Flash animation

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A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is distributed in the .swf file format of Adobe Flash animation software. It can be created in Flash or with some other programs which are able to write .swf files. The term Flash animation not only refers to the file format but to a certain kind of movement and a visual style which, due to the restrictions and abilities of Flash, seems to be featured in more than half of all available Flash films.

Partly because of the limitations of the software and partly to produce small file sizes for web distribution a big part of the animation created in Flash is done in the fashion known as limited animation, or even in an cutout animation style. Some typical features of Flash animation could be: jerky natural movements (walks, gesture), lip movement without interpolation, abrupt changes from front to profile view or even no head turns at all. Although Flash is able to integrate video and photo, most Flash films use just the vector drawing tools of Flash which results in a somewhat "clean" and graphical appearance.

Flash animations are typically distributed via the World Wide Web, in which case it is often called an Internet cartoon, online cartoon, or webtoon. Web flash animations may be interactive and are often created in a series. A Flash animation is distinguished from a Webcomic, which is a comic strip distributed via the Web, rather than an animated cartoon.

Simple animation in Flash 6.0; a square moving across the screen in a motion tween, one of the basic functions of Flash.

[edit] History

The first prominent use of this format was by Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi as a mission to bring cartoons to the world wide web. He had brought his creations "George Liquor" (in which was the banned character from Ren & Stimpy) with his dim-witted nephew "Jimmy the Hapless Idiot Boy" on their own internet program. Later John did more experiments with flash animation including a deal with Icebox.com, commercials and a music video. After that, web cartoons started popping up everywhere.

Some professional animated television series are also produced using Adobe Flash because of the (comparatively) low cost of production, such as the Emmy Award-winning Off-Mikes, produced by ESPN and Animax Entertainment and Gotham Girls, produced by Warner Brothers. The Critic was the first animated television series to use Flash. After being canceled from both ABC & Fox, Atom Films created net-only episodes in 2000-2001. Some existing television cartoons such as Home Movies and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (both on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim) have switched to Flash from other animation technology, as well as the lesser-known Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show & Queer Duck from Showtime, and Shorties Watching Shorties on Comedy Central. The BBC Three show Monkey Dust and Cartoon Network's Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends are also created using Flash.

In recent years animation film festivals have noticed the boom of Flash animation and quickly arranged separate categories in competition for "web cartoons" or "internet cartoons". Even some purely web-based Flash competitions have been established. In the long run, however, it is likely that only the category "made for internet" will survive, because traditionally competitions at animation film festivals are set up in categories mostly defined by film length and distribution channel, not by the animation techniques or the software used in making a film.

[edit] Flash animation in professional studios

Although Flash animation creation is generally much easier and less expensive than traditional animation techniques, the amount of time, money, and skills needed depends on the chosen content and style. Distribution via the Internet is very easy and cheap compared to television broadcasting, and websites such as Newgrounds and UGOplayer host Flash animations for free. Many Flash animations are created by individual or amateur artists, though it does require enough technical expertise to use Adobe Flash. Some web Flash animations become popular enough to air on broadcast television, on channels such as MTV and G4TV.

In recent years more and more studios doing animation for TV use Flash, especially since some recent drawing styles are easier to do in Flash than with other techniques. TV series also benefit from Flash's ability to organise a large number of assets, like characters, scenes, movements, and props for later re-use. Because Flash files are a vector file format, they can even be used to transfer animation to 35mm film without any compromise in image quality when bringing the cartoon to the big screen. This feature is used by several independent animators world-wide.

[edit] Creating Flash animation from other software

Because the Flash file format is published, there are a number of other software packages available that can create output in .swf format. Among these are Animo (Cambridge Animation Systems), Toon Boom Studio, and Anime Studio (was Moho from Lost Marble, now eFrontier). These frontends often provide additional support for creating cartoons, especially with tools more familiar to traditionally trained animators, as well as additional rigging for characters which makes it much easier to animate it. There are even programs available which translate 3D information into 2D vector information.