towyard: the game!

[alanthebox]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ftmvvcsXxY

I think this might be my last Moho cartoon for awhile. I'm going to give ToonBoom a try and see if it better aligns with the workflow I seem to be moving into. For this cartoon, I wanted to get a hand-drawn look, but without having to FBF everything, so, I tried making rigged FBF loops. It worked for a few simple shots, but was a bit too complicated for others.

One thing I used in this project for the first time was the 3D object import. I was having a heck of a time drawing a change in vehicle perspective, so, I whipped up a quick 3D model:


Imported it into Moho and did some quick translation:


And then spent an hour tracing and masking:


Super fast and helpful!

[jahnocli]

Good luck doing that in ToonBoom.

[Víctor Paredes]

This is very good. It's inspiring how 'not rigged' the result looks.
Thanks for sharing it.

[Greenlaw]

That's pretty neat! Thanks for sharing your work.

Sorry to hear you're leaving Moho for Toon Boom Harmony. I agree that Harmony has more advanced freehand drawing tools and is better for FBF work but for advanced puppet rigging, IMO, it's actually a lot easier to do this in Moho. But if you do get Harmony, there's no reason you can't use both programs together. That's what I do at my workplace.

As a matter of fact, I've done shots for The Croods that included character rigs built in After Effects/DuIK, Harmony, and Moho, all interacting with each other. I admit that was nuts but, even though I was primarily using Moho for puppets at that time, I was assigned an episode (the one with The Broods and the Tyrannaconda) where I needed to animate characters that were rigged using other programs from early episodes, and it didn't make sense to re-rig everything to animate these characters for this episode. It all worked out well though.

Anyway, it's not uncommon for artists and studios to use multiple programs in their work.

[alanthebox]

Sorry to hear you're leaving Moho for Toon Boom Harmony. I agree that Harmony has more advanced freehand drawing tools and is better for FBF work but for advanced puppet rigging, IMO, it's actually a lot easier to do this in Moho. But if you do get Harmony, there's no reason you can't use both programs together. That's what I do at my workplace.

I definitely love Moho and plan on using it in the future, but I'd just like to try out Harmony to see if it'll increase my productivity. I worked in Flash for 15 years, over-complicated my workflow with AE, and then dove in to Moho. After test driving Harmony, I think I'll finally be able to settle on which program(s) works best for me. One of my favorite things about Moho, though, has been this forum! I typically check it out a couple of times a day and love reading about all the different techniques and tips everyone utilizes. And I'm looking forward to seeing what future versions have in store!

[LucyGlass]

Trying out different tools like ToonBoom and Moho can really help you find the one that aligns best with your workflow and increases your productivity. It's awesome that you're open to exploring new programs and finding what works for you.
By the way, if you're into trying new things, you should give blackout bingo a shot. It's a fun and addictive game that adds a twist to the classic bingo experience. You can also check out some reviews to get a better idea of what to expect.
I'm new on this forum, just like you, and it's cool to see how supportive and informative the community is. Reading about different techniques and tips from fellow artists is always inspiring.

[Daxel]

I love your youtube videos, they are so fresh and creative.

I started with flash, then Harmony and then Moho. I always wanted to be able to make things by myself and be efficient, so I believe I moved in the direction of better or more powerfull and time-saving rigging features, and I think Moho is the king there. Vector point interpolation and smartbones are just impossible to beat and no other program does it.

Harmony on the other hand has way better vector drawing tech, better looking strokes, and better FBF in general. Another pro is that Harmony is more polished. Moho has many features that are broken, incomplete, or lack good usability/UI. It feels like a beta version sometimes.

If Moho can improve those 2 main points that would be a dream for me. I can't wait to see what Moho 14 brings. Moho 13.5 was a step in the right direction: they focused on fixes, mostly crashes, and I think everyone loved that.

[alanthebox]

I started with flash, then Harmony and then Moho. I always wanted to be able to make things by myself and be efficient, so I believe I moved in the direction of better or more powerfull and time-saving rigging features, and I think Moho is the king there. Vector point interpolation and smartbones are just impossible to beat and no other program does it.

this sure is an old thread!

i ended up getting pretty comfortable with ToonBoom over the course of my free trial. after a few prior failed attempts over the years, it really did finally click. i completed a couple of low level tests, but i just kept finding myself thinking "i could do this so much faster in moho."

so, yeah, i've been back using moho ever since.

[Daxel]

this sure is an old thread!

Oh I didn't check the dates. Thanks for the clarification.

[Greenlaw]

Oh I didn't check the dates. Thanks for the clarification.

Ha ha, yes, old thread but my views on this subject haven't changed much since my last post.

I still primarily using Moho for 2D character animation, and when I need FBF I'll use Adobe Animate or Harmony, and typically combine output from all animation programs (2D and 3D) in After Effects, Nuke or Fusion. In other words, even though it's not yet the complete animation program it aspires to be, Moho is still the best 2D puppet animation program available. (IMO.)

For FBF animation, I still use Animate or Harmony at work. In personal work, I like Animate for FBF because it's simpler and cheaper than Harmony, but I've been playing around with ToonSquid on iPad lately. Like Animate, ToonSquid is straightforward and shares some common concepts regarding transforms and symbols, but being on a different platform does complicate using it as an FBF support tool for Moho. But if you have an iPad and you need to knock out some FBF elements quickly, ToonSquid is an affordable and fun solution. Almost forgot: I like TVPaint for FBF too but haven't used it much in recent years.

Still hopeful that Moho's native FBF system will be improved so I won't need to depend on other programs for FBF within my Moho animations.