Flash animation facts for kids
A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is a type of animated video. It's made using a computer program called Adobe Flash or similar animation software. These videos are often shared on the World Wide Web, which is why they are sometimes called Internet cartoons, online cartoons, or webtoons. They usually come in a special file format called SWF.
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What is Flash Animation?
Flash animation uses a special kind of software to create moving pictures. Unlike traditional cartoons drawn frame by frame, Flash often uses "vector graphics." This means images are made from mathematical points and lines, not tiny colored dots. This makes the animations look smooth and clear, no matter how big or small you make them.
How Flash Animation Works Simply
Imagine you want to make a ball bounce. In Flash, you don't have to draw every single step of the bounce. You draw the ball at the start, and then where it lands. The software then fills in all the frames in between, making the movement smooth. This is called "tweening," and it made creating animations much faster and easier for artists.
The Rise of Flash Cartoons Online
Flash animation became very popular in the early 2000s. It was a great way to share short, fun cartoons and games directly on websites. Before Flash, it was much harder to put animations on the internet. Flash allowed creators to make funny skits, music videos, and even full web series that millions of people watched. Many famous internet memes and viral videos started as Flash animations.
Why Flash Animation Changed
Over time, new technologies came along. Mobile phones and tablets became very popular, and Flash animations didn't always work well on them. Newer web technologies like HTML5 offered similar animation abilities without needing a special plugin. Because of this, Flash animation is not as common on the internet today as it once was, but it played a huge role in shaping online entertainment.
Images for kids
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Simple animation in Flash MX: a square moving across the screen in a motion tween, one of the basic functions of Flash. Onion skinning is used to show the apparent motion of the square.
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See also
In Spanish: Animación Flash para niños
