VTC Anime Studio Pro Video Tutorial

Pixelpusher · Post by **Pixelpusher** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:11 pm

After posting on this forum and getting help from all of you amazing animators, I realized that I truly needed to go about learning AS in the traditional way of reading the manual and doing the included tutorials. I did get this video training, and even though the instructor may not be enthusiastic (as most college instructors usually aren't,) I have gained tons of helpful knowledge by "watching" things get done. I would recommend this training to anyone who learns better through visuals than from reading. It has helped me in a big way.

AniPierre · Post by **AniPierre** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:10 pm

I've watched quite a few of the Anime Studio tutorials and I think they are great. Personally, I like the instructor's style. Mark Bremmer is the same guy who's done the past few rounds of Carrara tutorials for VTC and I've learned a great deal from those tutorials. Mr. Bremmer can be very methodical in his approach but he continually builds on previous lessons so that you get a very good overview of the software.

Pierre

banjar · Post by **banjar** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 3:11 am

AniPierre wrote:I've watched quite a few of the Anime Studio tutorials and I think they are great. Personally, I like the instructor's style. Mark Bremmer is the same guy who's done the past few rounds of Carrara tutorials for VTC and I've learned a great deal from those tutorials. Mr. Bremmer can be very methodical in his approach but he continually builds on previous lessons so that you get a very good overview of the software.

Pierre

I thought Mark Bremmer was great. Very thorough in his presentation and he has a nice, friendly voice that isn't hard to listen to. The VTC tutorials were great and I learned how to us AS through them.

But for those of you who want some advanced art lessons in AS, those RoseAgent-CharacterPack and Videos are on sale at Content Paradise for only nine bucks. Super high quality AS art is demonstrated but no voice over in the videos since the artist is a Japanese who can't speak English. But no matter. Nice, sexy Anime gal with some amazing wind-in-the-hair and waving neglige effects. He even animated her boobs to wiggle!!! Those Jap artists are amazing!!! Great stuff!!! And it really shows off what AS can do.

But Bremmer's technique for eye blinks is superior to the RoseAgent method.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:38 am

banjar wrote:Nice, sexy Anime gal with some amazing wind-in-the-hair and waving neglige effects. He even animated her boobs to wiggle!!! Those Jap artists are amazing!!! Great stuff!!! And it really shows off what AS can do.

Software porn.

Seriously, who wants to learn how to do something which has been done millions of times before? You may as well go to porn business directly.

All my years in forums like this taught me a thing: to see the difference between artists and amateurs. It's very easy to find, even in your own questions. Let me demonstrate (find out who's the amateur in each pair):

"How do I create rain?"
"I've created several single drops and combined them in different length loop cycles on different levels. Although I also changed their size, the effect is not convincing enough. Any ideas?"

"Are there any caveats when importing bitmap artwork into AS which is used in different sizes?"
"How to loose white around character?"

"I took a character from Sailormoon but when I bind it to bones, everything is moving!"
"I've designed some characters with a brush outline, but there's a problem with line thickness."

No points for correct answers.

banjar · Post by **banjar** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:26 pm

slowtiger wrote:
banjar wrote:Nice, sexy Anime gal with some amazing wind-in-the-hair and waving neglige effects. He even animated her boobs to wiggle!!! Those Jap artists are amazing!!! Great stuff!!! And it really shows off what AS can do.
Software porn.

Seriously, who wants to learn how to do something which has been done millions of times before? You may as well go to porn business directly.

All my years in forums like this taught me a thing: to see the difference between artists and amateurs. It's very easy to find, even in your own questions. Let me demonstrate (find out who's the amateur in each pair):

"How do I create rain?"
"I've created several single drops and combined them in different length loop cycles on different levels. Although I also changed their size, the effect is not convincing enough. Any ideas?"

"Are there any caveats when importing bitmap artwork into AS which is used in different sizes?"
"How to loose white around character?"

"I took a character from Sailormoon but when I bind it to bones, everything is moving!"
"I've designed some characters with a brush outline, but there's a problem with line thickness."

No points for correct answers.

Not porn at all. If you have an eye for subtlety, if you have an eye for graceful movement and an appreciation for the interplay of colors and the delicate nuances of glows, shadows, and shades of alpha, then you ought to have a look at what that Japanese artist has been able to do with Anime Studio. It really shows off his artistry as well as the capabilities of the software quite well. REAL art, not just childish doodles. Besides, the character has all of her cloths on! Skimpy though they be.

I mentioned the character's boobs because I thought it was humorous that the animation skeleton was used in that way. Ingenious, really. It helps give the character a subtle, lifelike movement. (And did I mention bounce?

)

As far as your other questions, they are really excellent. I wish I knew the answers to them. This one, especially, is a real problem for me that I can't figure out:

"I took a character from Sailormoon but when I bind it to bones, everything is moving!"

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:43 pm

I meant it's porn in the way that people get all excited over hair blows in the wind is done in AS, but fail to notice the non-existent story.

banjar · Post by **banjar** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:48 pm

slowtiger wrote:I meant it's porn in the way that people get all excited over hair blows in the wind is done in AS, but fail to notice the non-existent story.

It's only a character rig. It's not supposed to be a story. The videos that come with it are very instructional, as well.

I am going to use your question about bit map bones to start another thread. Thanks.

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:22 pm

You know lately I've seen many very basic questions coming from people who have purchased either the Murdock book or these video tutorials. Doesn't give me much faith in either of these products. It seems that some of the people who would have trouble with the included user's manual, have similar trouble with any other kind of instruction.

That, or as usual, it's just easier to ask here than hunt up the answers them self. In the same vein as not using the forum search feature, I guess.

banjar · Post by **banjar** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:21 pm

synthsin75 wrote:You know lately I've seen many very basic questions coming from people who have purchased either the Murdock book or these video tutorials. Doesn't give me much faith in either of these products. It seems that some of the people who would have trouble with the included user's manual, have similar trouble with any other kind of instruction.

That, or as usual, it's just easier to ask here than hunt up the answers them self. In the same vein as not using the forum search feature, I guess.

That's part of the greatness of the internet and computers, a huge variety in ways that people learn. I admit to being a bit stupid. So, please have mercy on us fools because with the right help, we become fools no more.

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:04 am

I'm sorry Banjar, I was criticizing the book and video tutorials more than the newbies. Many people do seem to need a direct question-answer sort of learning. I didn't mean to imply any deficit of intelligence.

Maybe these learning tools are worth the money. I just wonder since people who have used them have since shown up here asking questions I assumed these should have covered.

Once again, sorry for any offense.

banjar · Post by **banjar** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:10 pm

synthsin75 wrote:I'm sorry Banjar, I was criticizing the book and video tutorials more than the newbies. Many people do seem to need a direct question-answer sort of learning. I didn't mean to imply any deficit of intelligence.

Maybe these learning tools are worth the money. I just wonder since people who have used them have since shown up here asking questions I assumed these should have covered.

Once again, sorry for any offense.

I assure you, no offense taken. I really am an idiot, doesn't it show? I'm trying to get better.

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:08 pm

That made me bust out laughing. Thanks for that Banjar.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:39 pm

I don't learn very well from instructional videos either. The voice-over irritates me. I prefer a clearly written manual with lots of carefully chosen illustrations. Only if a sequence of actions is explained I may find a video useful. For anything software related video is a poor choice because I can't read anything in that low resolution.

Doing a successful instructional video is a high art. I'm good enough in it, but it takes too much time to do it for free. Writing is much faster. But even then I wish I had some kind of index at hand so I could point newbies to some of the better explanations in this forum immediately ...

banjar · Post by **banjar** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:03 am

slowtiger wrote:I don't learn very well from instructional videos either. The voice-over irritates me. I prefer a clearly written manual with lots of carefully chosen illustrations. Only if a sequence of actions is explained I may find a video useful. For anything software related video is a poor choice because I can't read anything in that low resolution.

Doing a successful instructional video is a high art. I'm good enough in it, but it takes too much time to do it for free. Writing is much faster. But even then I wish I had some kind of index at hand so I could point newbies to some of the better explanations in this forum immediately ...

This is an example of how the executives at SmithMicro drop the ball. Instead of taking advantage of talented teachers like you and heyvern and a few others on this forum to get their product streamlined and easy to use for the newbies who buy the product, they ignore the opportunity.

Anime Studio seemed so odd and un-intuitive that I almost threw it aside for Toon Boom. The VTC lessons gave me an appreciation of the program and your help immediately ironed out some kinks that the manual didn't explain clearly.

I know I'm kind of slow and stupid but I can't help it. I need animated lessons to explain animation methods. However, slow and stupid as I am, I enjoy the blissful solace in knowing that I am not alone. I am in good company with all of the newbies who can't figure out how to use the product along with the executives at SmithMicro who try to sell a product that new customers don't know how to use.

human · Post by **human** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:24 am

I agree with everything banjar said.

Yes, the VTC tutorials are excellent, for just the reasons he gave.

I gave Murdoch's book a thumbs up, but the VTC tutorials are much better.

There's a LOT of instruction on the 2 discs. I've viewed several, but I still have most of them ahead of me.

Compare $100 for this training session with the cost of an art school class. The value is extraordinary.

First, Smith Micro ought to license the VTC discs to bundle with every copy of AS at a good price. After all, the VTC instructor was really pretty forgiving of AS's abysmal gotchas and very bullish on its power.

Second, the fundamental feedback loop between user actions and the status of numerous user-interface controls in AS needs to be fixed, so everything is as intuitive as it is in any standard graphics package.

The reason using AS is so awful is because, currently, the UI controls don't respond to user actions in an appropriate way, particularly in the Style panel.

If the UI were recoded in Java, for instance, it would be easy to port to all three platforms, even if Mike wanted to preserve the code of his current graphics engine.

If the user interface to Anime Studio was half as good as its animation technology, there wouldn't be any need for books or videos.