The Bushbot Chronicles Parts 1-5 (Flash Animation). Comments Appreciated!

[DistressedAmerican]

They are they brand new.

I have never worked with flash before and this is a major undertaking (even for under 10 minutes of total animation). I would REALLY LOVE to hear any comments you have.

I plan at least five more intallments of the series, culminating in the glorious return to democracy at the hands of the people following the final showdown at the Lincoln Memorial.

Really like working with sound. These five promise an average of 2.5 idiotic Dubya audio clips per chapter (integrated with music and other sounds of the action at hand).

Enjoy!

DA

p.s. If you are inclined to share the links with others, please do! The more the merrier...

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Here are links to the first five installments of the exciting new series

THE BUSHBOT CHRONICLES

PART ONE - BUSHBOTS SEIZE POWER:
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part1.html

Y2K passed and we felt safe. Little did we know...


PART TWO - THE EMPIRE OF DUBLANDIA:
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part2.html

Having taken the White House, the Emperor addresses his adoring red drones on the virtues of being wealthy as America is replaced...


PART 3 - BUSHBOTS TAKE THE PENTAGON:
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part3.html

Fierce fighting rages around the Pentagon as Bushbot drones with the help of their collaborators take sudden control of the armed might of the now defunked United States of America....


PART 4 - THE STATE RELIGION
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part4.html

The emperor acting on advice of his top robovisors moves to formalize Christianity as the state religion, starting by converting that secular Washington Monument...


PART 5 - BUSHBOTS ON PARADE
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part5.html

The Emperor,his Adminbots and his Corporate sponsors enjoy the adulation of the crowds while, not far away voices cry for freedom, a return to the republic and peace from behind the "Free Speech Zone" fences, dogs and "Security Contractors"...(set to a sweet Jimi style jam)

THE PEOPLE ARE LARGELY PROPOGANDIZED AT THIS POINT IN OUR STORY. HOWEVER, A FEW DARE TO STAND UP TO THE NEW ORDER.

IN FUTURE INSTALLMENTS, THEY WILL INSPIRE A NATION TO RESIST AND TAKE DOWN THE UNELECTED LEADERSHIP THAT HAS USURPED POWER IN OUR ONCE GREAT DEMOCRACY. STAY TUNED!

[DistressedAmerican]

1. Kicking.

It like Abu-palooza around here. Buried under the flood.

Take a few minutes out and enjoy something a little different.

I'll buy a drink for the first person that correctly identifies the location of Agent Mike. He's in there. Just for a moment though.

:kick:

[Richard Steele]

2. If I say that I'm Agent Mike, do I get the drink?

Hiya DA! You are braver than I, working with all that flash!

I have (I think) all the tools to do it myself,
but tha learning curve looks AWFUL steep, so I've
yet to make the attempt!

[DistressedAmerican]

4. No So!

Dude, Do not assume that. I have for all this time and when I finally bit the bullet, it was pretty easy stuff. Not too much different than the gif animation software I had been using. Just smoother rendering and you get sound. Fun stuff. I HIGHLY recommend that you, swampy, and the other graphics folks give it a shot.

The real labor investment in this one was all of the 3D rendering which I did with a program called Sketchup, it is a free plug-in with Google earth.

And you better not be Agent Mike. No drink for him until he quts and lays bear all he knows of this criminal enterprise!

3. I enjoyed the zoom in and this video helped wake me up

this afternoon. Will watch more later. Have to work.

[DistressedAmerican]

5. The music should be good for that.

Especially in parts 3 and 5. Auditory coffee.

Now get back to work! The fragile economy is depending on it.

:pals:

6. fragile economy - ha

[DistressedAmerican]

7. Kicking.

Buried again. Abu-Palooza continues!

[DistressedAmerican]

8. A Few Screen Shots To Wet Your Whistle...

[Richard Steele]

9. So, since you have encouraged me to try this stuff....

What flash apps are you using to put these together?

Actually, since I never thought to ask before (d'oh!),
what kinda system/OS are you using to start with?

[DistressedAmerican]

10. Here's What I Have Been Using.

It cost about a hundred bucks. I am sure there are similar programs out that are freeware. I have been really pleased with this one. Very easy to use. Took me about 10 minutes of looking throught the features and I was pretty much ready to go.

http://www.verticalmoon.com/



I am runing a PC.

I would strongly recomment that you look into 3D rendering software as well. Google SketchUp is free and what I have been using. Again it is pretty quick and easy to learn.

Let me know what you come up with.

DA

[DemonFighterLives]

11. I haven't taken the time to view them

Just wanted to welcome you back.
The pictures of the bushbots look great though.
:applause:

[DistressedAmerican]

12. I Was Wondering If You Were Still Around.

I'm in and out. Have not been posting anywhere much of late myself. Been too damn busy.

Good to see ya! :toast:

[DemonFighterLives]

14. Still livin

They haven't gotten to me yet. :rofl:
I was playing act 1 and on my machine it played very slow. I'll try again later.
With the lovely economy, I have to go to work. The music sounded great.

[DistressedAmerican]

16. Hmm.

I was wondering about stuff like that as this is the first I have played with it. That is the html file (Streaming). You may want to try the same link but change the extention to swf to view the flash version (uploads the whole file first). May work better for you.

Another possibility is use the .mov file extention as there are also Quicktime versions there. I just have not had time to check out how they work yet. Still figuring some stuff out. Anyway, hopefully one of those will work better for you.

Here are links for you to try (flash):

http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part1.swf
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part2.swf
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part3.swf
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part4.swf
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part5.swf

Quicktime (I have not tried these at all. Just uploaded them. Hopefully they work...):

http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part1.mov
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part2.mov
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part3.mov
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part4.mov
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/Part5.mov

[DemonFighterLives]

19. Thanks for all the additional links

Um, it is not your fault that I am on a dialup which is just one step above pony express.
It is downloading now and not showing me the progress. I don't know what will work best and I don't really know the difference in the formats.
I'll keep trying.
:dem:

[Atman]

13. Here is some further inspiration for you

Since you've delved into the Flash animation world, you'll be able to appreciate this. (Reduce your window size for better viewing).

Flash Wars


.

[DistressedAmerican]

15. That was GREAT!

I have just started playing with the program. This was really designed for animated gif but, it got too big and complicated. So, basically this is just a slideshow with added sound. Nothing complicated. I can't wait to to really start playing with the animation features in the program. Looks like some real fun to be had.

That was really well done. I have been looking at a bunch of others over the past few days to see what is possible. Fun software for sure!

Thanks for the link.

[Atman]

17. Here is a test scene for one I did

This didn't make it into the final cut. I started this particular project as a 9/11 animation -- that is the subtle reference of the "crash" into the building. But I abandoned that script and just made a story out of it. Since this was just a test scene as I learned how to use the program, and it was done on a way-too-slow computer (it's 30fps...my old G3 could render it, but couldn't play it back at full speed), the sound may not sync, but if you have a fast computer, it should play fine. I hope it inspires you further!

"Bitch" Test

[DistressedAmerican]

18. Very nice!

The poor bird though!

It is a rough day when you are reduced to "naked Elvi".

Played great for me. But, I run a monster. I always worry that the stuff I am making may be killling other folks. But, it is kind of hard to judge without seeing what people say.

thanks for sharing those. That software definitely does some fun stuff! :woohoo: