I know a great australian cartoonist who wants to produce a series. He has a producer who is looking for the right animation software. I pointed tem at AS and have just heard that they looked at AS and this was the producers opinion.....
I think that Anime Studio has the look of low level Flash and is only suitable for web use
They are now looking at ToonBoom!!!
so, Is this the reputation that AS has with all producers out there? I am stunned at how they can arrive at this conclusion even after they looked at Greykids work (what little there was on youtube as they could'nt view the website samples)
If they can find some TB pros, don't mind it taking more time, and have the money to support a larger animation team, then who are we to argue their wisdom?
Yes I agree......here's another comment on Anime Studio I just recieved second hand. This comes from a guy who's using ToonBoom to produce a series for Disney...apparently.
I have Anime Studio, it's a very cheap program to buy. It started out as a free software on the internet a while back. It is very good, but aimed at the hobbyist or small one man studio. Not enticing to the production environment but still very good. Its best features are now incorporated into most of the ToonBoom range now anyway. Specfically its greatest attribute was "Boning", which to explain simply if you were doing paper cut animation it is a means to hinge joining parts of a character to allow you to manipulate movement faster and easier eg. you can click on the elbow joint of a character to advise that it is a hinged graphic symbol that should stay together and not stray but still move in limited direction.
Just goes to show how little most TB users know about AS bones. I guess they think their latest TB 'bones' puts them on par with AS. Notice that he goes on to describe 'bones' the way TB implements them. No mention of shape warping bone envelopes.
I'd just suggest that any producer get a sample (5-10 secs.) animation with realistic estimates of man hours put into it. Then compare software based on these.
I think the biggest problem with AS is it needs a 6000 dollar version just so it could keep away those wannabe animators. That and a tools set that looks just like Photoshop.
Yes, it is all about the "perception of value". AS can't POSSIBLY be any good at such a low price.
What is really annoying though is the description of a "low level flash look". An animation is only as good as the skills and talent to produce it. "low level flash look" doesn't have ANYTHING to do with Flash (or AS either) it's the lack of skills of the artist. So if I don't buy the most expensive hand made pencils from an obscure art supply boutique somewhere in France I couldn't possibly draw anything worthwhile? Sheesh. Elitist drivel.
heyvern wrote:Yes, it is all about the "perception of value". AS can't POSSIBLY be any good at such a low price.
What is really annoying though is the description of a "low level flash look". An animation is only as good as the skills and talent to produce it. "low level flash look" doesn't have ANYTHING to do with Flash (or AS either) it's the lack of skills of the artist. So if I don't buy the most expensive hand made pencils from an obscure art supply boutique somewhere in France I couldn't possibly draw anything worthwhile? Sheesh. Elitist drivel.
DK wrote:Hahaha....an egg on face moment here....I just managed to get the producer a sample of Greykids animation and he replied with one word....Wow!
D.K
Dam right WOW!!!
GreyKid is one of the top representatives that we have in this community.
I bet he must be feeling like an idiot at the moment.
Now tell him to purchase the software and start producing.
Personally, I would offer a free version. I hate mutil-version software. But the free would only have vector and image layers. Only a few tools, and just enough bone tools to make them work. ERR, never mind they just dropped the price from 50 to 19.95, or free if you jump through some hoops.
sweeping statements aside, the fact that he is a great australian cartoonist might suggest that he has a high skill level at actually drawing, and so may well be looking for a frame by frame animation software - in which case Toonboom probably IS his best bet. If he himself has to learn to draw and rig in AS, he may find that immensly frustrating, which may result in him importing photoshop files and boning them (in which case he should more look at mikdogs 'Goldfish' video rather than the majority of GreyKids stuff)... but if he is a traditional artist, it may well take him less time and effort to use TB as a digital lightbox... you dont really need huge teams (depending on your style) if you have the ability (and PATIENCE) to draw... but you do need a lot more time, which is another completely different, yet valid, consideration when picking a direction...
i dont think anyone can/should be elitist about AS OR TB... one is a square peg, one is a round one, and every project is a different shaped hole.
...and sometimes, the hole is big enough to hold both pegs.
You might want to point him to TVPaint if he's really going frame-by-frame but wants to keep a rough, pencil-like look. TB isn't able to reproduce that satisfyingly.
I think if he's looking to make a series right now AS isn't what he needs. Not because it's no good, but the only way to get things actually made is co production. Not many full series get made in house which means shipping overseas. TB was in a similar position not so long ago. Unfortunatly I dont think Smith Micro has the muscle or will to push AS like TB did.
Most overseas studios are Flash or TB based thats the way it is. I'd venture even if GK had a series they wouldn't use AS to make it. They couldn't.
So even though AS cost peanuts its too expensive to use in a series.
