## Sunday, February 24, 2013

### Something that Flash really really needs..

HI there!
Spirit talking to you today and bringing the morning report.
We are presently creating our Luna puppet for the final scene (yes, we proceeded with no puppets until now, believe or not). And after creating a mountain of symbols, we spotted something that Flash could use.
A script for setting the properties of the graphics to single frame by default. I consulted other animators, and they crave that as well. It might seem that we are lazy, but it is very time consuming to have to check something EVERY time you create a symbol. If you are managing.. let's say, 80, it is ok, but our Lulu has surpassed the 1000 (just these past two days I created about 200). And we also have 12 children, with very different assets for each one (every child has a different blink, mouthshape...and we have two different builds for filly and colt).
So, if there is any guru out there that knows about such thing, please, please, email or comment. I would be really grateful for that.

## Friday, February 15, 2013

### Comparison Part 2

Greetings friends!
Lion here with another update on progress.
I got a little bit side-tracked this week due to a special request by Michael Brockhoff (The director on the Bronies documentary)
Looks like you guys will have a little selection of Special Tee-shirts at one point in some conventions! And yes, Prof John is part of the lineup for those Tees.
Now. Last time (last week?) I said I'd render a comparative shot between what was done before and what I modified to my new and improved standard. I'm not 100% sure about the ending of the new version but it kinda fits the song well.
I'll ask advice to my lovely Wife-Partner when I can get a hold of her. But for now, here's a little sneak-a-peek:
This is Before
And this is After.
If they seem out of synch, just refresh the page, they should synch up afterward.
As you can see, the movements are more circular and not as jerky. Of course, since they are on '2s' now instead of being tweened, it also means the animation more or less runs at 12 FPS. Less 'Flashy' as some would say but slightly less smooth. It's a matter of balance, really.. can't have everything all the time but I think I'd take more lively animation over smoothness of framerate.
So let us know what you think of the improvements :)
Be safe!
-Lion

## Friday, February 8, 2013

### Comparison

Helloooo Everypony!
Lion here with a little update.
The blog's living again and.. well.. we never did stop living. STILL, I thought I'd alleviate some possible concerns AND give an inside view once more.
Some of you might remember a post called 'Lipsynching' (http://firstnightmarenight.blogspot.ca/2012/07/lipsynching.html)
After working on 'Bronies' and with great feedback from a senior animator whom I shall not name (But has been a super awesome input with the betterment of my flash animation skills) I realized that: Tweening is evil.
I never really liked it BUT I thought I could tame it.
Fact is: I can't. I should have listened to everypony including myself but I didnt and now I'm working a bit harder. Takes a bump on the head to realize it I guess.
Tweening is a support tool.. not so awesome for prodution.
SO, I thought I'd show the difference in the timelines. Here is a before and after screencaps of what we refer to as 'Shot 02'.
While it looks crazy, (And it is) is also means that Luna has more life to her. Her movements don't breathe of 'flash' as much as a living entity.. at least it's the feeling I get. I don't know what came over me to actually accept what I had first done as 'good enough'. Everything moves now, she's got pacing and her motions are significantly more pushed. Not just an almost static singing head like before.
In other words, I feel a lot happier about showing this animation now and a lot more confident that it will be worthy of the fandom.
And now I'll keep on trotting and show a comparison of the Gif animation that also is under the LipSynch post when Shot 03 has had its beauty cream applied :)
Be safe!
-Lion
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