QuickTips Index - page 2

Flash Tip: Trace Bitmap
In case you missed when it was covered in Lesson 5, here's a quick tip on how to use the trace bitmap function in Flash to turn bitmap art into vector images.

Animation Tip: Tools of the Trade: Light Tables
Whether you're drawing 2D animation for cel painting or doing the preliminary pencil work to be scanned in for a computer animation, a light table is one of the most important tools for frame-by-frame animation that you'll ever own.

Flash Tip: Maximizing Workspace in Flash MX
Working in Flash MX can get pretty crowded, but there are ways to maximize your stage's work area. The easiest way to do this is to use your keyboard shortcuts to remove panels when you don't need them.

Flash MX Keyboard Shortcuts
When working in Flash, one thing that can make your life infinitely easier is a knowledge of keyboard shortcuts. You'd be surprised the amount of time that you can save simply by not having to stop mid-task to reach for the mouse to point and click to accomplish a task that can be completed just by the press of a combination of keys.

Animation Planning
Using a storyboard will help you organize your animation, and match you mental visualizations of scenes with the written script. If you use a storyboard you'll find that you'll be able to plan your animations more cohesively with clear marker points to show progress, and you'll save yourself a lot of time and trouble when struggling to make the entire thing come together from beginning to end.

Saving Your Files While Still Saving Computer Space
Anyone who's ever worked in computer animation can tell you that you're going to use a lot of system resources. The programs alone will eat up your hard drive and CPU resources, and your working files can be anywhere from 15 Kb to 150 MB. But there are ways to save your hard drive without purging your files, and they're not as complicated as you might think.

Optimizing Video Files for the Web: Codecs
When saving your 2D or 3D animations into video format, don't forget to check your video compression settings and remember that not everyone has the same codec sets as you do. Also, don't forget to keep an eye on your file types.

Cutting Your Test Render Time
Are you tired of waiting hours just to view a test of your animated motion, only to tweak it and render it again over and over again? There's an wasy way to avoid that.

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