Flash? Blender?

Ok, so I am completely new to blender. I have used Flash before a little…and I want to know if what we do in flash is the same in blender. Like what are the differences and similarities?

(sorry if this is offtopic but idk where to put it)

Also, Idk where to start. I am completely confused with everything about blender lol. Please help, I’m lost.

Blender and Flash are pretty much nothing alike. Flash is primarily a 2D package, Blender is 3D. You do not work with drawings in Blender, you work with shapes built from polygon meshes or curves. All transforms happen in 3D space, etc. Basically, the only bit of knowledge that will translate is keyframing. The graph editor in Blender and the motion editor in Flash are mostly alike, aside from the parameters you’ll find there.

Ok, that makes sense kinda…but is it possible to create a 2D animation using Blender? I thought I saw some people do something like that on the web…sighs Thanks anyways :smiley:

Well you can create 2D characters just using plan meshes and have the camera pointed head on to get a 2D appearance…

The output of a 3D program is rarely 3D, unless you own a $1000+ 3D printer.
Most people use 3D software to create images, games or animations, similar to the gimp or flash etc. The main advantage of 3D software is that it can rotate the created object, as opposed to having the finished view only. This is useful as it provides more realism when an object moves, and means things like perspective are done automatically.

So yes, the finished product is similar to what you can get from flash, but the process of making it is very different, but can achieve better results.

Yes you can create 2D animations with Blender. The main difference between the two programs is that Blender gives you the tools to rig your character and move them that way. Whereas, in Flash, you have to draw each individual frame.

Blender is too big to do 2D animations

When I first read the topic I thought “what…?”
But the answers show a very interesting point of view: the 3d edition is just a method. It can be used for 2d animations, but perhaps a 2d software would be more productive in some cases.
There are actually some very good 2d animations that used Blender in some parts, like “The Secret of Kells”

@ZombieMittens if you want to learn Blender I suggest you to start from zero, it’s another application. Take some good beginning tutorials in CgCookie.com and good look!

They use Maya to make South Park, so yes, Blender is an excellent tool for making 2D animations of you can’t afford Maya (or don’t want to use it or Flash).

Sorry I can’t let this comment pass. I haven’t used Flash since before Adobe bought it, but I did spend a few years with it. Flash provides keyframing, motion paths, shape morphs, and object transformations similar to what you can do in Blender and other 3D apps (no bones, though, last i knew). The main difference in respect to animation, as has been mentioned, is that its stage is two-dimensional.