AS vs Solo discussion kicks off

A place to discuss non-Moho software for use in animation. Video editors, audio editors, 3D modelers, etc.

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InfoCentral
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Post by InfoCentral »

I wonder what ever happened to Toon Boom Solo?

As far as Animation Master goes its not a good investment for two very important reasons. The file types are proprietary and the program does not lend itself to importing or exporting assets in any standard 3D format. This means that everything you do will be confined to A:M and you will not be able to take it with you when you move on to other more advanced 3D programs.

And second, its just about dead in the water as far as development goes. They even switched to a subscription service so you pay by the year to continue to use this program. This was because the development didn't support people upgrading and they didn't which cut into profits and hence the subscription plan implemented. At this point you would be much better going into Blender which is FREE!
Matsuemon
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Post by Matsuemon »

Hey Info, thanks for your input on that. Yah, I was pretty much thinking the same thing about Animation Master, which is a real shame, because I've seen some incredible work done on it.

You mentioned Toon Boom Solo before. I thought I'd seen it around recently, on a website, but I could be thinking of a different program. Toon Boom is a 2D program, right?

It's interesting you mentioned Blender, too, because I've been taking a look into that this week. I've heard a lot of good things about it before, but just never gave it a try. I'm going to see what it can do, although I probably won't be able to do much more than scratch the surface for a while. Seems like a pretty complex program. And of course I'll have my hands full with Anime Studio :D
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InfoCentral
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Post by InfoCentral »

Yes, Toon Boom is a 2D program. They have everything from entry level to advanced studio grade software. They even have programs catered to little tikes!

Blender seems like it would be the way to start out now. When I started out there was no FREE programs and 3D software was very expensive and tutorials few and far between. I went with Lightwave as it was plenty complex and had the most amount of tutorials/training available. But now there is Blender and it is well supported and growing by leaps and bounds. You can find some rather cheap tutorials on CartoonSmart.com that come highly recommended but I don't know if they have been updated to the latest Blender UI? Also, a quick search on Amazon.com will reveal plenty of tutorial books. Good-luck...
Matsuemon
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Post by Matsuemon »

Hey Info,
I was just looking up some stuff on Toon Boom and you're right, they have a lot of different programs. I'm going to take a look at them and see how they compare to Anime Studio (Pro). Most of them are quite expensive, and I've seen several others that were way more expensive than AS but weren't nearly as good. Always nice to keep your eyes open for stuff, though, and I agree about Blender being a totally viable option for 3D. Seems like it's really popular and becoming more so all the time.
dm
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Post by dm »

Solo became Digital Pro which became Animate/Animate Pro.

Same basic product, name changed through versions. It was intended as having the functionality of Harmony, but intended for more individual use.

Toon Boom products and AnimeStudio have some overlap as to what they do and how they do it, but conceptually- how you achieve your end animation is somewhat different. With different intent too.

What's 'better' is really dependent on what it is you're trying to do with it.
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