Request for top 10 Anime Studio Pro Version 6 Features

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Manu
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Post by Manu »

I'm typing this as I'm doing some actual work in ASP. Guess what, 3D is the last thing I need.

-The timeline could do with a massive boost in readability and navigation (specially the Graph Mode). Setting the render/preview range needs this weird set of ALT/CTRL + Right click/Left Click controls which I can never remember...
- I really crave multiple selections: fills, lines, layers. Setting up scenes is far too tedious at the moment.
- Something about the way the style palette works feels like it lacks fluidity. Can't put my finger on it (I'm at work...)
- ASP should play off its strengths as a 2D app. E.g. How about making gradients actual objects that sit in the scene as two points that can be attached to bones... That's something that only a 2D app like ASP could do.

and so on... Not to rain on your 3D parade, but ASP would benefit far more from streamlining the way many things are done at the moment. If you want to foreshorten an arm or so, you can already scale the bones in it fake that visually.
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heyvern
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Post by heyvern »

All I want is more open scripting access so I can create my own "new features". Anything else will be "gravy".

I am hoping for a delicious turkey gravy, but a beef gravy would be okay. Not too salty and no lumps. My mothers roast beef gravy is fantastic but tends to have too much salt. ;)

Dang! Now I'm hungry again...

-vern
bleep
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Post by bleep »

We only have 1 request make it ASAP!
:wink:
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TheChewanater
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Post by TheChewanater »

bleep wrote:We only have 1 request make it ASAP!
:wink:
I'd rather wait if it means more requests can be made.
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mkelley
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Post by mkelley »

I don't mind if it takes a while, if by "a while" we define as sometime in the next 12 months or so. There is certainly a tradeoff between waiting until it's "ready" (whatever that means) and actually getting new features we can use in day to day work.

I'm really hoping the next beta at least is within six months (and I can be on the beta -- since I use this product at least 5 hours a day I think I would be an ideal candidate :>). Is it too much to hope that is my Christmas present?
bleep
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Post by bleep »

We used to use it 4 hrs a day, now we're busy in other work and don't spend much time on PC these days.
Rudiger
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Post by Rudiger »

heyvern wrote:What interests me is that layers can be rotated in 3D space... bones can rotate layers... but NOT in 3D space. What is the philosophical difference? ;)

I agree that z rotation/translation of bones would be nice. However from a functional point of view it would only really work with layers. I don't see how a z rotation/translation of a bone could transform points. How could individual vectors on a layer be 3D? That would require AS becoming a full blow 3D program. Points would need to have 3D coordinates. Or else the calculations would have to "fake" 3D space to "simulate" 3D distortions of points (much like Genetes 3D vector scripts do using bones).

Yeah it would be nice... don't want to rock the boat too much. I have to say I jumped on AS originally to get away from the complexity of 3D.

I would prefer having xyz scaling of bones. Without that there is no way to script a "3D bone" function. Plus the scaling of a bone would still be uniform. You couldn't create actual "3D" with uniform scaling of a bone.

It gets so complicated in your head if you think about ALL the ramifications of what appears to be a simple feature.


-vern
Yeah, I don't support the idea of having 3d points either, because then you really would be turning AnimeStudio into a 3D app. That's the beauty of keeping it all pseudo-3D. AnimeStudio will still work the same and you wouldn't have to use the new tools if you didn't want to.

Here's an example where I think such a tool would be useful. Say you had both a side-on version of a character and 3/4 version of a character, and had just animated a walk cycle for the side-on character. With this tool you could just pseudo-rotate the animated skeleton to re-use the walk-cycle for the 3/4 version. Not sure whether it should warp the points differently if the bone goes towards or into the screen, but maybe you could have an option to do something similar to the Perspective Points tool.
chucky
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Post by chucky »

Hi everyone,
Interesting discussion, regarding the 3d issues..... point taken :wink:
I'm not actually asking for full 3D here, so thanks for pointing out my vagaries , I should clarify.
If the bone rotated in z and just took it vector layer with it to forshorten the shapes to the camera, that would be awesome, the toggle for xy rotate to camera would add to the effectiveness of this concept no end.
I'm sure the great advantage of this would come to all upon the utilisation of such a feature.
I know and do use other work arounds for this, it's just not always economical, convenient or even workable in many situations, especially upon the deployment of dynamics. I once again refer to experiments in the 'hello jelly' thread. The jellies in that experiment are just devices to illustrate the concept, there are many, many more and better reasons for this z rotation, going to a full 3d package is not really the issue, they just aren't the same. I am quite familiar with 3D packages and can turn to any number but it really wouldn't have the magic result that ASPRO with this feature would have.
It's great to be hearing opinions about this, I know I might be dreaming, so thanks everyone.
The400th
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Post by The400th »

So how many of these suggestions have actually made it to version 6?

And shame on you Vern for making "wishes" you knew would come true!!! :D
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DominiqueBray
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Post by DominiqueBray »

( Will the next version Agent Smith talked about will be a free 6.2 update or a full 7.0 ? )

Here are the things I would like some day, in 6.2 or 7 or 15 or whatever... :wink:

- Speed control over Noisy Outlines PLEEAAASE !!! :evil:

- Please make the Brushes less trembling. Please add a "regular spacing along the path" option to brushes. And please make the Noisy Outlines stop getting suddently animated while I did not check "animated" though just because I move the camera or the layer or the shape, it looks strange !!! :evil:

- There should be a "% of the line width" tool aside the "Line Width" tool. When I change the line width of a style, some of my shapes won't change because I used the "Line Width" tool... It would not happen with a "% of the line width" tool. :)

- Bring back the so cool Sketchy line effect and let us more control over it !!! 8)
( I know it is still here in AS6.1, I can use it when opening a AS5.6 file ! )

- The "Show Output only" feature is cool, but I would prefer : everything outside the output field become greyed like if it was a 50% opacity grey layer covering it ! ;)

- Morph a shape to another, whatever how many points they have.

- Ability to use coding to make things move. I often would like to tell the camera or layers things like : "still go left at x speed per frame until I tell you to stop" instead of making it the AS way. It would be also easier to make an objet rotate forever around another like planets and moons, or making an object follow a sine wave or whatever maths. But I guess it may sound strange to most people to animate things this way with maths and speed per frame... I like it because I am used to make it this way while creating computer games, and I was used to use such a feature in the past when animating with 3dsmax.

- Make the Paint Bucket tool fill an area even if lines are not connected, like we do in bitmap softwares such as Photoshop, Painter, openCanvas and so on. It would be so useful, but I guess it may be impossible because of the way AS works though.

- Z Value for points !!! But I guess it is probably impossible since layers are just 2d things in a 3d world...

- I wanted SVG export, but SVG is dying and I even don't use it anymore, so....

________
Bmw m57
Last edited by DominiqueBray on Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Genete
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Post by Genete »

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Spidamation
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Post by Spidamation »

Ok i have a list as well..theres alot i would have mentioned but just the top concerns..

1. Better Frame by Frame animation support which i think will make Anime Studio an all in one animation program.

2. Beziers for motion curves.

3. A more friendly Free hand tool, if it can be more like the illustrator that will be great..

4. Scene control support

5. Better illustrator files support.. so the vectors within the file stay accurate.

6. Animatable layer and shape ordering.

7. Multiple sounds support (cut, move, rescale and edit sounds in timeline).

8.color picker support.

9. Improve Flash export.

10. Better bone physics as well.
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GCharb
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Post by GCharb »

Vern wrote:All I want is more open scripting access so I can create my own "new features". Anything else will be "gravy".
I agree with Vern here, I have started to learn Lua, not hard really.

More access to the core of AS Pro would make it like Softimage or Maya, an open shell for plugins, so I second Vern's request.

G
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TheChewanater
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Post by TheChewanater »

I'd like to chip in and say Python scripting would be a far better choice than Lua. A lot more people know Python, it's already installed on Linux and Mac, it has a HUGE standard library, and it it has generally better syntax (in my opinion).
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GCharb
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Post by GCharb »

That would mean a recode of AS since I believe it is also Lua.

I maybe mistaken here though.

G
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