So where is it?! (or what's in a name?)

[artfx]

When I first got my hands on Anime Studio Pro, having known nothing of the previous Moho days, I thought I was entering some kind of revolution. Some here may remember my early tests and explorations with the package, much of which was posted here. Suddenly a method existed that I could really see changing the face of animation, certainly in television, if not features. Now I find myself wondering what happened.

My thought is that animation couldn't possibly be easier than vector work with bones and using switch layers to change drawings when needed. We saw examples, like those of, then called, Grey Kid, which seemed to show the future of animation. Yet, from what I can tell, even though I think this tools should be dominating the Tv animation world, it doesn't seem to have caught on.

I can speak for Flash from first hand experience. I have never even seen it, yet alone used it. But from talking to guys who use it, they all seem to imply that it is not at all easy to use or intuitive. I have even heard that there are other tools like Toon Boom that are faster and easier than Flash, but I haven't used them either. Yet, so many shows, and even some feature films are done using Flash.

What has kept Anime Studio from catching on? Is it the name? We all know real anime is never vector and drawn frame for frame, and the name seems to make it out to be a cut rate tool for fanboys to try and emulate their favorite anime shows from TV, rather than for professionals to make content for TV. Does the name send that image into the industry?

If it is something else, what could it be? Thinking back to limited animation cartoons like The Jetsons, it seems like there could be no better tool than Anime Studio to pull off this kind of thing quickly and easily on a regular basis. If the ball was dropped, where was it dropped?

[knunk]

The thing is, no studio or production can just drop there pipeline.

Flash/TB/Max/Maya are all ingrained into the industry. They all work.
Toonboom only kicked the door open because they forced it open. The anime Studio guys aren't doing that. Its seeping into the industry. Thats a very slow process. It will be adopted by more studios.

And right now there's a fair few TV shows being produced with AS. But waving a flag for software isn't what studios do.

We're only known on this forum as Animo Studio guys. Out there in the industry we are well known for our work only.

[jahnocli]

There are professional users of AS on this forum who say that the software needs two major features: a well-defined collaborative production process (including such things as support for render farms), and a knowledgeable, responsive support structure. AS is not designed for either of these things -- things that TV/Film executives see as vital production tools...

That's the way I see it, anyway.

[Rhoel]

... the software needs ... a well-defined collaborative production process

Couldn't have put it better. We need to share files from machine to machine without lost files. Yesterday, I just changed my production hard disc to a new high capacity unit and although I thought a copy and paste of directories from C: to C: would be no issue, I now have lost files.

Not a big issue as I have scripts for lost files but its a right pain in the jacksee.