Animation

Rendering Animations

Animated GIF

Animated GIFS work best for simple, small animations for use in your portfolios. They're great for illustrated graphics with limited colours on the web.

If you're using it in a Googlesite, you'll need to store the GIF on your GoogleDrive, SHARE it to anyone with the link, and embed it from there

To make an Animated GIF

Go to FILE | EXPORT | EXPORT MOVIE and choose an appropriate location and filename
Under "Save As Type" choose ANIMATED GIF
Under the options
- Set your WIDTH and HEIGHT
- Set your COLOURS to an appropriate depth - this can save filesize
The other options can remain as shown

NEXT: Install your Animated GIF on your portfolio using Embedding Animations

MayJ First Animation.mp4

MP4 (Video File)

Video files like MOV or AVI can be exported directly from Flash, and used stored on your Google Drive or YouTube for presentation.

A BETTER way though is to use a third party program called SWIVEL to convert your SWF files into MP4s. These files are smaller in file size, and tend to look better than video files exported directly from Flash.

NOTE when embedding your HD work onto your portfolio, these sizes maintain the HD aspect ratio:

1280x720 (720P)
800x450 (Full Pagesize)
640x360 (Small Sized)
480x270 (Anecdote Sized)

USING SWIVEL

A. Preparation:

NO ACTIONSCRIPTS ALLLOWED - Remove any STOP(); actionscripts - the movie must be able to completely play through every frame to be encoded properly. (Note that Actionscript commands do NOT export to video files)
Render an SWF of your animation using [CTRL-ENTER]; it can be EASILY and accurately converted into a video file using the SWIVEL program.

INSTALL SWIVEL

- Check first to see if SWIVEL has already been installed on your computer -

If need be, you can drag the SWIVEL install program to your D: drive and install it from there

Locate and install the appropriate SWIVEL program from the MAY/Handouts/Apps folder
Choose either the 32bit or 64bit version, depending on your computer's operating system.
The 32 bit version will work on any computer, but if you have a 64bit computer, that version may be optimal.
ASK YOUR TEACHER if you don't know which version to install.

CONVERT your SWF FILE

Click the ADD button to load your SWF file
Click VIDEO and set your desired resolution
1. (1280x720 is a good HD standard for YouTube - 640x360 is better for McNews)
Click AUDIO and choose 160kbps for best quality - you should have already optimized the quality of audio in the Flash Publish Settings
Finally, click CONVERT to begin transcoding your file. Your MP4 file will be deposited in the same folder as your FLA file

Don't have SWIVEL?

MOV files can be created directly from FLASH, and are also YouTube compatible...

Preparation:

Remove any STOP(); actionscripts - the movie must be able to completely play through every frame to be encoded properly; (Note that Actionscript commands do NOT export to MOV files)
Note your current Framerate and go to FILE | EXPORT | EXPORT MOVIE
- Select MOV type and choose an appropriate filename and location
- Note Resolution, and click QUICKTIME SETTINGS
  - Click SETTINGS and choose
    - Compression Type: H264
    - Key Frames: Every 24 frames (or match your original framerate)
    - Compressor: Best
  - Click SIZE
    - Set DIMENSIONS as HD 1280x720 16:9
    - Preserve Aspect Ratio using Crop
  - Under SOUND, either
    - Turn it off if your animation is silent
    - or choose NONE for the audio compressor

About SWFs

SWF

(Shockwave Flash VECTOR format) When you "test" a Flash animation, it automatically creates and SWF file that contains your complete animation in the same folder as your FLA file.

An SWF is the HIGHEST quality format output format for your Flash work, and likely uses the SMALLEST filesize.

They are created automatically when you "test" your movie during editing.

Creating an SWF (vector)

To Save your work as an SWF

Simply hit CTRL-ENTER to your animation, then look in your FLA folder for the newly generated SWF file

NOTES:

SWFs can be used to publish STILL images, ANIMATIONS and allows INTERACTIVITY (buttons) with the users

SWF Retains all the advantages of vector images,
but also manages animation as well as ACTIONSCRIPT interactivity.
Animations can also loop (ie rotoscopes)
The downside is that FEWER platforms are supporting SWF files everyday. iPads were one of the first to reject the format, citing issues with security and memory leaks. SWF graphics and animations can be imported into other adobe software like Premiere Elements