How do I get sharp, smooth animation?

[PixelPeas]

Below is a screenshot of a simple animation (mp4) I created in Moho. I created the circle in Moho with the circle tool. Why are the edges pixelated like a bitmap? Also, I've been experimenting and creating the same circle in AI and Affinity Designer, exporting them as svgs and importing into Moho, but have the same result. Why am I have this lack of sharpness with vectors? How can I create video that looks sharp and smooth after export? Thanks


https://ibb.co/X7Bng8q

[Greenlaw]

Are you talking about the AA quality of the image? If this is a Preview (ctrl-R) render, try making an actual final quality render using Moho Exporter (recommended) or Export Animation for comparison.

In my experience, a Preview render can be a pretty good approximation of a final render but it's of lesser quality, especially in the edges (AA).

When you make the final quality render, you can get even better quality when you choose Extra Smooth Images. This makes Moho internally render the scene at 2x and then scale it down to the target resolution, resulting in even smoother AA quality. I use this setting for all of my final quality renders, especially for anything I'm rendering at my workplace.

If you're compositing in After Effects (Ae), you might also consider rendering with no AA and then using the free OLM Smoother plugin to apply AA in post. Rendering with AA disabled is recommended when you want to apply special processes to the image in Ae, like completely recoloring the lines independently of the fills, or adding special gradient and lighting effects. For more info, check out the OLM website here:

https://olm.co.jp/rd/technology/tools/?lang=en

Hope this helps.

[Greenlaw]

Below is a screenshot of a simple animation (mp4) I created in Moho...Why are the edges pixelated like a bitmap?

Another take: If the posted image is a screen capture from an .mp4 window, then it actually is a bitmap image and a compressed one at that. This would be true of an .mp4 rendered out of any program. If it's a compression problem, you can probably improve the quality by adjusting the options for the .mp4 render. Unfortunately, Moho's options for tweaking .mp4 settings are limited.

Personally, I don't like to render a movie file straight out of Moho, and for a variety of reasons I find it better to export to a PNG image sequence instead. (In fact, I render to Image Sequence from every animation program I use.) Then, I import and compile the frames in a compositing or editing program where I have more control over the movie format options, and export the final movie file from there.

Hope this helps.

[PixelPeas]

Are you talking about the AA quality of the image? If this is a Preview (ctrl-R) render, try making an actual final quality render using Moho Exporter (recommended) or Export Animation for comparison.

In my experience, a Preview render can be a pretty good approximation of a final render but it's of lesser quality, especially in the edges (AA).

When you make the final quality render, you can get even better quality when you choose Extra Smooth Images. This makes Moho internally render the scene at 2x and then scale it down to the target resolution, resulting in even smoother AA quality. I use this setting for all of my final quality renders, especially for anything I'm rendering at my workplace.

If you're compositing in After Effects (Ae), you might also consider rendering with no AA and then using the free OLM Smoother plugin to apply AA in post. Rendering with AA disabled is recommended when you want to apply special processes to the image in Ae, like completely recoloring the lines independently of the fills, or adding special gradient and lighting effects. For more info, check out the OLM website here:

https://olm.co.jp/rd/technology/tools/?lang=en

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the quick reply. I used the 'Export Animation' option and the 'Extra Smooth Images' was checked. Also, can you tell me what 'AA' means? Thanks

[PixelPeas]

Below is a screenshot of a simple animation (mp4) I created in Moho...Why are the edges pixelated like a bitmap?

Another take: If the posted image is a screen capture from an .mp4 window, then it actually is a bitmap image and a compressed one at that. This would be true of an .mp4 rendered out of any program. If it's a compression problem, you can probably improve the quality by adjusting the options for the .mp4 render. Unfortunately, Moho's options for tweaking .mp4 settings are limited.

Personally, I don't like to render a movie file straight out of Moho, and for a variety of reasons I find it better to export to a PNG image sequence instead. (In fact, I render to Image Sequence from every animation program I use.) Then, I import and compile the frames in a compositing or editing program where I have more control over the movie format options, and export the final movie file from there.

Hope this helps.

It is a screen capture of the mp4 but the mp4 looks just like it. Good tip about exporting to a png sequence. I may try that but I chose Moho because I wanted it to be the only software I use for animating, compositing, editing. So I'm hoping this issue can be resolved, thanks.

[Greenlaw]

By AA, I mean anti-aliasing, which is the process Moho uses to smooth the edges in a render. Moho's standard AA is ok for most situations, but when I have high-contrast edges or edges with intense saturated colors, it can sometimes render with the 'jaggies'. Using Extra Smooth and choosing a lossless form of compression should solve that or, as mentioned, using no AA and then using post-process AA like OLM Smoother in After Effects.

Re: using multiple applications, Moho may be capable of 'doing it all', but I'm of the opinion that using only one program for everything is not the easiest or most efficient way to create animated shorts. To me, Moho works best as an animation tool but for compositing, editing, mixing audio, and final output, it's better to use programs specifically designed for those tasks.

I need to point out that this is not a Moho critique; in my experience, I have yet to find a single animation program that really let's me 'do it all' efficiently. Even when I use Adobe Animate, Toon Boom, or a 3D animation program, I still include compositing, audio and video editing programs as part of my workflow. I won't say you shouldn't try doing it all in Moho (or any single animation program,) but I do recommend being open to using additional programs when you want to work quickly.

I understand if cost is a concern but there are inexpensive-to-free options available, and some of them are quite good and Moho-friendly!

Hope this helps.

[PixelPeas]

By AA, I mean anti-aliasing, which is the process Moho uses to smooth the edges in a render. Moho's standard AA is ok for most situations, but when I have high-contrast edges or edges with intense saturated colors, it can sometimes render with the 'jaggies'. Using Extra Smooth and choosing a lossless form of compression should solve that or, as mentioned, using no AA and then using post-process AA like OLM Smoother in After Effects.

Re: using multiple applications, Moho may be capable of 'doing it all', but I'm of the opinion that using only one program for everything is not the easiest or most efficient way to create animated shorts. To me, Moho works best as an animation tool but for compositing, editing, mixing audio, and final output, it's better to use programs specifically designed for those tasks.

I need to point out that this is not a Moho critique; in my experience, I have yet to find a single animation program that really let's me 'do it all' efficiently. Even when I use Adobe Animate, Toon Boom, or a 3D animation program, I still include compositing, audio and video editing programs as part of my workflow. I won't say you shouldn't try doing it all in Moho (or any single animation program,) but I do recommend being open to using additional programs when you want to work quickly.

I understand if cost is a concern but there are inexpensive-to-free options available, and some of them are quite good and Moho-friendly!

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all of the information. I'm going to play around with the settings and see if that improves the look of the video. Also, do you have any recommendations for videos, courses, etc. showing the workflow you mentioned above. I bought a Bloop animation course for Moho but it teaches how to do it all in Moho only. I do have After Effects already so if it's better to animate in Moho then finish up in After Effects, I am open to that. Thanks

[Greenlaw]

For After Effects compositing, you'll want to get familiar with the Layer Comps window. This window lets you define which layers you want to render as separate pasese, for example: Characters, Background, Midground, Foreground, FX, etc. You can use Moho Exporter to break out the passes in a single-click and render them to separate folder. Then you can import these layers to After Effects for further animation, lighting and other effects work, and post processing effects (like OLD Smoother described earlier.)

To use Layer Comps in Moho Exporter, you want to double-click on the initial project first and set your output directory and any shared settings. Then close the panel and click on the Split Selected By Layer Comp button. This will generate multiple projects in the exporter, one for each layer comp. Before you click Render, you can save a Profile that you can reload later if you make any changes to your animation...this is a good timesaver.

There's certainly more to this but that should give you the basic workflow. I'll see if I can write down something more 'step-by-step' when I have the time.

Hope this helps.