Animation in Canvas

This semester I took a class called Multimedia Programming, where I did a lot of work animating in HTML 5 Canvas. This was my first semester working with canvas, so my skills are at a very beginner level and all of my animations were really simple (e.g. moving an image across the screen).

However, I'm always amazed to see how beautiful and complex animations can be made in canvas. The link below leads to a really cool cycle made by Mark Ferrari and Joseph Huckaby. While you're viewing it you have the option to click through different animated landscapes, change the cycle speed, and view the color palate.

I was really impressed by this when I first saw it, and honestly it's still my favorite thing I've ever seen done in canvas. I'd really like to be able to produce work like this eventually!

http://www.effectgames.com/demos/canvascycle/

Adobe Animate

Longtime animation tool, Adobe Flash Professional, has been given a new name and a host of new features.  The software will now be called Animate CC, and it seems as though Adobe may be trying to compete with more comprehensive animation tools like Toon Boom that have been taking over the world of 2D animation. Here is a list of some of the changes that are coming.

• Creative Cloud Libraries
• Adobe Stock integration for high-quality images, illustrations, and graphics
• TypeKit support for HTML5 Canvas document type
• New vector art brushes
• Improvements to pencil and art brushes
• Brush Library panel
• Tagged Swatches
• Custom templates for HTML5 Canvas documents
• OAM publishing support for AS3, WebGL, and HTML5 Canvas documents
• Publish text as outlines in HTML5 Canvas documents
• Projector support
• Stage scaling
• Rotate your stage
• Import SVG files
• Enhanced drawing object bounding box
• Video export to multiple resolutions
• Contents scale proportionately to stage size
• Enhanced Onion Skinning
• HTML5 Canvas improvements

For more information check out this post from AWN

http://www.awn.com/news/adobe-animate-cc-has-arrived