Help with making Flash

[terminallyCapricious]

So, I want to make this cartoon showing all the newcomers in SSBB with Flash. I have a few questions though:

1. Can I make Flashtoons with Flash MX 2004?

2. How come I can't fill things with paint on MX 2004?

3. How do I make flames 0.0

Thanks in advance!

(If I can make Flashtoons with MX 2004, please give me a link to something I can make it with!)

 

[Shuko]

So, I want to make this cartoon showing all the newcomers in SSBB with Flash. I have a few questions though:

1. Can I make Flashtoons with Flash MX 2004?

2. How come I can't fill things with paint on MX 2004?

3. How do I make flames 0.0

Thanks in advance!

(If I can make Flashtoons with MX 2004, please give me a link to something I can make it with!)

Okay... the Flashtoons you're talking about, is this like a brand name, industry standard thing? Or are you just talking about cartoons published with Flash? If it's the latter, then yes, you can make cartoons with Flash MX 2004. Heck, that's the version I use for my Flash cartoons.

You can only fill certain things with the paint. First off, depending on how strong you've set your gap coverage, the area you want to fill may not be closed off enough to fill it. If you've set it so that the areas have to be completely enclosed, even the tiniest of gaps will make it so that you can't fill an outline with paint. Sometimes these gaps aren't visible at 100% view, and you have to zoom in. To avoid that, I zoom in pretty far when making my outlines with the pen. If you use the pencil, it'd be easier, since you can just snap the edges together. But I don't like the pencil/line tools because lines look terrible when you zoom in and out on them. xD

Also, you can't expect to fill bitmaps when you use the paint tool, either. Bitmaps are separate objects that aren't subject to normal Flash Environment rules. Unless you "trace" the bitmap, it's going to be indivisible and uneditable.

As for flames, you have several options. First off, you can try to freehand it and frame-by-frame draw them. Or, you can look at a reference and try to reproduce it by rotoscoping (tracing over each frame). Or, you can make a single flame picture, save it as an object, and transform it over a tween to make it look like it's dancing. The last method will look the sloppiest and least flame-like, but it's the easiest. The first method is really the best way, and if you start doing it that way early, your cartoons will be much better for it as you progress.

Hope that answers your questions.