Help! I need to animate this movie sort of like a cartoon for example if I wanted a stick man ( example) and I want it to throw a stick then run. This is very hard because I make the man and I have to modify and modify every slide s the man can like move his hand. There must be an easier way. Need answer!

Example= check out www.stickpage.com

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Have you tried creating two keyframes; one with the start graphic position and one with the end graphic position however many frames apart that you want, maybe 15 to 20, and then creating a motion tween?

I thought of that but on the part when I want the guy to run. Also when I stick the circle (head) and the sticks, they automatically stick to each other. But. When I bend one it like breaks into pieces and when like something passes in front of the stickman it sticks to him. How can I not make the sticks stick together? If you did not get this I'm sorry.

Try putting your stickman and your stick in separate layers. Be sure to lock one layer as you work on the other one so that you don't mess up something you don't want to.

When you create the motion tweens for each of them separately they should not stick to each other because they are in different layers.

Incredible! I never thought of that! Thanks! Oh and I've also seen people make the guy and then convert the stick person into a symbol. Is there a reason for doing that?

Converting your image to a symbol allows for two things.

1.) Smaller file sizes. Flash can save the image as a single instance. Otherwise flash has to save separate instances of each stroke used to draw the image thus creating a larger file size.

2.) Objects will not animate properly unless they are converted to symbols. For example if I were to draw a circle on the stage in one keyframe and move it to another location in another keyframe and try to create a motion tween it would not work and you would see a broken arrow in your timeline. Convert it to a symbol and create the motion tween and you will see a solid line arrow in the timeline letting you know it should work properly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rudi_in

Converting your image to a symbol allows for two things.

1.) Smaller file sizes. Flash can save the image as a single instance. Otherwise flash has to save separate instances of each stroke used to draw the image thus creating a larger file size.

2.) Objects will not animate properly unless they are converted to symbols. For example if I were to draw a circle on the stage in one keyframe and move it to another location in another keyframe and try to create a motion tween it would not work and you would see a broken arrow in your timeline. Convert it to a symbol and create the motion tween and you will see a solid line arrow in the timeline letting you know it should work properly.

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Ah. So for instance I would either have to:

1) make layers and make each piece of the stickmans body a symbol.

Or

2) make the whole guy a symbol.

Correct?

Hello, I recently started using flash 8, I made an animation of a jar of jif peanut butter fighting a walrus with light sabers, and I used two layers so I had a problem with the sword and the sticking. But I thought of using a separate layer for swords and I guess I was correct. But I do not know what this symbol you speak of is could you be more clear? And how am I able to load my flash animations that are saved as flash movies on the internet. Every time I tried it did not allow it. So I had to save it as a different program like quick time or other video players, and the graphic was really awful. So is there another way I could load it on the net as the flash movie, with the good graphics it has?

To convert your raw image to a movie clip symbol just

>>hit f8
>>select movie clip from the radio buttons
>>be sure to give your symbol a name

As far as loading it to the internet goes, I would need to know a bit more about what programs you are using and such.

Until then, here is a possibility that might be tripping you up.

Did you publish the movie?

>>Choose Publish from the file dropdown menu or hit SHIFT+f12

This will create an HTML document to go with your .swf file you may need to upload both files and link to the HTML file

Hey thank you for the help .
I also discovered www.fileden.com is a great place to upload the videos and get url's and such.


One more thing. Do I need to make every character or object into a symbol?

Yes, I would convert everything to a symbol.

I would also put anything that moves on a separate layer.

Hmm. Well yes it seem swith converting the imagase into symbols they do not stick anymore. So what would be the purpose of having each one in a new layer? Is there a reason for this?

And also. I never used motion tweens to do my work I just made key frames and moved the object little by little. Now I see creating a motion tween makes my job alt easier. But do I use a motion tween for the whole strip as one big motion tween? Or do I use a number of different tweens.. but I don't understand this. If for example I am moving object *A* and made a motion tween for it to go all the way across the screen, while object a is on the way there could I have an object *b* moving a different direction or turning and such? And I think I know that the only way to do this is by using different layers there for different motion tweens? I think I know a little but then again I think I have no clue. Thanks for listening. Please reply.

Sorry if I am asking like crazy . But also . For example if I want to get a picture of a walrus that I have and I copy paste it to flash. Is there any way not to get hat white square around the picture ( walrus) the way I get rid of the white edge is I right click on it with the eraser and click break apart and erase the white edges and white parts from the walrus little by little which consumes A lot of time. Is there an easier way to just get rid of the white square over the image without going through so much trouble? Thank you again

Since you can only have one tween per given set of frames it is best to have each item that moves on its own layer so that they can move independently of each other and start and finish at different times to create better effects.

For example walrus opens mouth to bite jar but jar moves aside if you set these up on the same tween they will start and stop at exactly the same time and it will not look right. If you have the jar on a different layer and have the tween start about 15 frames later it can give the perception of reaction time for the jar and thus have a better effect.

As far as the walrus pic and the white background...

Make sure that you select a transparent canvas when you draw your characters instead of the default white canvas.

This background then would match whatever you place the pic on.

I see. I really don't understand the concept of the motion tweens though. Can they only move in a streight line? And how can I for example make Walrus's mouth open while its on a motion tween and moving?

You can have your walrus move along any path you want. The path may be straight or zig zag with loops. You can do this by creating a motion guide. You can draw the path with your pencil tool. The lines will be invisible in the movie.

If you double click on your walrus movie clip symbol you will enter the timeline for that symbol. Here you could create additional movement for the walrus such as the opening mouth. This timeline will act independently of the main timeline.

I see. For a part of the walrus. The jar cuts walruses legs off. I double clicked walrus and had his legs disappear and blood instead of it. After I went back to the original timeline things looked good. But when I pressed eneter to see what I've done so far . The wlarus was bloody with no legs the whole clip. So that made me comfused

Double check the location of your keyframes as well as what you have in them. You may need to re-work a coulple of them.

Awsome thanks. Sorry if I keep asking lol..
So how do I create a motion guide?

To make a motion guide you will need to create a guide layer.

1. click on the layer for which you want to make the guide (i.e. the walrus layer)
2. click on the little icon that looks like an arc made of red dots in your timeline. It should be found between the paper with the corner folded and a folder icon
>>you can also select -- Insert -- Timeline -- Motion Guide and do the same thing
3. You should see a new layer formed directly above the walrus layer with the walrus layer being slightly indented.
4. At this point, lock the walrus layer so you don't change anything to it by accident
5. click on the guide layer you just made and now you can create the path by simply drawing on the stage with the pencil tool
6. After making the path go back to the walrus layer at the point where you want the movement to begin and align the walrus to the path. Make sure you have the "snap to" function selected that is the button on the left that looks like a little horseshoe magnet. Also do not forget to unlock the layer or you won't be able to move it.
7. now if you drag the walrus over to the beginning of the path when you are close enough the little circle in the center of the walrus will snap to the line you have drawn.
8. Now add a keyframe further down your timeline on the walrus layer and add just as many empty frames to the guide layer so your line remains visible to you
9. align the walrus to the end of your path. Again, the pic should snap to the line when you get close.
10. Now right click anywhere between your two keyframes on the walrus layer and click -- Create Motion Tween --
11. You do not have to create a motion tween on the guide layer
12. Hit Ctrl Enter to test the movie

Thank you very much :-), that works perfectly. I would like to share this video with you once I am done, but do know its my first video and not so great. I guess now instead of using about 30 different motion tweens like I had for the first 10 seconds I can just make motion guides and make it a lot easier for me. The video will have no sound small cartoon will not have sound yet. Because I am not familiar with the sound and do not know how to put music on it. But I will try to finish it soon and send the url. Thanks for all of your help