The Flash techniques I’ve written about recently have got me thinking about where to use such cool effects. Naturally any exciting new method is something you’d wanna implement right away and you may even find yourself squeezing a new scene or sequence into a project, just to show it off.
Whenever you discover a new tool or technique, resist the temptation to cram it into your work somehow, unless it’s called for. As a storyteller, you should use only the tools that you need, rather than searching for an excuse to use them. So say “wow that’s nice, maybe I’ll need it someday” and put it in your mind’s toolbox.
For me, the prime example is Flash CS4’s 3D and IK features. They’re really cool and I’ve done loads of experiments with them, but to date I simply haven’t needed them in my work. Maybe they’re answered prayers for some animators, but forcing yourself to fill up a movie with 3D & IK just because they’re new features would result in something that looks more like a sponsored Flash CS4 ad. Consider also that once everyone else starts filling up their movies with the same features, such a movie would very quickly appear full of YAWN!
You want your audience to say “wow, what a sequence!” long before they ask “how did they do that?”. So write your story, perhaps finish the storyboard and layouts, then look at each scene and think “what’s the best way to do this? Is it worth the time to do it by hand? Or is there a tool that can do it quicker without distracting the audience?”
As a final thought, treat everything in the movie with the same philosophy. Don’t let the technique get in the way of the story. If you spend 3 days on a single background, no matter how proud of it you are, don’t fall into the trap of extending the scene just so the audience has more time to take in your hard work. That’s bad storytelling.
Admittedly, Blend Modes are something I never quite understood until recently. I experimented when they first appeared back in Flash 8, but apart from simple colour effects, I couldn’t see any immediate practical application for them in my work.
I recently received an email from someone who had bought my Flash chapters. He disagreed when I wrote that masks in Flash can’t have variable opacity or blur. He went on to describe a workaround method using Blend Modes that blew my mind and made me wonder just how much can be achieved with the technique.
Blend Modes as you probably know can only be applied to movieclips. You don’t use Mask layers at all for the effect so technically (in the Flash sense of the word) it’s not “masking”. What it IS though, is a very simple and versatile workaround that happens to surpass masking as we know it.
Best of all, the technique can be used for a number of effects so it ticks several other boxes near the top of my Flash features wish-list.
After the ad break, this post will cover two particularly useful Blend Mode applications:
One particular treatment that can make all the difference to an effect is a variable opacity. With gradients and blur in Flash we have a limited ability to vary the opacity of an effect but there’s an unassuming tool that you may never have considered using.
Anyone who has used ToonBoom software to draw or paint knows that each individual pencil line or brush stroke is treated as a seperate object. This means you can sketch a line with many short strokes, then, if you find the line is too sketchy or ‘hairy’, rather than erasing or undoing, you can easily select and remove any rogue strokes.
(continued after the ad)
I’ve been working with ToonBoom Digital Pro on my current assignment so I thought it’d be nice to show a couple of my favourite images here. Bernard Derriman is doing character animation and I’m doing backgrounds and special effects.
While I never signed an NDA, it would be unprofessional of me to reveal any details of the project. I therefore won’t be releasing higher res images or answering questions, plus I’ve removed Bernard’s characters from the shots.. suffice to say the episodes look amazing, I love working in ToonBoom and I’ll reveal more about the show when I can. Until then, enjoy a couple of the shots I’m particularly happy with:
If you’ve read and understood parts 1 and 2 of this article, by now you’ll have a pretty good idea of how to construct shadows in a scene. The great thing is: that’s all you really need.. a pretty good idea of how it’s done.
Let me just say here, that perspective can be an extremely technical subject. Combine that with the intricacies of light and you have the potential to get bogged down with complex details and bore people to death! So I’m covering a few essential basics.. partly because there’s no room here to explain things in great depth but MOSTLY because I get by only using the knowledge I need and there’s so much more to learn.
who said?