How I got started in Animation

So, how did all of this start?

I first started getting interested in web design and development when I took over the website for the car club that I belong to. While learning how to maintain that website I learned Flash. About a year later I started teaching Flash at the local community college where I originally learned it.

Since then I learned how to design and develop web sites from simple static web sites to more complex e-commerce sites. I have even dabbled in some print design by producing newsletters and brochures. In my recent employment opportunity I helped develop content for eight e-learning Finance courses that each averaged about 2 hours in length. I continue to teach Flash's timeline and drawing tools, and how to make things move also known as tweens. More recently I have begun to teach Flash’s programming language ActionScript 3. Although I knew Flash’s drawing tools well I never had really done any real animations other than doing some small banner ads with scrolling or blinking text or images that faded.

I was sitting at my computer one night going through the list of Flash courses on Lynda. Com when I came across a tutorial of Flash Animation Tricks and Tips that had been recorded at the 2007 Flashward conference. I opened up the tutorial and what do I see? I see the cutest little girl with big eyes and curls (cartoonish) riding a red tricycle going around in a circle. She says, “My daddy is an animator and he makes cartoons for TV and the internet, and he even wrote a book and I am in it.” Those were words of Andrea Rose, daughter of animator Chris Georgenes. I knew from that second that this is what I wanted to learn to do with my Flash skills. I watched intently as Chris’s recorded presentation of animation tricks and tips played.

A few weeks later my husband and I traveled to Disney World in Florida and while we were taking the Keys to the Kingdom tour in Magic Kingdom the tour guide asked all of the participants if they could have any one job in Disneyland what would that be? Many people said train engineers, or the keeper of the Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, and as everyone answered I thought hard and when he asked me, I said “Animator”. When those words flowed from my brain and out of mouth I knew I was about to embark on a journey. While visiting MGM Studios I spent as much time as I could near and about the animation studios to learn more.

Upon returning home I began to learn more and I picked up several books including the Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams. I read intently although I still didn’t really have a clue all he was talking about. I also knew that my artistic skills were a bit wanting, but I still wanted to try to learn these skills. The more I learned the more fascinated and intrigued I was about the whole process. I picked up Chris Georgene’s book “How to Cheat in Flash CS3” which is full of great animation techniques and I started to practice. With the help of more drawing tutorials in Flash from Cartoon Solutions and Cartoon Smart I learned the Flash drawing tools in depth. Even at this point I still barely had any real idea of the skill set that a animator must possess to be able to animate. I knew if I was going to learn this skill that I would need a mentor and need to improve my computer graphic skills in many areas.

I found an on-line multimedia program at Sessions.edu where I could enhance my skills required to learn how to animate. Luckily for me Chris Georgenes mentors the Flash Animation course that I choose and this is really where the rubber hit the road. This has been the beginning of being able to create animations. Without Chris’s step-by-step guidance to bring the whole process together I don’t think I could of done this on my own. I will be forever grateful for his patience and guidance. I can only hope that my skills as an animator will improve with time.

This blog will contain items noteworthy concerning Adobe Flash for both web development and animation, web development in general, and other topics of interest to me. I hope you find the links to many different resources useful, I will try and keep these up to date as I continue to find useful sites.