Tag Archives: Spring 2022

Computer Graphic Design

Adobe Animate – Importing from Illustrator to Animate CC

Objective:

  • I can prepare my Illustrator artwork to make a Bone Tween animation in Animate CC.

Topics Discussed:

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

Assignment:

  • Create a new Illustrator Web document with all the default settings.
  • Use the Shape tools to draw six shapes: a Head, a Body, a Left Arm, a Right Arm, a Left Leg and a Right Leg.
  • In the Front View document, 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 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 symbols for your character’s Head, Body, Right Arm, Left Arm, Right Leg and Left Leg.
  • Save this file as “Your Name – Body Parts.ai”. We will use this file to import into Animate CC.
  • Open a new Animate HD HTML5 canvas (1280 x 720, 30fps). 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 – Body Parts.ai” file. Walk through the prompts to import your body parts into Animate. Make sure to select all the parts, and select “Single Animate Layer” from the “Convert Layers to:” dropdown menu.
  • Use what we learned yesterday, and the in-class demonstration today to add bones to your shapes. (Remember: “Start from the heart” and work your way out to the arms and legs.)
  • Make your stick figure move! Add up to 120 frames to your animation, and use the Motion Tween-style Armature layer to animate your character’s poses.
  • We will use this technique this week and next week to produce a simple animation. Save your file as “Your Name – Stick Figure.fla” and submit a copy to today’s Google Classroom assignment post by end of day on Wednesday.

Assigned: April 11th, 2022
Due Date: April 13th, 2022

Computer Graphic Design

Adobe Animate – Bone Tweens

Objective:

  • Produce a HTML5 Canvas animation using Inverse Kinematics (a.k.a. Bone Tweens).

Student-Friendly Objective:

  • I can create a HTML5 animation using Bone Tweens.

Links:
Using Bone Tool animation in Animate
Video: How to Use the Bone Tool to Create Animation

Topics Discussed:

  • New Animate CC document
  • Shapes
  • Symbols
  • Registration Point
  • Tweens
  • Bone Tweens
  • IK Chains
  • IK Shapes
  • Keyframes
  • Layers

Assignment:

  1. Produce a new HTML5 HD Canvas file. Name it “Your Name – Bone Tweens”. The FPS should be 30 and the Stage size should be 1280 x 720.
  2. Use the Shape tools to draw a shape. Convert this shape to a Symbol using any of the techniques we learned last week, and place five instances (copies) of this symbol on your Stage in a straight line.
  3. Use the process demonstrated in class (and in the videos) to create an IK Chain. Use the Bone Tool to draw Bones between the Registration Points (Center) of each of the five symbols. Note that as you add each Symbol to the IK Chain, it is moved from its original layer to the “Armature” layer that was automatically created when you linked the first two Symbols with the Bone Tool.
  4. Use the process demonstrated in class and in the tutorial to move and animate the IK Chain. (Note: This works just like a Motion Tween!)
  5. Create a new layer and draw a long thin horizontal rectangle. (Note: Do NOT make this a Symbol!)
  6. Select the Bone Tool. Starting from the left side of the rectangle, draw a bone from the left edge of the rectangle, about a fifth of the way across. Repeat this process until you have five bones linking the left edge of the rectangle to the right edge of the rectangle.
  7. Drag the last bone in the chain to transform the shape. You now have an IK Shape object. Animate a transformation (Curling, Waving, etc.)
  8. Finally, use the PolyStar Tool to draw a large, thin star. Use the Options to give the star at least five points and thin arms.
  9. Select the Bone Tool and starting from the center of the Star, draw four bones radiating from the center to the outer tip of the top arm.
  10. Repeat this process, starting from the center of the star each time, for each of the remaining four arms.
  11. Animate a separate transformation (Curling, Waving, etc.) for each of the five arms. (Make the star dance!)
  12. When you are finished, you should have three different IK animations (IK Chain, IK Shape, IK Star).
  13. Save your work. Upload the completed “Your Name – Bone Tweens.fla” file to today’s Google Classroom post “Bone Tweens” by the end of today.

Assigned: April 8th, 2022
Teacher Pacing Due Date: April 8th, 2022