What additional software are you using alongside Moho?

[hayasidist]

...

I’m my mind I have an idea of potentially putting animated characters in front of real life backgrounds, so not behind elements of real life footage. Depending on the scenes and storyline I might also use real life still images as the back drop. I have a lot to learn, but don’t want to make things too overcomplicated and difficult given it’s all new to me.

as others have said, if it's "just" stills you can treat them in exactly the same manner as vector drawn images --- back to my "tree" example - it's relatively easy to use a paint program such as photoshop or Krita (free) to take a tree and turn all the parts of the image (including all the "gaps between the branches") into transparent pixels and (following Hoptoad's well-considered suggestion) that could be a foreground layer that sits above the animation which in turn sits above (say) a landscape. This way the animation (if your screenplay demands it ofc) can appear to go behind the tree -- no masking needed!

[BigBoiiiJones]

Most productions in studios whether its Western or Eastern markets will use multiple software there is no "All in One" Tool. Moho is amazing for character animation especially rigging and aided fbf/tradigital work (a term I use to describe my workflow.)

Personally I use Moho for most of my tweened character animation sometimes it involves complex smart bones, a lot of the time its simple bones and lots of point animation/switch layers/fbf layers.

I use CACANi sometimes. The lack of updates and communication from the devs is what puts me off of using it especially since its subscription based.

I use Clip Studio EX religiously. This is where I do all of my fbf work, art, storyboards, sketches, etc... This software is also standard in the Japanese anime industry.

I use Blender and ZBrush as my goto 3D software and here I generally make backgrounds and models of my characters for reference.

I use Photoshop to texture my models and sometimes CSP I find its easier to use Photoshop though since the tools feel more suited for it in my opinion. I also use Substance Designer/Painter but I'm still a bit new to it

For compositing I use After Effects this is a standard in a lot of a Western studios as well as a standard in Japan for compositing

Video editing I use Premiere Pro this is a part of the Adobe Suite is a standard as well.

I use Audition and Audacity for audio needs. I personally have a XLR Mic setup so I have to generally do a bit less leveling editing on my audio.

I use FLStudio and Ableton for music creation but I slightly use FLStudio more out of the two.

I use Microsoft Suite so Word for writing, Excel for marketing and data, Powerpoint of presentation

All of these software work good together because they all serve a different purpose. So for my workflow it goes like this for my personal projects.

I usually always write a rough draft

I then storyboard in CSP very roughly so I could visualize the draft so if I like the flow of the current draft and see if there is anything I want to add or remove I do so

I then finalize the writing

I then storyboard the rest of it in CSP

I then do voice recording around here

For personal projects I then take my storyboard and pose my 3D characters/backgrounds to match accordingly then render

I then import any 3D reference and start to do individual cuts of my scenes in CSP I generally plan out all my main keyframes in each cut So A1, A2, A3, etc... (I use the Japanese format so A1, A2, A3 don't represent frames they represent the drawing amount for that cel)

I will do music around here if needed

This is where I generally export that cut either into Moho or CACANi I trace over A1 and move the points to the next drawing so in this case A2 and A3 if there is a extreme change in the drawing I will use a switch or fbf layer to change to the new drawing since it would be easier to do so then forcing points to go where they shouldn't however liquid shapes have made this easier for hair and clothes but I haven't experimented enough to see if it actually saves time. I usually do a simple rig for rotation to prevent point distortion when rotating. (Usually I plan my timing before hand on a XSheet or if I used 3D for motion planning I will use my timing from that. I generally keep 3D framerate at 6FPS to 24FPS depending on the shot) I want to also note that I use a script MR Tween Machine which saved me so much headache with timing. I animate in step now and just use MR Tween Machine to generate the inbetweens between my main keyframes. It allows for so much control without over doing the frame count.

I then export my final animation as PNG and import into After Effects here I generally do compositing that does color correction, blend characters with BG, effects, etc...

I then export individual comps and mash them altogether in Premiere Pro and export the file as a final product. I make sure all my audio is balanced here between sfx, voice, and music.

Then I upload/post where I want.

[Allibanos]

...

I’m my mind I have an idea of potentially putting animated characters in front of real life backgrounds, so not behind elements of real life footage. Depending on the scenes and storyline I might also use real life still images as the back drop. I have a lot to learn, but don’t want to make things too overcomplicated and difficult given it’s all new to me.

as others have said, if it's "just" stills you can treat them in exactly the same manner as vector drawn images --- back to my "tree" example - it's relatively easy to use a paint program such as photoshop or Krita (free) to take a tree and turn all the parts of the image (including all the "gaps between the branches") into transparent pixels and (following Hoptoad's well-considered suggestion) that could be a foreground layer that sits above the animation which in turn sits above (say) a landscape. This way the animation (if your screenplay demands it ofc) can appear to go behind the tree -- no masking needed!

Thank you. I’ll check out Krita also

[Allibanos]

Personally, I would do it like slowtiger said, however I'm familiar with erasing pixels in a program like Photoshop.

If you don't have much experience working with transparent PNGs, I think masking a photo in Moho is a good place to start. Plus the process will help you learn masking, which is important.

Here is a Youtube tutorial by Poptoogi that explains the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjCfMUps7B0

FYI, there are always multiple ways to create and animate things in Moho. Finding the process you actually like best is truly part of process of learning Moho - and part of the fun.

More good advice. Thank you. I’ll watch that video also.

[Allibanos]

...I just asked ChatGPT about this point and it said:

“For static or simple animations, creating masks within bitmap software and saving the image with transparency (as PNG) can be effective and faster, especially for basic shapes or designs. However, for more complex or dynamic animations, using vector-based masking within animation software offers greater flexibility as it allows for adjustments and animations without loss of quality. It often depends on the complexity and specific needs of the project.”

Does that sound about right?

TBH, it's not a 'one-size-fits-all' thing. In my experience, it depends on the production requirements. At the studio where I work, I may use only bitmaps, only vectors, or a hybrid combination of both...whichever gets me the result I need in a given situation.

I would try the methods you're interested in and see what works best for your specific animation. The best way to learn is to dive in and try a bunch of 'simple' things to understand how they work. Afterward, combine what you've learned from the simple projects to create a more advanced project. (That's basically how Scareplane came about when I was learning Moho. Each scene in the short was conciously designed to test specific features..)

BTW, I wouldn't rely too much on ChatGPT's advice. All it's doing scraping the net for info to predict how a human might reply to a request. It doesn't know or care if the response is accurate or not. It's better to ask a human who actually does the work.

Yes, I’ve been watching the Moho tutorials and was thinking it would make sense, once I’ve purchased the software, to try out these steps to familiarise myself with the various elements of the suite.

Scareplane was enjoyable to watch. The ending was also.

And yes, I’ll try not to overly rely on ChatGPT. I only started using it and it’s quite addictive, but that’s why I’m on here: to speak to real people who can give me real world advice.

[Allibanos]

Most productions in studios whether its Western or Eastern markets will use multiple software there is no "All in One" Tool. Moho is amazing for character animation especially rigging and aided fbf/tradigital work (a term I use to describe my workflow.)

Personally I use Moho for most of my tweened character animation sometimes it involves complex smart bones, a lot of the time its simple bones and lots of point animation/switch layers/fbf layers.

I use CACANi sometimes. The lack of updates and communication from the devs is what puts me off of using it especially since its subscription based.

I use Clip Studio EX religiously. This is where I do all of my fbf work, art, storyboards, sketches, etc... This software is also standard in the Japanese anime industry.

I use Blender and ZBrush as my goto 3D software and here I generally make backgrounds and models of my characters for reference.

I use Photoshop to texture my models and sometimes CSP I find its easier to use Photoshop though since the tools feel more suited for it in my opinion. I also use Substance Designer/Painter but I'm still a bit new to it

For compositing I use After Effects this is a standard in a lot of a Western studios as well as a standard in Japan for compositing

Video editing I use Premiere Pro this is a part of the Adobe Suite is a standard as well.

I use Audition and Audacity for audio needs. I personally have a XLR Mic setup so I have to generally do a bit less leveling editing on my audio.

I use FLStudio and Ableton for music creation but I slightly use FLStudio more out of the two.

I use Microsoft Suite so Word for writing, Excel for marketing and data, Powerpoint of presentation

All of these software work good together because they all serve a different purpose. So for my workflow it goes like this for my personal projects.

I usually always write a rough draft

I then storyboard in CSP very roughly so I could visualize the draft so if I like the flow of the current draft and see if there is anything I want to add or remove I do so

I then finalize the writing

I then storyboard the rest of it in CSP

I then do voice recording around here

For personal projects I then take my storyboard and pose my 3D characters/backgrounds to match accordingly then render

I then import any 3D reference and start to do individual cuts of my scenes in CSP I generally plan out all my main keyframes in each cut So A1, A2, A3, etc... (I use the Japanese format so A1, A2, A3 don't represent frames they represent the drawing amount for that cel)

I will do music around here if needed

This is where I generally export that cut either into Moho or CACANi I trace over A1 and move the points to the next drawing so in this case A2 and A3 if there is a extreme change in the drawing I will use a switch or fbf layer to change to the new drawing since it would be easier to do so then forcing points to go where they shouldn't however liquid shapes have made this easier for hair and clothes but I haven't experimented enough to see if it actually saves time. I usually do a simple rig for rotation to prevent point distortion when rotating. (Usually I plan my timing before hand on a XSheet or if I used 3D for motion planning I will use my timing from that. I generally keep 3D framerate at 6FPS to 24FPS depending on the shot) I want to also note that I use a script MR Tween Machine which saved me so much headache with timing. I animate in step now and just use MR Tween Machine to generate the inbetweens between my main keyframes. It allows for so much control without over doing the frame count.

I then export my final animation as PNG and import into After Effects here I generally do compositing that does color correction, blend characters with BG, effects, etc...

I then export individual comps and mash them altogether in Premiere Pro and export the file as a final product. I make sure all my audio is balanced here between sfx, voice, and music.

Then I upload/post where I want.

Wow, thank you for all the information on the softwares you use and your process for animation.

I just watched some videos of the Mr Tween Machine script for faster tweening, which looks super useful. I’ll take a look at CSP also.

There are so many programmes recommended by various people on here. But of a minefield, but I’ll get there

[Panha]

Hello all,

I’m considering purchasing Moho for a new project and was hoping to get some advice from other users on which software they use in conjunction with Moho.

I haven't realised the full idea of my end results as of yet (it’s a work in progress), but I want to create short educational animations for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc and put some of these animations in to a real life back drop. So firstly, I wanted to ask if this can be done? Secondly, if it can, would I need to import my Moho creation in to a programme such as Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere?

In general, I also wanted to ask what other software people are using in conjunction with Moho. For example, do people use Adobe After Effects to add some finishing touches?

I appreciate I have a lot to learn, which is the challenging part, and I am watching the Moho YouTube tutorials, but any other additional information on my questions above would be much appreciated

To me, I use Affinity Photo for editing the model characters like painting shirts, pants to the reused model, creating thumbnail, and save as PSD since Affinity Photo has the price I can afford. For drawing scenes, and new characters models, I use Krita since Krita is the best free program for drawing and painting. After that I animate with Moho. Moho is the main software that I used for my main animating, adding some vector props, drawing some quick props and background, etch. After that I combine all the shots of my animation in Davinci Resolve, which is a free, yet powerful video editing to me.

[Allibanos]

@panha - thank you. I wasn’t aware of Krita and it looks like you can create vector layers in the software. What elements [for your animation] do you typically draw as vector layers and what elements do you draw as raster layers?

[hayasidist]

@panha - thank you. I wasn’t aware of Krita and it looks like you can create vector layers in the software. What elements [for your animation] do you typically draw as vector layers and what elements do you draw as raster layers?

just be aware that the Krita vector layers are NOT exportable as Moho vector layers

[Allibanos]

[quote=Allibanos post_id=215649 time=<a href="tel:1702617388">1702617388</a> user_id=50465]
@panha - thank you. I wasn’t aware of Krita and it looks like you can create vector layers in the software. What elements [for your animation] do you typically draw as vector layers and what elements do you draw as raster layers?

just be aware that the Krita vector layers are NOT exportable as Moho vector layers
[/quote]

Ok thank you.

Do you know which, if any, free software’s layers are exportable as Moho vector layers? I’ve just started doing a tutorial on Procreate, but I think that’s a raster programme.

[hayasidist]

Do you know which, if any, free software’s layers are exportable as Moho vector layers? I’ve just started doing a tutorial on Procreate, but I think that’s a raster programme.

none directly. the closest is to use a supported import format such as SVG which (e.g.) Inkscape can create. But if you're looking to draw in vectors to use in Moho it's way better to use Moho's drawing tools.

[Greenlaw]

Do you know which, if any, free software’s layers are exportable as Moho vector layers? I’ve just started doing a tutorial on Procreate, but I think that’s a raster programme.

I'm jumping back into this conversation without reading too far back, so my apologies if this info was already covered.

Of the vector drawing programs I use, Adobe Illustrator is probably the most powerful, and its SVG output works well with Moho. When I was the Lead Digital Artist on Fast & Furious: Spy Racers, I used it regularly for creating motion graphic elements for animation in After Effects and Moho, which worked very reliably for me. The last time I used this feature (maybe a year ago,) I had to use the Save As... version of SVG, not the Export>Export As... version...otherwise, the SVG will not be read correctly. Also, I needed to use SVG Tiny option, but any version of Tiny worked. This has probably changed with Moho 14.1 because we have a different and better SVG importer now, but if you run into any issues, check these options.

I use Clip Studio Paint's vector tools for drawing my comics. I haven't drawn comics in a few years, but CSP did not export vector art in any format back then. I'm told this changed recently, and CSP can now export SVG. I'll try it with Moho over the weekend and see how it works for me.

(Sorry, it just occurred to me that neither of the above is free. However....)

Inkscape is another popular alternative to Illustrator, and it's open source and free! But I've never used it, so can't comment on how well it works with Moho. I'm sure others here can describe its performance with Moho.

Now, there are a few things you need to be aware of when using vector art created in a third-party program:

There is little reason to use an external program for drawing vector art for everyday character rigging and animation in Moho. As a matter of fact, to get nicely deforming characters in Moho, you want to create your vector art directly inside Moho using the Add Points tool. This is because when creating vector art in another program, you cannot be sure if the point count and placement are optimal for Bones rigging and Smart Warp deformation in Moho.

I found working with Illustrator for Moho most helpful when I had to create drawings and graphic elements that had to be technically and geometrically precise. (If you've watched FFSR, then you know why.) But for everything else, it's optimal to draw inside Moho.

When working in a third-party drawing program for Moho, you don't want to spend a lot of time and effort styling your vectors in another program because some style features are program-specific and may not convert correctly or at all to Moho.

Finally, Moho's vector graphics tools are actually quite good. When I say this, I'm mainly talking about the Add Points tool, especially in Moho 14.x with the new 'click-only' feature, and when you add third-party scripts like MR Curve, HS Shape, and the SS Multilayer Transform Points and AE Multilayer Magnet tools. (I believe all of these are available at mohoscripts.com). Also, in Moho 14.1, the Freehand and Blob Brush tools received significant improvements and are finally usable for real-world production work. In fact, lately, I've been using Freehand regularly in Moho (mainly for short FBF animations and vector artwork that do not need to be deformed).

I hope this info is helpful.

[Greenlaw]

Re: Procreate, yes, it's a bitmap paint program. One of my early Moho productions used it for most of the artwork, and you can see it here: Hearts Like Fists End Titles Animation. No vector output, but still very useful for creating artwork for Moho.

These days, I mainly use Procreate only for concept design and brainstorming. I'd use it more with Moho except it's a small hassle to move files back and forth across two different OS's.

[Hoptoad]

These days, I mainly use Procreate only for concept design and brainstorming.

Same.

Generally, I draw a character or background in Procreate on my iPad, then I use "AirDrop" to wirelessly send the image as a PNG to my Apple computer (takes seconds). After I open the image in Moho, I trace it as vector art using the Moho tools.

[Lae82]

- Pencil 2d nightly build for creating storyboard ideas fast.

- I use Blender to create 3d models or references in 3d
and export as obj then import obj file to Moho.

- Mypaint / Photoshop / Pd Howler for background art.

- Kden live / Davinci resolve for video editing.

- Natreon / Particle illusion for special fx.

I try to use open source software whenever I can.