Advice on TV production

[Nahmani]

I found Anime Studio's drawing tools difficult to learn at first. AS uses a very different approach to other drawing or graphic software. For someone with experience in Illustrator/Photoshop/Flash, this can be a problem. What solved the issue for me was an excellent video tutorial on infiniteskills.com, which explained the unique drawing toolset in Anime Studio. I'd recommend this for anyone considering a major investment in Anime Studio.

Before we spend a hundred dollars on that, is there an example of the end results from the tutorials available anywhere? We've got the basics down, we want to know about advanced techniques and workflows, and how it can be faster than Flash to create key poses.

[aongus]

Those tutorials are more for a beginner/intermediate user. At no cost, you can browse Smith Micro's YouTube channel which does have some advanced tutorials:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... PAGz25oxmQ
I'd particularly recommend some webinars they've hosted, especially one on advanced rigging techniques with Victor Paredes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOLVMK1 ... fd&index=5
The showcase video on the Anime Studio was created by Victor, so you can assess the results of the techniques he demonstrates at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRfUCgUkFP4
It would be interesting to compare Anime Studio's bone tools with the deformers/network view in ToonBoom!
Hope this helps.

[Nahmani]

Are those production rigs or demo rigs? We found out the hard way that what makes a great demo video doesn't actually work in a multi-ep TV show with a big crew.

[jayfaker]

I'm very new to ASP, but I've been looking around a lot for professional inspiration. I haven't found a lot, but you might want to talk to this guy:

https://vimeo.com/117258368

This rig is very deep, and looks like it's being used in a pipeline, not just by the rigger. Also, he seems to have experience working in flash and/or toon boom pipeline environments (if you look at his other videos), so he might have some good advice for you.

Jim

[Maestral]

Fear not of Animestudio ,)

Check this one > When we called it Moho...
example

[aongus]

Those characters and rigs are actually included with the software. If you go to Windows > Library you'll see them in a panel. You can then drag them into your document and work with them. They were included as a training tool -- testing them in a production environment should give a good feel for Anime Studio's strengths.

[neeters_guy]

We found out the hard way that what makes a great demo video doesn't actually work in a multi-ep TV show with a big crew.

Is that basically a rig that only one person can understand and use well? ASP has introduced many features over the years and consequently the number of ways to rig a character can be quite varied. For a crew environment, it might be good to establish "standard practices" so everyone understands how the rigs are to be built and used. You might have to forgo the advanced stuff in favor of simplicity.

[Nahmani]

Thanks for the links, I appreciate it.

Unfortunately none of them are from TV shows. I can't stress enough how different TV production is to features or animation tests - 10 people working for 5 years on 90 minutes is COMPLETELY different to 30 people working for two weeks on a half-hour show, and then repeating the process 26 times - with a network breathing down your neck the whole time.

Neeters_guy, we are used to establishing standard practices, you can't make a big show without them, no matter what softwares you use.

And my point about the demo rig is that some features of software, while they are fun to play with and look good in a controlled environment (or YouTube demo) don't actually live up to their promises and can't be used in production. Great for the sales guys, not so much for the animators.

I'm still waiting to hear from anyone working in TV - I need to give my bosses some reassurances that Anime Studio can be used in big productions, they don't like to be early adopters.

[jayfaker]

they don't like to be early adopters.

Unfortunately it seems they would be with ASP. If there was a company out there using ASP in a heavy TV pipeline environment, they'd probably be proudly advertising it, like those guys using After Effects for the Angry Birds cartoons. Most (if not all) of the people we've mentioned have come right to this forum to share what they've done. And even if there was one company doing it out there, yours would be the second.

If your bosses don't want to be on the fringe, it's probably a good idea to stick to Toon Boom or Flash for now.

[Greenlaw]

Where I work, we use Toon Boom Harmony and AE (plus a few other programs.) Recently we wanted to evaluate ASP as a possible option for our team but it's probably not going to happen because S-M requires a credit card number before we can download a trial. S-M was even contacted by phone about this but the rep refused to budge on the matter.

I imagine this silly cc requirement is an obstacle for getting ASP into other animation studios. It's a shame because I enjoy using it for my personal work and I would like to be able to use it at my 'day job' too. Oh, well.

G.

[Maestral]

@ Nahmani
I`m under impression that you misinterpret my point - even at those days users were able to "adjust" AS toward their needs. Now a days, AS is improved and still could be "adjusted" to meet your needs.

[Nahmani]

they don't like to be early adopters.

Unfortunately it seems they would be with ASP. If there was a company out there using ASP in a heavy TV pipeline environment, they'd probably be proudly advertising it, like those guys using After Effects for the Angry Birds cartoons. Most (if not all) of the people we've mentioned have come right to this forum to share what they've done. And even if there was one company doing it out there, yours would be the second.

If your bosses don't want to be on the fringe, it's probably a good idea to stick to Toon Boom or Flash for now.

That's not what I wanted to hear.

[Nahmani]

Where I work, we use Toon Boom Harmony and AE (plus a few other programs.) Recently we wanted to evaluate ASP as a possible option for our team but it's probably not going to happen because S-M requires a credit card number before we can download a trial. S-M was even contacted by phone about this but the rep refused to budge on the matter.

I imagine this silly cc requirement is an obstacle for getting ASP into other animation studios. It's a shame because I enjoy using it for my personal work and I would like to be able to use it at my 'day job' too. Oh, well.

G.

You paid all those thousands for Harmony and you wouldn't pay a few hundred bucks for some Anime Studio seats?

Do what I did - find some of your crew who were going to buy it anyway and offer to pay them back the money if you go into production with it. They're also really incentivized to do a good test. lol

Also, kinda worrying that Smith Micro aren't trying to help get it into studios.

[Nahmani]

@ Nahmani
I`m under impression that you misinterpret my point - even at those days users were able to "adjust" AS toward their needs. Now a days, AS is improved and still could be "adjusted" to meet your needs.

I think you misinterpreted my point - I wanted examples of heavy TV productions that I could show to my bosses to prove that Anime Studio can work in a high pressure environment. We have very demanding clients and very demanding deadlines. And preferably those examples would be less than 6 years old.

I can see that Anime Studio is capable of great things, but then most software is when used by good artists, given enough time. We don't have the luxury of endless development time, we have to deliver on a certain date or we get sued.

We expect to be able to adjust software to meet our needs - but are you saying we'll have to re-write Anime Studio to get it to work with a large team? Were you on the Technitise crew?

[Greenlaw]

You paid all those thousands for Harmony and you wouldn't pay a few hundred bucks for some Anime Studio seats?

Hey, I just work here.

Speaking hypothetically, I imagine it has nothing to do with the cost of the software but rather SM's strict credit card requirement policy for downloading a free evaluation copy of ASP. Getting approval to actually purchase any software can be a really big deal at many large studios, so it's probably too much of a hassle to go through the process for a free trial download.

This is just my personal opinion but in this age of rampant credit card fraud, S-M's credit card requirement for a free demo may possibly put a damper on sales to hobbyists, independent artists and animation studios alike. Just sayin'.

G.