Help Shape the Future of Anime Studio

[eric1223]

HI. I've been using AS pro9-9.5 for about a month, and I have a couple of suggestions.

1. One is with the Layer composition. I think its a good feature, but I would like to have an option to make the layers that are not in the composition to disappear as well. This would help speed up work flow because other layers won't be in the way while trying to work on specific layers. The layers working on would be easier to find.

2. Another suggestion I have is the addition to a "grease tool" like the one blender, or synfig has. What I mean is that you could draw on top of the canvas but it would not be saved or rendered. This way, we could make accurate poses with the bones.

3. Do you know how there's an option to active draw tools when you are beyond design mode? I find it useful when I want something to pop in, or something to happen at a certain time. But this isn't about the draw tool; it's about the bone tool. Please make this an option for the bone tools as well! Honestly, I'm disappointed that it isn't. As of now, if you want to move the bones, you have to search and click the layer in the layers panel if you aren't in design mode. I'm used to using the short cuts. Of course, not all the bone tools needs this option. Just the select bone tool, translate bones tool, rotate bone tools, scale bone tool, and the bone manipulation tool. If its not implemented because some tools will clash (like translate rotate and scale points), maybe make the bone tools activated when select bone tools is activated first? If no bones are selected, then you can use any other tool. Or simply by clicking on the bones like done in design mode and having those options.

4. I don't know if this can be done currently, but I'm gonna make this one just in case this feature doesn't exist. I believe it should be easier to manage keyframes on different layers you are working on. I was thinking of a way you could make a "Master Keyframe" where it controls either the whole animation (like Synfig), or a "Super Keyframe" where you choose what layers you want to be affected at a certain point in time. If you decide to move the Master or Super Keyframe, all of those affected layer keyframes will move as well. Maybe put them near the ruler. This idea comes in mind when I have layers (characters and objects!!!) interacting with each other. Moving layers around with 1 key frame in one swoop would be awesome!
Basically, I think this will be useful for moving keyframes on different layers at the same time.

5. I don't know if this is implemented. I didn't see it but I'll make the suggestion anyway. This is about the freehand tool. Could you make it an option to adjust the number of vertices when you draw? I like to take my pen off the tablet when I draw from time to time for accuracy. Sometimes when they get cluttered, the shape doesn't form right. There would be double lines between 2 points if I don't delete properly, which slows me down. Also, could there be an option to make the last drawn vertices be selected, or a different color? This is just is case all the vertices get cluttered.

Oh yeah, I agree with the ruler change when you change your fps. I also agree with having a XYZ axis when you go in orbital mode, or even in the standard modes you work in because the cam turns as well.

Reference and instant layers would be very useful as well!

[dkwroot]

-- consider adding in bezier curves for the drawing tools. If you guys do look into applying this system into Anime Studio, I have a suggestion to make working with bezier handles easier than the frustrating version that Adobe products use. Make the line of each bezier handle a different color (Like red for the right side, green for the left). Then make the handle itself larger so it's easier to click on which is where Adobe really fails! An alternate way to handle bezier handles would be to make it so that when a point is selected, a user can then hold on ALT and drag the mouse around to manipulate one handle of the bezier curve or they can hold down CTRL and drag the mouse to alter the other. I think this would be extremely convenient and make working with bezier curves a breeze.

[Matt2fronteeth]

I second (or third, fourth, fifth, whatever) the request for you to get a talented artist to do the Character Wizard drawings and all other drawings such as those in the included content, user guides, and on your website pages. The extremely poor drawings you have now undoubtedly are an instant turn-off for many people who are looking at AS for the first time, and even for those of us lucky enough to have purchased AS in spite of the grotesque drawings. In contrast, Toon Boom Studio's appearance is much more attractive and gives the immediate impression that it's a serious application compared with AS (which we know is not true). Toon Boom's handicap, on the other hand, is that their apps are shamelessly overpriced. Actually, the more realistic price is what made me choose Anime Studio, which in fact is the more feature rich and easier to use of the two. (Also, you guys spell "color" correctly.)

In short, please trash those awful drawings and give us ones that we can feel comfortable with and not embarrassed by.

[morgan99]

I second (or third, fourth, fifth, whatever) the request for you to get a talented artist to do the Character Wizard drawings and all other drawings such as those in the included content, user guides, and on your website pages. The extremely poor drawings you have now undoubtedly are an instant turn-off for many people who are looking at AS for the first time, and even for those of us lucky enough to have purchased AS in spite of the grotesque drawings. In contrast, Toon Boom Studio's appearance is much more attractive and gives the immediate impression that it's a serious application compared with AS (which we know is not true). Toon Boom's handicap, on the other hand, is that their apps are shamelessly overpriced. Actually, the more realistic price is what made me choose Anime Studio, which in fact is the more feature rich and easier to use of the two. (Also, you guys spell "color" correctly.)

[synthsin75]

Colour is an English word , a language from England. Sure it is a very flexible language ( and made from many other languages)but you are using a further adapted variety, to claim it as correct is pretty amusing .
I think you were half joking, but really this spelling variety should only be suggested as a fully fledged joke.

This from the people who manage to finagle an "f" into the word lieutenant.

[dkwroot]

Here are some more suggestions:

-- Add a pattern maker. How I envision this working is that a user can create a pattern out of vectors, then select the points and choose to make the points a pattern. The user would then be able to fill whatever shape they want with the pattern they created using the effects drop down. I realize that AS already has a texture pattern option, but this feature isn't nearly as convenient since the pattern is made of rasters instead of vectors (scaling issue). Plus, the texture pattern doesn't allow the user to use whatever color they want for the texture stroke and fill. This is something that could get worked into the drop down for the new pattern maker feature. This feature would work best with instancing in place.

[chucky]

Here are some more suggestions:

-- Add a pattern maker. How I envision this working is that a user can create a pattern out of vectors, then select the points and choose to make the points a pattern. The user would then be able to fill whatever shape they want with the pattern they created using the effects drop down. I realize that AS already has a texture pattern option, but this feature isn't nearly as convenient since the pattern is made of rasters instead of vectors (scaling issue). Plus, the texture pattern doesn't allow the user to use whatever color they want for the texture stroke and fill. This is something that could get worked into the drop down for the new pattern maker feature. This feature would work best with instancing in place.

Have you tried the tiling script in ASp 9.5 ? It does pretty much what you describe with vectors.

[synthsin75]

...but not as bad as American pronunciation of 'buoy' and 'stupid' .

Sure, because no one could possibly get alarmed hearing someone say there was a "boy" in the water.

Most words of this kind come from Latin non-agent nouns having nominative -or. These words were first borrowed into English from early Old French and the ending was spelled -or or -ur. After the Norman conquest of England (1066), the ending became -our in Anglo-French to try to represent the Old French pronunciation, though color has sometimes been used in English since the 15th century. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_a ... our.2C_-or

So yeah, the English adopted that spelling of color to appease the French/Norman occupiers.

Let's get back to the topic and call the whole thing off, eh?

If you can't take the jabs don't make them.

[synthsin75]

You never seem to be able to recognize humor, Chucky. You made a cheeky jab about color, so I made one about lieutenant. Apparently that simple, cheeky tit for tat should have been the end of it. But if you continue making new jabs then how can you act all aggrieved when I simply poke you right back?

I even ended both posts with a smiley ( ) hoping you'd get the levity of both posts.

I can only guess that you have a "thing" for being cheeky and then accusing others of flaming when they haven't. Get over it, man.

[dkwroot]

Here are some more suggestions:

-- Add a pattern maker. How I envision this working is that a user can create a pattern out of vectors, then select the points and choose to make the points a pattern. The user would then be able to fill whatever shape they want with the pattern they created using the effects drop down. I realize that AS already has a texture pattern option, but this feature isn't nearly as convenient since the pattern is made of rasters instead of vectors (scaling issue). Plus, the texture pattern doesn't allow the user to use whatever color they want for the texture stroke and fill. This is something that could get worked into the drop down for the new pattern maker feature. This feature would work best with instancing in place.

Have you tried the tiling script in ASp 9.5 ? It does pretty much what you describe with vectors.

Yes, I've tried it. The tiling script is pretty cool and is what really got me thinking about how it can be expanded on. What I'm suggesting is that when a tile gets defined, it gets saved to the effects so that we can put the created pattern in a fill where ever we want. On top of that, the program could reduce the pattern to only it's value (brightness/shading) and allow the user to apply whatever color to the effect using a gradient slider. A gradient slider would basically look at the brightness of the pieces in the pattern, then assign a color to that brightness according to whatever the user chooses.

[chucky]

@dkwroot I see what you mean that sounds great, I could do with it right now with the project Im on at the moment. The texture with tiles is limited in its application in its current form, I'd love to see more there.

[dkwroot]

More Ideas:

-- Improve the panel/window system so that we can organize our work space better. We should be able to put several panels into one window and use tabs to flip between them (photoshop/flash already do this). Also, panels should have a collapse/expand feature which allows users to easily collapse panels they aren't currently using.

-- Consider putting the swatches feature on its own window. This separates swatches from Styles and Effects which is great for animators who aren't using swatches and need more space for Layers while still having effects and style showing.

-- Users should have buttons on the timeline window and the windows to the left and right of the canvas that when clicked with collapse or expand them to give the user more access to precious canvas space.

I LOVE Anime Studio, but I gotta admit that its panels and windows are clunky. If it's not too much to ask, you guys should definitely look into making it sleek and more efficient.

ALSO:

-- It would be insanely awesome if they allowed user to create patches that PATCH to switch/bone/group layers! This would make breaking complex characters up into smaller switch layers a LOT easier.

[dkwroot]

-- Add the ability for Switch Layer interpolation to work WITH smartbones. I like to use smartbones as dials for switching between my switch layers and it's extremely annoying that I can't interpolate between switch layers when using smartbones. I like to work like this because it's extremely flexible.

-- Make it so that patch layers can patch stroke effects and layer outlines. In short, we should be able to make thick lines cross each other, then apply halo effects or layer outlines to them and have a patch layer patch the halo or outline where ever the strokes cross.

--Adding Composite Nodes for complex layer blending stuff

[Telemacus]

1- Character Wizard.

As others have mentioned, I think this needs a huge upgrade. Big time.
At present, the characters you can make seem to be taken out of a cheap version of the Adams family! Creepy!
The characters just look ugly. (and yes, I agree, if you're good you can make amazing characters out of nothing, and AS main strengths have little to do with the character design engine, etc.)
It's just a bit embarrasing that the character engine of an amazing product like AS should compare so unfavourably to just about any on-line character builder. Here are some quick samples I found by googling "on-line character builder":











And the characters you already know:



2 Review Price of upgrades policy.

I love Anime Studio, I think it's an amazing tool for creative people. However, I think the price for upgrades for existing owners of the software is simply "massive".
Can't remember now if SmithMicro has a 1 year free upgrade policy. But I first bought Anime Studio Debut 8 and when I decided to upgrade to pro, it was already 9.5 (and I didn't think that much time had gone by, to be honest!). Then I checked the pricing for upgrades and was in total shock.
I think Smith Micro needs to review its upgrading policies urgently. You know, something like 1st upgrade 50%, 2nd upgrade 40%, 3rd upgrade 30%, etc. You get the picture.

3 Make the tools a little more intuitive.

Honestly, I don't think I'm slow at learning how to use software. I use dozens of programs everyday and I'm really good at them, but I find some of the tools in Anime studio very "anti-intuitive". For example: I don't know how many times I've had to google how to draw a straight line and add stroke to it, but it's been many. Changing colours to shapes? same thing. I click on the layer a shape is on, select it, clikc on the shape or paint bucket tool and then the stroke and fill appear greyed out?? why?? I'm sure there's a reason to it, but it's just not intuitive!

Does it worry me that the last post in the FAQ suborum dates back to 2005? yes, very much so, but let's not get into that.

[wip]

Hi there,

I've been a huge fan of Anime Studio ever since it's early Moho days and seen it improve amazingly over the years. I absolutely love what it can do, the speed of creating things and the flexibilities it has. I'm very keen to hear the developers thoughts on the direction they feel ASpro could go, also I'm still trying to wrestle through most of the posts in this thread.

For the past 10+ years I've mostly found work as a professional freelance Flash animator, for interactive and non-interactive projects . Aside from being a clunky animation tool, Flash has it's severe limitations at times. So in any quick turn around production, Anime Studio Pro is the go to hybrid traditional/cutout/2.5D animation program in my opinion, or in the least for certain elements (like tails, hair, complicated illustration movements)

Now Flash is slowly disappearing as an industry standard (I find a lot of colleagues have moved on to 3D) Not a lot of easily accessible animation packages are available to take it's place. I feel Anime Studio is one of the few of it's kind.

Recently I directed an 80min. feature film, which was produced in the UK. Our choice of animation software ended up being Celaction. Celaction is great for simple style animation, it's scalable for a larger pipeline, and is tried and tested in the world of TV animation. But for us for instance one of the big bottlenecks was that it lacks in detailed control and on the spot editing of assets.
Unless a production has an extensive pre-production phase, which is often lacking on low-budget productions, the ability to dive into the assets and tweak them on the fly we found would've been a welcome feature. This is exactly what Anime Studio has to offer.

The second software choice for a larger production was Toonboom Animate/Harmony. Not a single animator in the UK, or at least very few are familiar with the package so this was no option for us. I would've probably chosen it over Celaction had this not been the case.

Below I've listed a few points I believe would go a long way to leverage ASpro towards a fully fledged industry package that would convince studios to consider it as a viable option:

- Character rig versions and update/import functionality that can be applied to an already animated scene.
- A better import functionality of layered svg files/ vector files. Vector Characters are created with many layers within a package like illustrator, reducing the workload of importing assets into a rig would be a very helpful addition.
- Character rig asset library, a good overview of all assets being used within the rig. This is probably most useful for bitmap rigs.
- Network rendering and better output controls.
- An option to reveal precise frame grid on animation timeline.
- A better library system, one that doesn't merge with 'stock' content, and ways to protect assets from being accidentally deleted (the current big minus button shouldn't physically delete a file)
- Do away with aged down splash screen, startup file and fun-feature character 'creator' of basic characters.
- Marketing material with the early moho character styles look quite amateurish. Don't get me wrong, knowing all the features, it's clear to me what it really has to offer. But on the face of it those designs would probably discourage many potential users at first hand.

I can completely understand SmithMicro has chosen for a certain target audience, probably the reason why we're still enjoying annual updates. But it seems that packed with features as the tool is now, it's quite ready for that extra 'pro' leap?

W