Let’s make some dang flash puppets!
This is a puppet.
This is not a puppet.
And this isn’t a puppet either.
But this is a puppet.
One thing to note about completely original puppets is that the quality depends on how well you can draw.
I’ll just let you know that right off the bat.
So let's take a look at how Flash puppets are set up,
because it’ll help you understand that what you’re going to be making is multiple different parts,
not just one character.
And you’re going to be animating each part individually.
There are different ways to organize a puppet and today we’re going to use this graphic-symbol type method.
On the stage is a completed Flash puppet that I’ve duplicated and animated with different actions.
Double clicking the symbol shows all of the parts this character is made out of.
That's pretty much all there is to it.
One puppet symbol is made out of a bunch of other symbols,
and all those symbols are animated.
You can even have a symbol within a symbol within a symbol.
The more parts you have,
the more control you have over your character,
the better it looks,
and the more work you’re going to have to do.
So let's go step by step on how to make something like this
out of something,
well,
like this.
Before you even draw anything,
decide what it is that you want your character to do.
Imagine that action and think about what parts move.
So for example, if all I want is a unicorn that looks up,
why bother drawing out each individual piece?
Instead, just go ahead and draw the whole body on one layer,
and then all the important moving parts on separate layers,
like the eyes, the hair, the nose, and the mouth.
Once you’ve decided what your character is going to do,
make a layer for each individual piece that moves.
So I want walking and flying and blinking.
In that case I need a body, eyes, wings, one leg,
one leg,
one leg
and
that’s it.
This is the bare minimum.
For better quality, you might want to make more layers like the ear,
the top of the mane,
the bottom of the mane,
the head, neck, and tail.
That way you can control how each of those parts moves.
After you’ve set up all your layers, draw your character on it piece by piece.
And then after you’ve done that,
turn every layer into a symbol.
BANG.
Now you can just tween all of those parts to animate your puppet.
Walking.
Flying.
Blinking.
What, that's not good enough you say?
Alright, fine.
So at this point you’re going to need to frame-by-frame
some of those pieces so they don't look like paper.
Double click the part that you want to animate.
How about this gorgeous leg?
Click.
Draw each position of the motion
so you have a complete cycle:
one whole step that can loop over and over and over.
Exit the symbol.
Match up the length of the timeline to the leg animation that you just made so that it loops properly.
Duplicate your leg for the other front position and adjust what frame it starts at in the properties window so that the walking looks normal.
Use the same process for the back leg.
Double click on it and draw each position.
Now you have a walking puppet.
Maybe you want it to blink.
In that case, duplicate your whole puppet
and then animate the eye blink like you did with the legs.
Set the eye symbol to "play once."
Note that because you changed the eye symbol,
now you’re going to have to go back to the original walking puppet and tell that eye to stay on "single frame" 1
so it won't blink.
How about flying?
Duplicate the symbol again.
Set the eye to "single frame" so it doesn't blink.
Redraw the legs for flight.
Animate the wings the same way as you did the legs and eyes,
and then match the length of that puppet to the wing animation.
Done!
Put your puppet on the stage and add a keyframe whenever you want to switch actions.
The great secret is now that you've made this,
you can recolor an entire puppet and change details like hair or eye color just by duplicating the puppet
and all the symbols inside it and then editing them.
You can even make puppet monster atrocities if you want
by swapping symbols in and out to your heart’s desire.
This had been Crowne Prince.
Now get out there and make some dang Flash puppets.