To those who work in the animation field...?

Question

My friend suggested that i could do animation using a scanner and drawned pictures on paper...is it possible then to do that then animate the whole thing using flash? open to traditional or computer animators

Answer 1

Yes, it's perfectly possible to do that, and many shorts have been done this way. I will warn you that it's incredibly time consuming (factor the time for one scan, and then the need for 24 frames per second for standard animation). Flash would be fine to do this once you had all the frames ready.

However, an alternative could be buying a graphics tablet (Wacom ones are very good and quite cheap now) and draw straight into your PC. Most tablets come bundled with software - such as Painter which allows natural effects - pencil, oil, crayon, etc. - so you might want to look there. Painter also has "onion skinning" so you can see what's on the layer beneath. Aura from Newtek is also a viable (better) option, but you'd have to buy that.

Answer 2

I agree with Lumas. Keep in mind that you can animate at 12 fps (TV standard, save for a few sequences). Also, having animation paper will help a lot, or at least a way to register your paper properly so that your animation isn't all over the place when played back.

Here are a few things you can try :
http://www.plasticanimationpaper.dk/ - mixing digital and hand drawn
http://www.10secondclub.net/reviews.php?id=10007 - review and tut of the previous
http://www.tokitest.com/ - traditional line test software
(Whatever happened to the old xsheet soft??)

As for flash, it's a difficult software to master if you have never used it before. That said, Dan Paladin (http://www.synj.net/) started with it and now is one of the best around. The fact remains, though, that you need to train as an animator first and it will only come trough practice, observation and patience.

Good luck !

Answer 3

Flash is a lousy software to do animation with unless the animation is very, very simple but if you want to simulate a camera movement, any complex movement or your character is highly detailed it is a nightmare (it's like using a knife instead of a screwdriver) . Traditional animation (hand drawn) gives you more control over the line and you can achieve better results. If you want to animate or finish your animation with the computer check out a proper animation software: http://www.toonboom.com/

Answer 4

... what 'nert' said is right, except flash also has onion skinning, and if you want to publish online, gives very small files, AND you can still publish to video...
... and yes. It takes a BLOODY long time doing it frame by frame! lol

Hint: Make backgrounds, mid-ground and fore-ground seperately and re-use as many elements as possible.

Answer 5

Create Stunning 3D Animations - http://3dAnimationCartoons.com/?HHdH