Keyframer

In my new position as Art & Animation Director for Acclaim, we just launched a brand new game for Facebook called Prize Potato! As a Facebook user I have been quite disappointed with the majority of FB applications simply because all too often there isn’t any actual game-play involved nor are there any prizes. Prize Potato will change all of that and should raise the bar for all future FB applications. If you don’t have a Facebook account, now may be the best time to get one. You can win an iPhone, PSP, Rock Band and maybe even tickets to the Playboy Mansion Pajama Party! These are real prizes

Three months ago I blogged about my wicked cool experience with Dell when they replaced my out of warranty laptop’s LCD display after it developed some annoying lines across it. Well, last week the replacement screen began exhibiting the same behavior, only this time worse. The vertical lines were bountiful and some were even blinking. This was so not good! I went back to Dell’s vertical line site and left a comment about my issue. The following day I received an email from a Dell representative who put me in contact with another Dell representative who shipped me yet another brand new LCD display to replace the replacement. The latest display arrived within 48 hours and the installation was pretty straightforward (I love taking things apart anyway). The most amazing thing is the 2nd display was 2 weeks out of its 90 day warranty, but Dell honored it anyway. I didn’t have to pay a dime, not even shipping.
It seems a small portion of Inspiron owners with this display issue are having a hit or miss experience with Dell. But from my side of the bench it is clear Dell is trying to do the right thing on a virtual grass-roots level by responding to people leaving comments on the site.
Thanks again Dell.

Apologies loyal readers for the virtual cobwebs around here lately. It’s not that I don’t have anything to blog about, rather I have a ton to ramble off about in regards to Flash, games and new animation features. Fact is, I can’t really blog about anything specific…yet! I have been busy testing Flash CS4 in a full production environment and all of its new design and animation features - many are built-from-the-ground-up-brand-spankin’-new additions to Flash that I am truly excited about. You’ll hear that a lot from other bloggers and reviewers, and as much as it usually sounds like a cliche, this time around i think it will take on a whole new meaning. Some of you may remember the excitement surrounding past versions of Flash and so i thought I’d take a trip down Flash memory lane (yes, I am old - old enough to have to scroll to find the year i was born when filling out an online form!):

1996: Known as FutureSplash, it was a bare-bone basic graphics editing tool with a simple timeline. Macromedia bought it and called it Flash 1.0

1997: Flash 2 was released with the addition of the Library and Symbols (just graphic behavior - the world actually rotated without Movie Clips up to this point).

1998: Flash 3 introduced Move Clips, dot-syntax style actionScript, javaScript plugin integration and the stand-alone player. transparency was also added at this point if i remember correctly.

1999: Flash 4 - holy streaming MP3’s Batman!

2000: Flash 5 gave us big advancements in actionScript, smartclips and HTML text formatting.

2002: Flash MX came with not only the beginning of what would prove to be 2 years of confusion surrounding its name (why not “Flash 6″?), but also components, streaming video and XML support to name a few.

2003: Flash MX 2004 should have shipped with aspirin due to the headaches we all got trying to explain the meaning behind the name and it’s version number (and why it was called MX 2004 and not “Flash 7″) to newbies over and over and over again. On the flip side it did give us actionScript 2.0, behaviors, OOP, Media Playback components and more.  But then again it did give us the first and only update due to a massive amount of bugs and instability (version 7.2).

2005: Flash 8 brought back the ever popular numerical naming convention. I collective sigh of relief was heard all around the world. It also included filter, blend modes and a higher quality video codec.

2007: Flash CS3 (acquired by Adobe Systems Inc. and integrated into their Creative Suite). New features added consist of Adobe Photoshop® and Illustrator® importers (huge!), ability to convert animation to actionScript, Adone interface, actionScript 3.0, advanced debugger, Device Central, additional drawing tools, interface components, Quicktime exporter, more video tools and coding tools.

2008: ??? <– insert your best guess here - I’m going with Flash CS4 but that is not official - just logical. I can tell you (because Adobe has already publicly leaked some of the new features at various conferences this year) that a totally new motion tween model will be introduced that is object based and not timeline based. We will also see the Inverse Kinematics finally introduced to Flash as well as a whole new timeline panel called the Motion Editor (not a replacement to the Timeline panel but in addition to). Having used Flash “CS4″ the past several weeks/months, I am happy to report, as an animator using Flash as his primary tool - this might be the best version to date.

Don’t ask me when it will be released as I truly do not know. I have a very good idea based on an educated guess but I will not even think of predicting the release date publicly. Knowledge is power, and already being familiar with all of the new features will allow me to get a big jump on creating some video tutorials, articles and sample files. I will of course be posting all “Cs4″ related news here so keep checking back.

Other things I can’t tell you include the production of some Flash-based games I have been designing and animating. Earlier this year I accepted a position with Say Design but more recently jumped aboard the big ship Acclaim Games. We are actively developing online games for Facebook that i will surely be blogging about here when they launch. So if you have a Facebook account and want me add me as a buddy, go right ahead and invite me. The first game launches on August 6th and has the potential to be huge!

I am still in production with the 2nd edition to HTCIF and a new book with Peachpit Press and Adobe Press.

I will be doing a 1 day Flash workshop October 7th at the Flash on Tap conference here in Boston. I will also be hanging out for those 3 days as well. Hope to see some keyframers there!

Happy summer!

Shot using my Nikon D80 and the Lensbaby 3G lens with macro attachment.

Great interview by Carleen Hawn if you are a fan of Brad Bird. Gigaom examines Birds’ methods of getting the most out of his artistic teams.

No, this is not a Marvel character that Ironman must battle to save the planet, but it’s just as cool if you are a Flash designer. My friends over at New Pixel have developed yet another wicked-awesome extension for Flash appropriately named: Particulator. These guys are the brilliant developers who gave us the iK’ motion component that I blogged about way back when.

The particulator is easy to use and provides instant feedback with its simple slider controls. I’m having a lot of fun creating and simulating wind, fire and smoke while integrating these awesome effects into other animations. The coolest part about this component is, these effects are super slick and they would take me ages to create them as timeline-based effects. Even if I could, I don’t think they would look as good. I will post some sample animations soon but I highly recommend checking this component out and adding it to your Flash arsenal folks!

Dell is a huge corporation here in America and that badge often comes with a price in the eyes of the general consumer. The term “Corporate America” can imply a cold and unfriendly conglomerate whose only goal is to make money at the expense of consumer relations. Dell has proven itself to be the total opposite of that. more »

I am a believer. As I have stated in my previous post, I will never buy a pre-built PC ever again! “dzedward” recommended I build my own - so I did. I don’t have time to describe the difference in performance right now because i am too busy jumping up and down with joy (geek on parade). So here’s a few pics in the meantime.

Just an “I’m still here” entry in case any of you were wondering…were you? The past several weeks have been sort of a transitional period for me. After almost 7 years as a fulltime freelancer, I have accepted an offer I couldn’t refuse. I am Art & Animation Director for Say We All Games (SWAG),  formerly Say Design. I met John Say (founder) many moons ago when we both were speaking at the Flash Forward Conference in San Francisco (2003?). Soon after he hired me to design and animate a couple of game. for Nickelodeon and just recently asked me to come aboard fulltime. What’s even better is that I still work remotely (from home) and can also keep the Mudbubble name going on the side. So I continue to freelance but provide full focus on game design and animation.

Throw in the first signs of warm weather and the crack of baseball bats, and suddenly blogging takes a seat in the back row of life.

This has been the $64,000 question ever since the iphone was released. It’s just a matter of time and this article provides a little inside hope that we might be getting very close to a reality when it comes to the iphone supporting Flash. My question is, why has it taken this long?

This is a fully “rigged” character made with Flash. it will be used for an original animation as well as an example for the 2nd edition of How to Cheat in Adobe Flash CS3.

Some of you may not have been aware that the word on the street lately has been that the FlashForward Conference was dead - meaning its owner Lynda Weinman wasn’t going to support it any longer. That really bummed me out as it has been my favorite conference since the very beginning. Luckily that rumour was only 1/2 true. Go here to read more.