Re: FLASH: Why won't anyone answer me

[Marc Hoffman, Poison Dart Frog Media]

At 04:14 PM 11/05/1999 , you wrote:

>I just need some starter info on the creation of an

>animation sequence that is similar to the

>gigablast.com intro.  What additional software do I

>need (other than flash) and do you recommend a drawing

>palate.  I'm working on a PC

>

>I would also like some tips on how I should start the

>project i.e should I avoid using gifs and all costs or

>should I use them as backgrounds.



Hi Daniel,


Not sure how you mean "similar," but the piece you cite is entirely vector, 

probably drawn in Flash. You're always better off with vectors unless you 

need photo-realistic images, in which case you would use bitmaps and 

ideally not try to tween or scale them.


A digitizer drawing tablet helps a lot but many folks do fine work using 

just a mouse.


The Flash drawing tools are great once you learn how to use them. They have 

some limitations, notably they aren't great for placing text on curved 

paths. Flash gradients are not as complex as gradients in a draw program, 

but they're far more compact than gradients in draw programs. If you want 

more complex drawing tools, Adobe Freehand 8.01 would be the program of 

choice because it exports Flash format. You might also try Illustrator with 

the free FlashWriter plug-in from Macromedia, but people on this list have 

had mixed success getting the plug-in to work.


If you are going to work with bitmaps nothing beats PhotoShop, which now 

has ImageReady built in for better web production efficiency. PaintShop pro 

is the next best thing, for those who can't afford PhotoShop. If you're 

going into this professionally, try to get PhotoShop as that's the industry 

standard.


Hope this helps. I missed your question the first time around. It is pretty 

general and often questions that are that general get skipped over because 

nobody sees it and says "aha! this is my area of expertise!" There's no 

system for ensuring every question gets answered. Everyone tends to answer 

those questions they more qualified to respond to.





Marc Hoffman

marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com (mailto:marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com)

.

My Flash Portfolio: <http://www.dartfrogmedia.com/sampler>

(featured in Flash 3 Web Animation, by Ken Milburn)



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