What software do you use for frame-by-frame animation?

A place to discuss non-Moho software for use in animation. Video editors, audio editors, 3D modelers, etc.

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Sketch_Turner
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What software do you use for frame-by-frame animation?

Post by Sketch_Turner »

I want to find an application that is as comprehensive and easy to use as Moho, but for hand-drawn animation. I thought Clip Studio might do, but its animation feature isn't as convenient as it could be.
What other software would you suggest to try?
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Greenlaw
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Re: What software do you use for frame-by-frame animation?

Post by Greenlaw »

The FBF animation I typically need in my character work is usually more fx-related, like tears, splashes, fire and smoke, etc. This kind of stuff is easy to do with Moho's FBF--in fact, I used it at work yesterday for a quick 'sweat' effect. But, IMO, the Freehand tool is still a little glitchy and you probably won't want to do a lot of complicated FBF animation with it.

At work we also have Toon Boom Harmony and I'll sometimes use the FBF tools there because the drawing tools are arguably better (the drawing part itself is fine but the UI is a bit scattered and clunky.) I prefer Moho for rigged animation so what I might do is bring my Moho renders into the program and draw on top of the renders. But, to be honest, most of the time, it's easier to do this sort of thing directly in Moho even with its current FBF tools. IMO, Harmony may be worth it if you intend to do a lot of FBF animation, but if you're just looking for something to supplement Moho's toolset, it's a bit expensive to get as an 'add-on'.

A couple of years ago, I got a license of CACANi. It seems really good and it's relatively inexpensive ($15/month or $300 for a perpetual license,) and there's a trial version you can download. But I'm embarrassed to say I haven't really used it yet. I'm hoping to spend more time with it when I finish my current personal animation project, and I'll post more info when I have more experience with it. I know a few users here also have CACANi so maybe they can provide more info about it.

Some Moho users here really like TV Paint. I have an older license (I think I stopped upgrading at v.8 or 9) and have used it only a few times. It has terrific natural media brushes and it's great for getting that 'hand crafted' animation look. It's been several years but, when I used it, it was primarily a bitmap animation program, which may or may not be suitable for your needs. I'm not sure that it has vector drawing yet but obviously artists are getting some nice 'clean' looks from it too. (Maybe a current user can provide better info.)

Sorry I don't have any firm recommendations. My wish is that the Moho developers will continue to give FBF another round of improvements in upcoming releases. I think they got a good start with the current FBF system--it's fine for simple stuff but still needs improvement for more ambitious FBF needs. I will certainly use Moho's FBF a lot more when they do. :)
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synthsin75
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Re: What software do you use for frame-by-frame animation?

Post by synthsin75 »

Aside from Moho, I've used Plastic Animation Paper. It's not full-featured, but it's free and accomplishes what I need very simply. But I don't do finished and colored work in FBF either. I use it for motion and timing, and then I bring that into Moho as a guide for rigged characters, point motion, or vector FBF.

But for simple stuff, I agree with Greenlaw. Moho is well-suited for quick FBF needs. Some of the FBF workflow just needs to be streamlined IMO.
KeeCoyote
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Re: What software do you use for frame-by-frame animation?

Post by KeeCoyote »

There are quite a few programs that have FBR. There is Opentoonz, Fire Alpaca, Krita, Blender 3d (with grease pencil it does 2d), and a few I have not listed.
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dueyftw
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Re: What software do you use for frame-by-frame animation?

Post by dueyftw »

With no animation experience I would suggest Pencil. It's simple and it forces you to do FBF only.

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herbert123
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Re: What software do you use for frame-by-frame animation?

Post by herbert123 »

OpenTOonz for me, no question. But Blender is becoming a really strong proposition as well now that the 2d animation tools have been introduced - and it combines it with all the other possibilities (excellent IK/FK, true 3d environment, compositing...)
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Greenlaw
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Re: What software do you use for frame-by-frame animation?

Post by Greenlaw »

KeeCoyote wrote:There are quite a few programs that have FBR. There is Opentoonz, Fire Alpaca, Krita, Blender 3d (with grease pencil it does 2d), and a few I have not listed.
My daughter told me about FireAlpaca and asked me to install it on her computer yesterday.

I'm checking it out myself now, which lead me down a rabbit hole: FireAlpaca is free but I noticed that the software is sponsored by PortalGraphics who makes OpenCanvas, which is a terrific Japanese paint program I used for a while several years ago. Then I found that Steam now carries OpenCanvas and it's currently on sale for $40. Now I'm thinking of getting the latest version 6 for my tablet. I also noticed that there's a bundle also on sale with OpenCanvas and FireAlpaca SE, which is a version of the program without the ads and supposed to be a little faster than the free one. Hey, full circle! :)

Not sure if I'm going for the bundle since I haven't even tried the free version of FireAlpaca yet but will think about it tonight after I've spent more time with it. By itself, Steam currently has FireAlpaca SE on sale for $32.

Sigh! I probably have too many paint programs already so maybe not. Just thought to mention the Steam sales in case anybody else was interested.

Random comment: My current favorite paint program is Rebelle. Here's a 'Brudders/Totoro' mashup I did with it recently called My Brudder Toutoro:

Image

No animation in this program but I'm using it for background paintings in my next Moho short.

Sorry for the rambling post. Hungry and waiting for pizza to arrive. :D
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