I have recently begun learning Flash, the animation program. Hopefully there’s this gig later in the fall that requires me to be able to use this animation tool. Here’s some of my early attempts:

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One very basic animation skill is to make stuff bounce. I started with the classic bouncing ball drills and ended up with the head of Enur. Apparently he’s at some sort of stage. Is he perhaps a stand-up comedian?
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Another basic skill, wich is a lot harder to master, is to make good walk cycles. It takes some practise to get the desired flow in the movements. By the way, I drew all these clips directly in Flash. Perhaps that was the hardest thing for me, since I’m so accustomed to pen and paper.

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The longer the characters and the closer you get to realistic anatomy, the more complicated it gets. Do you recognize this dude?

I’m taking a short cut to learning Flash through the tutorials at www.cartoonsmart.com. Not that I didn’t know how to make walk cycles before, but now I’m learning what tools to use to make them in Flash. I can highly recommend these tutorials to anyone interested in learning animation. It’s not that hard when everything comes around. Really.