Objective:

I can prepare my Illustrator artwork to make a Bone Tween animation of a basic walk cycle in Animate CC.

Topics Discussed:

• IK Armature
• Bone Tool
• For a complete list of Topics Discussed, please see the previous weeks’ lessons.

Assignment:

• By now, you should have your completed Illustrator Web document with a front view of your original character, composed of at least six parts: a Head, a Body, a Left Arm, a Right Arm, a Left Leg and a Right Leg named “Your Name – Your Character’s Name.ai”. We will continue working on this file to re-import into Animate CC.
• Your task today is to import the side view of your character into Animate.
• Use the black selection arrow to select the different parts of your character, and use the fn+F8 shortcut to convert each part to a Symbol. Every part of your character’s Side View that is going to move should be made a separate symbol! Name each of the symbols appropriately as you create them. When you are finished, at a minimum you should have new symbols for your character’s Side Head, Side Body, Side Right Arm, (maybe even Side Left Arm), Side Right Leg and Side Left Leg.
• Open a new Animate CC HTML5 canvas. Make the size HD, and set the framerate to 30fps, and add 120 frames to the timeline. The stage color can be any color of your choice.
• Use the “File -> Import -> Import to Stage” menu command to locate and import your “Your Name – Your Character’s Name.ai” file. Walk through the prompts to import your side body parts into Animate. Make sure to select all the parts, and select “Single Animate Layer” from the “Convert Layers to:” dropdown menu.
• Note: If your character’s Symbols don’t import properly, you can still use fn+F8 to convert each part to Symbols in Animate! Just don’t forget to name them and make them Graphic symbols!
• Once you have all your parts imported and made into Symbols, use what we learned about Bone Tweens to add Bones to your shapes. (Remember: “Start from the heart” and work your way out to the arms and legs.)
  • Use the Free Transform tool to move your parts around to make adding the Bones easier, and use the Arrange menu to Send to Back or Send to Front if your parts need to be rearranged!
• Once you have your Bones in place, select all the side view body parts and make your whole character into a Symbol. Make it a Graphic with a center registration point and name it something like “SideView” or “SideWalk”.
• Double-click the symbol to enter Isolation Mode, and follow today’s in-class demonstration to embed a “walk cycle” animation into your character’s symbol.
• Use this Symbol to create a Motion Tween. Start your character off stage left and have them move across the stage and exit stage right by frame 120.
• Save your animation as “Walk Cycle.ani” and turn it in to the Google Classroom by Monday, May 12th.

Assigned: May 8th, 2025
Due Date: May 12th, 2025