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GRA 2807 Project 3
Character Animation for Animation Background in Project 1
For Project 3, you will create a short animation in Flash to be used in conjunction with the back-
ground you created for Project 1.
You will take your original background RGB Photoshop file, change the resolution to 150 – 200 dpi.
You will save it as a .jpeg to import into Flash. You will, more than likely, have to scale your background
once it is imported. If your background is more vertical than horizontal, you may want to crop it to “fit”
more accurately into Flash’s landscape format. Or, you can import it as it, and put a color background
behind it. The choice is up to you. The point is to have a suitable background to animate.
The majority of this project will be done in Illustrator. You will find an animation sequence which is
appropriate to your background. Ideally, it should “go” with your background, though that is not
required. Sources for this purpose can be found in libraries, bookstores, etc. You character sequence
should have between 15 and 20 separate drawings. You will probably not have any luck on line, though
you can see what may be available. Going to a source other than the internet is often nessesary. If you
are so inclined, you can draw your own animation sequence. The choice is up to you. Your character
sequence does not have to be as tight as a “real” animation, but should progress logically and be fairly
involved in movement and expression. ADisney animation sequence is especially good for this purpose.
Once you have found your image source, you can scan this into Photoshop and bring the sequence
into Illustrator, placing it as a template. You will then redraw each character using opaque color and
outline as needed. You can do all of the character sequence in one Illustrator document. Create the
Illustrator file, and for this project, you will want to create an RGB Illustrator file. This will not go to
print, only to Flash, so you want to use this color mode. After you have redrawn the animation figure
sequence in Illustrator, you will cut and paste each character individually into a new Illustrator docu-
ment, and immediately export it in the .swf format for Flash. From the Illustrator File menu, you will
choose Export as the saving format. From the drop down menu, choose Flash (.swf). Export and save at
a high setting. Because you have already exported the character, you do not have to save this Illustrator
file. Do this in sequence, with a numbering system of your choice, in order to know which .swf file to
import and place appropriately. For example, since I created a character animation using Grumpy from
Snow White, I named my files Grumpy 1, Grumpy 2, etc.
Once you have all of your files saved to the format(s) Flash requires, you will start Flash and create a
new document. This project will use only key frames, no tweening or scripting. This is very basic Flash,
and used only for a simple animation. You will have to import your photoshop background first. Again,
it may come in quite large, so scale it in Flash, choosing the scale tool from the tool bar. This first import
will come in on it’s own layer. On a Mac platform, you have to not only highlight which element you
wish to import, but also click on “add”, and the dialog box will indicate this file is ready to be imported.
You will then click on the new layer icon in the timeline and import each animation on its own layer.
This is the best way to keep track of the separate character file. If you have 20 characters, your timeline
Gra 2807
Project 3 Animation Sequence for
Background Animation
