Hey everyone,
I've never really animated anything, but it's my dream to do so, I really don't have a lot of money, and Mexico lacks people with my interests, but that won't stop me, I was wondering if you could help me out with some tips on equipment, software, or whatever info you have about easy, cheap :D , and good quality animation.
THANks a lot everyone! :D
Pali
Hi Pali,
I think the best setup for the begining animator is Flash, and a scanner or digital camera.
You can buy and older version of Flash 4 on Ebay for less than $50 somtimes. Version 4 is all you need for basic animation.
Flash can be used as a pencil tester of hand drawn art or you can draw right into the program with a wacom tablet.
It is also good for adgusting the timing on your animation. You can just slide your drawings on the timeline to adust the timing.
It can also be used to clean-up, color, composite with backgrounds, and export to video.
When scanning or photographing your art number them sequentially. When in Flash select File /import, click on the first image in your sequence. Flash will ask you if you want to import the whole series of drawings. click Yes, and your images will be imported sequentially. Hit enter and your animation will play.
Hope this helps.
Good luck!
Gabriel
www.gabrielvalles.com
You can also start with some books like Kit Laybourne´s [b]The Animation Book
[/b]
And websites like http://www.animationmeat.com/
danielpoeira.org
Hi GabrielV70,
Do you know the price of a good but affordable scanner also how much does a wacom tablet cost? Can you get Flash4 any where else for below $50.00?
I think it was brilliant of Pali to ask such a question. I myself am just getting started in animation,eventhough I have always been interested, and I like the answer given by GabrielV70.
Catch ya later,
gavvalion.
In case anyone didn't know, www.pricewatch.com is an excellent place to price shop for just about any computer stuff you need.... cheap :D
BTW, this place isn't a store or anything, just a... um.... low-price, comparison shopping, portal type thing.
http://www.pricegrabber.com is also another place to find deals on scanners and software and digitizing tablets. They have reviews on the products and sellers. I use a Canon CanoScan LIDE 30. It has worked out pretty good for me.
There is also the CanoScan LIDE20 which is a little cheaper.
gavvalion, Wacom tablets cost about $100 For the cheapest one, the Graphire 3. I've seen a Graphire 2 on Pricegrabbers for $48.37. It is refurbished but it will work just like a new one. I'm not sure where else you could find Flash 4 for less than $50.00. Maybe you could do a search on Google.
Good Luck!
Gabriel
www.gabrielvalles.com
I just purchased a Wacom Intuos2 6x8 tablet from Buy.com. Like some of the others I went to price comparison sites, and found on for 239.00 with free shipping and no tax (Wacom itself is 60 dollars more). For that line it's a pretty good price, and they have high ratings for service as it's a reputable company (moreso than say eBay which has verified sellers with tracked reputations, but you're still dealing with a somewhat risky human -- but the prices are unbeatable, even for unopened goods...)
The Intuos line is more sensitive to minor marks or changes, and to the varying levels of pressure you apply to the tablet with the stylus pen you get with the package. They sell it as the Wacom line for the professional, meaning high-end drafting, graphic design, so if you can afford it, I'd pick one up. I had to save a bit for it, but all that saving time allowed me to research. The graphires I've heard are great for signing things, making PDA-style notes, and even (if you can get used to it) some small rough sketches. But they are designed to pick up that much detail, at least not in comparison, so people usually go for the Intuos just to be safe, and pick up the 6x8 active-area sized, because it's the cheapest tablet that has a practical workspace size to it.
Hope this helps.
Vinchenzo
The first thing you will soon find out is just how many people with your own interests there are in your own country. I tell you from my own experience. For centuries, latin Americans have assumed that conquistador philosophy that good stuff cannot be done south of the River. Hollywood's success, appart from the big bucks, comes from the many foreign people and ideas contributing to it. so :D Dale pa'lante, que lo que va a pasar, pasa
You may want to get some books on doing animation in flash.
I recommend using Amazon's marketplace (their used books section) to get more bang for your buck.
This way you can get great books really cheap!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index%3Dstripbooks%26field-keywords%3Dflash%252520cartoon%26store-name%3Dbooks/102-5072101-0586509
Different books have different ratings so your mileage may vary.
I have "Flash 5 Cartooning (with CD-ROM) " and "The Art of Cartooning with FLASH (With CD-ROM)".
I have also purchased "Flash Cartoon Animation: Learn from the Pros"[color=#000000]
and "Hollywood 2D Digital Animation: The New Flash Production Revolution" but resold the last two books because I didn't like them.[/color]
I'm tempted to get "Macromedia Flash Animation and Cartooning: A Creative Guide" and "Flash Character Animation Applied Studio Techniques" but I probaby won't.
I read this in the "Hollywood 2D Digital Animation: The New Flash Production Revolution" book.
Mucha Lucha was created in flash for television.
Check out this article http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=1930&page=1
I can't tell you one animation program is better then another, but I can tell you this. Don't start out animation with something complicated. Do small animations, like a bounceing ball, at first. When you improve on the easy things, then move onto more complicated animations. :)
A bad workman always blames his tools. :eek:
Hi all,
I'm a long time 2-d artist and have just picked up the animation bug. I've got a computer (obviously) a scanner and wacom tablet. I've also got Photoshop and Flash. I've never tried to do animation in Photoshop other than a simple animated gif. Is Imageready much too cumbersome to animate 2-d hand drawn scans? (Not good with Flash, so I'm trying to avoid it for now but am willing to face the music if I end up needing to.)
Thanks for any info. This is all very exciting.
Sara
www.sara-la.com