flash and after effects
Posted by dermot on February 5, 2009 at 4:34 pm
A good friend (and a very talented animation veteran) recommended the following book to me. She’s a friend of the author, who’s a gifted artist himself:
Flash and After Effects by Chris Jackson
I’ve been using Flash for about 8 years, and am pretty fatigued by the creaking hulk. Don’t misunderstand: you can do amazing things with the program - but there have been few meaningful updates to the program since 2000 (version 4). Worse - the latest version (CS4) has been a bit of a disappointment, to say the least. So, I’ve been looking at After Effects, and perhaps Toonboom as more artist-friendly alternatives. 3D would be fun, but a very steep learning curve at the moment.
I’ll continue to use Flash - as in some areas it’s still the best. However, certain effects and shots are just too unwieldy if not impossible in Flash - therefore the need to diversify.
This book is being added to my shopping list!
2 Responses to “flash and after effects”
I’ve been using Flash for nearly nine years. I’ve been generally happy with Macromedia leaving the art tools nearly untouched during that time. I have to use CS4 for work and it’s a bloody mess. I liked how it worked just fine. Why did Adobe have to go in and break everything? Not that I’m surprised… I can’t believe what they are charging for this hunk of bugs.
What’s with the bones? It may be okay for something mechanical, but it’s the quickest way to suck life out of your 2D character.
For my own animation I’ll either use an older version or look for something else.
Tell me about it…
I’d have been happy if they’d fixed lots of little things (like only having two numbers visible on the frame counter of the properties panel).
Why they’ve made the handling of keyframes in the new tweening system completely different is beyond me. Now, to move a key, you must make sure that your timeline layer is deselected, then hold down CTRL, then grab the key, lift up CTRL & move the keyframe.
Idiots - crass, inconsiderate idiots. They’re making a tool for artists, but treating them as if they’re engineers.
For me, it will make future employment with Flash all but impossible if I’m forced to use CS4, and the new IK system. It would have been great had it worked like it should, but the blasted thing is a sick joke.
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