I am rather fond of this book, and it is certainly a classic on the subject of Flash cartooning. But more importantly it is a great book for the budding cartoonist, Flash or not.
      I tend to hang out in the art and computing sections of bookstores, and can attest that books on cartooning, or animation, are conspicuous by their absence from most. If you’re a comic book fan and frequent comic book stores then you will find some good books on the subject there, but such specialists are rare. Every bookstore has a computer section, however, and so Macromedia Flash Animation & Cartooning: A Creative Guide is bound to turn up in most of them. Why? Because the blurb on the back that all shelf stackers read says Internet/Web Development, and all store buyers know that interest in the Web continues to grow.
      That is a relief, as cartoon-style animation is too frequently overlooked as an effective means of communication with Flash. Especially in advertising. Everyone does the pointless text animation thing to death, to no useful result, yet cartooning is universal in its appeal. Animated cartoons get their message across with wit and aplomb. Make use of that.
      There are several other books out that appear to be about the same subject, but their authors’ approach is very different to Ibis Fernandez’. Fernandez is an animator with feature film ambitions and a born teacher’s communication skills. His approach to animating in Flash is influenced by movie production values, and methods, and he is terrific at showing you how to do it for yourself.
      Fernandez has long been a student of traditional animation methods, and that depth of knowledge is as necessary for successful Flash animation, whatever its style and subject, as it is to the hand-drawn equivalent. He has put in the long hours translating what he knows into Flash and its own peculiar drawing and scripting environment, and his tutorials are just about perfect, in my opinion.
      Macromedia Flash Animation & Cartooning: A Creative Guide is excellent.

The Book:

• Title: Macromedia Flash Animation & Cartooning: A Creative Guide
• Author: Ibis Fernandez
• Publisher: McGraw Hill/Osborne
• Published: 2002
• Pages: 428
• Illustrations: Monochrome
• CD-ROM: No
• ISBN: 0072133236
• Rating: 5

• Part I
• Introduction to Cartooning
• The Cartoon Head
• The Character Body
• Character Types
• Character Development: The Finishing Touches
• Part II
• Flash: What It Is and What It’s Not
• Introduction to Animation
• Drawing and Painting in Flash
• Using Flash to Animate
• Advanced Techniques
• Cheating Your Audience the Right Way <;/i>
• Cartoon Talk
• Part III
• Scripting
• The Production Process
• Cinematography in Flash