DYNAKYRIS
My Flash site! After a couple of years spent being
a passive observer of this strange new "Flash" media, I
decided in 2001 to give it another shot and become a CREATOR.
By the end of 2002, I had just enough material to open up my own Flash
site. Debuted in July of 2003 as DYNAKYRIS' ETC (after Software, Etc.)
and dominated mostly by CV-related works, DETC eventually became DYNAKYRIS,
showcasing a more-than-decent collection of work by yours truly. Your
own impression I will leave to you.
DYNAKYRIS
on Newgrounds
You can also hit my Newgrounds profile to see how some of them have
fared. More on NG in a moment.
OneBlaze
Tons of excellent animation awaits at the Flash site
of Ned-rick the NINNNJAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! Macromedia
Flash baffled the hell out of me during the days of Web Design class
in late 2000, and I quickly ditched the program after passing. Despite
thoroughly enjoying the animations that graced my screen, I hated
the program with a passion. That was because I didn't fully understand
(nor was properly instructed; "Follow the Tutorials,"
he said!) how to make Flash work for me. In October of 2001, I decided
to give it another try, and who was there to learn me the basics?
Nedrick the NINJA: an
awesome NINJA who's been working with Flash since (probably) early
2000, and has yet to stop; Flash animation is his life, and
he's been quite an inspiration. Interestingly enough, after he taught
me the basics, I taught myself everything else! He even picked
up a thing or two from me along the way! "So the student
has become the teacher..."
Killfrog.com
This site is totally loaded with crazy and excellent animations and
games, but, as of this writing (August 10, 2009), its design was A
LOT more relevant when I was introduced to it nearly a decade ago.
Even so, get some Butter Jiffy Pop ready; you might be here for a
while.
Newgrounds
The Platinum Mine of Flash funs doubles as an open forum to get your
work noticed...and/or harshly criticized. Seanbaby said it best, "...Internet
forums bring out the worst in people..." While having expanded
into audio and visual collectives in recent years, its the Flash animations
that, to me, have remained NG's prime draw since twenty-o.
Clark
Lybeck on Newgrounds
Some of the first videogame Flash movies I was aware of, including
a certain CV skit alluded to in the FlashyVania
intro, came from ClassicNintendo.com and were all created by Clark
Lybeck. His 'Com is long gone, but his Newgrounds profile remains,
showcasing a few highlights. In addition, an admirer has sought to
archive much of his work; Rainbow
Animations: Nintendo Classics.
Video
Game Director's Cuts
"Amusing Flash animation skits made using game sprites and
such. Requires a Flash plugin, of course. Inspiring. I've had CRAZY
visions. I can make the ILLEST Humor mes EVER if I could only harness
the power of Flash. But that blasted program is a BYATCH to learn!!!
Anyway...the existing CastleVania Flash movies out there are...okay...but
you can tell that I was part of none of them. Man...I gotta learn
that blasted program. I HATE that program..."
This, of course, was how
I described the place before my attempt to enter VGDC's community...
Following the surprising train wreck that ensued,...
"10-14-2001 UPDATE!:
Did you know that the kid who runs this site is a complete...how should
I say it for DCTP...anus?! He casually banned me from the site's message
board for no justifiable reason! I just wanted to show how well I
was doing in Flash during the past week. Don't worry, though. He'll
get his, eventually, in the form of impressive FlashleVania work by
yours truly..."
...so, unless you skimmed
the FlashyVania backstory, you'll
miss the context of the descriptors above. Anyway, since the time
of our feud's ending, the VGDC community had gotten stronger, and
one fan's avant-garde Mario saga inspired Randy Solem to create a
great epic, Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom, with slight visual consultation
from yours truly. Years later, the VGDC machine isn't turning out
the works as in its heyday (who from the early 2000s is, really?),
but what has stood since remains one pretty solid collection of fine
raster movies and an enduring tribute to that videogame goodness we
all grew up on.
Razoric.com
At its turn-of-the-century prime, Rob Foor's Razoric.com
was a PHAT repository of his TONS of Flash-animated humor bits, ranging
from vector-drawn to good ole raster bits of map. There were a few
games and gags thrown in, too. Back in May of 2002,
when the Big Three were Newgrounds, VGDC, and Razoric.com (as I saw
it, anyway), Rob was one of the few guys outside of The CastleVania
WorldWide to acknowledge my budding talent. The following season saw
my participation in its online community (hardly a Flash community),
and there was much useless dramatics. Things eventually quieted enough
that in 2003 I created a Fan
Flick for the site which was a modest hit. In 200V, however,
Rob's site had begun to get eaten alive by an encroaching need to
advertise. Its community (from which I was already long gone) would
also disintegrate. At last glance, Raze's site was less than a dead
leaf echo of its former self; towers of tiny links blend his own masterpieces
with dozens of whatever's been hot. So it goes . . .
TxM
Quite some time before the stupid and useless crap
within Raze's "community" would peak, a haven had been discovered.
In early May of 2002, that place was Kevin Nuut's Texas Mafia:
a site along the lines of Newgrounds with a mobster theme and a more
mature attitude towards Flash animators, as well as the visual arts
in general. It was here I finally found my niche, and TxM became my
main creative hangout. ...until I introduced its community to a certain
'special' someone in the fall (read: folly) of 2003. This fatal move
would ultimately prove my greatest mistake, eventually resulting in
a nearly complete disassociation with the poisoned place around the
turn of 200V.
Never again...
TxM currently serves as
Kev's online journal, of sorts.
UGOPlayer
Formerly known as FlashPlayer and @ www.flashplayer.com
With TxM irreversibly corrupted by a certain
presence, I searched for another realm to establish myself. I eventually
came across FlashPlayer and infrequently hung my hat there. Following
a long absence, I returned to a scene that had dramatically stagnated
in the past three years... I wonder if the UGO buyout had anything
to do with it. In any case, this 'Player is another Flash collection
and sports a forum that can become quite obnoxious whenever it's less
sleepy. Previously an animation and games hub, UGOPlayer now focuses
exclusively on Flash games...
AnimationArcade.com
...with its animation collections having been rerouted here.
Albino
Blacksheep
This rather unique collection leans towards a rare
breed of quality, style, or wit. You'll definitely be visiting for
quite a while.
morinono::FLASH
Formerly known as RG-Consent
Aruji Morino's RG-Consent was pretty much the first Japanese
Flash page I was ever aware of. I totally dug how the clean lines
and shading of the anime style were being brought into Flash. Even
simple animation loops, like SKYFriend and DriveFriend, were pretty
impressive and a lot of fun to watch (and analyze). In later years,
RG churned out quite a few extremely impressive music videos. These
and more can all be found at Morinono, RG's newest Flash site. While
you're exploring about, be sure to scope the links page; it's got
ooooodles of links to other Japanese Flash artists!
Mars
Cat Entertainment Gunma
When I found this site around the summer of 2002 (probably through
RG-Consent), I was quite impressed with how this artist managed to
use fine lines and subtle gradients to achieve NewType-quality results.
In its better days, MCEG featured galleries of fine illustrations
(some interactive) and quite a few games; the typing game called Typing
Carnival was my favorite (...and I wonder if it helped impove my WPM).
Unfortunately, they're referred to as "Golden Ages" for
a reason, and in 200V Mars Cat's framed setup was replaced by this
stage presentation hosted by the mascot. At this point, I'm guessing
it to be Mars Cat's elaborate farewell... :(
Another
Neverland Creators
A happy discovery during the spring
of 2004, A.N.C.'s a Japanese illustration site featuring loads of
sexy and extremely well done imagery. The best part? They're mostly
done in FLASH! The way A.N.C. skills with the Strokes
and Fills results in some very pretty and pretty badass results. Though
this is primarily a gallery of yummy pictures, you'll
occaisionally come across a few that blink back or have some level
of interactivity. Definitely check it out.
(I think Mars Cat's links led me here...back when it had links...and
an actual GUI, for that matter...)
Flashkit
This spot is for anyone wanting to be clear on how to do that Flash
stuff I've been talking so much about. Tons of tutorials, oodles of
audio, and one pretty thorough developers forum should help you get
in gear! Hmm,...perhaps I should join...this is, after all, the place
Ned had recommended to me a long time ago...
