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Doodley — Kassandra Production II: Puppet Breakdown

Published: 2012-10-05 05:12:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 3144; Favourites: 41; Downloads: 0
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Description Part I: [link]

When animating Flash cartoons, characters are often broken down to bits known as symbols. These are used so animators won't have to redraw as many elements, thus making animation production faster. However, it can still get complicated as there can be a LOT of symbols, sometimes symbols within other symbols, and others that break down the arm and legs for complicated movements. Some of these can be used for different angles, but some will have to be altered quite a bit!
Keeping up with all the symbols can be difficult, but thanks to this model sheet I downloaded ([link] ) I learned to name them properly so I call them up with ease!

When these symbols are animated, they're all attached to each other through anchor points. This is known as rigging. The characters are then animated like a puppet, but If done right, the character's won't be floating around like some creepy mannequin!

Will everything come together in the end? I sure hope so!
Stay tune for part 3!

EDIT: Updated it with a better breakdown pic.
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Comments: 8

andrewk [2012-12-12 15:23:58 +0000 UTC]

Yeah I can relate to everything in the description. - _ -

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BoomerBOmb [2012-10-20 19:58:54 +0000 UTC]

I just noticed how huge her head is compared to the rest of her.

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Doodley In reply to BoomerBOmb [2012-10-20 20:02:23 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, her designs definitely got more cartoony.

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MrPr1993 [2012-10-18 03:09:38 +0000 UTC]

Amazing!!!

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DarylT [2012-10-05 11:42:06 +0000 UTC]

I know I tried my first animation and you end up with like 50 symbols or something. Also how come when you have a symbol within a symbol you can't see it move until you hit preview.

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Doodley In reply to DarylT [2012-10-05 15:50:34 +0000 UTC]

I had that problem for the longest time. You must be using a movie clip symbol instead of a graphic symbol.

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DarylT In reply to Doodley [2012-10-06 11:56:18 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. I'll take a look. It's annoying.

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butchwilliams [2012-10-05 06:46:59 +0000 UTC]

Cant wait to see it done.

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