Request for top 10 Anime Studio Pro Version 6 Features

[slice11217]

My list would be far from 10, but here goes:

1.) I think it would be great if on the timeline, in between two keyframes, there were a slider bar which would basically represent the midpoint of the two keyframes initially, but could be slid forward or backward by the user to affect the ease in/ease out of the keyframes. If the parent keyframes are slid around, then the slider bar would also moved proportionally to the user's setting. -This one's a big one for me because I like getting naturalistic motion out of my characters and playing with the eases of a motion allows the animator to do just that.

2.) Improved Adobe Illustrator import. I can't elaborate more on this subject since I'm no techie, but it would be a great help and timesaver if importing a Illustrator file didn't mean a.) I had to save it in Illustrator 8, and b.) I didn't spend hours fussing over the minutia of every single anchor point to make sure the art remains on-model.

3.) Improved .swf export. In one of my projects last summer, I had to re-create in Flash some of the animation I'd originally created in ASP. Apparantly, since I used a bone deformation (isn't this why we use ASP anyway?) the part of the character that was being deformed would dissappear in Flash. I don't know if this is really a Flash problem or not but if it can be fixed in ASP, then great. Besides, now that After Effects can import .swf's, well, wouldn't it just make even more sense to improve .swf export in ASP?

4.) A center-fulcrum bone with two ends. I've been told about how this idea is kind illogical considering whatever aspect of writing code is concerned, but a few years ago I was told that the idea of a vector based character animation software that didn't require drawing every frame was illogical also, and well, here we are.

OK I'm sure I'll think of 6 more when I get home, but for now that's what I got. Like everyone else I'd be thrilled to see any of this included in the next upgrade but since I saw the post about Siggraph, I think it's probably unlikely.

Thanks for reading!

-S


edit 061708

6.) Graph editing that works a lot more like After Effects. As it stands right now, graph editing in AS is kinda pointless. I know this is pretty much a re-hash of my number 1 change, I just didn't think initially to gang them up together.

7.) expression scripting and pick-whipping. Again, just like in After Effects (can you tell I do a lot of AE work?) This has been a real asset in my daytime work and I haven't even scratched the surface of what it does! I can only imagine what it could do in AS

[mooncaine]

Ability to animate bone influence would be nice.

Ways to set keyframes all at once would be nice, like: highlight a bone layer, and click a button that sets a keyframe for each bone's position, all in one operation. Same for everything that has a keyframe. I guess the best thing would be for the Set Keyframes button to resemble the dialog that pops up for Copy Current Frame…, the menu item. You can choose what you want it to set keyframes for, and whether it's restricted to currently selected object, or object + children, or whole document. Oh, and it must remember, or offer a way to save and load, those settings., because there are way too many checkboxes to deal with every time you want to use that feature
Fixing Copy Current Frame… so that it always works would be top of my list. I find it fails sometimes. Without that, it's very hard to continue from one Anime Studio Pro file to the next because you can't get the new file's first frame to match the previous file's last frame.

Seems like having a Set Keyframe button would help the Copy Current Frame… feature work better, maybe?

A batch exporter that remembered, or saved and loaded, settings would be nice. I have to make screen shots and notes to be sure I render each scene with the same options, as it is. That's not top of my wish list, but would be a nice timesaver.

[KeithSloan]

1-10 ) A way of converting drawings with layers in Xara Xtreme ( see www.xara.com ) to Anime.

[heyvern]

That's it really. Pretty simple.

No matter what scale the layer is or camera zoom whatever... the ability to "lock" the thickness of a stroke. To either have it "scale" uniformly or lock the thickness. A "document level" stroke thickness option instead of it being relative to the layer.

So if I use a "global" stroke weight style across all layers of a single project it won't matter if a layer is scaled differently from another layer that style maintains the exact stroke thickness.

For instance I use a set of eyes for a particular project for a bunch of characters. Sometimes after importing the eye layer I have to scale it and the stroke thickness changes and I have to edit the style to match.

This would be a check box option of course.

-vern

[Mohlar]

My perspectives are those of a ‘newbie’ who is teaching himself to use ASPro.
My suggestions might therefore seem simplistic – but I feel that any future upgrades of AS need to allow for the fact that it is likely to be used by beginners and amateurs as well as experienced professionals. I therefore believe that a good balance needs to be struck between providing higher levels of control and functioning as well as additional or improved elements which will encourage and help newcomers to both animation and AS.

In that context ……


• Better and easier ways to control and edit sound in direct relation to the timeline – possibly using a system and/or display similar to that seen in ‘Artoonix’.

• A traditional, indexed, text-based (ie: not animated) help file that provides a searchable database of terms, outline explanations and tips – this in addition to the current tutorials. It would be even better if the searchable help file had the facility to add and save your own amendments and comments.

• A preview option which shows the same screen-only view as when finally rendered for export. (ie: no shapes or characters that are held out of view for entry or after exit during a movie)

• The option to use a non-vector drawing tool AND an option to use beizer curves in the existing drawing tools.

• An auto-save option.

• An in-program option to establish a preference for editing an imported object. (Eg: when I’ve imported a clipart file that will be used as the basis for a character or object, and if I then want to change it, I have to exit AS and use my preferred software to load the image, alter it and save it. It would be much easier if AS allowed the user to establish the link with whatever image editor was their preferred choice and, upon clicking ‘edit image’ to instantly access that software and carry out the changes.)

• Have simple reminders beside the working screen to identify the layer that is currently selected. This in addition to the current highlighting in the Layer window. (This isn’t always visible anyway if the Style window is fully visible). I’m thinking here of a simple reminder system such as is currently used for the to the left of Frame 0 on the timeline where icons serve to identify types of activity.

• Have the brief one-line descriptions of tool functions appear when the cursor is floated over an icon, not just when it is selected and clicked. (ie: to appear at the same time as the icon-identifiers which appear immediately beneath the cursor as it floats.)

• The option to set a preference so that when AS launches it automatically loads the last project that was being worked-on.

• And as a cosmetic tweak --- an option to avoid the slowness of the introductory product screen by choosing to bypass it altogether. (I’ve managed to avoid having to load the figure so that I get a blank, new screen).

FINALLY - a plea from the heart. PLEEAASE don't over-divert developments along the 3D route at the expense of 2D controls, flexibility and power. I used to use a piece of animation software which utterly lost it's way when the developer decided to focus on 3D.

[heyvern]

• A preview option which shows the same screen-only view as when finally rendered for export. (ie: no shapes or characters that are held out of view for entry or after exit during a movie)

Great items on your list.

The one above already exists if I understand you correctly. It can be accessed from view>show output only

-vern

[Mohlar]

Thanks Vern. Just tried that and it's exactly what I meant.

My list is a lot more simplistic than most - but as I said in the intro, it's from my perspective as a newbie to AS and (despite a couple of years using Tales Animator and a lifetime enjoying reading about animation) a newbie to the actual process of animation. That's now proving to be one the of the BIG advantages to retirement --- time to learn how to do something I've always wanted to do.

Well, those are my excuses anyway.

[heyvern]

There are several of your items I agree with:

Better external linking to image files. This would be great.

• The option to use a non-vector drawing tool AND an option to use beizer curves in the existing drawing tools.

Are you requesting raster editing tools or bezier tools? AS doesn't really use "traditional" bezier tools which seems to be the most requested feature... curves like those used in AI or Flash. This is a feature that is probably going to be very difficult to implement and would need to exist along with the current curve type to avoid "breaking" older files completely.

As far as having "raster" or paint tools, personally I don't want those tools in AS. I probably wouldn't use them anyway. They would NEVER be as good as any other dedicated application for that function. It would be the same as your request not to focus too much on 3D.

I would very much like to see some limited raster editing, like inverting a greyscale image layer or alpha used as a mask or rotating/flipping a brush image (I did hair and fur using brushes and needed 4 to 6 different brushes rotated and flipped).

I think limited 3D would be okay... but strictly "vector" not "polygon".

-vern

[Mohlar]

As far as having .... paint tools, personally I don't want those tools in AS

I was probably thinking idealistically rather than realistically ... more along the lines of having an option to associate an imported file with an 'external' editing program so that you could go straight to that, carry out your editing, and go straight back into AS .... without having to exit and re-load.

Say, for instance, your main external art/editor program was either something as basic as MSPaint or maybe GIMP or some much more high-powered program. Having created your image, within AS you could opt to edit it - not within AS but by immediately accessing your art/edit software into which the image would be loaded or, at least, the folder in which the image resided could be the one to automatically open. Really, this was just suggested as a time-saving device. For instance, I have just started experimenting with bones, and am making a short movie to test my understanding of bones, layers and switching. Part of this involves using two background views of a forest. In first tests, I realised that I needed to adjust colours in the foregrounds of both, so I had to exit AS, load my image editor, access the images I'd moved into the AS folder, adjust them, exit and then reload AS. How much easier it would be, I thought, if I could have already associated my image folder with the editor and just gone straight there. It probably isn't possible - but it was a nice thought. Well, it was for me, anyway.

Put it down to me being lazy - or maybe my imagination gets ahead of itself and I hate being delayed. Two opposite qualities. Take your pick.

And as for

I think limited 3D would be okay... but strictly "vector" not "polygon".

- I am in complete agreement. As I said, I'm pretty new to the tricks and trade of animation, 'Tales Animator' worked in a TOTALLY different way. But what I've seen and understand of polygon-based 3D makes me realise that bashing my ageing head against a brick wall would probably be marginally less painful. Or maybe not.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS: Hope you're not a fan of the 2012 Olympics logo. It makes me think of a man sitting at his desk bashing his head into his monitor - hence my current avatar. (Lifted from a daft little sequence of images I put together in another program).

[Genete]

• The option to use a non-vector drawing tool AND an option to use beizer curves in the existing drawing tools.

Are you requesting raster editing tools or bezier tools? AS doesn't really use "traditional" bezier tools which seems to be the most requested feature... curves like those used in AI or Flash. This is a feature that is probably going to be very difficult to implement and would need to exist along with the current curve type to avoid "breaking" older files completely.
-vern

I'm recently started to try Synfig and its beizer drawings are great!. You have control over the point position the slope angle and the amount of slope, even you can split the curvature into two and control them separately (very handy to create "curved peaked points").
I believe that it wouldn't be very difficult to modify the internal curvature functionality of current AS points achieving a full beizer behavior. You can always automatically restore the curvature (using an script for example) to have the built in values based on a float value (curvature) and the relative position of the neighbor points. It could be like modify the file to make it compatible with old version of AS/Moho. It is only a backward compatibility.

Really I don't understand why LM have commented sometimes in the forum that the current kind of special splines of AS/Moho are the best thing to use in animation. Synfig have a smooth tool (similar to our magnet tool) that modify intelligently the position and the curvature of the points at the same time.
-G

[heyvern]

what I've seen and understand of polygon-based 3D makes me realise that bashing my ageing head against a brick wall would probably be marginally less painful. Or maybe not.

About the same actually... That's why I use Animation Master for 3D... no polygons for me.

-vern

[mooncaine]

what I've seen and understand of polygon-based 3D makes me realise that bashing my ageing head against a brick wall would probably be marginally less painful. Or maybe not.

About the same actually... That's why I use Animation Master for 3D... no polygons for me.

IMO, using Hash's A:M, with its splines instead of polygons, merely means I'm bashing my head against a different brick wall. Hurts the head just the same, but it sure hurts my wallet less.

Anyway, Mohlar, that was some good thinking and some nice ideas. I like the way you think.

[Genete]

Recently used flies list!!! It is essential!!

-G

[mooncaine]

I agree completely. Only 2 of the apps I normally use fail to provide an Open Recent... menu item: Anime Studio Pro and Final Cut Pro. It's convenient to be able to go straight to the recent files on the menu, and I miss that.

[jahnocli]

Recently used flies...

I didn't realise you were a spider!

J