Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
ATTEBERRY
Symbol Animation
Prepping & Splitting Objects for Animation
Illustrator & Animation
Overview:
Draw characters using discrete objects for each part from which the animation will
be constructed from; save objects as symbols; if you're creating a SWF, import the saved .ai
file to a Flash library.
When designing an animation, Kevan Atteberry uses Illustrator's advanced vector
capabilities for preparing a “morgue” of parts, and converts those parts to symbols
for easy import into animation apps such as Flash. For this project Atteberry
assembled his scene and his characters, creating the final animation for SWF output.
He created an animation to send to friends as his Christmas greeting e-card using a
snowbunny who finds a Christmas carrot. You can use many of Atteberry's methods
to organize elements for export to a number of different animation applications. See
the
CC
section later in this chapter for Raymond Larrett's example of prepping layers
for exporting to Adobe Edge Animate.
1 Creating characters and splitting artwork into parts for animating.
In order for his snow-
bunny and candy carrot to have “moving” parts, Atteberry drew each part that might
be animated with custom artbrushes. By starting off with parts even before planning
the animation, he ensured that he would have the maximum “play” to all their fea-
tures when it came time to create with motion. The snowbunny and carrot were de-
signed with unarticulated separate parts. He planned to use Flash's transforming
tools to generate motion “tweens.” However, had he needed a leg to bend in the mid-
dle, for instance, he could have drawn a path stroked with his artbrush in a start and
ending position, and used an object blend in steps to generate in-between positions.
(See the
Mastering Complexity
chapter for details on creating object blends.)
