Efficient 2D Animation Software? 64
jack hunter asks: "I just found out about MOHO, a software that minimizes frame-by-frame tweening in 2D animation via the usage of a 3D concept --- bones (among other things).
Believe it or not, prior to this, I thought Macradobe Flash was the only affordable animation software, and I was prepared to do frame-by-frame grit-work for my budget-wise animations. Anyway, I've learned my lesson: there are more powerful pieces software out there, and there are those who know of them. What do you use to animate? If you use Flash, do you use any add-ons/components or special techniques to make things more efficient?"
Server downtime! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Server downtime! (Score:1)
Re:We don't care for pirates here (Score:2, Funny)
Thank you
Stoled! (Score:2)
What are you talking about? (Score:1)
So don't poop on piracy man. You're just being a tool of blind-faith for corporate greed.
Re:What are you talking about? (Score:1)
Re:What are you talking about? (Score:2)
-Jar.
Toon Boom (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Toon Boom (Score:2)
Although it allows multiple camera usage in scene planning, when it comes to rendering the video you are only allowed one camera for the whole video, which made switching between cameras to do something like get a close-up of someones face and back to the whole scene a pain to implement and was a really stupid limitation. It was deeply annoying because the multiple camera
Synfig (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Synfig (Score:1)
Re: Synfig NOT as good as Moho yet (Score:1, Informative)
The author of Synfig said the above: http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=13241 [osnews.com]
Inverse Kinematics? Re:Synfig (Score:1, Informative)
Synfig needs developers... (Score:1)
http://www.synfig.com/2006/01/26/new-developer/ [synfig.com]
http://wiki.synfig.com/Roadmap [synfig.com] (not decided on or posted yet)
Re:Synfig (Score:1)
I guess that has changed.
LiveMotion (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:LiveMotion (Score:2)
Re:LiveMotion (Score:1)
There's very good reasons for Flash not to go down the "seperate animation curve/property" approach that all other animation packages seem to use.
Ben
Disclaimer: I've never worked with LiveMotion before though. I just find the idea that Adobe can improve flash editor just because they're adobe to be offenive. I think its more like
Re:LiveMotion (Score:2)
Re:LiveMotion (Score:1)
Would you care to explain what you mean by animate transparency and position? I don't see why it's more difficult to do that on Flash than LiveMotion... I mean, if you
Re:LiveMotion (Score:1)
WTF are you talking about? The incorporation of Illustrator-style vector drawing tools in the next version of flash is light-speed ahead of what Macromedia was able to cobble together in their many years of trying create a workable art space. Honestly, the Adobe buyout of Macromedia is n
2D animation software (Score:5, Insightful)
After Effects is an industry standard package, and it costs about the same as Flash, last I checked. One of it's most powerful features is the scripting language. It helps to create procedural animations which can be difficult to do by hand.
You also might want to consider doing 2D animation with a 3D package. Most of my time 3D time was spent learning Maya [autodesk.com]. The strength that 3D animation packages have, is that they get used more often for character animation than the 2D packages, therefore they have a lot more tools forcharacter animators such as bone structures and deformations. A lot of them have physics packages that can help automate certain types of animation. Most 3D packages also come with built in scripting languages for procedural animation.
The down side to 3D packages is the intense learning curve. At last count, I heard that Maya had over 80,000 commands. These are huge and complex software packages. The proprietary ones also tend to cost quite a bit, although Blender [blender.org] is free as well as open source.
A lot of what software to use depends on what kind of animation you want to do. Are you doing short character animations? Are you doing experimental stuff? Are you Rotoscoping? If you tell us a bit more about the type of animation you want to do, we could be a bit more specific in recommending specific packages.
Other thoughts:
--I know that Photoshop and ImageReady can be used to animate between layers ( but involves a bit of hackery to get it to work well).
--The integration between Photoshop and After Effects is really nice. It's one of the reasons AFX is used so much in television.
--FilmGimp/Cinepaint [cinepaint.org] has been used for wire removal and image clean up for a while in the FX industry, I have no experience with it.
--I know that there are also some animation plugins [google.com] for the Gimp [gimp.org] that have been written. Again, I have no experience with these.
Regardless of the tools, there is always a steep learning curve, and there's always seems to be a lot of work coaxing the software program to do what you want it to do. If it's not coming easily, it's because we still have a lot of work to do in developing great animation software.
Good luck, and have fun.
Re:2D animation software (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:2D animation software (Score:2)
Re:2D animation software (Score:1)
Re:2D animation software (Score:2)
I'll put in a plug for Animation Master [hash.com]. I use it for 3D animation, but I've seen some good examples of 2D animation and "cut out" paper-doll type stuff done with it, too. It's a really good package for $299 ($199 educational).
What to use? Use moho! (Score:5, Interesting)
- runs on linux
- scriptable with lua
- great forum
- particles
- bones (inverse kinematics) as you noticed
- batch rendering
- 2.5d (move camera and 2d objects around in 3d space)
- import 3d objects
It's a great program, I use it every day for animation, for creating DVD menus, for creating swf files, just about everything.
Re:What to use? Use moho! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What to use? Use moho! (Score:1)
After Effects (Score:2, Informative)
I could ramble on about how I've been an professional animator for years and how AE has ever feature an animator could ask for, but the bottom line is this: if you're outputting to video, read up on After Effects.
Toon Boom / Opus (Score:1)
Tweenmaker (Score:3, Informative)
Synfig is better (Score:3, Insightful)
Synfig is buggy and needs developers... (Score:1)
http://www.synfig.com/2006/01/26/new-developer/ [synfig.com] [synfig.com]
http://wiki.synfig.com/Roadmap [synfig.com] [synfig.com] (not decided on or posted yet)
Re:Synfig is better -- bones? (Score:1)
PlasticAnimationPaper (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:PlasticAnimationPaper (Score:1)
South Park (Score:3, Funny)
Ktoon (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Ktoon (Score:1)
Animo (Score:1)
http://www.cambridgeanimation.com/products/defaul
J
What I want to know is when (Score:2)
God do I want that one.
Re:What I want to know is when (Score:1)
Re:What I want to know is when (Score:2)
PD Pro (project dogwaffle) (Score:2)
Re:PD Pro (project dogwaffle) (Score:2)
We use it extensively for GBA development.
Re:PD Pro (project dogwaffle) (Score:1)
Also, CreaToon and The Tab (Score:1)
While I've jumped into 2D animating by purchasing an older version of Flash (4) and a graphics tablet, I did come across other software solutions in the course of my investigations:
CreaToon - a "cut out" approach to animation. I enjoyed the demo, but not the price tag. There is a free (Windows) trial at www.creatoon.com/ [creatoon.com]
The Tab - vector with very interesting drawing tools, but an odd timeline manager (and a one year license bothers me). There is a free (Windows/Mac) trial at www.the-tab.com/ [the-tab.com]
3D Packages (Score:2, Informative)
I have a friend who swears by ToonBoom, but I haven't done much with it myself.
I'm just finishing up some cutout animation (Monty Python-style) for a science museum. I considered Flash, but ultimately went with Animation:Master [hash.com]. A:M is actually a full-featured 3D character animation package, with a price closer to Flash. The advantages on this project were an excellent animation interface, forward and inverse kinematics with bones, rigging, smooth interpolation with many options, motion blur, and glow
Longing for Fantavision (Score:2)
Is there anything out there for purely amateur purposes?
Flash and After Effects (Score:1)
Re:Flash and After Effects (Score:1)
Re:TweenMaker is where it's at (Score:1)
Re:TweenMaker is where it's at (Score:1)
This helps avoid the puppet like animation of Moho, Flash, Animo (really old version when the
Mirage (Score:2)