Move over, Paint! VEC'X0RED!44

Well, I think I've said it before, "I like to use Paint (the program)."

I know. Nerds would call me a nerd.

Gangsters would call me a gangster. Poes would call me a Poe. Flowers would poke fun at my colorful pedals.


Anyway, I've always wanted to make a comic (internet comic). I just love the idea of it. Problem is, I have trouble making jokes in a comic setting. However, I am very good at coming up with jokes for Flash animation settings.


So on to the Vec'xored part. Vec'xored comes from the word Vector...Vector graphics.
Uh, Vector Graphics, "Xored."

Flash is a program that can be used to make movies of certain things, like an animation program. You can make interactive websites, website elements, animation, etc. It works with Vector Graphics. These are (in certain ways) much superior to...I think bitmap or whatever, the kind that Paint and Photoshop use. Vector graphics...uhh...look here.


I've always admired Flash animation...it is a mini-cartoon, about 3-8 minutes long (usually- typically it goes by MB count, and normal size is 5 MB or so). It costs nothing to make one- just your time, hopefully your skill, a computer, and a copy of Flash. Once you payed $1200 for the computer (unless you already have a computer) and program (unless you already have the program), and practiced for two years intensively to learn to draw, you're set!

The problem is, the community of Flash is steeped in, how shall I say, 'wickedness.' Typical, teenager-soaked, pervert-filled community. This isn't a problem for me, because I don't seek any social relations online, but if I need some advice on something, or a voice actor, I'll have to deal with them. Of course, they aren't all bad, in fact a lot of them probably aren't, but you know what they say...the horse is only as good as the whip.


So far, I made a checkerboard!


Picture at right!



This was made using a Vanishing Point, and
following along with a tutorial. It's time consuming, not really hard. You just have to learn how to see the thing and make it if you're not gonna follow a tutorial.


Then I drew a forest background, following along with a tutorial. All I have to do is change the shapes of things, make this tree black...and I'd have a dead forest.

Doesn't it look neat?

Well, it sure does.


See the trees?...right there between the rocks...man that looks cool. I am a complete sucker for these types of graphics.


Anyways, this all started when an idea for Flash entered my brain several weeks ago. In a dream. Team A. The joke is, they don't know what the "A" stands for, and it is in NO way related to the A Team (I didn't even realize the connection was present). I was agonizing over it, and I told my mom how I want to make a flash movie, and she bestowed 'pon my meager existence...FLASH MX 2003 (Added to the Fire)!

Although it's an older version, it will still let me develop my skills. The "you-can-get-by-with" Flash MX version is 2004, I do believe. Flash 8 Professional is the current version, Flash Pro 9 is the next version, I don't know of release date. Did I mention Flash costs like $500? My mom got this handed down from her job. Praise God!

The characters are 2 male special forces, one female special forces Ninja.

This is a rough draft of her (FN's) character (no body yet, obviously.) Edit: picture omitted.

I had so much fun, and got so frustrated drawing her hair. I had to draw out crazy rough drafts of her ponytails on paper (this was the fun part, because I made a lot of progress, fast), then draw them in Flash, then redraw, stretch, skew, rotate, shade, and erase and start over.

The basic idea is a hair part a bit to the right, with one ponytail on the left, and two smaller ponytails on the right (plus the indispensable hair hanging down into her face). The hair took 3.5 hours to draw, the eyes .5 hours, the mouth 15 minutes, and the ears 15 minutes, the nose 20 minutes, the eyebrows 25 or so minutes, and the basic shape of the head 1.5 hours (this is including the placement of eyes, ears etc.)

I'm still not satisfied with her hair- it just doesn't look like it goes into a ponytail on top, does it? Oh well. I'll figure it out eventually.

Seeing's how she's a ninja, I think she needs some sort of headband, or mask, or some such. However, in my dream, she in no way was dressed like a Ninja. She did have lighter boots than the guys though, and no earpiece. She used a Katana, and I'm sure I can think of plenty of Ninja-related weapons...she's also the team "medic."

I already have a backstory partway planned out for her, and she's so far my most developed character.