sunsea
10-22-2007, 01:42 AM
Every second of video has 30 frames. But Flash animations can be done at any frame rate, which raises a couple of important questions:what frame rate should you work at, and second, if you choose to work at a rate other than 30 frames per second (fps), how do you convert to 30 fps? I deal with the question of frame rate conversion below.
You can create a Flash movie at 30 fps. But if is going to be played back on a computer, a 30 fps .swf file will generally produce unacceptably high data rates, unless the image is very small and simple, or the computer it is playing on is very fast. It can also create a lot of extra animation work if you want to draw in-betweens for all 30 frames. Fortunately, there is no need to build your Flash movie at 30 fps, even if you are planning to transfer it to video.
At FlickerLab, we usually build animation that needs to work on the web or video at 12 fps. This gives us a good balance of lower data rates and smoother animation. When creating cartoon style animation, it also keeps our work consistent with the majority of broadcast animation. While some high end cel animation is done at 24 frames per second (the rate that film is projected at), much broadcast animation is created at 12 fps. This is because it is drawn on "2's." In other words, each image holds for 2 frames. Do the math and it becomes clear why--half the amount of frames to draw each second. While Disney and Dreamworks may have virtually unlimited budgets to create their epic animations, most broadcast (and even more so, Internet) productions are on very tight budgets. But even the big studios do a lot of character animation on 2's. It looks good that way, so why create twice the work?
If we are using flash to build a cartoon solely aimed at broadcast or film, however, we build it at 24 fps. That way we can animate on 2's for most of the character animation, but do animate on 1's for segments or particular motions that require smoother animation.
If we are using Flash to build graphics for broadcast use only, and so won't be hand drawing in betweens, we usually build the file at 30 fps. This will give us the smoothest motion, and data rate won't be an issue for you. It is also possible to even build it at 60 fps, and convert this to a 30 fps video with fields .
In the end, you can decide to build it at any rate you want. The lower the rate, the smaller the file size, data rate and number of frames to animate, but the less smooth the animation. Conversely, the higher the frame rate, the higher the file size, data rate and number of frames to animate, but with smoother animation.
when I use SWF to Video Converter (http://www.swfkits.com/swf_to_video/), FLV to Video Converter Pro (http://www.flvsoft.com/flv_to_video/) I always choose the proper flash to convert, so I can always get good quality video to put on my Zune, PSP, Apple TV......
If you want to get good quality, you should choose flash according to your device
You can create a Flash movie at 30 fps. But if is going to be played back on a computer, a 30 fps .swf file will generally produce unacceptably high data rates, unless the image is very small and simple, or the computer it is playing on is very fast. It can also create a lot of extra animation work if you want to draw in-betweens for all 30 frames. Fortunately, there is no need to build your Flash movie at 30 fps, even if you are planning to transfer it to video.
At FlickerLab, we usually build animation that needs to work on the web or video at 12 fps. This gives us a good balance of lower data rates and smoother animation. When creating cartoon style animation, it also keeps our work consistent with the majority of broadcast animation. While some high end cel animation is done at 24 frames per second (the rate that film is projected at), much broadcast animation is created at 12 fps. This is because it is drawn on "2's." In other words, each image holds for 2 frames. Do the math and it becomes clear why--half the amount of frames to draw each second. While Disney and Dreamworks may have virtually unlimited budgets to create their epic animations, most broadcast (and even more so, Internet) productions are on very tight budgets. But even the big studios do a lot of character animation on 2's. It looks good that way, so why create twice the work?
If we are using flash to build a cartoon solely aimed at broadcast or film, however, we build it at 24 fps. That way we can animate on 2's for most of the character animation, but do animate on 1's for segments or particular motions that require smoother animation.
If we are using Flash to build graphics for broadcast use only, and so won't be hand drawing in betweens, we usually build the file at 30 fps. This will give us the smoothest motion, and data rate won't be an issue for you. It is also possible to even build it at 60 fps, and convert this to a 30 fps video with fields .
In the end, you can decide to build it at any rate you want. The lower the rate, the smaller the file size, data rate and number of frames to animate, but the less smooth the animation. Conversely, the higher the frame rate, the higher the file size, data rate and number of frames to animate, but with smoother animation.
when I use SWF to Video Converter (http://www.swfkits.com/swf_to_video/), FLV to Video Converter Pro (http://www.flvsoft.com/flv_to_video/) I always choose the proper flash to convert, so I can always get good quality video to put on my Zune, PSP, Apple TV......
If you want to get good quality, you should choose flash according to your device