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Use "Edit
Center" to hinge body parts
written by Chris Georgenes |
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“The Elbow’s connected to the….”
This tutorial demonstrates how to use the Edit Center feature in Flash to “hinge” body
parts to each other when animating characters.
I’ll assume you already know how to draw, create and/or import your character
in Flash, as well as separate all body parts into unique symbols. I’ll
also assume you have a basic understanding of Flash, specifically its timeline
and how to convert objects to symbols. That said, the rest is easy.
Here's what my final walk cycle animation looks like: |
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- You can see how I have set up my character walk cycle across
multiple layers (below). I also have multiple symbols on the
same layers as well. For instance, One of the leg layers contains
3 different symbols, an upper leg, lower leg, and a foot. This
is just a matter of personal preference. You may wish to have
every individual symbol in its own layer, or you could have
all symbols on 1 single layer. It doesn’t matter how
you work in regards to this tutorial. Although the latter may
prove to be more difficult when trying to select certain symbols
that are behind others.
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2. Once your character is ready for animating,
select a body part (instance) and the Free Transform tool (Flash
MX & Flash MX 2004). In Flash 5, Select the object and choose
Modify > Transform > Edit Center.
Notice the center point of the symbol is now a solid white circle. Simply click
and drag this circle to a new location. In my example, I moved the center point
of the sneaker to where the ankle is (approximately). Now when I start keyframing
and rotating/moving the sneaker, it “hinges” where it’s supposed
to, making it easier to position each sneakers’ movements in relation to
the lower leg symbol. |
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| 3. Repeat this process for each body part you want
hinged. The center point of each individual symbol can be moved
as well as the center point of multiple symbols depending on
how many are selected at one time. Very useful for editing the
center point of say, the head of a character that contains multiple
symbols (eyes, pupils, mouth, etc) or an upper and lower arm
and hand, and then make the center point of all 3 at the shoulder.
You can even edit the center point of multiple symbols across
multiple layers! Just hold down the “Shift” key while
selecting each symbol. Then follow the above steps to edit their
center point as if they were a single symbol. |
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| *Tip 1: Make sure you edit the center point in
the 1st keyframe on your timeline – that way, all subsequent
keyframes will retain the new center point and you will not have
to re-edit it each time. |
*Tip 2: If you’re using
Flash 5 you can edit your keyboard shortcut preferences to
create a custom key command that points to the Edit Center
command. In Flash MX and MX 2004, you can use the “Q” key
to select the Free Transform tool. |
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I hope this lesson helps you. Unfortunately i can not provide the source
file for this specific character as it was for a client and all rights
to it have been retained. If i find some free time (yeah - right) i'll
try and make a generic stickman version of this walk cycle. If you have
any questions feel free to drop me an email or IM me: |
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email
me
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