Working with Scanned Artwork - Page 2
August 28, 2002
If you are uncomfortable with the idea of drawing straight into the
program, there are a few other programs and techniques you can use to get
your ink-on-paper illustrations into Flash. Todd Gallina is an independent
Flash animator who uses a scanning and vectorizing process. A step-by-step
tutorial of the process he uses can be seen on his web site (http://www.toddgallina.com/).
The basic idea is to scan your black-and-white inked illustration at
300–400 DPI and save it as a .tif file. Next convert the .tif into vector
art. This can be done using Adobe Streamline or by using the Auto Trace
tool in Macromedia Freehand or Adobe Illustrator. Once your art is
vectorized, simply import it into Flash.
To clean up the drawings, go to the Modify menu and select Optimize
Curves. This will reduce your file size by flattening any unnecessary
bumps. Once you're happy with the optimized version of your
black-and-white artwork, use the Paint Bucket tool to fill it with color.
Todd's artwork displays this conversion process from pencil artwork to
vector format.
You can also bring your scanned artwork into Flash by importing
bitmapped files. Simply select a layer to bring in your pencil artwork and
import the drawings. Then add a layer above your imported artwork and
trace over your work. When you have finished tracing over the bitmapped
artwork, delete the layer.
Working with the Mouse
Some designers are accustomed to working without the use of a tablet or
scanned artwork. Using a mouse or trackball to draw can limit an
animator's ability to create loose dimensional shapes, which form the
building blocks for great character animation. Many designers, however,
enjoy the control of creating even shapes and lines with the Shape tools
that are offered by a mouse or trackball. This method tends to result in a
flatter style of artwork, similar to that featured at http://www.mishmashmedia.com/.
 Figure 3.3
Flash's Drawing Tools
When you are comfortable enough to start drawing in Flash, you have two
weapons of choice: the pencil and the paintbrush. The Pencil tool always
provides a much tighter style than the Paintbrush tool. The Paintbrush
tool combined with the pressure sensitivity option allows for a loose
style.
The Pencil Tool
The Pencil tool allows the user to vary the pencil's thickness, style,
and color.
When using the Pencil tool, you can draw in three modes: Smooth, Ink,
and Straighten. Smooth mode will attempt to recognize any shapes
automatically. The Straighten mode will attempt to reduce your objects
into shapes. The Smooth mode does not adjust your lines dramatically, but
subtly smoothes your stroke. Both Smooth and Straighten modes will connect
lines that have end points close to each other. Ink mode gives the artist
the mobility of freehand pencil drawing. There is no smoothing, shape
recognition, or line connection.
Explore the stroke textures and thicknesses in the drop-down Window
menu. One of the most renowned flash animators, Joe Shields, a.k.a. Joe
Cartoon, has made quite a mark on the web with his use of the Pencil
tool.
The Paintbrush Tool
The Paintbrush tool allows for a looser style of drawing. Like the
Pencil tool, there are choices for line thickness and texture. The
Paintbrush, when used in conjunction with a pressure-sensitive tablet, can
make beautifully weighted strokes. Veteran Simpsons animator and
Doodie.com creator Tom Winkler has made this style his signature on the
web. If you decide to turn on the pressure-sensitive setting, be aware of
the force you exert on the pen. If you have a heavy hand, use a small
brush size.
 Figure 3.4
You can also import a bitmap to use as a paintbrush or Fill tool. As
you can see in the following cartoon, much of the fabric was imported as a
bitmap and then broken up. After a bitmap is broken up, you can simply dip
your Dropper tool into it to use it as a paintbrush. Be aware that it is
still a bitmap, and your file size will subsequently reflect that if you
over-use this trick.
 Figure 3.5
Design Tricks with the Pencil and Brush
The Pencil tool can be used in its own unique way in conjunction with
the Inkbottle tool. The inkbottle will draw a line around the contour of
any painted object. Look at the following figure examples. First select
the inkbottle and make sure you have the hairline stroke selected. Then
tap the inside of the filled shape, in this case the white eyefill. This
creates an outline around the eyefill contour. Select your new pencil line
and, using your arrow keys, move it a few pixels over. Now select your
paint bucket and fill in the space you have created with a new color. To
create this kind of effect, you always want to use a color slightly
lighter or darker than the color next to it. When using this technique be
sure you have your selected close large gaps in the gap options, otherwise
your spaces will not always fill with colors when you dump paint in them.
By now you should know that if you paint a stroke over a previously
painted stroke on the same layer, the new stroke will cover (or eat away)
the old stroke. This can be used to your advantage. I often design my
keyframes in one color and then refine the pose directly on top of the old
one in another color. When I am done I simply remove the first pose by
selecting its color. The paintbrush can also be used as a great cleanup
tool. The following figure was trace bitmapped and left me with thousands
of jagged edges. These jagged edges could end up creating a large file
size. By simply tracing over the outermost part of the artwork with my red
paintbrush, I have deleted the jagged edges. Simply remove the red paint
stroke after you have finished tracing the object and you're done.
The Paintbrush and Pencil tools also offer the artist an array of
shapes and strokes. Besides giving you various brush sizes, the Paintbrush
tool also offers you a multitude of shaped brushes to vary your line
quality. Experiment with these features to create new styles and
designs.
 Figure
3.18
The Flash Animator
|
Figure 3.3
Figure 3.4
Figure 3.5
