This article was originally posted on 2/18/2014 on malaker.32hertz.com
In this article, I am going to explain how I created a simple animated video using Adobe Flash and After Effects. The reason that I need to do this is that Youtube does not allow .swf files (the type of file that flash creates) to be uploaded as video, nor can a .swf file be burned to DVD to watch. To do these things we need a .avi file (a standard movie file) and that is what we will have when we are finished.
This is what my simple animated video will look like:
- I create 2 animations in Adobe Flash. The first is a cartoon speaking part, and the second is a machine gun firing. I used the swapping method that I explain HERE to create both animations. I export both as .swf movie files with no background.
- I create a project if Adobe After Effects to create and save my movie. I can change the project length in the composition toolbar/composition settings.
- I add a background image for my movie.Even though Adobe After Effects allows me to add a .png image to the project and see it as I am working on the project, when I would export the .avi file all of my .png files would be missing.I will add the background image by first putting the image in Adobe Flash and exporting it as an image instead of a movie. This gives me a .swf file that acts the same as an image and is also exported from Adobe After Effects correctly.Drag the image into the library and the drag from the library to the timeline. I can adjust the length of time an image is visible by dragging the front or back of the image in the timeline. I can also set when the image begins and ends using the timeline.
- I add the two animations to the project that I created earlier. I can fine-tune their positions on the background by selecting it – right-click- transform – position. Even though I created both of the animations with sound in Adobe Flash by default Adobe After Effects does not add the sound to the composition only the images. I will re-add the sound later.
- I need to add a few more static images to the project and to do that I turn them into .swf files the same as I did for the background image. Then I position them the same as I did for the animation files. Once I have all of the images and animations added to the composition and lined up in the timeline the way I want them, I will be ready to start creating .avi files.
- To create .avi files we need to export the composition. My computer is not fast enough to export the whole composition at once so I needed to export it in 3 parts that I can put together later. In the timeline – where it says “parent” – to the right of that is a time range selector and only what is selected will be exported. I split mine up into 3 roughly 8-second sections.I export by going file-export-avi. I turn sound off and click settings in video.
I choose no compression and 12 frames per second because that is the speed of my animations. Millions of colors+, and best quality.I now have 3 .avi files with no sound.
- I open a NEW Adobe After Effects project and import my .avi files and add them to the timeline. I add the sound files the same way. Line everything up.
- Export as .avi again. this time I leave the sound on. Settings in the video are dv-pal, 29.97 frames per second (any other frame rate gave me a lot of jitter), best quality, interlaced, and 16:9.
My Video is complete and ready to upload to Youtube.
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