[glFlush():]

Hiya peeps,

I'm looking for a program that will allow me to develop 2D animation on computer, without the worry of hundreds of frames of paper lying about (Had enough of that last year .

I've used Macromedia Director's Line art mode, and while the onion skinning is a vital tool, I didnt like the fact I was limited to two tone color, Black and White, no antialised lines, ect.

What I'm looking for, is a program that has Onion skinning, ect, along with photoshop/paintshop pro style drawing/painting abilities.

Does anyone know of a program that can do something like this? I'm sure Ive seen some before, just I cant really remember right now

Ta in advance.

Flushy

[TheMilkMan]

Try macromedia flash...it has onion skinning and you can see some good animation being done with it at www.shockwave.com and www.stanlee.net It is a good animation program the only draw back is that you have to scan in all your line art and retrace the lines using flash or your file size will be 5 gigs or something....It has layers and other good tools...you wont make a disney quality animation with it but you can do some good basic stuff.

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No im not your daddy I was off that day.....
www.theartofstarwars.com

[glFlush():]

Thanks man,

I was actually thinking of using that as a last resort, I guess I could paint my backgrounds in Painter, then import them into Flash, and carry on with the animation from there.

Ta bud

[AKIRA_x]

Ah, finaly a post where I can ACTUALLY use what I have learned at work. I also thought of Flash when reading your post....actually..your post is like reading a description of Flash.

Tips: Try and learn to draw within the software. Flash is a streaming software...the more info, the harder the streaming. And bitmap trace leaves ALOT of unwanted points. If you do use bitmap trace, run a optimisation on EVERY trace. This can cut your image 50% in size with hardly any visual distortion.

You might wanna look into Illustrator or Freehand to draw your originals. The drawing tools in Flash 5 are a step up from 4, but Illustrator and other vector programs has an edge over Flash in pure drwaing skills.

AKIRA

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Whos ya dady!!

[dreddawg]

Hello,

I'm doing my own film with 2d software. Right now is an interesting time in the traditional 2d industry. At this time most software is used for digital ink and paint. So much is changing on a monthly basis that it is relatively inexpensive to get in the game. There is quite a bit of software out there with more on the way. To start go to www.digicelinc.com (Flipbook only $199) www.linkersystems.com (Animation Stand) www.macromedia.com (Flash vector based) www.lostmarble.com (vector based) www.axacorp.com (AXA) and several others. I own AXA and Flipbook. AXA is great but is showing its age with the lack of drag and drop and other workflow utilities. Flipbook; made by former AXA folks, is very promising but is only in beta form right now (Painting is still pending) Flipbook has onion skinning, sound, rotoscoping, storyboarding, export and import as well as...thank goodness, drag and drop editing. You can also draw right into the program. Lastly, here are a few links to folks making there own theatrical films www.augenblickstudios.com www.kylebaker.com www.bitterfilms.com

Now after all of that would you believe I'm using the Painter animation module(yes "the" Painter) to do my animation via wacom tablet? It works pretty well for me. I'm exporting the frames as numbered files into Photoshop to do color and then importing into After FX as a photoshop sequence. Final compositing occurs in Afterfx with a brief stop off in Premiere for editing and sound. Also, I do all of my backgrounds in Max, Photoshop, and Painter.

So there are tons of options out there for film, video and the web. And more options are coming. The only thing for certain is that change is constant:-) Good luck

Character drawn in Painter colored in Photoshop.

Pan background was done in Painter.




[This message has been edited by dreddawg (edited November 11, 2000).]

[Alan]

Personally, I hate all vector based 2d tools, so animating with flash drives me nuts. I'm curious about flipbook, but I've used Aura by newtek and it has pretty good 2d animation tools (onionskin, etc).

-Alan

[A.Buttle]

I really like After Effects, especially because it works so well with other Adobe products like Premiere, Photoshop, and Illustator. The only problem I can find with it is that it is hideously complicated and trying to learn it without any sort of help is basically futile. But, if you pick it up and get a book or two along with it, it's a fantastic investment.

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I wanna get with you, girl!...
And your sister, I think her name's Debra....

Joe Dillingham

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Three Times A Day