"Paper doll" effect when making animations (embarr

[autumn_whispers2me]

Okay, first off... this is totally embarrassing because I've NO clue as to what to do to make a real "animated figure" in Flash. I'm not a cartoonist, but I took a clipart (a funny looking granny) and made her 'dance.'

well, the idea was cool (in a dorky sense), but in my non-Flash-educated brain I 'tore apart' the old broad and put her back together again to animate one body part at a time. Thing is, the 'tore apart parts' look like torn paper... so it's like someone tore apart a paper doll and put her back together again.

So, um... help! What causes the gif images to have that 'white' edge where they were sliced in PS? And how do I fix/repair that, and can it be done in Flash itself?

[Webforumz Staff]

I'll be honest with you here, character animation is probably the only thing I haven't done in Flash, so I can only make suggestions - they won't necessarily have any experience behind them!

The 'cut out' thing you're talking about sounds to me like jagged edges on GIF images or perhaps where you have cut out the parts themselves.

You could try using PNG images instead of GIFs. They contain more colours so cutting them out should look better... if it doesn't then you can also use transparency in PNGs so you could always fade out slightly at the edges to hide the fact that you've cut them out.

However, I would have thought you would be able to cut them out perfectly well - perhaps you simply aren't as good as cutting images out as you could be? It might be easier for me to judge if you post up both the original image and the cut out version. I can certainly give you pointers on cutting out stuff - as that's something I do have experience with!

[autumn_whispers2me]

Okay. As for the cut-out part, the white edges where I cut them don't show in jpg or gif version.... only when I put it in Flash. I've cut and manipulated a thousand pics, photos and gifs over the years, but I can't figure out what's happening here.

I do photo restoration and manipulation and that doesn't seem as difficult as this for some crazy reason. Hmnnn.

I'm making the movie for a friend of mine as a joke, so it's not a super serious project.. BUT, it's an opportunity to learn seriously, if that makes sense.

Oh, and I just re-read your post and realized what you were asking about the 'cut out' version. I didn't cut out the old lady from the background or anything like that. What I did was remove her head, one arm, and her upper torso so I could move those parts. Make sense? The places where those parts were cut from don't have any white, so I'm not sure why the white is on the edges... give me a sec and I'll upload the page with the movie on it...

...don't be too harsh now! It's supposed to be funny... just not badly done funny, if that makes sense. lol

[autumn_whispers2me]

Okay, here's the movie itself.... It has the image problems (VERY obvious), and timing problems, and I've kept it ultra simple until I've got this stuff figured out... then it's on! lol

http://www.autumnwhisperstome.com/minniepause.html

[Webforumz Staff]

Hmm.... that is odd... I really don't know why that would happen? Does the same thing happen if you use a PNG instead of a GIF?

[autumn_whispers2me]

I've not tried using png yet, so I'll try that next and see. I thought it was weird too.

[gohankid77]

I didn't really notice it until a bit later, so you might be okay leaving it like that. It's very funny though!

[autumn_whispers2me]

lol thanks. There's actually a site that goes with it, rather 'comic book' style in nature and all about menopause. hehehe... I thought the groovin' granny would be a fun idea. I just wish I could make her look like a real animation moving... like a cartoon. Ah well. I guess that's why I'm not a cartoonist, huh? :P