Part animation guide, part Flash manual, The Art of Flash Animation: Creative Cartooning provides a practical primer on classic, hand-drawn 2D screen animation as well as an introduction to using Flash for creating your own cartoons. Section I discusses the terms and techniques of hand-drawn animation, character design, and storyboards, while Section II covers scanning, digitizing your artwork into Flash, and setting up scenes. Topics include how to animate a walk cycle; recording and editing dialogue, sound effects, and music; how to use recyclable symbols to make the animation process more efficient; preparing your work for video or web download.

One of Flash’s most common uses is still animation for cartoons, games, advertising etc, and this book takes a fresh look at the topic, breaking it down pre-production, production, and post production, and looking at each section in detail. It moves on to cover topics such as storyboarding, character libraries and camera mechanics like no book on Flash has done before. It’s been written by members of the Emmy award winning ANIMAX team, who have created work for clients such as Disney, AOL, Fox, WWE, ESPN, and Sesame workshop.

DVD-ROM contains: "video-recorded tutorials so readers can follow along at their own pace."

Move beyond the limitations of programming standards and license agreements and get back to animating with a new edition of the bestselling How to Cheat in Adobe Flash, the real world guide to developing dynamic and fun Flash content. Whether you are creating an animated short, catchy and fun cartoon or mobile game, save time and money with expert cheats by renowned Flash Expert, Chris Georgenes with all new content for the Flash CSX revision. With practical applications and step by step tutorials solve problems quickly to develop creative projects to time and to budget. Want to hone your Flash skills so you can remain competitive in a diverse market while concentrating on your animation? Then How to Cheat in Flash is for you! Chris Georgenes shows how to work from the problem to the solution - from the viewpoint of an animator who has been commissioned to create a job and is working to a deadline and to a budget. Each technique is designed as a double-page spread so you can prop the book up behind your keyboard or next to your monitor as a visual reference while working alongside it. Many of these walkthroughs are real-world client projects, with the source files supplied for you to open and explore. With these real-life professional projects you'll discover how to: bring objects to life with cool motion effects, make it rain, snow or set your world ablaze, develop flash mobile applications and many more tips and tricks not found anywhere else! With his in-depth knowledge of the little-known secrets used by the pros to produce creative, professional animations, Chris is the go-to guru for designers and animators who want to create great animation, applications or motion design with Flash. Fully updated for CSX, How to Cheat in Flash CSX, is a goldmine of artistic inspiration, timesaving practical tips, tricks and step-by-step walkthroughs that you'll wonder how you survived without it. New! CSX cheats and examples with practical solutions for the busy animator with a focus on Action Script, Flash for mobile applications, specifically for Android development, as well as a focus on an improved physics engine. Put the Adobe Flash CSX cheats to the test with the fully updated companion website with downloadable Flash source files, examples and video tutorials, and a creative commons game, developed with Adobe, to demonstrate the new functionality of CSX!

The definitive guide to creating animation for the web and mobile devices with top animation designer Chris Georgenes and designer/developer Justin Putney. They reveal how to create and successfully animate characters in Adobe Flash Professional CS5 and how to push the limits of timeline animation with stunning visual effects using ActionScript® 3.0. This Studio Techniques book is designed for intermediate or advanced users who understand the basics of Flash and want to create a more immersive interactive experience. The book includes coverage of storyboarding, 2D character design and rigging, character animation, visual FX with code, workflow automation, and publishing your animation on the web and to mobile devices. Author Bios: Chris Georgenes is a highly respected authority on Flash and animation. He has used Flash professionally for more than a decade and is the proprietor of Mudbubble.com, a web animation studio. He has worked as an Art Director for Playdom and Acclaim Games as well as for clients ranging from the Cartoon Network and Dreamworks, to Comedy Central and Shockwave.com. Chris is a popular speaker at such conferences as Flash in the Can, Flash on Tap, FlashForward, and Adobe MAX. Justin Putney is a freelance designer, developer, and consultant, and he produces animations for his studio, Ajar Productions. Justin has created dozens of free Flash extensions and scripts for other Adobe applications that are used by animators and designers around the globe. See his animation work, tutorials, and extensions at blog.ajarproductions.com, and his portfolio at putney.ajarproductions.com. Note from the publisher: FREE Adobe Flash Professional CS5.5 updates are available for this title. Simply register your product at www.peachpit.com/register and you will receive the updates when they become available.

A guide using Flash to create Web site animations covers such topics as creating basic figures, adding text and layers, editing and adding sound, and using Flash effects.

Need to solve problems quickly to develop creative projects to time and to budget? Want to hone your Flash skills so you can concentrate on your animation? Then How to Cheat in Flash is for you! Chris Georgenes shows how to work from the problem to the solution - from the viewpoint of an animator who has been commissioned to create a job and is working to a deadline and to a budget. With his in-depth knowledge of the little-known secrets used by the pros to produce creative, professional animations, Chris is the go-to guru for designers and animators who want to create great animation, applications or motion design with Flash. Fully updated for CS5, How to Cheat in Flash CS5, is a goldmine of artistic inspiration, timesaving practical tips, tricks and step-by-step workthroughs that you'll wonder how you survived without it. Each techniques is designed as a double-page spread so you can prop the book up behind your keyboard or next to your monitor as a visual reference while working alongside it. Many of these workthroughs are real-world client projects, with the source files supplied for you to open and explore. With these real-life professional projects you'll discover how to: bring objects to life with cool motion effects, make it rain, snow or set your world ablaze, develop flash mobile applications and many more tips and tricks not found anywhere else!