Moho Forum

hi there.
Our company is thinking about changing from animo6 (because there is no animo software anymore :/) to anime studio. since I cannot try in the demo version I have some general questions. maybe someone can help me.

1. Is it possible to import scanned levels from animo 6? or is it generally possible to import scanned levels/ scanned image sequences of any file format?

2. Is it possible to change the outlines of scanned images (no vector images),e.g. with the brush tool?

Thanks for your help!

I suspect you are under the false impression that "Animo" (by Cambridge Animation Systems) and "Anime Studio" have more in common than just some letters in the name. But they are completely different programs.

Anime Studio (AS) is not designed to handle scanned animation sequences. It doesn't have Animo's engine for vectorizing, nor ink&paint abilities. AS allows you to draw (like in the early versions of Animo, I think this is now hidden in the special FX module), and to handle scanned images as a whole. Additionally, AS isn't designed for frame-by-frame animation in general.

The file formats of Animo are proprietory and not to be imported into any other software. You may of course render any level to a bitmap sequence in standard formats and import that into a suitable program. I recommend you take a look at TVPaint. Or, if you have the money, at Toonz and at one of the many versions of ToonBoom which deal with scanned images as well (don't know the version name of that).

1. AS would be able to import an image sequence if you make it a video file. If you prepare a Quicktime movie with PNG codec, you even can have transpareny, and use AS as a basic compositing program. You will, of coiurse, have no additional control over line quality, appearance, of colouring of different sections.

2. No. The "brush" of AS works like this: multiple copies of a brush image are placed along a vector line.

Overall it should be mentioned that AS offers no production system capabilities whatsoever. There's no database of assets (like in Flash, Animo, TB). There's no file linking (like the palettes in Animo). There's no bookkeeping, no version control, no overview about progress of scenes (like in Animo). If you need a software with all those bells and whistles, you should have a look inside the same price range: Toonz and ToonBoom (the big package).

If you just need a software to finish an ongoing project with already scanned levels, take a look at TVPaint. It is completely bitmap-based, frame-by-frame oriented, offers sophisticated painting abilities, and all that for a very good price. Meet me over there at http://www.tvpaint.com/forum/index.php and ask for details.

(Du kannst mir auch gern mailen, oder frag dasselbe nochmal auf deutsch bei http://www.flipbook-online.de/)

Thanks for your reply. I already supposed what you're saying. I'm researching for a new project we'll start in future, so I think we'll have a closer look on other software packages, but thanks for your help. I'll have a look on your links.

vfx germany wrote:hi there.
Our company is thinking about changing from animo6 (because there is no animo software anymore :/)

Not that it matters here, but Animo is still alive and well. http://www.animo.com

I spoke to the people at Cambridge-everything continues to be business as usual over there.