STEP 02 sketching the intro ANIMATION

With our concept firmly in place, it's time to begin sketching ideas for the introductory animation. The goal of the first sketch is to lay out the first, key moment in time; the resulting initial FreeHand page is shown in figure 09:03. Each of the elements on the page ”text and graphic ”has the potential for movement that will eventually be realized in Flash. Moreover, the first sketch also begins to establish the palette and style.

Figure 09:03.

With the first moment in time realized, the next step is to duplicate the page in FreeHand both forward and backward. In other words, the page is now duplicated twice. With three identical pages, the second page will remain as is and modifications will be made to page 1 and page 3. On page 1, many foreground elements will be removed, and only the background and a key symbol or two will remain , as shown in figure 09:04. On page 3, existing elements from our first moment in time will be enhanced; new elements will be introduced while a few objects are carried over (see figure 09:05). Now the intro is beginning to take shape with three of the primary moments in time.

Figure 09:04.

Figure 09:05.

Once a number of pages are developed, it's time to step back and study the progression of the design. With FreeHand's paged layout system, that's simply a matter of zooming out; in this case, going to 25% allows me to see the first three pages, as shown in figure 09:06. I look for a consistency of approach and flow of design here. It's also a good time for experimentation. I like to duplicate pages and make alterations and modifications to see what develops ”this experimentation is far easier at this stage of the game than it would be if I had developed the early concept in Flash.

Figure 09:06.