which is a real boon to small independent studios with limited resources, and larger studios looking to better structure their pipeline.

Amazon has an excerpt from the beginning of the book, and the publisher -FriendsofED- has a sample chapter posted on their website. You can use these to get a sense of the quality and depth of coverage of this excellent book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book for animators looking to use Flash, February 7, 2008

By 

YYZtech.ca (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation (Paperback)

This book is probably best for the reader who has some drawing experience, and preferably, a grasp of animation principlals as well as some Flash experience.

It should be noted, there isn't an over-arching animation project created in this book; However, readers could certainly follow along with their own project as the process is fairly linear, from the planning stages, through effectively using Flash's library and a host of useful plug-in for tasks such as timing and motion tweening. There is a fair bit of coverage of Adobe's After Effects, and the book discuses the pros and cons of doing various tasks in either software.

For Flash animators, two chapters stand out in the 300 pages: There is one chapter on how to properly use Flash's tweening tools so as to avoid the overly-precise look common with generated animations. A second is on 2D effects, covering common special effects like smoke, fire and water.