blarg1's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[HotFish-SameButDifferent]

I enjoyed this, but I didn't understand it.

This is only slightly less impenetrable with English subtitles than it was in the original Korean, but I still enjoyed it.

I am a fan of SamBakZa'a work.

[Video game guide]

No originality or content

A canned interface with crap inside.

[Le Nightmare Gnome]

Getting there

you still ahve work to do with regard to animation, but the art is good. Keep at it.

[Livecorpse's Last Movie]

This was not pleasant

This was indicative of a very disturbed and violent nature. It makes a very unfortunate tribute, because it suggests that the author had some real issues to work out.

[Hamster Love]

Not bad at all

Nice work with the mouth movements - even though there isn't too much happening in the cartoon, it's kind of cute.

[3-in-1 Preloader Tutorial]

Ranked as a 2, reviewed as a 4.

I voted relatively low on this tutorial even I generally value tutorials high. I believe in sharing information.

However, the presentation of this piece was slow, and distracting. I found it extremely difficult to read the crowded text in that wonky font, and I really disliked having to wait for the entire opening animation to play again before I could move to the next item in the tutorial.

I also believe that in any tutorial, the user should be able to print out what they learn.

By the way, while a tween will work for a preloader, this can cause problems if the data loads very quickly, and you end up with a much larger object than you need. Here's a simpler approach:

1) create a filled rectangle to be your preload movie. Select it and press F8 and convert it to a movie clip. Call it "preloader".

2) Double-click to edit the preloader clip. Select the fill inside the rectangle. Press F8 and convert it to a movie clip. call it "indicator". Open the property inspector for that instance of the clip, and type in the name "indicator" for that clip, so you can acces it with ActionScript later.

3) Double-click to edit the indicator clip, then select the fill, and using the property inspector, type in 0,0 for the vertical and horizontal position of the fill. We want this to have its origin at 0, so when we later change the size of the clip, it will appear to grow from left to right instead of spreading out from the middle.

4) Double click outside the indicator clip to change your focus back to the preloader clip. The fill will no longer be lined up with the outline, so reposition the indicator clip inside the outline.

5) select the indicator clip and open the ActionScript editor. Attach the following code to the clip:

onClipEvent (load) {
this._xscale = 0;
}

6) Double click outside the preloader clip to change your focus back to the root movie. Position the preloader on the stage wherever you think it looks most appealing. Open your ActionScript editor, select the preloader clip, and attach the following code:

onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
percentage = Math.floor(_root.getBytesLoaded()/_root.getBytesTotal()*100
);
this.indicator._xscale = (percentage);
if (percentage == 100) {
_root.gotoAndPlay("startAnimation");
}
}

That's all there is to it. Simply create a frame label called "startAnimation", or replace that label with a name you think prettier.

You should place a "stop();" action on the frame where the preloader lives. The keyframe where you want the movie to start playing when the movie has loaded (I called mine "startAnimation"), should have a "play();" action attached to it.

Hope this is helpful to you.

64 responds:

Ok, but next time... don't review. make your own tutorial or a book. dont review with 5,000 words.

[A Super Mario Proposal]

Wasn't this submitted before

I'm sure I saw this same clip a couple of days ago.

[Wanted DVD]

too good for mere stick figures.

Your art has evolved to the point where your stick figures are only a hair away from being actual characters. Why not slip over the edge and create full-fledged characters with real weight and personality? You are certainly capable of it.

Get-lost responds:

I don't see what's wrong with sticks really. And indeed nonstick does take more time but, I like sticks. I'm probably gonna make some nonstick movie sometime but right now, it's sticks ;)
Thanks for the review

[Sonic Hedgehog Nutshell]

cute

As sprite animations go, this one was quit egood indeed. The motion of the sprites was quite expressive. That's not an easy thing to acocmplish.

However, the audio just about blew my head off the first time the narrator used the letter "P". I suggest you outfit your microphone with a breath guard the next time you record a soundtrack. You can make one simply and cheaply by stretching a bit of nylon stocking material over a wire hoop about 7" in diameter.

You'll be amazed at how well it works.

Vaztor responds:

Heh....well remember I didnt make it, talk to Will Wood bout that.