Moho 12

[mattchee]

While it is disappointing that there is no early adopter sale as advertised, I would give the actual developer team (and friends) a break. Just like the After Effects team has been pushed by Adobe to make decisions that infuriate the passionate user base, so I'm sure the higher-ups at Smith Micro force their subsidiaries to make the same such decisions. I'm not saying don't complain, but maybe don't kill the messenger (Victor, in this case). I'm sure the dev team is super passionate about what they do, and I'm sure they really do care about how they treat their clients. But for Smith Micro, unfortunately, it's nothing personal. It's just business. Lord Business.

Yeah. Bummed as I am that there is no early adopter discount (mega-bummed), I get it. They have to make a certain amount of money to even keep the dev team employed, and the software going, as well as maintain a profitable growing business. Otherwise, the software simply would not exist. I don't think they make any decisions like this without careful analysis of what the best route to take is. EG - Whether higher margins/lower sales volume will reap greater rewards than lower margin/greater sales volume.

One thing I will say, is that they clearly want to reach markets beyond their current user base (as evident in their rebrand), and so I feel that this move might be a slight error, given the strong community/word of mouth built around this product (again, I'm sure they've done research, so I could be way off). Existing loyal users are great FREE ambassadors for their product, they should really want those people to have the latest version of the software in their hands to help push it into those other markets. I think if they just had a limited time early adopter upgrade for existing users only, that wouldn't hurt them too much, and be a benefit in the long run.

These are the people that are recommending the software to people. These are the people that are on here helping people out. These are the people that are re-tweeting, sharing, tagging, commenting on social media. These are the people putting stuff on YouTube and saying "made with Moho" and/or making tutorials. I'm not saying they should make it cheaper to reward these people by having them save a few bucks (okay, yes, I do think that would be quite ethical), but even from a biz/marketing perspective, why put up a barrier to getting the new software into the hands that it needs to be in?

Short story long. I get that they need to make money, and I get that they've probably analyzed the best way to do it. Good for them if it keeps the software going. I don't fault them a bit. And I definitely don't fault the dev team at all. That said, I personally feel no urgency to upgrade. I've been happy with 11 for over a year. I'll probably just wait for a sale... y'know... the "late adopters" discount!

[aongus]

I’ve already posted this on the Facebook Anime/Moho group page — I hope it’s okay to duplicate the post here. This is a graphic exported from Illustrator as a SVG and imported into Moho 12. Moho did a terrific job.

The linework was originally done using Illustrator’s art brushes, i.e., all lines are strokes, not fills. In Moho those strokes appeared as shapes with both a fill and stroke. Each “line” can be selected with the Select Shape tool, and the fill/stroke attributes edited separately.

So as well as importing AI artwork, Moho now allows you to further refine, modify and stylize the artwork.

Also individual frames may be exported *from* Moho as SVGs. Useful if you need a resolution-independent image for use, say, on a poster. Here I was able to reverse the process, exporting out of Moho as SVG and importing back into Illustrator.

Great upgrade.

[mattchee]

I’ve already posted this on the Facebook Anime/Moho group page — I hope it’s okay to duplicate the post here. This is a graphic exported from Illustrator as a SVG and imported into Moho 12. Moho did a terrific job.

The linework was originally done using Illustrator’s art brushes, i.e., all lines are strokes, not fills. In Moho those strokes appeared as shapes with both a fill and stroke. Each “line” can be selected with the Select Shape tool, and the fill/stroke attributes edited separately.

So as well as importing AI artwork, Moho now allows you to further refine, modify and stylize the artwork.

Also individual frames may be exported *from* Moho as SVGs. Useful if you need a resolution-independent image for use, say, on a poster. Here I was able to reverse the process, exporting out of Moho as SVG and importing back into Illustrator.

Great upgrade.

Okay. That's awesome. I may be re-thinking my wait-to-upgrade strategy.

[mattchee]

For the SVG import, how does it handle gradients, transparency, and blending modes (eg - multiply)?

I do lots of work in illustrator, so this could actually be huge for me.

[preecher]

While it is disappointing that there is no early adopter sale as advertised, I would give the actual developer team (and friends) a break. Just like the After Effects team has been pushed by Adobe to make decisions that infuriate the passionate user base, so I'm sure the higher-ups at Smith Micro force their subsidiaries to make the same such decisions. I'm not saying don't complain, but maybe don't kill the messenger (Victor, in this case). I'm sure the dev team is super passionate about what they do, and I'm sure they really do care about how they treat their clients. But for Smith Micro, unfortunately, it's nothing personal. It's just business. Lord Business.

Yeah. Bummed as I am that there is no early adopter discount (mega-bummed), I get it. They have to make a certain amount of money to even keep the dev team employed, and the software going, as well as maintain a profitable growing business. Otherwise, the software simply would not exist. I don't think they make any decisions like this without careful analysis of what the best route to take is. EG - Whether higher margins/lower sales volume will reap greater rewards than lower margin/greater sales volume.

One thing I will say, is that they clearly want to reach markets beyond their current user base (as evident in their rebrand), and so I feel that this move might be a slight error, given the strong community/word of mouth built around this product (again, I'm sure they've done research, so I could be way off). Existing loyal users are great FREE ambassadors for their product, they should really want those people to have the latest version of the software in their hands to help push it into those other markets. I think if they just had a limited time early adopter upgrade for existing users only, that wouldn't hurt them too much, and be a benefit in the long run.

These are the people that are recommending the software to people. These are the people that are on here helping people out. These are the people that are re-tweeting, sharing, tagging, commenting on social media. These are the people putting stuff on YouTube and saying "made with Moho" and/or making tutorials. I'm not saying they should make it cheaper to reward these people by having them save a few bucks (okay, yes, I do think that would be quite ethical), but even from a biz/marketing perspective, why put up a barrier to getting the new software into the hands that it needs to be in?

Short story long. I get that they need to make money, and I get that they've probably analyzed the best way to do it. Good for them if it keeps the software going. I don't fault them a bit. And I definitely don't fault the dev team at all. That said, I personally feel no urgency to upgrade. I've been happy with 11 for over a year. I'll probably just wait for a sale... y'know... the "late adopters" discount!

well i guess i agree with you...i just think it is unethical that they announced an early adopter sale but i totally agree with you and i apoligize if i offended anyone but just because i express my opinion i get bullied by some of the peeps on here...not good...i have every right as anyone to voice my opinion....i have not insulted anyone with my post...just talked about alternatives and that this was an unethical move by smithmicro imo...that's it not another word from me....lol give em that money...

[Pesto]

I have seen import pics from Illustrator but since I discontinued my CC subscription I use Affinity Designer and iDraw. Does anyone have experience importing from these 2 programs?

Thanks

[funksmaname]

That illustration is awesome! and, if I may, I prefer the look of the right one!

Mattchee, transparency is supported, but gradients and blending modes aren't unfortunately.

[jayfaker]

[
well i guess i agree with you...i just think it is unethical that they announced an early adopter sale but i totally agree with you and i apoligize if i offended anyone but just because i express my opinion i get bullied by some of the peeps on here...not good...i have every right as anyone to voice my opinion....i have not insulted anyone with my post...just talked about alternatives and that this was an unethical move by smithmicro imo...that's it not another word from me....lol give em that money...

If advertising an early adopter sale and not following through with it was on purpose, I definitely agree it is unethical. I imagine what really happened, though, was more of a disorganization / lack of communication / sudden realization thing. I'm guessing the dev team just threw up the early adopter thing thinking things were just going to go the same way as last release, and then suddenly someone upstairs said "nope, no sale." Whoever made that decision had every right to make it, but it leaves the dev team trying to figure out how to break it to the public that they screwed up by putting up the early adopter notice prematurely. Usually, for legal and corporate reasons, or just to save face, the team can't really say what actually happened, so they just have to say "that's how it is" and back off while the disaffected vent.

So yeah, I'm unhappy there is no sale. I was planning on buying it today myself, but looks like I have to wait as well.

[aongus]

I have seen import pics from Illustrator but since I discontinued my CC subscription I use Affinity Designer and iDraw. Does anyone have experience importing from these 2 programs?

Thanks

Still on CS6, with no intention of subscribing

I've tried importing from both iDraw and Affinity, but the results have been disappointing with freestyle artwork. What seems to work okay from Affinity is the more geometrical type of shape, like a rectangle with some but not all of the corners rounded, or compound shapes with holes showing through and creative use of Affinity's pathfinder functions.The best results I got were specifying a fill but no stroke within Affinity. Strokes do seem to be problematic. Once a SVG filled shape is imported from Affinity,you can add a stroke within Moho.

I need to do more testing, but now that Moho has nice freehand drawing tools, it might be worth considering doing looser drawing within Moho, and using the sophisticated align/pathfinder tools in other programs for elements that need that.

[aongus]

That illustration is awesome! and, if I may, I prefer the look of the right one!

Mattchee, transparency is supported, but gradients and blending modes aren't unfortunately.

Thanks! And I agree -- Moho improved the AI artwork

[Larzor]

What I've done before is draw my art in Illustrator, divide it into layers, export it as a PSD, open it in Photoshop to change it from CMYK to RGB and import that into anime studio, so I'm really happy about the new import possibilities. Do layers work when you import an SVG (and if so, what about sublayers)?
I also have a question about the drawing tools that I haven't found any info about. I could never stand the drawing tools in Anime studio because of how weirdly the add point tool works. In Illustrator I draw exclusively with the pen tool and never touch the pencil (freehand) tool or the brush tool, so I don't really care about the new freehand tool
Has the add point-tool changed at all? I really dislike how in Anime Studio you have to click and drag to draw with it and if there was at least an option to just click where you want the next point I would be super happy. If you could drag to add curvature it would be even better.
Also, can you turn off bone strength as default when making new bones?
Those are my main annoyances with an otherwise amazing piece of software

[preecher]

does anyone do their artwork in clip paint studio ex and import it into moho...i thought they where companion programs and i just see people talking about AI...which i don't have...

[funksmaname]

What I've done before is draw my art in Illustrator, divide it into layers, export it as a PSD, open it in Photoshop to change it from CMYK to RGB and import that into anime studio, so I'm really happy about the new import possibilities. Do layers work when you import an SVG (and if so, what about sublayers)?
I also have a question about the drawing tools that I haven't found any info about. I could never stand the drawing tools in Anime studio because of how weirdly the add point tool works. In Illustrator I draw exclusively with the pen tool and never touch the pencil (freehand) tool or the brush tool, so I don't really care about the new freehand tool
Has the add point-tool changed at all? I really dislike how in Anime Studio you have to click and drag to draw with it and if there was at least an option to just click where you want the next point I would be super happy. If you could drag to add curvature it would be even better.
Also, can you turn off bone strength as default when making new bones?
Those are my main annoyances with an otherwise amazing piece of software

Layers are flattened on import, so you have to separate them manually (or export each layer separately from illustrator, probably not a big job with canvases).

The way the line works hasn't changed, though I don't mind it personally - the fact you can pull multiple lines from a single point is unique and amazing.

No default weight option as far as I know, but really, that's not a huge deal (especially as you can hold down the key to temporarily use the tool then let go to get back to bone tool)

[Psmith]

I do believe that what Moho now offers surpasses, in terms of empowering individual animators, what all of the other "Professional" 2D applications provide.

The Freehand Drawing tools and functions are now among the best I've seen anywhere - (why not illustrate within Moho instead of depending on Illustrator?). People who love Bezier functionality have professional grade Bezier tools, now, as well.

Regarding Bone-Based rigging tools - the addition of Pin Bones completes the already excellent and unbeatable Bone functionality found in Moho, previously.

Depth Sorting on a shape-by-shape basis - as well as animatable Layer Order - makes every kind of 3D simulation possible.

Completely customizable Smart triangular meshes now makes animating with bitmap images extremely versatile and relatively simple.

I want to grumble about price increases - but my sense of reason tells me that, even at $400, serious animators (even hobbyists) can't find anything remotely comparable, in the 2D animation marketplace.

I also think the excuses we have all had - for delaying many animation projects - have been dissolved with the delivery of Moho 12.


Greg Smith

[Psmith]

Can an experienced Beta Tester please tell me how to turn off the very dark and thick "Smart Mesh" boundary? How about the multi-colored triangle fills?

Thank you,

Greg Smith