Simple animation in Flash MX; a square moving across the screen in a motion tween, one of the basic functions of Flash.

A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created using Adobe Flash animation software and often distributed in the .swf file format. The bouncing ball animation (below consists of these 6 frames Adobe Flash (previously called Shockwave Flash and Macromedia Flash) is a set of Multimedia software created by Macromedia and currently The File format SWF (acronym of " Shockwave Flash "pronounced swiff)a partially open repository for multimedia and especially It can be created in Flash or with other programs capable of writing . swf files. The term Flash animation not only refers to the file format but to a certain kind of movement and visual style which, in many circles, is seen as simplistic or unpolished. However, with dozens of Flash animated television series, countless more Flash animated television commercials, and award-winning online shorts in circulation, Flash animation is enjoying a renaissance.

In the late 1990s, when for most Internet users, bandwidth was still at 56 kbit/s, many Flash animation artists employed limited animation or cutout animation when creating projects intended for web distribution. A 56 kbit/s line is a digital connection capable of carrying 56 Kilobits per second ( Kbit/s) or 56000 Bit/s, the Data rate of a normal single Limited animation is a process of making Animated cartoons that do not follow a "realistic" approach Cutout animation is a unique technique for producing Animations using flat characters props and backgrounds cut from This allowed artists to release shorts and interactive experiences well under 1mb, which could stream both audio and high-end animation. One example is the first episode of The Goddamn George Liquor Program released in 1999, rendered at only 628kb. The Goddamn George Liquor Program is a 1997 Adobe Flash cartoon series created by John Kricfalusi and starring the animated George Liquor A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix Kilo -, meaning 1000 is a unit of Information or Computer storage equal to either 1024

Some hallmarks of poorly-produced Flash animation are jerky natural movements (seen in walk-cycles and gestures), auto-tweened character movements, lip-sync without interpolation, and abrupt changes from front to profile view. Lip-sync or Lip-synch (short for lip Synchronization) is a technical term for matching lip movements with voice Although Flash is able to integrate bitmaps and other raster-based art, as well as video, most Flash films are created using only vector-based drawings which often result in a somewhat clean graphic appearance. Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points lines, Curves and shapes or Polygon (s which are all based

Flash animations are typically distributed by way of the World Wide Web, in which case they are often referred to as Internet cartoons, online cartoons, or webtoons. The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked Hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Web Flash animations may be interactive and are often created in a series. A Flash animation is distinguished from a Webcomic, which is a comic strip distributed via the Web, rather than an animated cartoon. Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are Comics Published on a Website, often exclusively providing easy access to an A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a Comics artist

Today, Flash animations are being more and more widely used in the multiuser community with flash generators and embedded videos in user's profiles across the internet. Many popular remakes are appearing over and over again with the growing success in a less pioneered subject. Youtubes are popping up over the internet with google video and myspace video, and flash generators are too numerous to count. Many of the flash generators are now used for webmasters in menu creators but the dynamic lipsyncing flash characters and font to image manipulators are still the most dominant.

History

Developed by Macromedia, Flash (along with Macromedia's other programs) were acquired by software giant Adobe in April 2005. Macromedia was a North American graphics and Web development Software house headquartered in San Francisco, California producing such products

The first prominent use of the Flash animation format was by Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi. The Ren and Stimpy Show is an American / Canadian animated television series created by Canadian Animator John John Kricfalusi (pron "Kris-falusi" (born Michael John Kricfalusi) better known as John K He embarked on a mission to bring cartoons to the Internet. Kricfalusi employed George Liquor (a fictional character rumored to have ended Kricfalusi's employment on Ren & Stimpy) and his dim-witted nephew Jimmy the Hapless Idiot Boy on their own Internet program titled The Goddamn George Liquor Program. George Liquor (also known as George Liquor American) most famous for his appearances on The Ren and Stimpy Show, is a Cartoon character created by The Goddamn George Liquor Program is a 1997 Adobe Flash cartoon series created by John Kricfalusi and starring the animated George Liquor Later, John produced more animated projects with Flash including several online shorts for Icebox. com, television commercials, and a music video. Soon after that, web cartoons began appearing everywhere.

On February 26, 1999,^[1] in a major milestone for Flash animation, the popular web series WhirlGirl became the first regularly scheduled Flash animated web series when it premiered on the premium cable channel Showtime in an unprecedented telecast and simultaneous release on the Showtime website. Showtime is a subscription television Brand used by a number of channels and platforms around the world but primarily refers to a group of channels in the United Showtime is a subscription television Brand used by a number of channels and platforms around the world but primarily refers to a group of channels in the United ^[2] Created by David B. Williams and produced by Visionary Media, the studio he founded, WhirlGirl follows the adventures of a young superheroine fighting for freedom in a future ruled by an all-powerful "mediatech empire. " The series originally launched in the Spring of 1997 as a web comic with limited animation and sound. ^[3] After gaining online syndication partners including Lycos.com and WebTV, the series first adopted Flash animation in July 1998. Lycos is a search engine and web portal centered around broadband entertainment content MSN TV (formerly WebTV) is the name of both a Thin client which uses a Television for display (rather than a Computer monitor) and the ^[4] Following her Showtime debut, the titular heroine appeared in over 50 Flash webisodes on the Showtime website^[5] and starred in a million dollar multimedia Showtime marketing campaign. ^[6]

About the same time, Joe Cartoon launched the interactive animation "Frog in a Blender" to become one of the very first true "Viral Hits" on the internet gaining more than 90 million views since its release in 1999. Joe Cartoon is the name of a series of Flash -based online cartoons that was launched in 1997 by creator Joe Shields.

The Von Ghouls went live in November 1999, featuring the first music group with cartoon episodes online including original songs, in the vein of Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s. A number of popular portal sites featured Flash animation during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, including Icebox, MondoMedia, CampChaos, MediaTrip, Bogbeast and AtomFilms. Stan Lee of Marvel Comics launched an animated comics site. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc

The Internet also saw the proliferation of many adult-only Flash cartoon sites. Some of the shows from that period made the transition to traditional media, including Queer Duck, Gary the Rat, Happy Tree Friends, the politically-minded JibJab shorts and the popular Homestar Runner. Happy Tree Friends (Often abbreviated as HTF) is a Flash cartoon series by Mondo Mini Shows, created by Rhode Montijo, Kenn JibJab is a digital entertainment studio based in Los Angeles California. Homestar Runner is a Flash animated Internet cartoon. It mixes Surreal humor with references to 1970s '80s and '90s pop culture Occasionally, the trend has been reversed: after being canceled from both ABC and Fox, Atom Films created net-only episodes of The Critic in 2000-2001. The Critic is an American Animated series that revolved around the life of movie critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon In another instance, Flash almost made the transition to the big screen. In 2001, production began on what would have been the first Flash-animated feature film, the ill-fated "Lil' Pimp," which also began life as an Internet series. As potentially controversial as its subject matter was, it had a relatively large budget, a number of well-known actors (including William Shatner, Bernie Mac, and Lil Kim), a full crew, and a running time of nearly 80 minutes. Although Sony Pictures decided not to release the film, it was eventually released on DVD by Lion's Gate.

Several recording companies experimented with releasing animated music videos to promote their artists' releases online, including Madonna, the Beastie Boys and Tenacious D, however none became the hit that allowed for the expansion of Flash animated music videos. Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American Tenacious D is a Satirical Rock band formed in Los Angeles California. Adam Sandler and Tim Burton among others, released original Internet-only animated works, but were not able to devise successful financial models and the trend dissipated, largely as a result of a lack of viable micropayment systems. Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9 1966 is an American Comedian, Timothy "Tim" William Burton (born August 25 1958 is an American Film director, Screenwriter and Set designer, notable for the quirky

Several popular online series are currently produced in Flash, such as the Emmy Award-winning Off-Mikes, produced by ESPN and Animax Entertainment; Gotham Girls, produced by Warner Brothers and Crime Time, produced by Future Thought Productions. ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to Animax Entertainment is an Emmy Award winning Animation studio based in Van Nuys California that focuses on creating fun character driven experiences for Gotham Girls is an American animated Flash cartoon series about the females of Gotham City, created and produced jointly by Warner Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Future Thought Productions is a creative Animation studio that creates produces or contributes to film television web and mobile animation

Many animated television series are produced using Macromedia Flash, inspired by both the comparatively low cost of production and the unique style that can be achieved with the software, including Metalocalypse, Being Ian, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Kappa Mikey, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Happy Tree Friends, Odd Job Jack, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, the BBC Three show Monkey Dust, the Channel Four show Modern Toss, Yin Yang Yo, Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show and Queer Duck from Showtime, and Shorties Watching Shorties on Comedy Central. An animated cartoon is a short hand-drawn (or made with computers to look similar to something hand-drawn Film for the cinema, Television or computer Metalocalypse is an American Animated television series on Adult Swim created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. Being Ian is a Canadian Animated series, produced by Studio B Productions, Corus Entertainment and Nelvana, focusing Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is an Emmy Award winning American Animated television series created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios Kappa Mikey is an American animated television series geared toward families and is created by Larry Schwarz. Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is an Annie Award -nominated American Animated television series produced by Renegade Animation for the Cartoon Happy Tree Friends (Often abbreviated as HTF) is a Flash cartoon series by Mondo Mini Shows, created by Rhode Montijo, Kenn Odd Job Jack is a Canadian animated Comedy television show featuring Don McKellar, about one man's misadventures in temporary Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is an Animated children's television series created by Bob Boyle. Monkey Dust is a British animated TV series that satirises the darker side of life in the United Kingdom. Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began Modern Toss is a British series of cartoon booklets and books aimed at adults and a television series based on them Yin Yang Yo! is an Animated television series distributed by Walt Disney Television Animation and created by Bob Boyle (also the creator of Aaagh! It's The Mr Hell Show is an adult animated comedy show which ran for one season of thirteen episodes in 2001/2002 produced by a British - Canadian Queer Duck is an Animated series that originally appeared on Icebox Showtime is a subscription television Brand used by a number of channels and platforms around the world but primarily refers to a group of channels in the United Shorties Watchin' Shorties was a television show broadcast on Comedy Central. Comedy Central is an American Cable television and Satellite television channel that carries predominantly Comedy programming

Other television series, such as Home Movies and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, both broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, have switched to Flash from other animation technology. Home Movies is a Dialogue -driven American animated series that originally aired from 1999 to 2004. Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law is a North American Animated television series comedy created by Williams Street that airs on Cartoon Adult Swim, (usually stylized swim with its signature square Brackets, is an adult-oriented Television network sharing channel space with Cartoon

Many animation film festivals have responded to the popularity of Flash animation by adding separate categories in competition for "web cartoons" or "Internet cartoons. " Additionally, several exclusively web-based Flash competitions have been established. It is speculated that only the category "made for Internet" will survive, as competitions at animation film festivals are typically arranged in categories defined by film length and distribution channel, rather than by animation techniques or tools used to create the films.

Timeline - First Flash Projects on Television

Timeline - Other Flash Animated TV Series

Timeline - First Flash Feature Film Projects (Theatrically Released)

Flash Animation Distribution

While the creation of animation using Flash can be easier and less expensive than traditional animation techniques, the amount of time, money, and skill required to produce a project using the software depends on the chosen content and style. Internet distribution is considerably easier and less expensive than television broadcasting, and websites such as Newgrounds provide free hosting. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Newgrounds is a Website headquartered in Glenside Pennsylvania, United States and created in 1995 that primarily hosts Adobe Flash animated films Many Flash animations are created by individual or amateur artists, although it does require some amount of technical knowledge to create a notable work with the software. Many Flash animations first distributed on the web became popular enough to be broadcast on television, particularly on such networks as MTV and G4TV. MTV ( Music Television) is an American Cable television network based in New York City. G4 is an American cable and satellite Television channel originally geared toward male viewers aged 12&ndash34 devoted to the world of

Flash Animation in Professional Studios

Flash animation production is enjoying considerable popularity in major animation studios around the world, as animators take advantage of the software's ability to organize a large number of assets (such as characters, scenes, movements, and props) for later re-use. Because Flash files are in vector file format, they can be used to transfer animation to 35 mm film without any compromise in image quality. Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points lines, Curves and shapes or Polygon (s which are all based This feature is used by several independent animators world-wide, including Phil Nibbelink, who saw his 77-minute feature film Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss released in theaters in 2006. Phil Nibbelink is an American animator and a former member of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Romeo & Juliet Sealed with a Kiss is an animated feature fantasy about two Star-crossed seals from warring families that fall in love against their parents' wishes For Disneyland's 50 Magical Years film featuring Live action Steve Martin interacting with Donald Duck, the hand drawn animation of Donald Duck was cleaned up and colored in Flash.

Creating Flash animation from other software

There are a number of other software packages available that can create output in the . swf format. Among these are Toufee, KoolMoves, Express Animator and Anime Studio. Toufee is flash movie creating/editing software that is distributed online KoolMoves is a Flash animation creation program by Lucky Monkey Designs LLC Express Animator is a software program for making animations primarily Flash animations for websites Anime Studio is a proprietary vector -based 2D animation software for animators originally distributed by LostMarble later by E frontier. These front-ends often provide additional support for creating cartoons, especially with tools more tailored to traditionally-trained animators, as well as additional rigging for characters, which can speed up character animation considerably. Additionally, there are programs available which translate 3D information into 2D vectors.

In popular culture

OSFlash hosts a number of different open source methods of dealing with Flash animation. Open source is a development methodology which offers practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge

External links

Flash animation at the Open Directory Project

Footnotes