Initial thoughts on ASP 6

[synthsin75]

Very well put, Rhoel. Thanks for the cool reasoned posted.

[heyvern]

Vern should be on the payroll of SM, either full ot part time...

I have to say that idea has a very nice ring to it. I would have to agree that his was a very well thought out and informed post. Rhoel is one heck of a wonderful guy and is probably a genius. I believe he has great wisdom that many of us don't take advantage of enough.



p.s. If a "paid" position is unavailable at this time I would be willing to accept "barter" such as... a copy of Manga Studio and Poser... and an upgrade to AS 6... uh... for Mac and PC... and Groboto... anything else lying about... I also need a new refrigerator.

-vern

[Squeakydave]

Glad there is a new version but sad the keyframe interoplation hasn't been improved. It usually means that I end up keyframing just about every single frame. GaH!

That said AS is still the best for what I do by a long chalk

[Squeakydave]

More initial thoughts.
Nice new interface!
Bone locking still not working
Fill styles don't seem to work for me. Applying them does nothing.

I've only done a quick test but I think I'll wait until the final version before I invest any more time. I suspect most of the new features are geared towards the amateur as nothing I have seen so far will make my life easier.
Always good to see a new version though!

[mkelley]

I suspect most of the new features are geared towards the amateur as nothing I have seen so far will make my life easier.
Always good to see a new version though!

You're mostly right but there are at least three or four (or more) things that WILL make your life easier. Being able to adjust keys on the timeline by drag-expanding/contracting is just one (try it, you'll love it).

In general, the features that matter most to those of us who are in production are not well advertised and you need to look for them, but they are there. Overall I can see AS 6 speeding up what I do by at least 5 or 10% and that's huge. And it can only get better as we now have docs to explore even better scripting additions.

As with any huge upgrade, it takes a lot of time to explore all that has changed. And I'm sure there will be lots of tutorials and highlights offered by Mike (as well as folks such as Vern) that will uncover even more.

[Squeakydave]

Ooooh that does seem handy.
For me the most important stuff was Interpolation, bone locking and some sort of sensible colour mixing handling.
Once I get clear of my Illustration commitments I'll have to apply myself

Colour styles does seem broken though

[Rhoel]

Vern should be on the payroll of SM, either full ot part time...

I have to say that idea has a very nice ring to it. I would have to agree that his was a very well thought out and informed post. Rhoel is one heck of a wonderful guy and is probably a genius. I believe he has great wisdom that many of us don't take advantage of enough.



-vern

That has to be one of the funniest things I have read on this forum for a very long time. ROTFL

Rhoel

[ruibjr]

If SM can not or does not want to afford Vern full time or part time, then I would like to suggest that we might be able to offer him some kind of finnancial support, via Paypal or something.

I mean, it would be great to have someone watching for us here in the forums, who could help us even when our questions are too dumb.
BTW, I would also like to suggest we create a specific Forum Entry for Newbies, like myself. This way, questions asked would be expected to not be very elaborate and this would result in smoother answers

Regarding paypal contributions for Vern, how about a $35 bucks (US) per month or something like that.
I don't remember what country Vern lives in, but one could live well on, say US$ 3.000,00 per month down here, in Brazil.
This would mean that if 85 people/studios could afford 35 bucks per month, then Vern would be able to dedicate at least a few hours a day to manage the forum and answer questions professionaly.

I am more than willing to contribute.
It would be really great to have someone help us on a professional basis.
It costs me a lot more than that, in sample content, online courses, etc... that don't really help me.

Anyway, it is just an idea - maybe there are not 85 people willing/able to contribute. I just wish this would be possible.

[Genete]

Me me, meeee! I offer support for $10 for each question forum reply!! Also I would sing and dance if needed, for $3000 each month!! Even I can lie and say anyone what beautiful animation is doing!
Where do I have to sign?
-G

[heyvern]

Listen up guys. I have a new web site in the works. I plan to offer tutorials, services, files etc.

This will be a subscription based price, very modest fee... for example possibly $5 a month. Or being able to purchase just one month or two... Eventually with maybe a tiered plan... but I don't have enough content yet.

All the details are not worked out yet but here are some of my ideas:

Tutorials

• New tutorials released weekly or monthly
• Free tutorials and also advanced tutorials for paying members
• A "Tutorial Request" link to submit ideas or suggestions for something you need to know more about.

Services

• Character rigging - for example, applying ANY character design to use my 2.5d head rig. Or full body rigging. Interpolated head switch layers etc.
• Character creation/design
• Personal one on one training - done through the web site with your own "blog" or question area with links to files etc.
• And of course custom scripting. How could I forget that.

Just a few ideas. Site is under construction. Details to come. This is real. I have a lot riding on it. My voice is almost gone from recording tutorials.

-vern

[Lost Marble]

The other option at the time was going the open-source route

It may have been talked about by a few people on the forum, but I can assure you, that was never an option.

Serious debate should be give to whether ASP should be bought out as an open-source project.

And it's not an option now. You can send your time talking about it if that's fun for you, but I can tell you now it ain't gonna happen.

It would secure its future as a pro tool and producers would feel more secure in adopting it in their production environment.

Just like all those other pro tools secured their positions, right? Because we know that no professional studio would use Photoshop, Maya, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, etc. unless they were open source.

[ruibjr]

Hey, Vern.
Let us know when the site is up.

I am sure going to support it.
I can afford up to US$ 50,00 per month - I currently am payng US$ 30,00 per month on VTC.
I will definitely switch to your site, if it is ASP only.

And I beleieve most of us here can afford it

I mean, I sure can afford something I will benefit from (and I have been benefiting from).

Cheers,

[J. Baker]

Here's my thoughts...

Three things I like about V6 are...

1.) The interface looks nice and no more floating windows if you don't want it. But the Actions window is still a floating window and it doesn't stay open when restating AS.

2.) Multiple layered audio files. That's just awesome.

3.) Video tracking. This is the biggest update in my mind.

I just wish I would have been one of the beta testers. As I would have liked to make some tutorials on the video tracking. If it does what I think it does, you could make some realistic bone movements.

Now I see why the update price is insane. There was a lot of new features added. I would have found it nice if there was just a few added at a time to keep the update price lower. As most of us are just hobbiest on a budget.

It would also be nice to see an option to change the colors for the anaglyph rendering.

But I have to say, nice work Mike and any of the beta testers (who actaully got to give input to V6).

[slice11217]

All the details are not worked out yet but here are some of my ideas:

Tutorials

• New tutorials released weekly or monthly
• Free tutorials and also advanced tutorials for paying members
• A "Tutorial Request" link to submit ideas or suggestions for something you need to know more about.

Services

• Character rigging - for example, applying ANY character design to use my 2.5d head rig. Or full body rigging. Interpolated head switch layers etc.
• Character creation/design
• Personal one on one training - done through the web site with your own "blog" or question area with links to files etc.
• And of course custom scripting. How could I forget that.

Just a few ideas. Site is under construction. Details to come. This is real. I have a lot riding on it. My voice is almost gone from recording tutorials.

-vern

Hey, Vern

You might consider this site as a model for your own:

http://www.videocopilot.net

Also, podcasting could be another option. Glad to see there's tutorials coming though.

-S

[Rhoel]

Just like all those other pro tools secured their positions, right? Because we know that no professional studio would use Photoshop, Maya, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, etc. unless they were open source.

Mike, it has ziltch to do with open source and you know it: They are all backed by the companies which own them, companies staffed by up to 20 guys working on coding the apps. Their future is a damn sight more secure than ASP, which is owned as a commercial asset by Smith Micro; If ASP6 sales do not live up to the bottom-line they have set then the product will get back-watered, development stopped or the title dropped/offloaded to another company.

The other vital difference is, unlike Adobe, Discrete, Macromedia et al, you say you are the sole programmer. You ride on the wrong Air France flight, forget to look right as you step off the pavement or befall some other mishap, everyone here has a big problem. Try selling a sole-programmer product to a commercial operator. The first question is "what happens if they go bust, what happens to our license renewals?" From personal experience, I can assure you nothing scares a commercial studios more than discovering its software house bit the dust. I've experienced it twice and the fallout very expensive to correct. For pro-houses, they are investing thousands in training, their staff skills base and artwork to be reused two, three or fives ahead. They are interested in security and compared to Maya, ASP simply doesn't have that.

And it's not an option now.

I am not suggesting OS now, Mike: Open Source takes time to finance and plan. There is a Chinese proverb which loosely translators is "Hope for the best, plan for the worst". There is great prudence in that. Talk of OS is not a threat to SM: Quite the reverse - a buy-out of the product is good for their balance sheet. Indeed, such talk can actually strengthen a product as it shows its value. And a foundation which 110% behind the program and paying your wages is no ogre.

I can tell you now it ain't gonna happen.

Commercially, hardly prudent nor any comfort to the pro-house, is it?.

I detect a degree of hostility in your comments: Let's hold a candle up to it. I am talking about the longevity of ASP, of seeing it still here in 10-20 or more years, still at the fore front of animation; I wouldn't be doing that if I didn't think its a great product and a damn good tool. I don't see SM being at the helm in the same time period, for sound commercial reasons. My comments are constructive, albeit with a little Asperger tactlessness at times. But a proper ticketing system is needed, discussions of ASP7 are both practical and realistic ... the coding of a PMS for example is no light matter and debate over how that could be achieved is worthwhile. It might even be a job for a third party developer which means the internal connections have to be introduced to the current program development cycle. But an integrated production management system would make all the commercial houses sit up and take notice: No amateur program would have asset tracking, it says big-boys toy.

There is one inescapable fact: SM blew yet another release and I gain zero confidence in their abilities from that. Walmart!? Seriously, when was the last time Maya, Final Cut Pro etc cut a release deal with Walmart. That reinforced the impression is not a serious animation tool. It was insane and a huge mistake. The guys over at Flash must be wetting themselves laughing. I sincerely hope my comments are printed out and delivered at the next senior SM management meeting - some serious arse kicking in is order - just look for Ronald MacDonald, he'll be seated there somewhere.

Conversely, ASP is supported here by a very loyal and dedicated user base who want Anime Studio to excel.

We all want the same thing. The route to destination might be debated but there's no questioning where we want to go.


Rhoel