[CwStone]

do u guys no of any animation programs that can be bought or downloaded that arent pricey? i hear flash is good, but i searched for flash and i got a price for it of 700 dollars! am i gettin the wrong thing or wat? neway, if u guys no anything then ur help would be much appreciated .
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-Chase

[Impaler]

I tried animagic for a while, seemed alright.

I'm sure there a million programs out there, go poke around on www.download.com and see what's popular, what has a high approval rating, etc.

Also, if you want to spend money, Paint Shop Pro used to have an adequate animation program. Imageready can do animation, too.
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QED, sort of.

[AliasMoze]

CwStone, Flash is a good all-purpose program that works pretty well and is very solidly supported. It's expensive or cheap, depending on what you're used to. It's expensive if the price is more than you have and compared to many graphics programs. But if you've ever used higher-end ink-and-paint programs, Flash is practically free. I'd say it's a good way to go. Download a 30 day trial, use the hell out of it for the 30 days, and if you like it, get it.

BTW, I've used Flash to produce 30-minute animation for TV, and I'm gearing up to do about 300 minutes of animation for TV, using nothing but Flash. So the power is definitely there, and Flash's vector-based nature makes it pretty flexible for doing limited animation as well.

[AndyT]

It depends on what you want to do.
You want to to it professionally? Or just try it as a hobby?

You can start with easy toon.
http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=32660&highlight=easy+toon

You can do pretty nice things with it:
http://www.eatpoo.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7818&postdays=0&postorder=asc

There don't seem to be any free vector based programs though.

Btw do you know this site?
http://www.freetoon.com/prestonblair/01-characterdev/01-left.html
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http://www.conceptworld.org

[CwStone]

sry i havent replied fo a while. i went to comp usa a few days ago to check out flash, and sudio mx (which is apparently it) was 1,000$!! is this the same flash that ppl use for those cheap looking internet cartoons and stuff?
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-Chase

[Impaler]

Just hold off on buying any thousand dollar programs there, ace.

Wait a few years until you get to college. There's this little thing called an "Educational Discount", where formerly super-expensive programs like Photoshop and any Macromedia products are now ridiculously cheap (Studio MX costs 200, instead of 1200).

In the meantime, use free stuff. Your wallet and sense of worth will thank you.
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QED, sort of.

[AliasMoze]

STUDIO MX includes FIREWORKS, DREAMWEAVER, and all that other stuff. Way too expensive. You just need FLASH. And, yes, get the educational discount or whatever discount you can.

[Ian Jones]

If your looking for broadcast or visual effects and motion graphics software... investigate Adobe After FX 6.0 and Discreet Combustion 3.0

These products are not aimed at character animation but moreso the fields that I mentioned.

[Pat]

Every digital animation studio I know has a copy of After Effects. Most of them don't use it for primary animation chores, even though it can handle them. Instead, there's always some compositing issue or format that needs to be transfered to that only After Effects can handle properly. Much like it's older brother Photoshop, After Effects is very well respected.

Animation programs are expensive, so chose the one which suits the type of animation you're going to do. Once you know what you're going to do (stop motion, sut out, hand drawn?) and where you intend to show it (theatrical, DVD, internet?), you can settle on the right tool. Here's some links to get you going.

Compositing Software
After Effects (http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/main.html) If you're serious about this kinda thing, one day you're gonna need this program; see above desc. 'Nuff said. PC and Mac

Shake (http://www.apple.com/shake/) Used to be PC, now Mac only. After Effects' worthy contender. Again, an excellent motion graphics program, but not specifically built for animation --although it can handle it.

Combustion (http://www.discreet.com/combustion/showcase/s_martinsquare.html) Another well respected motion graphics and compositing program. Rather than using a traditional timeline based control system like After Effects, Combustion uses an interesting schematic view to control elements. Big Power, but Big drawback = price.

Animation Programs
Retas Pro (http://www.retas.com) Straight up digital cel animation, with some compositing features and 3d integration. Retas used to be purely raster, but their new Stylos program makes the leap to vector-based linework --handy for resizing your work up. PC and Mac versions available.

Animo (http://www.animo.com) Animo seems pretty similar to Retas. It's feature set seems relatively lackluster these days, but it still sees considerable professional use. PC and Mac.

Mirage (http://www.bauhaus-software.com) Slick new program that's half Photoshop and After Effects, combined into one app. Very tight Lightwave integration as well. This program does quite a bit and can literally be a one-program studio, but falls victim to "jack-of-all-trades, master of none" syndrome. It's currently on version 1.0 and the future looks very promising for this capable software. IMO, the best onion-skin feature ever programmed. PC and Mac.

ToonBoom Studio (http://www.toonboom.com) Vector-based animation program, with hybrid output like Retas and Flash. PC and Mac.

Macromedia Flash (http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/) Do I really need to describe this one?

Project Dogwaffel (http://www.squirreldome.com/cyberop.htm) Strange name for a neat paint program with animation capabilities. Developed by Dan Ritchie. I think the registered price is a mere $45 making it the best bargain. PC only.

Corel Painter (http://www.corel.com) The natural media paint program also has animation capabilities. Not terribly useful ones, but they do work.


Paperless Animation Programs

Plastic Animation Paper (http://plasticanimationpaper.dk/) Raster based. Great for animation work-ups, but for a final product you're gonna need some other programs. I had window problems running this under Win2K, but it works as advertised. Download the demo, it's pretty useful. PC only.

The Tab (http://www.the-tab.com/) Vector-based paperless animation. PC only.

Just the tip of the iceberg, but it should get you pointed in the right direction.

-Pat

[CwStone]

impaler, believe me, the prospect of purchasing something that expensive never crossed my mind. but If i ever do buy mx, then ur rit, itl be with a student discount

alias moze, yea, ur quite rit about that. i checked on the flash link provided by pat and flash by itself is 500, which is half of mx, tho still too expensive.

ian jones, im mainly interested in character animation, so after effects and the like wouldnt be the best stuff to possibly get.

pat, wow thanks ! ima look into these programs.
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-Chase

[mutong]

[url=http.skycn.net:8181/down/flashmx2004_trial_en_win.zip]Macromedia Flash MX 2004[/url]


This is a trie version, if you need crack(free) file please tell me your email address.
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Mutong.Net

[Ian Jones]

mutong: Although your gesture may be welcome to some, in general offering a program hack on these forums is unwelcome. Please edit your post.

[Returner]

To pay or not to pay that is the question! "host" direct connect "host"
I'm not implying anything just pointing out your options. Of course every single person on this forum has bought photoshop, every one!