I'm confused! (Anime studio 6)

Post by **Lost Marble** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:20 pm

heyvern wrote:You can pan the sounds by dragging the audio layers with the translate layer tool.

Another way of saying the same thing:

If you place an audio layer inside a group or bone layer, then move the group or bone layer, the audio moves with it, panning from left to right.

In other words, if you attach a character's voice track to that character, the audio will automatically pan as the character walks across the stage.

Now that development is done, I've got to get to work on tutorials. There are lots of tutorials in the manual, but I want to make some of my own for experienced users to show what you can do with the new stuff, and how you can do some things easier than you did in the past.

-Mike

Post by **Lost Marble** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:25 pm

heyvern wrote:Dang forgot a HUGE feature...

Video import with audio. AND it maintains the fps. So you can import a video and not worry so much about the original fps of the source.

-vern

And, you can slide videos around in the timeline's sequencer mode. I'm not going to claim that Anime Studio is now a video editor, but if you don't already have one you could certainly use Anime Studio for the task.

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:29 pm

I stand corrected (actually, I sit corrected).

So Vern WAS part of the beta, but Greykid was not (their choice). That does make me feel better (and I'm trying not to have hurt feelings to not even been considered :>) that the final product is going to be up to snuff (not in terms of features but in terms of stability).

I'm still confused as to why I was told it would be available June 1st but now not -- shakes my confidence yet again in the SM staff (would have been far better if Emily had gotten it right). But I'll give her props for trying and perhaps the whole order early thing threw everyone into confusion. As long as I do get the product I can certainly wait three or four weeks (and I ordered the full product because I'm going to put it on another machine and keep 5.6 on our production machine. When/If I switch I'll buy the upgrade as that's only right and I love the product that much).

I also still think Toonboom gets it right in this regard (and perhaps that's what *really* hurts) -- I don't know where anyone got the idea that keeping features and/or release date secret at this stage was a competitive advantage. Does TB have bones? Nope, yet that's hardly a secret. Does TB have full scripting over it's tools? Again, not a secret and not imitated. In short, the idea that any new features in AS would be copied by a competitor just sounds paranoid to the point of losing loyal customers, particularly when the development cycle is so quick here (I think it's been less than a year since Mike first announced he "was back").

I'll refrain from commenting further on this whole release thing because the folks that really matter have shown up. Finally. (Vern, I don't care a whit about audio but if you were on the beta I'm excited to imagine that scripting is *covered*. Thank goodness).

Post by **Víctor Paredes** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:41 pm

Vern and Mike working together... It's impossible that the new AS be a bad purchase.

I'm so excited, I just wanted that vern post would never end.
I know it's harsh, but I remember that in video in which a guy showed how the new flash now had bones, do you remember the people screaming of happiness?... well, this feel like a thousand times better.

b15fliptop · Post by **b15fliptop** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:42 pm

Here's a quick question regarding audio. Can you export from a frame other than zero and still have the audio output to the exported file?

J. Baker · Post by **J. Baker** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:48 pm

Lost Marble wrote:
Johnny wrote:I've gotten two, count 'em, two e-mail blasts from Toon Boom on their Studio 5 product alone - not counting their monthly newsletter and other blasts on Animate Pro. I can tell you everything they're doing and I don't even own a Toon Boom product!!!
Interesting point: Anyone who cares to can find out everything that Toon Boom is doing (I don't know if that's completely true, but we'll go with it). On the other hand, they haven't known what we've been doing.

There's a certain advantage to a bit of secrecy (a lot of companies keep very quiet about upcoming products), but maybe we need to balance that a bit better. If I had told you all the features we were working on, it wouldn't have gotten the product to you any sooner, but it would have told competitors what we were working on. I think what made this particularly frustrating is that it's been so long since there's been a major upgrade of this product. I'm sorry about that, and I wish it could have happened sooner.

-Mike

I don't think he's talking about secrets or upcoming features. It's an email that gives updates to when a software is released or new tutorials and so forth.

It's just could practice and marketing.

J. Baker · Post by **J. Baker** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:49 pm

Lost Marble wrote:
J. Baker wrote:Mike, is the update really $150?
Yes, that's the pricing the numbers guys have settled on. I guess it'll be up to the individual to look at what they get for that price and whether it's worth it for them.

That's insane. I won't be upgrading. I drop other software such as MDM Zinc because of this kind of upgrading. Sad to see what Moho has become, company wise, not feature wise.

Post by **Lost Marble** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:50 pm

b15fliptop wrote:Here's a quick question regarding audio. Can you export from a frame other than zero and still have the audio output to the exported file?

Yes, an audio layer can start at any frame, and you can export any range of frames and get the right audio for that section of the timeline.

b15fliptop · Post by **b15fliptop** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:51 pm

Yippee!!

Post by **Lost Marble** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:52 pm

J. Baker wrote:That's insane. I won't be upgrading. I drop other software such as MDM Zinc because of this kind of upgrading. Sad to see what Moho has become, company wise, not feature wise.

I'll be sorry to lose anyone over this, but just so I know: what would you consider a fair price? Considering we haven't put out a full feature set yet, what value would you place on an upgrade?

J. Baker · Post by **J. Baker** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:01 pm

Lost Marble wrote:
J. Baker wrote:That's insane. I won't be upgrading. I drop other software such as MDM Zinc because of this kind of upgrading. Sad to see what Moho has become, company wise, not feature wise.
I'll be sorry to lose anyone over this, but just so I know: what would you consider a fair price? Considering we haven't put out a full feature set yet, what value would you place on an upgrade?

Please don't get me wrong Mike. I have enjoyed you and your software since 2002, I think. And I know you haven't listed features yet. But when a program cost $200, an upgrade for $150 is just like re-buying it. A lot of programs charge a quarter of the actual price. And if there's some major totally awesome updates, then charging a little more is common.

I hold nothing against you. But who ever is marketing AnimeStudio needs to respond to the forum more often. Just to show the company or software is still alive. And yes, have a newsletter that shows updates, new tutorials and possibly even featured work. That way stuff like this don't happen.

GregSmith · Post by **GregSmith** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:12 pm

Mike:

Could you please post a feature comparison between the "Debut" version and the "Pro" version.

I'm still using Moho 5.5, so this would be most useful in determining if I am going to spend $200 to get these features.

Unless you are going to extend any kind of upgrade for us "old time" Moho users. That would be kind.

You could use this as a marketing ploy and call it something like:
Welcome to the Future.

Then, you could humbly admit that those of us who were smart enough not to pay upgrade prices for obtaining the same software with Better, Cooler Naming Schemes, and who wisely waited until the software actually had some tangible improvements that made it faster, nicer and more pleasant to use, were really right all along by waiting until now.

And then, introduce a new jingle to help product sales like, "Smith Micro Has Heart . . . . Smith Micro Has Heart . . . . We Are The Company Who Cares."

Greg Smith

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:27 pm

2002? It only cost $99 in 2002. That was the "Moho" days. Like a foggy memory...

If there had been regular "quarter price" updates every year since 2002 you would have paid well over the full price.

I am going to say it again. This is still Anime Studio, but the changes are so amazing and extensive it is like a new program. There has to be some value on the work that has gone into it. This aint cheap or easy. They can't give it away. It's worth the price. I've used version 6. The BASE price is cheap. Debut for $50 is cheap. It's all a bargain.

-vern

Johnny · Post by **Johnny** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:35 pm

$99 is always a magic number for upgrades.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:51 pm

Some prices of some software I bought:
Apple's OS X - every new version is 225 €.
Apple's Final Cut Express - paid 250 € for v3.5, only to learn that the announced HD wasn't HD. The upgrade to v4 was another 250 €. Don't. Ask.
Logic Pro - bought the first version for 1100 DM, then upgraded about 4 times for 350 € each, plus some virtual instruments which were sold seperately first and were now included. Overall spent about 2500 € for it since 1993.
TVPaint - spent about 1800 €.
The prices for Photoshop updates - don't even mention it. Especially because it's about 50% more expensive here than in USA.

Since I've still only paid under 100 € for AS (when it was Moho 3), 150 $ for version 6 sounds quite fair.

I'm confused! (Anime studio 6)

Feature Comparison "Debut" vs. "Pro"?