Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation (Paperback)

by Tim Jones (Author), Allan Rosson (Author), Barry Kelly (Author), David Wolfe (Author)
Key Phrases: generic man, timing chart, composition name, After Effects, Crazy Jeff, King Klaus (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Whether you are an experienced Flash designer or developer looking for a guide to doing animation in Flash, or a novice to Flash who is looking for an effective way to create and distribute animations, this book will prove invaluable to you. Covering every aspect of Flash animation, the book is a fast-paced yet thorough review of the Flash animation process. Written by the Emmy-Award winning team at ANIMAX, this book not only reveals the step-by-step process followed by one of today's leading Flash animation studios, it gives you valuable tips and tricks to take your Flash animation to the next level. Divided into three phases of production (pre-production, animation, post-production) this book breaks the Flash animation process into smaller, more manageable steps. And because the authors approach the animation process from various perspectives (such as producer, animator, and editor) the book balances many of the real-world issues facing today's Flash animators, from artistic to technical to financial. The book starts off by looking at planning and designing an animation project, including working out your goals, and putting together character libraries and storyboards. Next up we look at the production phase, which includes using plug-ins to make your work more efficient, implementing your animation, and adding special effects. Finally, we look at post-production work, including how After Effects can be used effectively alongside Flash for tasks such as camera mechanics, how to make Flash not look like Flash, and tips and tricks from the experts. Whatever the reason, like millions of others around the world you've become interested in Flash animation. And you've come to the right place to learn more. This book is compatible with pretty much any fairly recent version of Flash.

• Covers the full process of Flash animation, through preproduction, production, and post production
• Covers many practical techniques, including creating character libraries, using plugins, and camera mechanics with After Effects.
• Written by the Emmy award winning ANIMAX studios team

What you'll learn

• How to effectively plan an animation project
• How to put together storyboards
• How to create elegant character libraries
• How to set up your .fla file, ready for animation to commence
• How to make more efficient use of your time with plugins, where to find good plugins, and how to create your own
• How to animate, frame by frame, or using tweens
• Why After Effects can be better than Flash for some tasks.
• Effective After Effects Techniques, such as camera mechanics
• How to make Flash not look like Flash

Summary of Contents

• Chapter 1 - The Project Plan
• Chapter 2 - Character Libraries
• Chapter 3 - Storyboards and Animatics
• Chapter 4 - Setting Up Your FLA
• Chapter 5 - Plug-ins and Extensions
• Chapter 6 - Frame by Frame Animation
• Chapter 7 - Animating With Tweens
• Chapter 8 - Animation Special Effects
• Chapter 9 - Why Use After Effects?
• Chapter 10 - After Effects and Camera Mechanics
• Chapter 11 - Making Flash Not Look Like Flash
• Chapter 12 - Tips and Tricks

About the Author
An Emmy Award-winning producer and writer, Tim 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, 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.

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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: friends of ED (May 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590599128
• ISBN-13: 978-1590599129
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #56,196 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 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

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.

6 of 6 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

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.

5 of 5 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 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.